darkSpyro

Lading screen said we would have these on sale during the weekend.

I already have one of each just to have them, but the payout is always bad compared to others. But is it worth getting some more if they are 50% off?

Quote: DPShiro

Lading screen said we would have these on sale during the weekend.

I already have one of each just to have them, but the payout is always bad compared to others. But is it worth getting some more if they are 50% off?

If you're looking at them for their Gem payouts then no.

If you consider them to be cheap adventure balloons that you can run for free and sometimes see bonus payouts from then yes.

They're really geared newer players.

Are the payouts from the HQs similar to the Halls of Legends? I find my Hall of Legends to payout between 50% to 75% of the average of the three houses I have (Birthday Bash, Tree Rex and Bouncer). The gem spawn may be a little less than the houses, but not by much from what I've seen.

Quote: Mainiac

Are the payouts from the HQs similar to the Halls of Legends? I find my Hall of Legends to payout between 50% to 75% of the average of the three houses I have (Birthday Bash, Tree Rex and Bouncer). The gem spawn may be a little less than the houses, but not by much from what I've seen.

Gem payouts from the HQs and Bird House are nowhere near what you get from the Giant/Alter Ego/Sidekick houses or the Halls of Legend. I posted this in its own thread but here's my spreadsheet tracking Gem payouts over a 17 day period.

I think you're better off spending the gems on Adventure Balloons when they're on 75% off sale. Same goes for the dragon and dark houses too. They're even more expensive for a minimally better (if at all) payout compared to the HQs and bird houses.

Thanks for the inputs, I'll pass on them then.

Also, just got a new window with surfer slam bams house 25% off! (262) I jumped on that instantly, hope this is a new trend and we will see many more of these offers

Quote: DPShiro

Thanks for the inputs, I'll pass on them then.

Also, just got a new window with surfer slam bams house 25% off! (262) I jumped on that instantly, hope this is a new trend and we will see many more of these offers

Great Value offer? I just had one pop up for 50% off Wheellock.

I got one for Scorp. I passed.

Quote: portalflip

Quote: DPShiro

Thanks for the inputs, I'll pass on them then.

Also, just got a new window with surfer slam bams house 25% off! (262) I jumped on that instantly, hope this is a new trend and we will see many more of these offers

Great Value offer? I just had one pop up for 50% off Wheellock.

I was a new info page, like the one with fire skylanders on sale, it disappeared when I bought the house sadly and I didn't prince screen it before buying :/

They are desperate for us to spend real money, hence the Battlegrounds deal.

I have an offer for Whisper Elf's house but I have only 169 gems sadly. They are offering me gem pack 3 with 1200 gems and 30 wish stones. With 21 shrines I do not need more stones!

I am not spending real money on the game our 14 yo spends too much on figures for three of us. I dread to think what his collection has cost all up. A lot of mowing, dishes, washing, rubbish bins etc from his angle but except for $100 birthday money and a couple of figures from friends the rest has been from our pockets.

If they want us to spend more money, just release premium island that everyone is screaming for. But hopefully not insanely expensive (~3000 gems)

Quote: DPShiro

But is it worth getting some more if they are 50% off?

I'm not convinced they'd be worth it if they were giving them away for free.

Portaflip, at 100 gems for an HQ, I think your spreadsheet proves their worth. You spent 350 gems for the premium house (e.g., Swarm) right? After 17 days, you have only collected 5 gems which is a rate of 0.3 gems per day. At that rate, it will take you 1,167 days to recoup your 350 gem investment.

Your Cadette has produced 9 gems in 17 days for a rate of 0.5 per day. At gems, its a payback of 200 days.

Granted I cherry picked your data but I really don't think the HQs are as bad as everyone makes them out.

There are a lot of things to save your gems for but if you are choosing between an HQ and a Adventure baloon and each are 100 gems, the crystal clear option is the HQ: it produces gems, balloons do not.

Quote: mcquist5

Portaflip, at 100 gems for an HQ, I think your spreadsheet proves their worth. You spent 350 gems for the premium house (e.g., Swarm) right? After 17 days, you have only collected 5 gems which is a rate of 0.3 gems per day. At that rate, it will take you 1,167 days to recoup your 350 gem investment.

Your Cadette has produced 9 gems in 17 days for a rate of 0.5 per day. At gems, its a payback of 200 days.

