I know I’m not going crazy about this, Why is Roblox quietly phasing out effects on all of these item categories? Bonus items that come with digital gift card purchases, Final event prizes, even monthly offers, people bought into these because the effects gave them something special. Now, they don’t really have anything special about them.
First, let’s specifically look into gift cards.
Don’t get me wrong, these items by themselves look great. I mean, if you look at the quality of July’s giftcard items, you can tell there was very obvious effort put into these.
But now let’s compare this to last years Autumns giftcard line-up. Notice how they all have unique effects that help reinforce the theme of the month and the item? Not only that, but these effects add something unduplicatable from normal items. Only Roblox items can contain effects, which makes them invaluable and worth purchasing while they are available.
This isn’t a bug report to say to Catalog Asset engineers, all of these months need to be reworked with their own effects, but I don’t think they realize that there is a larger market of people purchasing these items specifically for the particles. This same issue applies to Bonus items given out in Digital giftcards.
Next, let’s look into Event Items:
I think The Hunt’s “The Infinite Egg” was an amazing rework of the Fabrege egg, and players loved these 8-bit flairs emitting from the top. Not only that, but the particles add to the item certifying it as a grand reward, it adds to the status symbol of owning the final prize.
This year we get… an Easter basket… with a slight addition of PBR that is mostly unnoticeable. It’s not flashy, it isn’t telling to other players that you completed a difficult challenge, it’s just kind of there.
Finally, let’s look at timed offer items:
I think the favorites are very telling on the Armored Pigeon. Not only are these particles distinctive to this item, it was generally cheap, and it was correctly timed, eventually going offsale.
Players like being able to play around with memorable particle effect items they are given access to, especially when they are given at a reasonable price and for a limited time. It’s the perfect mix of all these three things.
Now… fast forward to the “Emerald Blade of the Blushing Grove”… It never properly went onsale until someone bug reported the issue, and then when the event period ended it just kind of… was left onsale… doesn’t have any effects, not very favored by anyone for that matter.
The event details to this post have been deleted, or archived, we don’t know for that matter. The event itself ended May 7th and has been left onsale for 2 months.
My conclusion is, this is a problem of quality control just as much as it is a content direction issue. Roblox doesn’t seem to recognize that the lack of consistency in their bonus items, event prizes, and timed offers actively undermines the entire purpose of why users engage with them in the first place. People aren’t just buying digital gift cards or grinding through seasonal events for some plain item, they’re doing it for something memorable, something unique, something they can’t just get through normal means.
To make matters worse, Google Play event items are often promoted as limited-time purchases, but when the event ends, even when the event page clearly says the trial has ended. the items remain onsale. This completely undercuts the idea of exclusivity and makes the “limited-time” label feel meaningless.
Expected behavior
In conclusion, Roblox needs to understand that effects aren’t just something extra, they’re a big part of why players value certain items. They serve as a status symbol and help make rewards feel unique and worthwhile. Removing effects from future items takes away what made those items special in the first place.
On top of that, Google Play event items should be handled like any other timed content. If the event ends, the items should go offsale. Leaving them up after saying the trial is over sends mixed signals and makes players question the value of future offers.