The droprate of enchanting stones reminds me of the droprate in Svardbord in the beginning: WAY TOO LOW.
I don't mind grinding, but doing about 30 runs and get nothing? Where is the fun playing this game? This is the hardest dungeon in the game -- you run it and if you are unlucky you won't get anything but some refinement points, really?
Either raise the droprate or give us more opportunities to get the stones. Plus give us valuable drops from bosses.
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adinosiiMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 4,294Arc User
edited October 2017
I have been collecting data on the drop rate. I'm a 16.5K DC, so it is really easy for me to get into ToNG runs, and not surprisingly, I have done a lot of them. Before we go for the last boss, I ask my team members to let me know if they get an ultimate stone.
The first day, it looked fine - four runs, a total of around 30 chests opened and two stones dropped. Not great, but not horrible, right?
Now, over 40 runs later, those two stones are still the only ones I have seen drop. My guess is that the drop rate is somewhere around 1%. If correct, that would mean it would take me several years to get the stones I need for just a single character.
That's not motivating. I am still running ToNG, only for the seals so I can gear up some of my alts (I already have a full set of Primal gear on my main - even both versions of some pieces for different loadouts), but with this drop rate there is no good reason to run ToNG after I have maxed out on seals for the week.
With the the RQs being a major flop as well, this means that there is just not very much in the game any more that can motivate me to play.
At least my wife is happy - I am spending less time on the game and more time with her.
Out of the 35-40 runs I did, it only dropped once. And you need THREE of them for each enchantment. After giving this some thought, perhaps the sane option would be to quietly retreat from this game.
I main a dc, and can honestly say i run an average of 10 runs a day. So im at 70 ish runs. And got 6 marks. I do barely anything else in the game. Now im seriously doing maths. 70 tong runs for 2 r14. If i upgrade my bondings to r14, i will get a whoooole 1k ish power total. Why would i want to get 180 more stats on a brutal r14... is it worth all this pain in tong? Is it worth me not doing anything else than this dungeon during my playtime? Is the price even worth it? 3m for a whole 180 stats more? 50 runs in tong? I dont think so. Am I not able with my friends to complete Tong because i dont have r14? Nope. So why would i do that to myself?
i'll upgrade a feytouched eventually and a lightning. But thats it. This is just a new frustration after masterwork drops in msp/FBI. An other mindless grind. I dont even want to do the RQs. MSP chest is broken. Random trial is leading me to Tiamat ad nauseum.
When i understand the reasoning behind putting those marks into end game dungeon, i dont understand the drop rate of those. You devs say that you dont want us to grind mindlessly same dungeon and thats why you put the RQs. But you made it so that us, end game players, are still doing mindless grind on the same dungeon over and over and over. Im disgusted of it. Literally. I see a Yuan Ti and gosh, even their little hearts around my head dont succeed in charming me anymore. Im more like running away like they force me to do sometimes. I still run tong because of guildies needing gear. I have enough seals that i geared alts that i dont play anymore, just for the sake of collection points.
Make it a 100% drop on EVERY boss. Make us roll on it. Make us work as a team and gear our characters like we did with the seals. Or let us buy the stones with seals. Something. But not this ridiculous grind. Like really.
The tooltip of marks says "rare drop from bosses in chult". IM SORRY but none of those bosses in tong drops one. Its a drop in a chest at the end apparently.
One of the main problems with ToNG is party composition especially after the last patch. Lets face it is still a GWF DC and OP combination. All the other classes are basically left out. Personally I only play a CW through the good and the bad I have been a CW since beta. However I have been extremely disappointed with the way my class and that of many others have been reduced into the stone age. But locked these things behind a dungeon that your class is considered sub-par and the ONLY chance you have of getting in there is to spec in MoF is ludicrous to me. Just really getting frustrated with the way things are turning out
Darian Del'Ford
AKA Taco Brotherhood of Pathfinders
Old Neverwinter Nights AOL Launched it all!
