Sooo, I've debated posting this because I'm pretty sure it's going to open a can of worms. Last time I accidentally opened a can of worms, I was completely innocent and I'm fairly certain I was close to being burned at the stake. Let's hope that doesn't happen again. :P

I am going to clarify that I'm not pointing fingers at any particular person here, just looking at the system as a whole and maybe looking for some sort of happy medium of balance.

So here goes. Be kind, please, regardless of your opinions! ;)

I love the potion lottery. It's such a fun way to get a medal (I love medals) and fun to get the chance to win a potion at random.

But...it's no secret that certain people have more funds and time to devote to getting frequent wins. I don't havea problem AT ALL with repeat wins. Kudos to them for the time and dedication!

But when you see the same name 2-3 times every week, at times...it's a little discouraging if you actually did put a good amount of time and sP into the pot hoping to gift a friend a win or get one for yourself.

I would like to put out there the thought of maybe creating some sort of a balancing effect of some sort? Say a limit on how many times you can win in a month? (Once a week?)

Honestly, I don't know exactly if there's any way to do that, or if it's something that could be done. But on behalf of someone who has tried for weeks whenever I can between work and sometimes bought 50K tickets on my own only to be beat by the same person 3 times or more each week for the last month or two...help? :P

Pinging my peoples who often jump in and help keep PinkSapphire's idea of helping the needy with potion wins going.

But when you see the same name 2-3 times every week, at times...it's a little discouraging if you actually did put a good amount of time and sP into the pot hoping to gift a friend a win or get one for yourself.

^^^^^^^

I am going to have to agree here. Even if this is an unpopular opinion to some. It drives me NUTS whenever I go in a couple times a month trying to buy for a friend. And the same person keeps winning literally almost every other day. I am spending 5mil+ a day sometimes and it seems just waste.

Even so, I am not sure how this could be changed.

But I totally understand the frustration xD

Thanks! Yes! Not shaming the people who win because we both know it does take time and effort! But if there was a way to spread the love around, I'd love that. :)

I'd like a cooldown period after you win, 1 week seems fair to me?

Sure, it's a lottery - the more you buy, the better your chances at winning, but having a brief cooldown would make the system a bit more balanced for those who invest in it all the same, but aren't favored by RNGeezus.

Fully agree with you, and I am very happy that someone brought this up.

I remember that once a user literally broke through and figured out how the system works, so they could win whenever they want - and I think more people have learned how to do it since then. To me, the problem is not the user finding how to win, but it is that this was possible.

I'd love to see a limit implemented, I really want to win the trophy and get the achievement, but now I'm too scared to try knowing that there are people who can simply go there and win.

- I totally agree with there being some kind of limit, monthly preferable, since there are a few that get it frequently. I won twice while bombing others because of Drills and it made me feel guilty, but it is possible to win with 2 or 3 megas. I've been bombing Cream daily, just about, and get frustrated seeing the same over and over again, some getting a few in 1 week. I didn't know there was a secret to winning.

I feel like the potion lottery is fair game. It's a lottery and if someone put a fortune into it then it's their choice and they deserve to win. I'm not a fan of monitoring and regulating things like this because: "I like that you are good at this ... but I feel like someone should stop you so I could profit instead". It's not like it's not a fair game anymore, you can still win but it will just be harder. But those multi winners probably got beaten several times by people with only 1 ticket.

On neopets you used to see something alike with highscore games on reset: "how do you dare to play this game on reset day while you already won and I want to have an easy win". And I'm not keen on the mentality.

But I can see the other side: At some point I lost the potion lottery on my birthday, loads of my friends pooled together and I had 15k tickets, the lottery actually rewarded the potion I wanted at that point ... and I lost to one of those people who wins a lot. On a regular day I wouldn't care because fair is fair, but when I had that many tickets from so many friends and it was my birthday and then lost = ouch.

Oh and I'm pretty sure there isn't some method to win? Just throw loads of money at it. Every year I bomb so she wins on her birthday and it has worked every single time so far.

There's a user that wins often that I'm pretty sure buys hundreds (or maybe even 1000+? I don't remember anymore) of tickets daily. So yeah they're going to win a lot. I don't necessarily think there needs to be a cooldown.

YES! A once-a-month win. Wouldn't you think winning the lottery 12 times a year enough? what is the logic behind a person spending millions of points over and over each week to win a lottery trophy when they have one already, or a potion they could buy for on the market for so much less? It just does not make sense to me? Is it "getting your name in lights" on the side bar that they love?