Granted I cherry picked your data but I really don't think the HQs are as bad as everyone makes them out.

There are a lot of things to save your gems for but if you are choosing between an HQ and a Adventure baloon and each are 100 gems, the crystal clear option is the HQ: it produces gems, balloons do not.

No need to cherry pick.

Average payout from the 4 hour houses was 6 for 17 days. At that rate it would take 566.9 days to earn 200 Gems.

Average payout for the Giant houses was 18.25 for 17 days. At that rate it would take 326 days to earn 350 Gems.

Granted my data is only a small sample and since the payouts are random will be different from day to day. However just looking at what I collected the Giant houses pay out 3x more on average than 4 hour houses and will recoup their cost in nearly half the time. I do like the 4 hour houses as replacements for Adventure Balloons but aren't on the same Gem producing level as any of the 6 hour houses.

But if the HQs are only 100 gems, the payback drops to 284 days and its a lot easier to collect (thus spend) 100 gems. I am not arguing that you shouldn't go after the Giant/Alt houses, I just don't think HQs are as bad as the darkspyro forums make them out to be. If I only had 100 gems and the decision was between an HQ and an Adventure Balloon, hands down its the gem producing HQ.

As sheer economics goes, the Dark House or DragonLair are the best at 57 gems in 17 days but 1200 gems is a hard investment to swallow.

We need a bigger sample size on the dragon lair. Or maybe it depends which dragon you put in it? I put spyro in mine and get nothing but gold and energy. Very rarely to I get gems.

I like the HQs. I wouldn't pay full price for them, but they are great to give Skylanders with nothing to do a place to go for free. Plus they are great to level up new Skylanders. One run through will automatically raise a new Skylander to level 3. That really helps when you get a timed quest that needs you to do elemental adventures with a new Skylander (i.e. Jade Fire Kraken). With JFK, I think I used the Dragon's Lair, but that doesn't work with others. Currently, I put in Holiday Wash Buckler. That will level him up quickly without having to do all those pesky, short adventures.

Quote: obidawsn

I like the HQs. I wouldn't pay full price for them, but they are great to give Skylanders with nothing to do a place to go for free. Plus they are great to level up new Skylanders. One run through will automatically raise a new Skylander to level 3. That really helps when you get a timed quest that needs you to do elemental adventures with a new Skylander (i.e. Jade Fire Kraken). With JFK, I think I used the Dragon's Lair, but that doesn't work with others. Currently, I put in Holiday Wash Buckler. That will level him up quickly without having to do all those pesky, short adventures.

I don't know if it's due to the companions I have, but one silver chest will boost a brand new skylander to level 3 for me in ten minutes flat.

Quote: Woz

Quote: obidawsn

I like the HQs. I wouldn't pay full price for them, but they are great to give Skylanders with nothing to do a place to go for free. Plus they are great to level up new Skylanders. One run through will automatically raise a new Skylander to level 3. That really helps when you get a timed quest that needs you to do elemental adventures with a new Skylander (i.e. Jade Fire Kraken). With JFK, I think I used the Dragon's Lair, but that doesn't work with others. Currently, I put in Holiday Wash Buckler. That will level him up quickly without having to do all those pesky, short adventures.

I don't know if it's due to the companions I have, but one silver chest will boost a brand new skylander to level 3 for me in ten minutes flat.

It is Wheelock that gets you to 3 on a single chest. Without him, it takes 2 chests. It is not overly difficult to leave 1-2 chests laying around to level up new skylanders. Around Sunday, I start making sure I have 2 available in case they release someone new one on Mon/Tues.

I never realized chests give that much in hero xp.

Quote: mcquist5

But if the HQs are only 100 gems, the payback drops to 284 days and its a lot easier to collect (thus spend) 100 gems. I am not arguing that you shouldn't go after the Giant/Alt houses, I just don't think HQs are as bad as the darkspyro forums make them out to be. If I only had 100 gems and the decision was between an HQ and an Adventure Balloon, hands down its the gem producing HQ.

As sheer economics goes, the Dark House or DragonLair are the best at 57 gems in 17 days but 1200 gems is a hard investment to swallow.

That's what I've been saying this whole time. I'm probably going to pick some up myself as my Kingdom generates tons of Gemss but I haven't been running my balloons lately as I've been funneling all my energy into activating all 8 Sanctuaries 3-4 times a day.