One of the main problems with ToNG is party composition especially after the last patch. Lets face it is still a GWF DC and OP combination. All the other classes are basically left out. Personally I only play a CW through the good and the bad I have been a CW since beta. However I have been extremely disappointed with the way my class and that of many others have been reduced into the stone age. But locked these things behind a dungeon that your class is considered sub-par and the ONLY chance you have of getting in there is to spec in MoF is ludicrous to me. Just really getting frustrated with the way things are turning out
Its not the state of the game really its the state of mind of people. I ran many tong without gwf within 27mn with one cw as main dps. I ran many tong without an OP. And i even run tong with guildies with my dc and 1 gf and 3 dps. Wont be 27mn but 40ish. The only chance you have of getting in there is finding a guild that doesnt do class discrimination or people that actually know how to run their toons. Not making a MoF.
I main a dc, and can honestly say i run an average of 10 runs a day. So im at 70 ish runs. And got 6 marks. I do barely anything else in the game. Now im seriously doing maths. 70 tong runs for 2 r14. If i upgrade my bondings to r14, i will get a whoooole 1k ish power total. Why would i want to get 180 more stats on a brutal r14... is it worth all this pain in tong? Is it worth me not doing anything else than this dungeon during my playtime? Is the price even worth it? 3m for a whole 180 stats more? 50 runs in tong? I dont think so. Am I not able with my friends to complete Tong because i dont have r14? Nope. So why would i do that to myself?
Sounds like nothing. After seeing so many people willing to run themselves silly for the small gain of a +5 rings over the +4 rings, I'm sure the devs are comfortable in the knowledge that people will do just about anything for BiS. Just be glad that buying is an option here.
> @namelesshero347 said: > I main a dc, and can honestly say i run an average of 10 runs a day. So im at 70 ish runs. And got 6 marks. I do barely anything else in the game. Now im seriously doing maths. 70 tong runs for 2 r14. If i upgrade my bondings to r14, i will get a whoooole 1k ish power total. Why would i want to get 180 more stats on a brutal r14... is it worth all this pain in tong? Is it worth me not doing anything else than this dungeon during my playtime? Is the price even worth it? 3m for a whole 180 stats more? 50 runs in tong? I dont think so. Am I not able with my friends to complete Tong because i dont have r14? Nope. So why would i do that to myself? > > > Sounds like nothing. After seeing so many people willing to run themselves silly for the small gain of a +5 rings over the +4 rings, I'm sure the devs are comfortable in the knowledge that people will do just about anything for BiS. Just be glad that buying is an option here.
250 boxes and zero ultimates, 650 boxes and 1 ultimate. If you’d read you’d see buying isn’t really an option.
On ambush rings: "How would you like PVE if all the mobs were invisible?"
250 boxes and zero ultimates, 650 boxes and 1 ultimate. If you’d read you’d see buying isn’t really an option.
Buy from the AH. Under 900K now. Cheap! Also, it's dropping like 50K/day. So I think the drop rate may still be too high. Leave the lockboxes to the gamblers.
250 boxes and zero ultimates, 650 boxes and 1 ultimate. If you’d read you’d see buying isn’t really an option.
Buy from the AH. Under 900K now. Cheap! Also, it's dropping like 50K/day. So I think the drop rate may still be too high. Leave the lockboxes to the gamblers.
lol, I can't even... I don't know how to address your err "logic" .. lol
On ambush rings: "How would you like PVE if all the mobs were invisible?"
People complained when they could not buy. Now people complain when you can buy. Is that logical?
Peoople can buy because people open boxes or "luck" into drops from dungeons. If you give the advice "don't open boxes" to all then your argument moots itself. I.E. your logic is not internally consistent.
You can only buy because people have bought at terrible RNG rates.
You haven't really thought this through and it's obvious mate.
The problem is the drop rate needs to be increased a lot.
On ambush rings: "How would you like PVE if all the mobs were invisible?"
I have a feeling the price is dropping that fast because nobody is buying them, or at least nobody is buying a lot of them. If one dropped for me, I'd probably try and sell it too. People are coming to the conclusion that it just isn't worth it.
Rank 9 to 10 wasn't a great improvement, but there wasn't anything else to do and it wasn't that bad to get there. Rank 10 to 12 wasn't terrible and again, wasn't a huge upgrade in stats but wasn't hard to do for most. Rank 12 to 13..same as before. But the HUGE jump in cost and availability to get to Rank 14 killed it.
