I wish some form of weekly challenge would replace the level 10 Black Lion Key

[Aodlop.1907]

So that you don't need to repeat the same low level storylines on throwaway characters all the time.

[Rasimir.6239]

I'm afraid ANet never intended the story reward to be a "repeatable" reward that people farm, or else they wouldn't have restricted its aquisition in the first place (at a time when people were farming the lvl 10 story daily and more on throwaway characters).

 

With that background I sincerely doubt they are interested in implementing a guaranteed, non-grindy (or even just less grindy) way of getting black lion chest keys.

 

Your best bet probably is playing fractals for the chance at a chest of black lion goods, that gives you a chance of various black lion merchandise, including keys.

[Tanith.5264]

That's my "game within a game". Come up with a silly character name that's either a guild joke or a joke in general, and spend the week leveling him/her. I rotate through all the races and several of the professions so it doesn't get too monotonous. 

[Mungo Zen.9364]

49 minutes ago, Aodlop.1907 said:

So that you don't need to repeat the same low level storylines on throwaway characters all the time.

 

Really, if you want to farm keys and not do the same level 10 grind then there are several ways to get them by continuing to level the character.  Primarily zone completion (30% chance) and several other story steps from Personal or LW.  

 

I figure that if you have been running level 10 key runs enough you know the game well enough to power level a character, speed run story and speed clear maps.  Yes this yields less keys per time invested but will yield more keys per week, how many more depends on luck and available playtime.

 

I made this switch as the level 10 key grind was getting a bit repetitive and I lost interest but still wanted to have a stock of BLKeys.

[Fuchslein.8639]

My guild has an ugliness contest associated with it.

I think we should be "thankful" that this weekly run is still possible ^^''. I at least prefer that ofer this low chance when you explore maps. Recently made 6 maps and get one key ...

[Asum.4960]

I wish a modicum of respect for their customers would at least replace the Lootbox/Gambling exclusive items/skins. Having it as optional avenue to gain items for potentially less is one thing, not providing direct purchases to ground the value/chance and giving those especially vulnerable to such schemes an alternative another.

 

10 minutes ago, Fuchslein.8639 said:

I think we should be "thankful" that this weekly run is still possible

It's a "free" hit hoping to trigger those with gambling tendencies that players have to work for, as well as providing a sorry community excuse for the scheme. The only ones who should imo be thankful for it are those lining their pockets with it without backlash. 

[Shining One.1635]

Make your own weekly challenge. A key is 125 Gems, which is roughly 40 Gold. Complete content of your choosing that yields that much gold.

[MarkoGold.7126]

hell i wish they remove the stupid limit on number of lv10 keys you can farm, you can still farm an infinite amount of lv 30 50 labyrinth and hot keys

[Firebeard.1746]

1 hour ago, Shining One.1635 said:

Make your own weekly challenge. A key is 125 Gems, which is roughly 40 Gold. Complete content of your choosing that yields that much gold.

Nice point! Though to play devil's advocate, it's also hard to beat 40g/15-20 mins depending how hardcore you are

Edited July 26, 2021 by Firebeard.1746

[The Fear.3865]

Use your tomes and farm all 5 story keys per week 👍

[Eloc Freidon.5692]

14 hours ago, MarkoGold.7126 said:

hell i wish they remove the stupid limit on number of lv10 keys you can farm, you can still farm an infinite amount of lv 30 50 labyrinth and hot keys

Those keys require time, tomes, or a combination of both that equates to farming gold to buy gems. Anet isn't going to allow players to farm 3 guaranteed keys per hour.

[LSD.4673]

...why would you subject yourself to that level of monotony for such a pointless reward? It's like the guy in the other thread complaining about having to take his 11 accounts through Lake Doric. 

 

That's not how you play games.

[Dante.1763]

4 minutes ago, LSD.4673 said:

...why would you subject yourself to that level of monotony for such a pointless reward? It's like the guy in the other thread complaining about having to take his 11 accounts through Lake Doric. 

 

That's not how you play games.

I can understand the thought process behind it, i just..cant do it, if it comes down to choosing between grinding for a key or working a few extra hours and getting multiple keys..i know what im doing.

