Enchanting! Bad and Worse.

My main point is this:

If I fail 10 times to get ++ why would I amplify my risk going from ++ to +++ at an exponential rate of loss if all I can receive out of it is +2 whatever stat. I can't imagine too many people spending 100's if not 1000's of potential ores/materials for 10hp/10focus/2agi/2int alone.

I'm not saying the stats "Aren't Good". Or to make Enchanted equipment OP. But since this is the primary form of progression there should be a slightly longer road than 3 tiers. The current form basically pushes players to try getting +str/+dex/+agi on their first or perhaps second enchant roll and then stop, recreate a new weapon. While +10 focus and +10 hp is nice, realistically in practice that only really equals to 1 extra spell cast and maybe 1 extra hit from a mob (mileage may vary).

At any rate; I'm not attacking or defending the system. I'm simply saying I don't see any reason a player would go to +++ other than because they have more materials than they know what to do with, they want the feeling of completed upgraded equipment, or they like to play the lotto. I don't really see going from ++ to +++ giving any tangible combat advantage; luck of the draw on cards, crit chance, and other combat factors play more factor than anything.

Just to restate - I'm not saying make gear overpowered... I'm saying that progression for progressions sake isn't all that fun. You should "FEEL" the difference when you get a piece of armor or weapon upgraded.

~Woden

 

But that's going to be the only thing driving prices for metals and basic crafted gear. I stacked up a ton of cash in previous releases.. so not spending that a low chance for a modest boost seems silly to me.

As for the whole risk to people that want gear... they can always interact with crafters that provide a flat gold price and will deliver the finished item.

 

As a contrasting opinion - i opted for upgrading my weapon to +++ because i had more of that material than those needed to boost my armor to ++. But the fact of the matter is that it generally IS smarter to upgrade everything to ++ before bothering to take the big risk. However, this creates a tier of items that can be used as event prizes and long term goals. I don't disagree that more tiers might not be better overall, but I consider this system a signficant step up from the old crit one(provided they address the issues i(and others) mentioned about crafting leveling being pointless)

 

I completely understand where you're coming from, and I do think that obviously +++ is better than ++ if you have the materials for it. If you have two exact players in skill, levels, build and one had full ++ and the other +++ then the outcome would still be pretty much 50/50, I don't believe there is a large enough discrepancy between the cost of the two items.

That being said if we set the statistics aside... IF +++ armor/weapons gave a shimmer or a sheen to their appearance showing how awesome your stuff was.. that might be enough lure to get people to invest in it.

It'll be interesting to see where the dev's go with the system; I definitely don't hate it, just like everything else newly implemented, it'll take some time to flesh out and get it to where they want it.

~Woden

 

I'm a little cautious on making stuff sparkle too much.. but a small visual adjustment sounds like a cool idea to me.

 

I agree; That's why I refrained from using a term like Glow. Just something like polished armor, something to make it stand out to show visual success of your extremely high quality gear.

~Woden

 

I think it sounds cool. I just specifically brought it up because i know a lot of games seem to accidentally go the other direction without really meaning to.

 

Which just means we have a different view of risk and reward and I respect your opinion, though I do disagree with it. As someone who was planning to play a crafter, this is a major turn off for me. Also, the primary driving factor for basic crafted gear SHOULD be populating loot tables, not farming it up to engravers.

 

Did we ever see any followthrough with this feature at all? I'm not even sure how it feasibly would be implemented...

 

No. And it was supposed to happen WAY before final wipe. The original intention was to start the MOB loot populating with everything that crafters made leading up to final wipe while we were in Beta (as crafting mechanics would have been finished and stable after Alpha). The change of development models destroyed this intention. It is still supposed to happen, as it is the single most important aspect of player crafting, but sadly everyone would rather focus on selling to players and making money that way instead of as originally intended. This is one of the reasons (per DS) why it is that NPCs don't buy our crafted gear for more than the cost to make it. It kills the "player economy" supposedly.

We have some great devs working on the crafting so I hope they start the push towards this again, but honestly if players don't adopt it then there is no hope of it succeeding.

 

I'm still a bit skeptical of the practicality of the system. I'm not saying it won't be possible to make it a good one, but i'm assuming several iterations would be needed to get it there.

 

Oh most definitely agree. I'm very concerned about how they do it, as there is absolutely 0 incentive for players to do it currently. But, I hate to admit, it is that one feature that sold me on trying out and ultimately buying the game when I first interviewed RG and DS. Normally I'm an offline only person, but that feature drew me to be willing to invest in the online side (and then the community got me stuck in the online because of how many awesome people there are). The focus on everything in world being player crafted and items gaining attributes/titles over time was such a huge concept. It actually gave a purpose for decorative and basic item crafting besides just level grinding. Don't see how they can pull it off with current design intentions, but I'm still really hopeful they can.

 

Yeah. I burned out pretty heavily on MMO's for a long while, so i had a similar situation(bought it for offline). I was more skeptical about the claims initially, though i did expect RG to bring certain elements in more heavily than most developers would. And the community is definitely one of the best i've seen online...

 

The system has to be a placeholder..... Right? Like others have posted, i feel strongly about the risk v reward of the current system. I think it would be acceptable to take on the risks, if there was more control over what enchantments were placed on the item. For example we could be really boring and invoke the holy trinity and different reagents correspond to tank/heal/dps type enchants.

Right now, I feel it is even risky to put the first stage of enchant on certain items. Yesterday I was left without any pants after the rng gods decided that I was lucky enough to fall into that 10% failure range. Good bye bronze epic plate leggings with hardened leather straps..... I was so sad I guess on the flip side, I would have been nearly as sad if the rng decided to give me +1 Intel instead of the +2 Str stat, but at least I would still a have pants!

But as the system stands, we have to play Russian roulette with our gear, and furthermore we have no control over what stats get placed on them, and then not be able to re-roll that enchant! After losing out on the 90% rolls, I cringe at the stage 2 enchants which are at 50% I believe... Im blocking out all thoughts of the 3rd 10% enchant

 

You can't get +1 and +2 of a stat on the same item. I think weapons and chest give +2 and everything else +1. On top of that there is a 60% chance that you get the stat you want on the first enchant. Then on the second time you have a 75% chance of getting what you want and a 100% chance on the last time(of course you can't get any duplicate enchants).

If you want something made with certain materials and stats tell me and i can provide a price estimate for you.

(I still say you should never enchant what you are currently wearing)

 

I think instead of completely destroying the item it should just heavily damage it so that it requires repair thus its a huge gold sink and the item isn't lost problem solved.

 

or buy the ore from someone else $$

I think its important we have ways to lose items. Noone is making low-end gear at all for this reeason

 

The item being lost is the entire point. If every single player needs exactly 1 of each item made, crafting will make all of them in no time, gold sinks or not. Now, if there were universal (very slow) item destruction, making alterations to the enchanting system might be more feasible. However, that item destruction mechanic is just about the only thing stopping us from already having been flooded with items.

 

No one is making low-end gear because there is no profit for them to make it. It has nothing to do with item destruction or non-destruction. It's purely because it isn't worth it to produce currently. Having gear get destroyed doesn't improve this market as everyone seems to think it would.

 

Exactly