I could see maybe upgrading Bondings to 14...but even that isn't a great ROI. Here is what I think will happen: They will keep the drop rate the same till the next UBER dungeon is released - that dungeon will probably have a slightly higher drop chance..maybe even a questline for a stone every week. Then Mod 14 comes around, they will start dropping more often because...........Rank 15 will be available.
They know they have a good thing with these enchants. They know people will kill for them. If they don't burn everyone out of them right now....they got us. Unfortunately, i think they put the carrot a weeee bit to far out.
People complained when they could not buy. Now people complain when you can buy. Is that logical?
Peoople can buy because people open boxes or "luck" into drops from dungeons. If you give the advice "don't open boxes" to all then your argument moots itself. I.E. your logic is not internally consistent.
You can only buy because people have bought at terrible RNG rates.
You haven't really thought this through and it's obvious mate.
The problem is the drop rate needs to be increased a lot.
I think that I think too much. Heehee.
Well, the RNG can't be that terrible if there is a decent supply in the AH.
People always want what benefits them. People who want to get their R13s and R14s want higher drop rate so they can get them cheaper. People like me who don't care about R13s and R14s, want an even lower drop rate so if/when I hit the jackpot, I will get a higher payout.
People complained when they could not buy. Now people complain when you can buy. Is that logical?
Peoople can buy because people open boxes or "luck" into drops from dungeons. If you give the advice "don't open boxes" to all then your argument moots itself. I.E. your logic is not internally consistent.
You can only buy because people have bought at terrible RNG rates.
You haven't really thought this through and it's obvious mate.
The problem is the drop rate needs to be increased a lot.
I think that I think too much. Heehee.
Well, the RNG can't be that terrible if there is a decent supply in the AH.
People always want what benefits them. People who want to get their R13s and R14s want higher drop rate so they can get them cheaper. People like me who don't care about R13s and R14s, want an even lower drop rate so if/when I hit the jackpot, I will get a higher payout.
The benefit cost ratio to get an enchant to rank 14 is too high because the pay to win rng of dropping Ultimate enchanting stones is too low meaning the stat points you gain for the millions you spend isn't worth it.
Also for each one you "buy" fromt he AH someone spent $$ on keys for lockboxes or legendary keys for To9G and are hoping to regain a portion of that lost Zen. Having tested myself and talked with a very large player pool the drop rates of Ulitmates locked behind actual cash is too low.
It's a cash grab and especially after just having nerfed our bonding stones it is apparent they have taken away a portion of our end game power and want to charge us to get a percentage of that back.
Even if the intent wasn't there (and I can tell you players do not view this as innocent) the perception is too strong that this is a money grab. Perception is reality. Most players will not pay money, run a dungeon a thousand times, or gamble away their zen on such terrible odds.
There are several ways to address this:
I.E. 1) increase the drop rate from lockboxes and To9g
2) Decreas the number of Ultimates needed to upgrade, like 1 per rank 14.
3)Make ways to trade other currencies like seals of the brave or tarmalune bars to purchase them.
There are multiple acceptable ways to correct this poor value ratio due to drop rates vs benefit. They need only pick one to restore the faith of the players I have talked with.
On ambush rings: "How would you like PVE if all the mobs were invisible?"
250 boxes and zero ultimates, 650 boxes and 1 ultimate. If you’d read you’d see buying isn’t really an option.
Buy from the AH. Under 900K now. Cheap! Also, it's dropping like 50K/day. So I think the drop rate may still be too high. Leave the lockboxes to the gamblers.
OP here and I've run 47 runs over the last 2 days with 0 drops. I don't care how many are on the AH all I care about is feeling rewarded for my tong runs. No I don't expect them to drop every run, but over 47 runs I should have gotten 5. With this drop rate all it accomplishes is that I don't feel like bothering anymore. It's not rewarding and it feels worse than a chore. At least after finishing a chore you feel like you accomplished something....... It's a fkng game, it should be fun not torture.
Good evening, I'm writing with ru servera. I would like to speak out about the chance of Absolute stoning stones falling out. For 5 days non-stop calls there hey pulled out 0 characters (0 characters !!!!!!!) How do I just do it? I ran around my approximate count about 100 times and 0 . I know people who ran there 10 times and pulled 4-8 signs, is that normal? The game should not turn into work and this is a fact, then it will get bored and will be uninteresting - this is how to get a job on 2nd job, but there you know what you will be paid, and then I farmed farml and return 0. By what principle do you do a random drop signs? Many players are already specifically dissatisfied with this and this is correct, do you imagine that I will run for a year to take the 14th stones? no it's easier for me to leave the project. I hope my point of view has been heard. (I'm sorry for the translation, translated through Google translator.
