Now that Hallow's End is over for another year, it's time to settle up. We already asked
whether you got what you wanted, but
according to the informal polls (and the feedback I've been hearing), quite a few people didn't actually get everything they were trying for. As we mentioned
on the podcast the other week, many people who said they did everything they could probably didn't (did you really go trick-or-treating every hour of every day during the holiday?), but it's not too far a stretch to suggest that maybe the drop rates for some of the hardest items to get (
the Horseman's helm and
the Sinister Squashling pet seem to be the toughest, though I heard a lot of stories about hard-to-find
toothpicks, too) are a little bit lower than they should be for fairness.
Not so, says Bornakk -- he said while the holiday was ongoing that the drop rates were fine, and now that it's over, he says they're still fine. That doesn't mean Blizzard won't change it for next year, but it does mean that they don't have any current plans to change the holiday at all. "The randomness," as he says, "can win sometimes."
Our condolences if you were trying for an item and didn't get it -- even on a 50/50 coin flip,
there's still a chance to see one side 1000 times in a row. We sincerely mean this one: better luck next year.
Tags: 50-50-coin-flip, better-luck-next-year, bornakk, chances, hallows-end, headless-horseman, horseman, polls, random, randomness, rng, sinister-squashling, squashling, toothpick, trick-or-treat
Filed under: Fan stuff, Blizzard, Buffs, Forums
Nov 3rd 2009 at 4:00PM 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
Yvels Nov 3rd 2009 4:07PM
163 HH summons for the Horse. no drop. What are the chances ? I hate you Blizz !!!
Ilnara Nov 3rd 2009 4:08PM
[Morbo]
THAT IS NOT THE WAY DROP RATES WORK!
[/Morbo]
Dboy Nov 3rd 2009 4:12PM
1/163 are still good odds - the horse is supposed to be rare.
Yvels Nov 3rd 2009 4:11PM
I know I know.. took on my previous main (Mage) 358 summons to get it... still ... /cry
Rav Nov 3rd 2009 4:29PM
Sick as it is to say it I actually did Trick or Treat every hour. Alarm set to go off every hour all night so I could log in and do it. All I was trying for was the mask achievement. I still needed seven at the start of the holiday and by the 9th day I got my final one. Then I never Trick or Treated again. 8D
I had finished all the achieves for the Meta last year so that wasn't an issue. What was is that for the fourth year in a row I failed to win a mount. Last year I was out rolled twice. Both times by people who no longer play the game, /sigh. This year I never even saw one drop. Only saw the sword once and the helm twice. I know of many people with tons of alts that didn't see any of them at all. I would say that the drop rate this year seemed lower. None of it bothers me except the failure to attain a flying horse. C'est la vie though. 8P
Jonathan Nov 3rd 2009 7:07PM
@rav
4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42 4 8 15 16 23 42
artifex Nov 3rd 2009 7:50PM
Rav: Hah! I started WoW last year around the 25th or so. My first Achievement ever seems to be sticking my hand in a bucket of candy on the October 26th, 2008. Anyway, ended that holiday with 3 flimsy masks. Ended this year with... only 5 total :)
As soon as I realized I didn't need it for the meta at the beginning of this holiday, I really relaxed, and just had fun. Don't really care if I finish that one next year, even, and I'm an achievement junkie. (Would be neat if the masks didn't disappear at the end of the holiday, but until they offer another row of bank slots, I think it's a good thing they make most of this soulbound holiday stuff temporary.)
Maybe it's partly to do with the fact that on my very first run into the graveyard ever for HH, on the first summon the helm and the pet dropped, and I greed-got them both. Then on the second summon, I needed the broom, and got it, too. So I was basically done, except for the horse, which never dropped for me. Would be nice to add a third fiery horse to my collection, but maybe next year. Oh yeah, just for giggles, bought the enchanted broom on the AH, and that'll always be mine.
Ilnara Nov 3rd 2009 4:07PM
Funny, I've seen 3 sinister squashlings... two in bags of candy.. once on the Horseman himself. Took me till this year to get a toothpick, I've only gotten 3 of the wands, and 2 of the masks.
It's all relative friends.
Golis Nov 3rd 2009 4:16PM
70 toothpicks
over half the flimsy masks
enough lollipops to sicken a whole kindergarten class
every wand... TWICE
FIVE hallowed helms
an actual sighting of the mount (I rolled a TWO... *sigh*)
... and not one... NOT ONE squash...
I wouldn't have minded losing a roll on one if I knew they dropped...
(my RNG karma really owes me one from this holiday)
Itanius Nov 3rd 2009 6:25PM
I've gone 2 years now on my rogue without getting the Sinister Squashling. Ugh.
The RNG can kiss my proverbial ...
Jamesisgreat Nov 3rd 2009 6:41PM
I got the sinister squashling last year, but saw it drop in the first Headless Horseman run I did this year. One guy in my pug had mentioned that he hoped it would drop, and when it did he won the roll (against 2 other people) and with that, got the "what a long strange trip" achievement! I couldn't believe he didn't mention that that was why he was hoping it would drop beforehand!
Squirr3llywrath9 Nov 3rd 2009 6:59PM
I got the squashling on my main and two alts all from the treat bags. Most of my guild hates me for it but that's how RNG works.
ticklesme Nov 3rd 2009 9:50PM
yeah its relative i think
i finished the achievement 4 hrs after it started, and got the mount on the first day!!
also finished it on another toon
and even finished it on a lvl 72 toon when she got the pet and helm consecutive times on an hourly trick or treating
my friend got the helm on the last day of killing the headless horseman
Rugus Nov 3rd 2009 4:12PM
It's just bad that a 365 days meta achievement can be totally wasted by a single random sub-achievement. I did not manage to obtain a squashling pet from any of the innkeepers in Outland, Northerend and (almost) all Azeroth. I saw (and won) one on my 7th Horseman daily run. Random is random, yes, but for those who run the 310% mount meta-achievement over 12 months well... it's a real pain in the /\ss.
Jack Spicer Nov 3rd 2009 4:18PM
The problem might be expecting to get a squashling from a treat bag. You really need to be running Headless Horsemen groups to have an honest shot at getting one.
Jack Spicer Nov 3rd 2009 4:19PM
Nevermind. I just noticed the HH remark in your comment. :p
Robert Nov 3rd 2009 4:46PM
There's a reason the holiday meta-mount goes 310%.
thebitterfig Nov 3rd 2009 5:18PM
I'm going to agree with Rugus. the rarity of the squashling makes the title a pretty raw deal for even people who run the horseman every day.
If we look at the brewmaster title, that just took transforming your mount with hops, rather than winning a mount from coren. it'd be nice if the title took only *one* between the squashling and the helm.
Jonathan Nov 3rd 2009 7:15PM
@Jack Spicer
I had the Squashling drop three separate times from candy bags alone, nevermind maybe five or six plus I saw drop from the Horseman (I stopped counting when it got ridiculous), yet I only saw the Helm drop twice at HH and never from a bag (And I am lucky I got the roll on the second one). Both times on the Helm three of us rolled, both times it would've finished the meta for at least two of us.
As others are saying: it's all relative. All those people looking for toothpicks would've been welcome to mine. I got dozens while trying to farm for wands to sell.
Kiyokko Nov 3rd 2009 4:12PM
I think the best drop rates were in those wrapped packages you got for looting the smashed pumpkin after putting out the fires. I got 5 squashlings and 3 helms from those in the first few days.
However after the 5th day or so people stopped caring about putting out the fires (at leas on my server/faction), and thusly what I think was a good opportunity to get the items was a lost cause for the remainder of the event.