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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsUPDATED: Bag of candies working as intended
by Zach Yonzon 
Feb 13th 2009 at 2:00PM
Some people are crying foul over the apparently horrendous drop rate of the Bag of Candies, which produce the various candies needed to complete the Be Mine! Achievement. This, in turn, is required for the Fool for Love meta-Achievement. On average, players will need to get two of these bags of candies to produce all of the eight possible messages, as each bag has ten charges.
Many players haven't had much luck picking up the Achievement, including our own Liz Harper, who claims to have gotten one bag in two days of trying. One guildie swears that a specific NPC in Thunder Bluff hands it out, dismissing the fact that it is actually... completely random. This random drop rate has gotten some players up in arms. Blizzard poster Zarhym comes over to the forums to pronounce that the Bag of Candies drop rate is, in fact, working as intended.
Zarhym points out that many players think that they deserve a free mount simply for participating in the holiday events, but clarifies that Blizzard doesn't share the same stance. He says that the alternative is making major Gold sinks during these events or requiring the visit of 9,000 Elders -- something I believe nobody wants -- and explains that chance (or luck) needs to be a limiting factor. At the end of the thread, after much QQ, Zarhym concedes that "there is some consideration for increasing the drop rate," but that it will remain a lottery-type thing.
There are about three days left on the event, so don't get your hopes up about Blizzard changing the drop rate anytime soon. That said, those three days should be sufficient time to luck out on a couple of these bags, which should be enough to get all the right candies for the Achievement. My only beef is that you can't actually eat the darned things.
Love is in the Air and on WoW Insider. Check out our continuing coverage of the event and our guide to earning the achievement. And you better hurry; the holiday only lasts five days!Filed under: Events, Blizzard, Forums, Achievements
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 8)
Jocelyn Feb 13th 2009 2:10PM
those damn bags... i need 1 more candy for the love fool title and i've gone through 2 candy bags already
Mysty Feb 13th 2009 2:12PM
I'm frustrated by this achievement, but I enjoy it. I'd rather it be challenging, rather than getting this achievement the day the event starts. I want to work for that 310% drake!
Mysty Feb 13th 2009 2:14PM
I don't want this to be like, um, taking candy from a baby :P
LatinViruz Feb 13th 2009 2:15PM
2 days of grinding, not a sight of the bags, pet or that dress. ; (
Nord Feb 13th 2009 2:34PM
I understand, I have no pet, no candy, 3 dresses, 3 sets of rockets, 1 love fool and enough chocolate to choke a goat. That's all one one of my characters, my alts have gotten no pets or candy so far. I do have a bunch of love fools and rockets and the rest. I have gotten Nation of Adoration on all 10 characters except one, because I got a pledge instead by mistake.
Balius Feb 13th 2009 3:00PM
I've been giving away the dresses. I've had 17 of them so far, on my nine characters. Picnic Baskets are another item I find myself "luckily" getting, as one of my character has a backpack full of the soulbound items.
Less luck with the pet, though.
LatinViruz Feb 15th 2009 11:21AM
haha you know whats funny is that a bag of candy poped up twice in a row that day after i wrote this comment. and i got my title :)
-sikaros , Fizzcrank PVE
Syd Feb 13th 2009 2:20PM
14 tries at the bag of candy.... none so far..
about 72 chances to go before the event is over...
Eric Feb 13th 2009 2:21PM
A guildie got the title the first day, a dozen more had it the next two days, my girlfriend got her last candy required this morning.
Now seeing as this 5 day event is 90% RNG and a lot of interested people are done on day 3 I'll expect very few people to not be able to get it done.
I hate RNG, and this holiday is pretty annoying compared to the others which have thus far been enjoyable but it really isn;t that big of a deal. No need to get hot and bothered since someone got the title before you, just spend some extra time on Sunday or Saturday if you don't have plans.
Childrens week is going to be interesting, I'm not sure if Blizz will keep the achievement for that holiday at all because there is again little time, lots to do.
In unrelated news, there are 3 troll rogues on Haomarush...
Jay in Oregon Feb 13th 2009 2:26PM
"In unrelated news, there are 3 troll rogues on Haomarush..."
I went out to Durotar to look for Orc Shamans and Troll Rogues, figuring I'll have more luck finding someone rolling an alt or a twink. I found the shaman but not the rogue; there was one waiting for me the next time I went to Dalaran, however.
Worst case scenario? Have a friend roll a level 1 alt (unless you're on a PvP server) and then do the same for them.
Angus Feb 13th 2009 2:44PM
Try finding a Space goat paladin on Echo Isles. You can't take 3 steps without tripping over a shaman, but a paladin?!
And I will so be parking an alt troll rogue outside the bank in Org. Just to be nice.
Duffy Feb 13th 2009 3:23PM
You're falling into a statistical fallacy, just because that subset of people succeeded does not mean everyone else will. Now, we have no way of knowing who is having good luck or bad luck as we don't know the exact % or the specifics of how the RNG works, but either way you are making a false statement.
Jon Do Feb 13th 2009 2:23PM
This was working as intended, but the Ice Stone melted.
So they're working on a hot fix.
Now the bag of candy will spawn in your backpack when you enter a major faction city.
The bag will drop a violet proto-drake egg, which will hatch in 6 months.
Kellrass Feb 13th 2009 4:45PM
I'm amazed no one has mentioned that the candies are tradable. Even with a low drop rate just ask around or hit the auction house.
vyx Feb 13th 2009 2:31PM
Perhaps no one mentioned that because the Achievement has nothing to do with getting the candy handed to you, it's for looting the candy from the bag.
Zach Feb 13th 2009 4:46PM
That's because trading the candy won't get you the Achievement. You need to loot it yourself from the Bag of Candies.
Todd Feb 13th 2009 2:31PM
Hmm, I didn't know there was an issue when I completed my achievement.
Cylvanis Feb 13th 2009 10:42PM
I got the bag on the first day of the event and the achievement out of it in ten charges :o) than never saw it again :o(
CeeGee Feb 13th 2009 2:35PM
I finished all the requirements on Wednesday except the bag of candy.
On Thursday evening, I finished my achievement. I am now "The Love Fool". It wasn't easy. I think I got 7 Picnic Baskets before I ever saw one bag of candy. Even after, I got every candy on my first bag save ONE. That LAST "you're the best" candy finally showed up after eight bags. If you want this achievement, you need to work at it. It's going to take time, it's going to take patience.
If anyone honestly expects everything to just be handed to them, they are mistaken.
Jamesisgreat Feb 13th 2009 3:23PM
Nobody is saying you shouldn't have to work for it - I got the Elder title and that was working for it. Flying around for hours on end, running heroic Gundrak - it takes a lot of time but you know if you put the effort in you can do it. I'm fine with that.
With this achievement however, I'm logging on every hour and hoping the RNG gives me a bag of candy. No work - just luck. I've tried about 20 times so far and no candy. It's not even fun - just kinda pointless.
As far the blue poster - 'Zarhym points out that many players think that they deserve a free mount simply for participating in the holiday events, but clarifies that Blizzard doesn't share the same stance'. I'm not sure why we shouldn't expect a 'free' mount after taking however many many hours it takes to get all this crap done. Making it come down to a RNG just makes everyone miserable and eventually just not bother. If they want it to be random, just make the proto-drake a really rare world drop and be done with it.
Personally I'm not even going to get the drake this year as I was away over Xmas, but still, for players that put in all this effort, why shouldn't they have a drake to show off with at the end of the achievement year?