OP here and I've run 47 runs over the last 2 days with 0 drops.
I can't even do one run. But I'm sure the devs thanks you for reinforcing the notion they probably already have that some group of uber players can get this many runs in within a short time. I'm sure they will increase the drop rate so the elites who can do three ToNGs an hour can get back to BiS in a week without having to pay too much.
Realistically speaking. Nothing will surplant R14 for a long time. From the +5 rings, devs know people are willing to be abused and grind them, or pay. Increased drop rate is a pipe dream at this point.
Good evening, I'm writing with ru servera. I would like to speak out about the chance of Absolute stoning stones falling out. For 5 days non-stop calls there hey pulled out 0 characters (0 characters !!!!!!!) How do I just do it? I ran around my approximate count about 100 times and 0 . I know people who ran there 10 times and pulled 4-8 signs, is that normal? The game should not turn into work and this is a fact, then it will get bored and will be uninteresting - this is how to get a job on 2nd job, but there you know what you will be paid, and then I farmed farml and return 0. By what principle do you do a random drop signs? Many players are already specifically dissatisfied with this and this is correct, do you imagine that I will run for a year to take the 14th stones? no it's easier for me to leave the project. I hope my point of view has been heard. (I'm sorry for the translation, translated through Google translator.
If I speak to this will I might then be found guilty of collusion??
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checkmatein3Member, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 525Arc User
Since I was in the Dev Stream and heard the developers explanations on why the UES were such low percent chance, I would like to take this opportunity to address the decisions behind the current rate.
In the stream, the reason for such low drop rates was that no Rank 14 or Unparalleled is necessary to finish any content. The argument is that the only reason why anyone would want Rank 14 or Unparalleled is to have skills above and beyond what the content requires. Therefore, the developers made the drop of UES and % in lockboxes exceedingly low.
Mod 12b in its design was a shift to FAVOR new players in getting into the content and to bring long time MAXED players into a more fluid and interactive experience with these new players (Random Queue). Additionally, mod 12b was explained to remove the overpoweredness of the top 5% (anyone with bonding or maxed 12s) and force them to reconsider the goals of the game.
This is mod 12b.
My answer is this: 1) There is nothing wrong with encouraging long time players to group with new players, but this is the intent of guilds. Some guilds do it much better than others, based on the culture they wish to generate. And, long time players are not really going to stop and take the time to teach new players how to run a normal dungeon like Cloak Tower. We are going to barrel through it at full speed, kill everything and wait at the end for the new players to catch up. So, the new player gains no experience and the long term player is forced to run a dungeon they didn't want to do in the first place. I usually get thanked for making the normal dungeon just a long walk for the new player (sarcastically).
2) Adding a readjustment to the highest statted players while simultaneously adding in an RNG-gated progression over-estimates the loyalty of those long term players to this game. The satisfation of progression keeps long term players in the game. With mod 12b's focus on new players and an effort to nerf the high end players and slow them down in progression at great cost, the psychological effect is that of...why bother. The 'why bother' attitude then translates into the whole of the game. It does not translate into...I think I will go make a new character and get it up, too OR I think I will go help a bunch of new players. Without the satisfaction of progression, there is no ENJOYMENT in a game we choose to be entertained by. And, the end result is to go find ENJOYMENT elsewhere, in small attempts first, holding out hope that we are incorrect in our assessment, waiting for changes to occur and make the enjoyment of progression again. But, as days turn into weeks with silence and no progress, the hope dissipates, and green pastures (at least in our minds) arise. Perhaps this is all calculated, as an economical strategy, to have the promise of easier drops later, to lure long time players back after new ones are established.
But, as an open beta player, the current module has almost nothing to offer me in regards to advancment. The enjoyment of the game is decreasing. The hope of progression is dim.