It's one of those things that there's no point in trying if x person/people is/are going to win a good portion of the time. It's kind of disappointing and at the rate it is I won't ever see the Potion Lottery Winner achievement. I don't see why there couldn't be a cool down, it certainly wouldn't hurt. I might actually try to win if that's put into place, as it is now though I only buy tickets if I happen to do Major Drill's quests.

Yes, I do agree that I don't think there's a trick to winning. It's a matter of being able to get your odds (buying enough tickets) as high has possible. I definitely know the people who win do so fair and square! No blame casting on them. I don't think anyone's cheating or doing anything shady. Simply put, it's hard to outbuy them and once in a while get someone else a win. ;)

Yes, I don't think anyone's cheating or doing anything bad. I do know those people put in thousands of sP to do it. Hey, I do it too. I regularly put multiple mills into the pot trying to get someone to win, but I'm working and obviously don't get the time they do to keep hitting the buy button so it's fair and square on their part.

Just think that even if I was winning all the time, a once a week win would be enough to give others a chance at it once in a while who really are also trying their best but maybe just don't have the right lucky stars or something. hehe. :D

I guess I just don't think it would help any? If there's a once a week limit, those people will probably still buy the same amount of tickets once their week is up. So you'll get 6 guaranteed different winners but then it's gonna be "The same user has won every Friday for two months" instead of "The same user wins every other day" and I don't really see that as an overall improvement.

And while it might not make a difference if the win limit is only one week, if there's a one month cooldown, that's 30 days (give or take) that a user who normally buys a thousand tickets won't be sinking that sP out of the economy. That's an extra 15m staying in the economy every cooldown cycle (~180m per year) just to give people the chance to win without having to buy extra tickets, basically.

qft. if the same people are winning repeatedly, it's because they a. have more tickets than you or b. are luckier than you OR a + b: more tickets and more luck. it's a lotto. it doesn't need to be regulated.

I'm on the fence about this. It depends on whether it's a person/people who are using a trick or are 'cheating' (though if it's a lottery it's random and supposed to not be possible to cheat really). Or, if it's just someone sinking a lot of sp into it in order to win(though I don't know why anyone would do that if the potion isn't really worth a whole lot anyway) and why would they want to win if they already have that achievement? Unless it's actually a bunch of other people buying tickets for a certain user(kind of like a certain group I know) the difference there is the group was attempting to help people get the achievement(who didn't have it yet)

I know I have won a few times without trying hard at all, I've never sunk a lot of sp into it for myself ever. So I was just lucky I guess

Maybe there should me a max amount of tickets one person could buy/receive in one day?

I would personally like to see the trophy update to x2 x3 x4 and so on for the number of times you win, it would encourage more people to keep trying and make it a bit more competitive. If someone wants to spend a lot each day to win, I don't see why that's a bad thing. Winning shouldn't be a guarantee for anyone. If you want to win, buy more tickets and keep trying each day, you'll eventually win.

It's a SP sink, why should we limit a good SP sink?

Like I said, I understand and don't think anyone is cheating (There's a strategy to it, I know. And have used that when I'm able.) I personally don't feel ill towards those who win often. But as a group leader trying to help someone else win, sometimes it's a bit disheartening to feel like we can't even as a group, pull out a win for someone's birthday or something.

But no worries. Just venting/thinking and not pointing fingers. ;)

It's luck and it's fair so I don't know if it's the right choice to make a limitation.. I would prefer to find a different solution that will not limit people..

Honestly, I don't understand why some people spends too much on this lottery.. unless you win the Angelic/Blacklight potion or Harvest potion during winter to summer, nothing is really worth the waste of money.. even the medal and it's old art..

If it's the sP sink part people are worried about, they could raise ticket prices. 500 sP per ticket is nothing, even scratchcards cost more than one lottery ticket.

[Edit] Or at the very least, add a timer/refresh prevention to the "buy ticket/megaticket" page.

I'm pretty much in line with , , , and 's sentiments.

It's an sP sink. If you can't afford a certain potion, you buy a ticket hoping to win one for a discount. If you're spending more than the worth of one potion for yourself or someone for their birthday and getting frustrated, it would be best to spend your sP on something more worthwhile. It's no secret what you're getting yourself into by buying all of those tickets.