59 replies to this topic

[asuboy]

Why don't you all focus on developing a new planet or something new instead of changing things around without implementing something new. I started assuming , you guy just dont have the ability to do so .

[Leonis]

Leo, Can you explain this more? Why was this changed?  I get hardly any drops now on Eldeon
 " There's been an adjustment to drop rates for monsters over level 100, where the chances will slowly scale down."
 
Allso on Eldeon none of the NPC HAve any ? or ! over their heads to show quests I can do?
 
Not that they dropped much anyway, now the ghosts that spawn on Luna weren't dropping anything. I was on my level 88 soldier.. Bad luck maybe??

It almost sounds like you've out leveled the area and done all the quests. Either that or there was a bug introduced with the latest quest corrections.
 
Consider if you are above the level range of a monster, it will have a reduced drop rate, and the fact that we reduced it based on level a bit more, will mean even more of a reduction for grey farming naturally.

 

Why don't you all focus on developing a new planet or something new instead of changing things around without implementing something new. I started assuming , you guy just dont have the ability to do so .

Because part of being able to create new content is based on these facets and features of natural game play. We're expanding sideways, so upward content can have a broader scope of field.

[Genesis]

And items that have been inserted with gems prior to this upcoming change? Will they be subjected to this change, allowing them to retain their previous appraisal stats before being gemmed?

If an item is gemmed prior to the update, the item's appraisal stat has already been overwritten by the gem stat and cannot be reclaimed retroactively (appraisal stat and gem stat data up until now share the same space in memory, which has been separated by the update to allow for preservation of the appraisal stat).  Only items that are gemmed after the update will retain their appraisal stat after the gem has been removed.

Edited by Genesis, 29 August 2014 - 08:59 AM.

[MidnightSmurf]

I just love seing you, DEVS, to activily answer in these threads. Much cudos to you.

[Nelko]

If an item is gemmed prior to the update, the item's appraisal stat has already been overwritten by the gem stat and cannot be reclaimed retroactively (appraisal stat and gem stat data up until now have same space in memory, which has been separated by the update to allow for preservation of the appraisal stat).  Only items that are gemmed after the update will retain their appraisal stat after the gem has been removed.

 

Unsurprisingly. Thanks for the response, though.

 

Got to hunt for another torso armor then.
 

[Fishnet]

Leo

 my raider is 175. shouldn't the NPC in Xita show me something? even if I have out leveled some areas? Didn't the npc show a ? or ! for the valors point quests or was i dreaming.. lol

Edited by Fishnet, 29 August 2014 - 09:13 AM.

[lolmetimbers89]

Where are you going with this gem update?

If existing gems or newer gems that are more desirable/comparable over top tier stats are allowed to be slotted in back/feet/hands/gloves/head/offhand this will kill crafting for stats and also devalue high statted gear that is often rerolled or incredibly rare.

Example - a rerolled summer backpack 30/8 may basically be the same as a charm slotted one after this update. Except rerolling that backpack took thousands of IM (billions of zulie) while the backpack is substantially cheaper to gem with a beryl7. Even if you restrict the number of b7 allowed to be worn at one time, someone can just buy a 30/8 armor piece.

25/50 or 50/40 shield being superseded and devalued by a shield with a more desirable gem...why bother buying a expensive statted version when you can buy any and just gem it and possibly have something even better? If gems are even close to being as good as top tier stats or better then nothing really has scarcity and thus high value. You already devalued practically all rare gear in the game with the exception of faith items. It will result in all gear being generic, just buy anything because you can just gem what you want.

Edited by lolmetimbers89, 29 August 2014 - 09:56 AM.

[ChampPower]

You mean 6 gems instead of 5...

You are right. My bad.

[lolmetimbers89]

I honestly feel like you should not even touch the economy even more by allowing all gear existing to be gemmed. A better solution which leaves existing gear untouched would be allowing costumes ONLY to be gemmed. This will increase build diversity and customization without adversely affecting anything else. Of course, if costumes are able to be gemmed then gem types and restrictions will obviously have to be balanced. An interesting possibility with a new gem system - raiders could gem for +20% critical hit damage and clerics could negate a raider's bonus by gemming for +20% critical hit damage reduction or opting for more defence/healing power. 

 

You have a few options here:

 

- Allow ALL costume gear to be gemmed. This allows the costume market and artisans to profit but still have their gear crafting intact. People will still be able to cosplay whatever they want (recommended route)

- Sell exclusive slotted costumes as a valor/honor reward. You can not obtain slotted costumes from anywhere else 

- Or allow only honor/valor gear to be gemmed. Maybe this will bring back honor backshields - so damn useless atm.