So, I do what I always do. I will reward Cryptic's loyalty to me as a long term player with enthusiastic play, some money spent, and choice of gaming. I will reward Cryptic's disloyalty to me as a long term player with ambivalence to the game, less or no money invested, and other avenues of entertainment.
In the stream, the reason for such low drop rates was that no Rank 14 or Unparalleled is necessary to finish any content. The argument is that the only reason why anyone would want Rank 14 or Unparalleled is to have skills above and beyond what the content requires. Therefore, the developers made the drop of UES and % in lockboxes exceedingly low.
Mod 12b in its design was a shift to FAVOR new players in getting into the content and to bring long time MAXED players into a more fluid and interactive experience with these new players (Random Queue). Additionally, mod 12b was explained to remove the overpoweredness of the top 5% (anyone with bonding or maxed 12s) and force them to reconsider the goals of the game.
Wow, it just shows how out of touch they are with their own game. Once something is obtainable in a game, folks will want it, even if it's unnecessary. The problem is, if you make it too hard to get (very poor drop rates), it will discourage folks from playing at all. Likewise, just like GS 16K isn't needed to run Tong, since the drop rates are so LOW, folks need to do 23 minute runs and thus want 16k+ folks and soon r14 equipped folks for the fastest runs possible. If every run is going to be 40+ minutes, might as well uninstall now as it would take forever to get enough ultimate's to refine anything.
The other issue is with RNG being poorly implemented. The streaks that folks have noticed have a big impact on this. As an example, I have 12 characters, over the last 6 months I got 7 coalescent wards from invocation. That sounds normal, however, 5 were on 1 character, 2 were on another, and 1 was on another. Think how this would work for dungeon runs. One person doing tong gets 5, another gets 2, and the vast majority get 0. So 1 person is very happy, 1 is happy, but the vast majority are not happy. RNG shouldn't be used at all for rewards like this, let alone something with a ridiculously low drop rate. It's one thing to blow 100 wards on a 5% chance, but another to run 100 tongs and never get an ultimate.
The least that they could do is add more ways to make AD. That way, we can actually buy them from the AH. Making 3 mill AD is not as easy as it used to be. Expecting players to earn over 100 mill AD to be BIS at the current rate of income is mind-blowing.
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tripsofthrymrMember, Neverwinter Moderator, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 1,624Community Moderator
I do agree that the drop rate seems to be low (second possibility is that some players are buying ones that hit the market to control supply, much the way diamonds IRL retain their value).
On the other hand, ever since valuable BOE loot stopped dropping from content, players have been asking for real rewards in those dungeon chests / boss drops (anyone remember key splits?). Now, there's very valuable loot to be had. Given current AH prices, the drops are probably too rare (and the corresponding value of the loot too high).
However, prices are supported by the fact that almost all players need those marks right now. As the players that can afford current prices make the upgrades they want to invest in, supply will remain constant but demand will decrease. Prices will come down.
If Cryptic set the drop rate where it makes sense in the long-term, it would have been a nice gesture to create a temporary supply boost at module launch to keep the price somewhat reasonable during the initial upgrade rush.
The least that they could do is add more ways to make AD. That way, we can actually buy them from the AH. Making 3 mill AD is not as easy as it used to be. Expecting players to earn over 100 mill AD to be BIS at the current rate of income is mind-blowing.
If everyone can make AD easier, the prices will go up accordingly. When you print money, you create inflation.
With time, demand will decrease and prices will drop.
Comments
I don't mind grinding, but doing about 30 runs and get nothing? Where is the fun playing this game?
This is the hardest dungeon in the game -- you run it and if you are unlucky you won't get anything but some refinement points, really?
Either raise the droprate or give us more opportunities to get the stones. Plus give us valuable drops from bosses.
The first day, it looked fine - four runs, a total of around 30 chests opened and two stones dropped. Not great, but not horrible, right?
Now, over 40 runs later, those two stones are still the only ones I have seen drop. My guess is that the drop rate is somewhere around 1%. If correct, that would mean it would take me several years to get the stones I need for just a single character.
That's not motivating. I am still running ToNG, only for the seals so I can gear up some of my alts (I already have a full set of Primal gear on my main - even both versions of some pieces for different loadouts), but with this drop rate there is no good reason to run ToNG after I have maxed out on seals for the week.