[kharmin.7683]

Perhaps Anet's intention is for players to buy keys and not repetitively farm the beginning story instance for them?

[Dawdler.8521]

40 minutes ago, kharmin.7683 said:

Perhaps Anet's intention is for players to buy keys and not repetitively farm the beginning story instance for them?

INCONCIEVABLE!

[MarkoGold.7126]

If some people chose to farm keys why make it harder for them they are not breaking any rules and probably would not buy keys in the first place.

[Danikat.8537]

I think the key from the level 10 story is definitely intended to be an introduction to the system, to tempt players to buy more keys to try for more/better drops from the chests. I think all the places which can drop keys (either guaranteed like the other story rewards or random) are the same but this one is especially aimed at new players.

 

But Anet have known about key farming for years and they've allowed it to continue (they restricted it to once per week but that's all) when they could have prevented it if they wanted to. On that basis I think it's safe to assume they're ok with players doing it even if they don't openly support and encourage it.

 

So maybe they would be willing to offer an alternative if it had the same sort of 'costs' (mainly time) associated with it. The main problem I could see with doing that is they'd need some way to link the two so if you get a key from one method you can't get it from the other, so it's an alternative and not just another weekly key.

 

The other problem is either they'd need to devote the time to building a new system or they attach it to something which already exists and then that might massively increase the number of free keys being given out. For example one idea I had was to put a key in the final wood tier skirmish chest in WvW, so it's still restricted to one per week and takes a few hours to get but it's something different to replaying the level 10 story. But I suspect a lot of people currently complete the wood tier each week who never bother key farming, so suddenly a lot of people are getting free keys without doing anything different. Also playing WvW rewards a bunch of other stuff whereas (after the first few times when you're unlocking skins) getting to level 10 and doing the story gives very little besides the key, there's no unique currencies and I doubt you get 1g in total from all the other items.

[MarkoGold.7126]

1 hour ago, Danikat.8537 said:

I think the key from the level 10 story is definitely intended to be an introduction to the system, to tempt players to buy more keys to try for more/better drops from the chests. I think all the places which can drop keys (either guaranteed like the other story rewards or random) are the same but this one is especially aimed at new players.

 

But Anet have known about key farming for years and they've allowed it to continue (they restricted it to once per week but that's all) when they could have prevented it if they wanted to. On that basis I think it's safe to assume they're ok with players doing it even if they don't openly support and encourage it.

 

So maybe they would be willing to offer an alternative if it had the same sort of 'costs' (mainly time) associated with it. The main problem I could see with doing that is they'd need some way to link the two so if you get a key from one method you can't get it from the other, so it's an alternative and not just another weekly key.

 

The other problem is either they'd need to devote the time to building a new system or they attach it to something which already exists and then that might massively increase the number of free keys being given out. For example one idea I had was to put a key in the final wood tier skirmish chest in WvW, so it's still restricted to one per week and takes a few hours to get but it's something different to replaying the level 10 story. But I suspect a lot of people currently complete the wood tier each week who never bother key farming, so suddenly a lot of people are getting free keys without doing anything different. Also playing WvW rewards a bunch of other stuff whereas (after the first few times when you're unlocking skins) getting to level 10 and doing the story gives very little besides the key, there's no unique currencies and I doubt you get 1g in total from all the other items.

no they just need to turn it to what it was before, no need for all this philosophy just turn it back.

[Danikat.8537]

15 minutes ago, MarkoGold.7126 said:

no they just need to turn it to what it was before, no need for all this philosophy just turn it back.

That would do nothing to help with the OPs problem that running the same stories over and over is repetitive. My post was a response to that (and the topic in general) not your post, it just happened to be below yours.

 

But I also think it's highly unlikely Anet are going to remove the restriction since (as other people have said) they want players to buy keys not just farm.

[Bristingr.5034]

On 7/26/2021 at 9:33 AM, Tanith.5264 said:

Come up with a silly character name that's either a guild joke or a joke in general

My favorite go-to throw-away name is "Key Farm Me Daddy"