- Additionally sell new PvM/PvP gems at a valor/honor cost to entice participation in dungeons/PvP. Or have the new gems craftable components coming from Game Arena only - you still will need an artisan to craft them though. This increases Game Arena participation.

- Lastly, scrap the gems altogether and sell statted costumes with stat/set bonuses at a valor/honor cost (this will devalue king/royal sets however and make everyone look the same). Alternatively, introduce a self crafting system where you can spend honor/valor to upgrade your honor/valor gear to have a specific bonus e.g - Golden/Dark/Infused PvP gear with slightly different bonuses from vanilla gear. Just use the existing blue prefixes. 

 

The above system will also work if you add new slots specifically for placing only gems inside e.g - everyone has 4 additional gem slots on their character which are unlocked at every 50 levels. Players can choose what 4 gems they want on their character - this does not influence any existing gear slot in the game but will increase demand for these gems-> artis craft more-> or alternatively people play more if they need to buy these gems with valor/honor. You can also make them character locked on acquire so they require personal endeavor to be obtained. This is similar to the Glyph system in WoW except that you would be implementing stat bonuses over skill benefits. 

 

Edited by lolmetimbers89, 29 August 2014 - 10:57 AM.

[beachbabyc]

I honestly feel like you should not even touch the economy even more by allowing all gear existing to be gemmed. A better solution which leaves existing gear untouched would be allowing costumes ONLY to be gemmed. This will increase build diversity and customization without adversely affecting anything else. Of course, if costumes are able to be gemmed then gem types and restrictions will obviously have to be balanced. An interesting possibility with a new gem system - raiders could gem for +20% critical hit damage and clerics could negate a raider's bonus by gemming for +20% critical hit damage reduction or opting for more defence/healing power. 

 

You have a few options here:

 

- Allow ALL costume gear to be gemmed. This allows the costume market and artisans to profit but still have their gear crafting intact. People will still be able to cosplay whatever they want (recommended route)

- Sell exclusive slotted costumes as a valor/honor reward. You can not obtain slotted costumes from anywhere else 

- Or allow only honor/valor gear to be gemmed. Maybe this will bring back honor backshields - so damn useless atm.

- Additionally sell new PvM/PvP gems at a valor/honor cost to entice participation in dungeons/PvP. Or have the new gems craftable components coming from Game Arena only - you still will need an artisan to craft them though. This increases Game Arena participation.

- Lastly, scrap the gems altogether and sell statted costumes with stat/set bonuses at a valor/honor cost (this will devalue king/royal sets however and make everyone look the same). Alternatively, introduce a self crafting system where you can spend honor/valor to upgrade your honor/valor gear to have a specific bonus e.g - Golden/Dark/Infused PvP gear with slightly different bonuses from vanilla gear. Just use the existing blue prefixes. 

 

The above system will also work if you add new slots specifically for placing only gems inside e.g - everyone has 4 additional gem slots on their character which are unlocked at every 50 levels. Players can choose what 4 gems they want on their character - this does not influence any existing gear slot in the game but will increase demand for these gems-> artis craft more-> or alternatively people play more if they need to buy these gems with valor/honor. You can also make them character locked on acquire so they require personal endeavor to be obtained. This is similar to the Glyph system in WoW except that you would be implementing stat bonuses over skill benefits. 

 

Love it!

[joelhouse09]

I honestly feel like you should not even touch the economy even more by allowing all gear existing to be gemmed. A better solution which leaves existing gear untouched would be allowing costumes ONLY to be gemmed. This will increase build diversity and customization without adversely affecting anything else. Of course, if costumes are able to be gemmed then gem types and restrictions will obviously have to be balanced. An interesting possibility with a new gem system - raiders could gem for +20% critical hit damage and clerics could negate a raider's bonus by gemming for +20% critical hit damage reduction or opting for more defence/healing power.

You have a few options here:

- Allow ALL costume gear to be gemmed. This allows the costume market and artisans to profit but still have their gear crafting intact. People will still be able to cosplay whatever they want (recommended route)
- Sell exclusive slotted costumes as a valor/honor reward. You can not obtain slotted costumes from anywhere else
- Or allow only honor/valor gear to be gemmed. Maybe this will bring back honor backshields - so damn useless atm.
- Additionally sell new PvM/PvP gems at a valor/honor cost to entice participation in dungeons/PvP. Or have the new gems craftable components coming from Game Arena only - you still will need an artisan to craft them though. This increases Game Arena participation.
- Lastly, scrap the gems altogether and sell statted costumes with stat/set bonuses at a valor/honor cost (this will devalue king/royal sets however and make everyone look the same). Alternatively, introduce a self crafting system where you can spend honor/valor to upgrade your honor/valor gear to have a specific bonus e.g - Golden/Dark/Infused PvP gear with slightly different bonuses from vanilla gear. Just use the existing blue prefixes.