With the the RQs being a major flop as well, this means that there is just not very much in the game any more that can motivate me to play.
At least my wife is happy - I am spending less time on the game and more time with her.
i'll upgrade a feytouched eventually and a lightning. But thats it. This is just a new frustration after masterwork drops in msp/FBI. An other mindless grind. I dont even want to do the RQs. MSP chest is broken. Random trial is leading me to Tiamat ad nauseum.
When i understand the reasoning behind putting those marks into end game dungeon, i dont understand the drop rate of those. You devs say that you dont want us to grind mindlessly same dungeon and thats why you put the RQs. But you made it so that us, end game players, are still doing mindless grind on the same dungeon over and over and over. Im disgusted of it. Literally. I see a Yuan Ti and gosh, even their little hearts around my head dont succeed in charming me anymore. Im more like running away like they force me to do sometimes. I still run tong because of guildies needing gear. I have enough seals that i geared alts that i dont play anymore, just for the sake of collection points.
Make it a 100% drop on EVERY boss. Make us roll on it. Make us work as a team and gear our characters like we did with the seals. Or let us buy the stones with seals. Something. But not this ridiculous grind. Like really.
The tooltip of marks says "rare drop from bosses in chult". IM SORRY but none of those bosses in tong drops one. Its a drop in a chest at the end apparently.
AKA Taco Brotherhood of Pathfinders
Old Neverwinter Nights AOL Launched it all!
The only chance you have of getting in there is finding a guild that doesnt do class discrimination or people that actually know how to run their toons. Not making a MoF.
> I main a dc, and can honestly say i run an average of 10 runs a day. So im at 70 ish runs. And got 6 marks. I do barely anything else in the game. Now im seriously doing maths. 70 tong runs for 2 r14. If i upgrade my bondings to r14, i will get a whoooole 1k ish power total. Why would i want to get 180 more stats on a brutal r14... is it worth all this pain in tong? Is it worth me not doing anything else than this dungeon during my playtime? Is the price even worth it? 3m for a whole 180 stats more? 50 runs in tong? I dont think so. Am I not able with my friends to complete Tong because i dont have r14? Nope. So why would i do that to myself?
>
>
> Sounds like nothing. After seeing so many people willing to run themselves silly for the small gain of a +5 rings over the +4 rings, I'm sure the devs are comfortable in the knowledge that people will do just about anything for BiS. Just be glad that buying is an option here.
250 boxes and zero ultimates, 650 boxes and 1 ultimate. If you’d read you’d see buying isn’t really an option.
You can only buy because people have bought at terrible RNG rates.
You haven't really thought this through and it's obvious mate.
The problem is the drop rate needs to be increased a lot.
Rank 9 to 10 wasn't a great improvement, but there wasn't anything else to do and it wasn't that bad to get there. Rank 10 to 12 wasn't terrible and again, wasn't a huge upgrade in stats but wasn't hard to do for most. Rank 12 to 13..same as before. But the HUGE jump in cost and availability to get to Rank 14 killed it.
I could see maybe upgrading Bondings to 14...but even that isn't a great ROI. Here is what I think will happen: They will keep the drop rate the same till the next UBER dungeon is released - that dungeon will probably have a slightly higher drop chance..maybe even a questline for a stone every week. Then Mod 14 comes around, they will start dropping more often because...........Rank 15 will be available.
They know they have a good thing with these enchants. They know people will kill for them. If they don't burn everyone out of them right now....they got us. Unfortunately, i think they put the carrot a weeee bit to far out.
Well, the RNG can't be that terrible if there is a decent supply in the AH.
People always want what benefits them. People who want to get their R13s and R14s want higher drop rate so they can get them cheaper. People like me who don't care about R13s and R14s, want an even lower drop rate so if/when I hit the jackpot, I will get a higher payout.
Also for each one you "buy" fromt he AH someone spent $$ on keys for lockboxes or legendary keys for To9G and are hoping to regain a portion of that lost Zen. Having tested myself and talked with a very large player pool the drop rates of Ulitmates locked behind actual cash is too low.
It's a cash grab and especially after just having nerfed our bonding stones it is apparent they have taken away a portion of our end game power and want to charge us to get a percentage of that back.
