I really don't know what I was thinking. I woke up this morning, saw the new "Mayflower" update notification when I opened TF2, and I was like, "Heyyy, lemme unbox a couple of them, I might end up getting an Unusual or Strange item!"
Me. Trying my luck at unboxing rare items. What the hell was I thinking.
I buy my Strange cosmetics or weapons directly from the community market, because all my friends keep telling me the chances of unboxing a Strange or Unusual item is extremely rare, and that I will save much more if I buy them directly online. Yup, some of them are expensive, but at least the certainty of getting that item is 100%.
Anyway, like I said, it was a crazy morning. And I decided to try my luck.
As is the case with any TF2 unboxable items, the crate itself is quite cheap, it is the key that is bloody expensive. In Indian rupees, a key cost 172 bucks.
And here is a clever marketing strategy TF2 uses. If you buy 8 keys, the total amount is just not enough to avail of the free gift. You get a free gift on every purchase of Rs. 1379 or above. Buying 8 keys costs Rs. 1376, just 2 freaking bucks shy of the free gift. What a dick move by their marketing strategists :) And of course buying another key makes you overshoot that target by a large margin, so you have no other option but to buy the cheapest item possible in order to reach that target.
In my case, I bought a bagpack expander since I require it anyway. And so with that, I was eligible for the free gift.
I took a long hard look at my shopping cart, then thought of the amount I already spent on my Life Insurance premium this month, along with my rising electricity bill because of the summer heat, and it made me really really wanted to cancel that transaction.
But then I thought of the chance of unboxing an unusual item. Yeah I can go one or two days without eating if I end up broke because of it, but it would be worth it if I unbox an Unusual item.
And so, yeah, I clicked the dreaded "Checkout" button…
I felt my wallet go lighter from the back of my bum, even though this was an online transaction.
And then I got the items…
Yeah, eight Mayflower cosmetic keys, along with a free gift and a bagpack expander. Now it was time to buy the Mayflower creates from the community market.
As we all know, TF2 always lies when it comes to community market costs. :P The "starting cost" mentioned in the game is never the same once you go to the actual community market.
In this case, TF2 said the "Mayflower cosmetic case" starts at Rs. 0.18
But once at the market, you can see it was selling at around Rs. 10 or more…
And my oh my, it was selling like hot cake. The price was fluctuating continuously as people kept buying it quickly. I too failed a couple of times because by the time I clicked on it, somebody had already bought that item before me, and then it took some time to find a seller with that exact same cost.
Eventually, I bought eight cases with a price ranging from Rs. 11 to Rs. 15.
And so it was time for the grand unveiling…
The first item I unboxed was "The Airdog" for Scout.
The next item was the "Squire's Sabaton" for again Scout…
Then came the "Courtly Cuirass" for Scout once again…
Fourth item was the "Scoped Spartan" for Sniper.
After that it was "The Surgical Survivalist" for Medic…
Next was "The Demo's Dustcatcher" for Demoman of course…
After that I got yet another "Courtly Cuirass"…
...followed by yet another "The Demo's Dustcatcher".
So all in all, out of the eight Mayflower cosmetic cases, I unboxed 4 Scout items, 2 Demoman items, 1 Medic item, and 1 Sniper item. Not to mention two of those were repetitions. And NONE of them were Unusual or Strange. I felt my heart tighten and blood pressure rise immediately. Damn… such a bummer.
Anyway, that's the LAST time I'll ever spend money on keys.
I am very disappointed, but at least they aren't so bad. For example, let's take a look at my scout… He looks kinda badass medieval with the "Courtly Cuirass" and "Squire's Sabaton", though "The Airdog" doesn't match at all. If only I had unboxed the "Herald's Helm" to complete the set…
As for my Medic, I think "The Surgical Survivalist" kinda matches pretty well with my existing "Dapper Medical Monarch" and "Berlin Brain Bowl" headgear.
And then here's my sniper wearing the "Scoped Spartan" cape. I really am not a fan of cape cosmetics because they prevent you from equipping secondary weapons like the "Razorback", "Cozy Camper" and "Darwin's Danger Shield".
Finally, my demoman. I think "The Demo's Dustcatcher" really matches well with my "K-9 Mane" and "Shin Shredders", don't you think too?
And so, that was me unboxing eight Mayflower cosmetic items. Even though I was disappointed, I saw a couple of recent YouTube videos where people did the same thing and unboxed almost the same stuff that I did. So yeah, in a way, knowing I am not alone in my misery kinda makes me feel not so sad anymore :D :P
Cheers then…
