[2020] Shard Economy Changes [MEGA]

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Hi Holotable Heroes,

Our 5th Anniversary is fast approaching and we have some exciting news for this month! Starting with the 5th year celebration, we will be increasing the Shard drop count on most nodes and the currency-to-Shard rate in many stores.

Character Shards are the first big hurdle that new players hit and it’s a hurdle that’s grown over the last 5 years, from around 60 characters at launch to now over 200 (including ships)! Our intent with this change is to help all players expand their collections faster, and in particular to help new players progress in the game. To that end we will be broadly increasing the Shard drop count for many characters. We’re also adjusting conversion rates and prices in the Shard Shop to keep these changes effectively neutral for this store.

To dive into the details -- there are now effectively two groups of Character Shards -- Original Rate and Accelerated. (See the list below for which characters are in the Accelerated category).

[list]
[*] Original Rate characters are made up of New and Exclusive characters. Generally, this set includes those characters exclusive to Raids, Journey Guide, Territory Battles, and certain high-value currencies. This also includes all Ships blueprints.
[*] Accelerated characters are typically those found on Nodes and in various Stores.
[*] New Marquee characters will launch as Original Rate characters, and move to the Accelerated list approximately 1 year after their release. (eg The Mandalorian will move to Accelerated in April/May 2021)
[/list]

As the primary impact of these changes, Accelerated Characters have their Shard distribution doubled in most modes:

[list]
[*] Combat nodes drop 2 Shards instead of 1. This increases to 4 during Double Drops.
[*] Store Shipments provide twice as many Shards for the same amount of currency (ex: 10 for the price of 5 previously).
[*] Includes Galactic War and non-Journey Guide Events. (ex: Assault Battles)
[*] Does not include Quests & Achievements.
[*] Does not include Bronzium Data Cards due to a technical issue. We will explore increasing this rate in a future update.
[/list]

Due to the resulting variation in between Shards, we are modifying the Shard Shop to keep Shard-to-Purchase ratios unchanged. Under the hood, this means we are doubling all sources of Shard Shop Currency, doubling in-store costs, and then doubling unspent Shard Shop Currency on all accounts when these changes go live.

[list]
[*] Accelerated-Farm Characters keep their conversion the same (1 Shard > 15 SSC).
[*] Original Rate characters have their conversion doubled (1 Shard > 30 SSC).
[*] For ships, this doubles such that 1 Shard > 38 SSC
[*] All Shard Shop Store items will cost twice as much to match this doubled income.
[*] When these changes are released, we will double all players’ Shard Shop Currency.
[*] As these changes approach, note that Shards remain worth the same “buying power” (relative to store price) no matter when you cash them in. There is no extra value from saving it up and waiting.
[*] In the future, a Character or Ship moving from Original to Accelerated group will have its exchange rate adjusted accordingly.
[/list]

TL;DR Summary: Accelerated Characters will now reach 7 Stars twice as quickly for all players. Shard Shop purchasing is unchanged, all the numbers are just doubled.

These changes clearly open the door to conversations about other economies, including Gear. Without making promises, we are in the midst of exploring how this could change in the future - but we need to adjust Shard rates first. Shards play a foundational role in Galaxy of Heroes and have a cascading impact into subsequent economies. This makes them an essential place to start and finish before we make adjustments to systems that will be affected by changes to Shards.

We will be carefully monitoring how these changes impact the overall game economy, listening for feedback, and considering follow-up changes. Thank you for reading, and we will have more to share in our Anniversary announcement.

See you on the Holotables!


LIST OF ACCELERATED CHARACTERS:

[spoiler]
Aayla Secura
Admiral Ackbar
Ahsoka Tano
Ahsoka Tano (Fulcrum)
Amilyn Holdo
ARC Trooper
Asajj Ventress
Aurra Sing
B1 Battle Droid
B2 Super Battle Droid
Barriss Offee
Bastila Shan
Bastila Shan (Fallen)
Baze Malbus
Biggs Darklighter
Bistan
Boba Fett
Bodhi Rook
Bossk
Cad Bane
Canderous Ordo
Captain Han Solo
Captain Phasma
Carth Onasi
Cassian Andor
CC-2224 "Cody"
Chief Chirpa
Chief Nebit
Chirrut Îmwe
Chopper
Clone Sergeant - Phase I
Clone Wars Chewbacca
Colonel Starck
Coruscant Underworld Police
Count Dooku
CT-21-0408 "Echo"
CT-5555 "Fives"
CT-7567 "Rex"
Darth Maul
Darth Nihilus
Darth Sidious
Darth Sion
Dathcha
Death Trooper
Dengar
Director Krennic
Droideka
Eeth Koth
Embo
Enfys Nest
Ewok Eldar
Ewok Scout
Ezra Bridger
Finn
First Order Executioner
First Order Officer
First Order SF TIE Pilot
First Order Stormtrooper
First Order TIE Pilot
Gamorrean Guard
Gar Saxon
Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios
General Hux
General Veers
Geonosian Brood Alpha
Geonosian Soldier
Geonosian Spy
Grand Moff Tarkin
Greedo
Hera Syndulla
HK-47
Hoth Rebel Scout
Hoth Rebel Soldier
IG-100 MagnaGuard
IG-86 Sentinel
IG-88
Ima-Gun Di
Imperial Super Commando
Jango Fett
Jawa
Jawa Engineer
Jawa Scavenger
Jedi Consular
Jedi Knight Anakin
Jedi Knight Guardian
Jolee Bindo
Juhani
Jyn Erso
K-2SO
Kanan Jarrus
Kit Fisto
Kylo Ren
Kylo Ren (Unmasked)
L3-37
Lando Calrissian
Lobot
Logray
Luke Skywalker (Farmboy)
Luminara Unduli
Mace Windu
Magmatrooper
Mission Vao
Mob Enforcer
Mother Talzin
Nightsister Acolyte
Nightsister Initiate
Nightsister Spirit
Nightsister Zombie
Nute Gunray
Obi-Wan Kenobi (Old Ben)
Old Daka
Pao
Paploo
Plo Koon
Poe Dameron
Poggle the Lesser
Princess Leia
Qi'ra
Qui-Gon Jinn
Range Trooper
Resistance Hero Finn
Resistance Hero Poe
Resistance Pilot
Resistance Trooper
Rey (Scavenger)
Rose Tico
Royal Guard
Sabine Wren
Savage Opress
Scarif Rebel Pathfinder
Shaak Ti
Shoretrooper
Sith Assassin
Sith Empire Trooper
Sith Marauder
Sith Trooper
Snowtrooper
Stormtrooper
Stormtrooper Han
Sun Fac
T3-M4
Talia
Teebo
TIE Fighter Pilot
Tusken Raider
Tusken Shaman
Ugnaught
URoRRuR'R'R
Vandor Chewbacca
Veteran Smuggler Chewbacca
Veteran Smuggler Han Solo
Visas Marr
Wedge Antilles
Wicket
Young Han Solo
Young Lando Calrissian
Zaalbar
Zam Wesell
[/spoiler]