Even if the intent wasn't there (and I can tell you players do not view this as innocent) the perception is too strong that this is a money grab. Perception is reality. Most players will not pay money, run a dungeon a thousand times, or gamble away their zen on such terrible odds.
There are several ways to address this:
I.E. 1) increase the drop rate from lockboxes and To9g
2) Decreas the number of Ultimates needed to upgrade, like 1 per rank 14.
3)Make ways to trade other currencies like seals of the brave or tarmalune bars to purchase them.
There are multiple acceptable ways to correct this poor value ratio due to drop rates vs benefit. They need only pick one to restore the faith of the players I have talked with.
Realistically speaking. Nothing will surplant R14 for a long time. From the +5 rings, devs know people are willing to be abused and grind them, or pay. Increased drop rate is a pipe dream at this point.
In the stream, the reason for such low drop rates was that no Rank 14 or Unparalleled is necessary to finish any content. The argument is that the only reason why anyone would want Rank 14 or Unparalleled is to have skills above and beyond what the content requires. Therefore, the developers made the drop of UES and % in lockboxes exceedingly low.
Mod 12b in its design was a shift to FAVOR new players in getting into the content and to bring long time MAXED players into a more fluid and interactive experience with these new players (Random Queue). Additionally, mod 12b was explained to remove the overpoweredness of the top 5% (anyone with bonding or maxed 12s) and force them to reconsider the goals of the game.
This is mod 12b.
My answer is this:
1) There is nothing wrong with encouraging long time players to group with new players, but this is the intent of guilds. Some guilds do it much better than others, based on the culture they wish to generate. And, long time players are not really going to stop and take the time to teach new players how to run a normal dungeon like Cloak Tower. We are going to barrel through it at full speed, kill everything and wait at the end for the new players to catch up. So, the new player gains no experience and the long term player is forced to run a dungeon they didn't want to do in the first place. I usually get thanked for making the normal dungeon just a long walk for the new player (sarcastically).
2) Adding a readjustment to the highest statted players while simultaneously adding in an RNG-gated progression over-estimates the loyalty of those long term players to this game. The satisfation of progression keeps long term players in the game. With mod 12b's focus on new players and an effort to nerf the high end players and slow them down in progression at great cost, the psychological effect is that of...why bother. The 'why bother' attitude then translates into the whole of the game. It does not translate into...I think I will go make a new character and get it up, too OR I think I will go help a bunch of new players. Without the satisfaction of progression, there is no ENJOYMENT in a game we choose to be entertained by. And, the end result is to go find ENJOYMENT elsewhere, in small attempts first, holding out hope that we are incorrect in our assessment, waiting for changes to occur and make the enjoyment of progression again. But, as days turn into weeks with silence and no progress, the hope dissipates, and green pastures (at least in our minds) arise. Perhaps this is all calculated, as an economical strategy, to have the promise of easier drops later, to lure long time players back after new ones are established.
But, as an open beta player, the current module has almost nothing to offer me in regards to advancment.
The enjoyment of the game is decreasing.
The hope of progression is dim.
So, I do what I always do. I will reward Cryptic's loyalty to me as a long term player with enthusiastic play, some money spent, and choice of gaming. I will reward Cryptic's disloyalty to me as a long term player with ambivalence to the game, less or no money invested, and other avenues of entertainment.
Peace my gaming mates!
Guild--And the Imaginary Friends
Current cost to upgrade a Transcendant to Unparalleled is about $87.5
Guild--And the Imaginary Friends
On the other hand, ever since valuable BOE loot stopped dropping from content, players have been asking for real rewards in those dungeon chests / boss drops (anyone remember key splits?). Now, there's very valuable loot to be had. Given current AH prices, the drops are probably too rare (and the corresponding value of the loot too high).
However, prices are supported by the fact that almost all players need those marks right now. As the players that can afford current prices make the upgrades they want to invest in, supply will remain constant but demand will decrease. Prices will come down.
If Cryptic set the drop rate where it makes sense in the long-term, it would have been a nice gesture to create a temporary supply boost at module launch to keep the price somewhat reasonable during the initial upgrade rush.
Sci-fi author: The Gods We Make, The Gods We Seek, and Ji-min
With time, demand will decrease and prices will drop.
Sci-fi author: The Gods We Make, The Gods We Seek, and Ji-min