The above system will also work if you add new slots specifically for placing only gems inside e.g - everyone has 4 additional gem slots on their character which are unlocked at every 50 levels. Players can choose what 4 gems they want on their character - this does not influence any existing gear slot in the game but will increase demand for these gems-> artis craft more-> or alternatively people play more if they need to buy these gems with valor/honor. You can also make them character locked on acquire so they require personal endeavor to be obtained. This is similar to the Glyph system in WoW except that you would be implementing stat bonuses over skill benefits.

very nice idea.

[Feuer]

Ca someone clarify how adding gem slots to a costume is any different then to adding gems to eq? They both do the same, add more slots.

[lolmetimbers89]

My concern is how this devaluation reduces scarcity and rarity. Since the drop update only faith items are worth anything (R.I.P Dust wand and beautiful eq)...if gems are more desirable than (or close to) top stats, this may present problems in gear value becoming the same or 'common' - all gear basically becomes generic and cheap to obtain, anyone can have it and the only difference will be which gem is slotted in. 

 

Enabling gem slots to work on costumes means that current gear in the economy does not get influenced at all. Having all gear eq socketable may very well be a double edged sword as higher valued equipment like top tier masks/item mall gear gets devalued greatly. My two examples were 30/8 Summer backpack worth billions = Same as Summer backpack with B7, or a 25/50 Sopdu Shield = worthless if a gem is better and cheaper to put in. This also extends to masks etc that have been rerolled with thousands of IM. To those who spent IM/zuly for this gear it is another slap in the face.

 

Artisans should ideally always benefit from a gem update as demand will gems will skyrocket. However, if all equip is allowed to be gemmed this may also negatively influence the crafting, usefulness and value of statted gear. Having gems work on costumes on the other hand (or additional new slots as mentioned) leaves crafting and gear value alone while still increasing demand for gems. 

 

If the devs intentions are to increase artisan utility and also character customization I believe they should do it in other ways. Short ideas:

 

- More diverse skills builds (champion tree it is is so boring and lackluster for example while mage = build choices for days). More reactive and useful skills as well. Shorter defensive/offensive cooldowns or trinkets

- More diverse gem selection (critical damage, healing power, skill power, mute/sleep/stun resistance/chance etc).

- Unique slots for these gems ^ whether it be in the form of costumes or additional character gem slots

- Skill glyph system - taken from WoW e.g - A mage's staff stun now lasts 2 seconds longer when 'glyphed' or a Sword champ's mute chance is increased from 80->100% again when glyphed.

- Superior upgraded blue honor/valor gear - this is what should have been character locked on acquire while the standard sets still tradeable imo. 

 

[Gojio]

Ca someone clarify how adding gem slots to a costume is any different then to adding gems to eq? They both do the same, add more slots.

 

It's a big difference for crafters, because if today crafting a 25\50 or a +2 sen made a difference for their profit, next week they can be pretty much considered equal since both can be gemmed and the stat is irrelevant.

[Feuer]

I'm talking about where the slots are located, costume or eq they're both adding slots.

aside from that crafting a max stat is easier to gather supplies then it is to farm the mats for a gem. So technically profit per effort is still going to be higher on crafted items.

Edited by Feuer, 30 August 2014 - 05:13 AM.

[lolmetimbers89]

It just sounds like they are adding sockets to every single wearable slot in the game. But again the gem bonus will only apply if you use the item in the equipment slot.

After thinking about it some more, I think new socketable costume accessories would be a better idea. 3 slots for gems, possibility of bonus stats/set, standard sets craftable by Artis, better set from valor/honor/im store. New/existing gems are thus limited to three. No existing gear is negatively influenced.

Edited by lolmetimbers89, 31 August 2014 - 05:33 PM.

[Feuer]

While allowing the costumes to be gemmed doesn't affect current EQ sounds good is actually less then the purpose being served.

 

The real point is adding an outflow of items, and encouraging the econ to grow. Allowing costumes to be gemmed means each account only needs 1 costume set of each gem/stat type. As they can be freely changed out. Having the sockets applied to actual equipment means each character needs to have their own, which was the point of initiating the bindings. Allowing gems further increases the effect of the bindings by giving a purpose for having more then 1 set of equipment.

