Frustrating black key/equipment luck

[puschit]

So I have 346 hours clocked, about 300 of those with my main char. I am okay with the fact that my main ist still 19 levels short of the maximum (although that is still kind of ridiculous).

What I am NOT okay with is the fact that I found a total of TWO black keys! Yes, 2. It doesn't matter if I grind events, play nightmare or regular games, I just don't find keys!
And to top everything off: A few days ago I bought a black key in the faction wars shop. What did I get? THE SAME HELMET I ALREADY HAD IN BLACK!!! With 6 stars instead of 5, yay, so I have to spend millions of credits again to get an ever so slighly advantage out of all of that.

Maybe I am a totally unlucky outlier but somehow I doubt that. I just think that they screwed with the drop chances. That 5% from nighmare nantoniums for example seems like a myth from my perspective. Is this a ploy to make me buy keys for actual money? Can this game afford to frustrate it's small player base like that? Because I'd rather stop playing than giving in to tactics like that. I was pleased to see that the new faction wars offers keys for the faction currency, but after grinding those and getting a duplicate even though I have only 2 black items makes me sympathizing with raging Devastators!

[Skywalker]

Don't focus too much on the black equipment bro. Try to level 100 first and find a good teams to play high level nightmare, Then everything you need will come to you. And guns and armour in the Faction Armory Better and more cash-saving than black gear like the Festungbreacher. This gun you can use from the beginning to the end of the game.👍💪💯🔥

[puschit]

What is there to focus on levelling other than just playing? Basing on the current speed it'll take another 100 hours at least and getting nothing in between is just unsatisfying. The entire thing is, you get every single red equipment fully maxed out comparetivel early and from there it is a drag and no real progression, not much to choose from. It's bad design.

[xxx]

> Is this a ploy to make me buy keys for actual money?
Yes. Free games are like that.

If you want more keys, see the guide below.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2841058992

The higher character level, the stronger black items.
If you will earn XP for character efficiently, see the guide below.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2954817617

[puschit]

I know all of that and if the only way to get more XP is to "disconnect from internet" aka being that a$$hole that ruins other player's games, then I say, no, thank you.

"Yes. Free games are like that."
There free games that balance this well and games that exaggerate. Seems like SAS belongs to the latter. There is always a fine line between reasonable and greedy. And free games still need a certain amount of free players to get going for a varity of reasons.