I’ve been conducting experiments on you again. I do this pretty often, and I have many tools to measure the results… but relying on raw numbers alone is never a good idea. I like gathering more organic feedback to weigh against what the numbers-alone tell me. So today, I’d like to talk lotteries! Feel free to weigh in if you’ve ever used the lotteries, or even if you haven’t!
Making Lotteries
So you may have noticed some “wacky” lottery behavior lately as I measure baselines and so on. There are actually several methods that can be used for lotteries, and I’ve tried all of these on you since the introduction of the lottery system. Each style has an advantage and disadvantage for lottery participants. Numbers tell me how many people participate in them hoping to win something (and very obviously the better the prize the higher the participation)… but they don’t always tell me whether you liked the style of the lottery or not. I thought I’d take some time to review the types of lotteries we’ve had, and let you weigh in on which ones are your favorites (or banes as the case may be):
Named Lotteries
Named Lotteries occur at regularly scheduled days, always with the same title, and run during set times each week. They typically feature a “theme” of prize types, if not a static prize type. We’ll talk more about these in a moment.
Special Event Lotteries
Some lotteries span multiple days or several times per day in the same day. These special-event lotteries can be themed around holidays, Turbine promotions, or real life events & special occasions. Special event lotteries are generally announced on DDO.com, in the DDO newsletter, and/or through the Turbine Community blog, DDOUnlimited twitter, and facebook fan page.
Random Encounter Lotteries
Like any great D&D adventure, there may be times when you are ambushed by a random encounter! The same is true for lotteries. Random Encounter lotteries are rare and unique. Sometimes they last for as long as a day, or as short as an hour! They may appear more than once, or crop up unexpectedly and are never seen again. They could strike on a weekday evening, a weekend afternoon, or the mornings of multiple days. They are mysterious and might offer prizes to a broad selection of players, or to a very specific scope of race/class/level characters. They are spontaneous and unpredictable. They can literally be for any reason we feel like, and especially silly reasons - or no reason at all. Just “because”.
Advantages & Disadvantages
Every lottery style has benefits and downfalls for those seeking to enter them.
Special Event Lotteries
There are many advantages for participants of special event lotteries. They follow an “any excuse to have a party!” style, and the occasion that they’re themed after makes it easy to understand the prize selection. They’re predictable because they usually are over once the special event/reason concludes, and it’s reasonable to be aware that a lottery will happen as long as you know the real-world holidays and events that are upcoming. The only disadvantage is there isn’t always a special event to have one in honor of! Certain times of year, or even certain days of the week, are “slower” and don’t have as much public awareness.
Random Encounters
The up side of these is getting a pleasant surprise either:
A) When you check the lotteries and either realize you’re eligible for one. Or
B) You accidentally enter one when you hit the “enter all my characters” button, and are pleasantly surprised to find winnings in your in-game mail.
The downside is making someone feel like they have to watch the lotteries every second of the day hoping to stumble into one of these, or making someone feel like they have to meticulously review which lotteries (with what prizes) are available every time they try for it.
Named Lotteries
These are complicated because they can come in several forms. It can be a lottery that:
- Has the same name, always starts at a set time, with a set prize each time (e.g. Welcome Lottery)
- Has the same name, starts at different times, with a set prize each time (e.g. Server Pride Lottery)
- Has the same name, always starts at a set time, but with different prizes each time (e.g. Surprise Sunday Lottery)
- Has the same name, always starts at a set time, but with “similar” prizes each time (e.g. Mighty Monday Lotto, Friendly Friday Lotto, Sage Saturday Lotto - though to be fair I have experimented with static prizes on these named lotteries as well)
The benefit of the named lottery depends on the style of the above it is.
- In the case where a lottery has the same name and time but a random prize, people set their watch to “hey it’s such-and-such day, time to go check on the xyz lotto”.
- For lotteries where the name is the same but the prizes also stay the same, they get a feel for what the lottery is about and that gives them a clue of whether or not they’d like to enter.
- Lotteries with a set name and “themed” random prizes give an expectation but have unpredictable elements too. A caster might find that “mighty monday” generally doesn’t have anything they’re interested in, while “sage saturday” is their best shot at getting something they can use. But they may still check Mighty Monday on the off chance that there are healing potions.
- The disadvantage with named lotteries is: no variety to spice up life! When they’re “named” their reputation precedes them.
So what it ultimately comes down to is:
- Is “variety” stressful rather than fun?
- Is “sameness” secure or bland?
- Is there something comforting to being able to “set your watch” to a lottery?
- Is there something exciting about never knowing when something cool will ambush you?
- Is there room for all of the above or does it just overwhelm you?
Another huge thing I’m considering is: how much “advanced notice” do people like with lotteries? Is seeing a tweet about upcoming lotteries spammy or informative? Is it better to know or save it for the element of surprise when you hit a random encounter? Are only certain kinds of lotteries worthy of an advanced notice: do you care to hear about a “daily” lottery that routinely shows up vs a special event one that lasts for 3 days?
Even if you’ve not been able to participate in lotteries due to my.ddo bugs (which we’re hoping to resolve for even more of those who remain impacted) or disinterest (I don’t expect that every single solitary person “likes” lotteries at all, much less what kind they are), please feel free to share your opinions!
Oh and uh, I *may* have included some shinies in the lottery today in honor of feedback aggregation…
just sayin….









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