 

People used to state that buffsets gave them something to strive for, a reason to collect equipment's and play PvP games. Think of this new system as the replacement for that. The funny part is that people are now complaining that they have to get multiple sets again. So I stand on the fence in the debate over it. Either they want something to collect/earn or they don't, and it seems like the collective mind can't come to a compromise. 

[SunflowerGirl]

It almost sounds like you've out leveled the area and done all the quests. Either that or there was a bug introduced with the latest quest corrections.
 
Consider if you are above the level range of a monster, it will have a reduced drop rate, and the fact that we reduced it based on level a bit more, will mean even more of a reduction for grey farming naturally.

 
Because part of being able to create new content is based on these facets and features of natural game play. We're expanding sideways, so upward content can have a broader scope of field.

 

Regarding Eldeon NPCs, the signs above their heads are not there, but they are still giving quests and rewarding completed ones. Also, yellow and red ghosts (so not outleveled) are dropping nothing but zulie and occasionally a magic box but not one gem box. Something is definitely glitched there.

[pdfisher]

Leo has said that only ghosts which come from ghost seeds drop gem boxes now.

[lolmetimbers89]

Even if the purpose was to create an outflow of inventory, I highly disagree with the method used. If socketing an item is desirable or comparable to a top stat, eventually item value will keep decreasing until it hits a lower equilibrium. In essence, everything becomes as common, cheap and obtainable with only gems being circulated. There are no luxury goods available, nothing rare and desirable to strive for (faith is the exception for people with too much money, it is exactly because they don't have anything else good to buy that they purchase faith). This gem update will make people regem gear but in the end content wise it is just going around in circles.

How most MMOs deal with economy stagnation is increasing inventory turnover. For rose this means new gear content, not recycled gear with different gems. The introduction of new exalted class gear was a step forward in character customisation and improving item inflow/outflow. The problem was that this gear was not desirable enough over valor/honor gear. Endgame stagnation is horrendous, look at the in game activity thread. With declining players, especially in the PvP scene, increasing player base and participation would fix a lot of the games current problems.

There are so many other ways to achieve this. Just one example that will create old item outflow, new item inflow and get the economy moving would my suggestion of blue honor/valor gear. Imagine if the price of a current PvP set was cut in half, if it was bind on equip and could be bought and sold to other players. Imagine if higher tier PvP sets were available that needed the old sets to be made + honor. What this will do is reduce the entry fee to PvP as the standard set could be purchased, increase sales of old gear, increase game arena participation to get this new blue gear and increase participation for those who want to sell the old set. This would clear the market of 5 year old PvP gear, if there were 4 different blue sets available and they were character locked on acquire, that is 4 old PvP sets taken out of the economy as well as increasing PvP participation to upgrade to blue. This type of system can even be applied to socketing/gemming. Instead of a blue gear upgrade make it character locked socketable PvP gear.

[Feuer]

Even if the purpose was to create an outflow of inventory, I highly disagree with the method used[1]. If socketing an item is desirable or comparable to a top stat, eventually item value will keep decreasing until it hits a lower equilibrium. In essence, everything becomes as common, cheap and obtainable with only gems being circulated[2]. There are no luxury goods available, nothing rare and desirable to strive for (faith is the exception for people with too much money, it is exactly because they don't have anything else good to buy that they purchase faith)[3]. This gem update will make people regem gear but in the end content wise it is just going around in circles.[4]
 

 

[1] Thats fine, you're entitled to your opinion, and noone should tell you it's wrong, it's jsut how you emotionally feel. 

[2] Yes, that's very true, and normal. Most games release content in blocks, or expansions to keep up with "stagnation".

[3] Yea, faiths are in their own catagory, being because there is nothing else like them, and most likely never will be.

[4] There is an update planned that would provide the solution, but I don't have permission to post those details or plans =/ Though your concern is valid. 

[Bendersmom]

Even in Junon some of the NPCs do not have signs above their heads.  At least for me.  The Game Arena lady does not show anything for me.  I noticed that on Orlo as well.  But I can get the quests.

[Leeny]

I was under the impression only new gems could be put into new item sockets. Oh I really hope you guys don't screw up big time with this and allow all gems to go into everything. T_T...You DEVs..can be a little crazy with making thousands people have spent turn into nothing. This has to be carefully thought out. That's all xD Carry on...

Edited by Leeny, 02 September 2014 - 04:36 AM.

[joelhouse09]

maybe b7,s7,e7 is restrict to new slot location(head, gloves, foot, back, offhand and mask) . old slot location still remain..

[beachbabyc]

Guess I must be stupid cos I still don't understand the purpose of gems in costumes?