I feel like you are missing the entire point of this system.

My biggest concern is currently the orb system. I like some randomization in items and gameplay, but the current system can drive me to hate myself, the game, and anyone who happens to be within a hundred yards of me. I've gone 70 levels and not seen a single orb above Chaos, then when I *finally* get a Regal orb and apply it... it adds a single stat to an item that's absolutely useless. I get a six-socket saint robe, blow 100 fusings on it, and end up with no 5-6L result. I blow *another* hundred fusings, get a 5L... and sit there unsatisfied because it's not a 6L, but I'm worried that I could invest another 200 fusings and end up worse than I was before.

I think that's really my biggest problem - the ability to invest truly staggering amounts of time and resources, and end up worse off than when you started. The amount of bitter dissatisfaction and disappointment this generates cannot be overstressed.

The orb system seems like it should be a way to lessen randomness and allow people more control over their items. Instead, it seems like it's the opposite - a massive resource sink of dissatisfaction for all but the top few massive farmers rolling in orbs. Others mileage may vary.

Randomness is the name of the game. I think it has been shown pretty clearly in beta so far that even with a relatively small number of players playing, people can quickly accumulate pretty godly gear. Imagine if we had 10x, or 100x the number of players playing, finding orbs, crafting gear, finding drops, etc. The pool of items that are out there grows out of control. Even at the end of this current league we have seen many many people with EXTRA 5l and 6l gear, with more orbs than they know what to do with (Heck, I gave away the equivalent of 85 GCPs worth of items when I decided to take a break last week while anticipating this migration.) I also had countless 5l pieces of gear that I picked up doing Fellshine and Chaos runs -- for what its worth, I wasn't one of the OP classes that could one shot everything either.


Currently there are pretty much two types of players in regards to how gear is viewed:

There are people like myself who are happy to "waste" hundreds of orbs crafting items, potentially getting something godly, or potentially failing miserably and eating the cost. The first bow I "crafted" in this league ended up being a 210% maraketh bow -- and I have to admit the adrenaline rush when I used an exalted on a 136% ipd bow, ending up with a 210% bow, was magnificent. Results like that are the reason I love this game. Since I crafted that bow -- I went ahead and decided to try and make a worthwhile Thicket Bow... I used over 50 fusings, 400 alteration, 10 regals, 10 scouring, and 5 exalted orbs with nothing decent to show for it... and you know what? I LOVED IT.

There are also people like you, who would prefer to have a guaranteed thing. Somewhere in this thread I read a post where a guy said he would gladly pay tons of fusings (I think it was hundreds but I am too lazy atm to click through to find it) **EDIT** I see that a guy above this post also posted a similar concept -- I am not so lazy that I couldn't look up 2 posts -- it was posted while typing this post... I was referring to one of the earlier pages **END EDIT** just to guarantee an upgrade from 5l-6l. There is already a similar system in place... its called TRADING. I guarantee you that you can find someone willing to sell you a 6l item for "hundreds" of fusings. If you want a guaranteed thing, what you should do is save your orbs and then TRADE those orbs to the players who are "wasting them" by crafting.

As I see it now, the game already caters to both people. If you want to gamble (lets be honest that is what crafting with orbs in this game is) then go right ahead! You may end up with an amazingly good item, or it may backfire and put you back to square one. If you would prefer to not gamble, then you definitely have the option to save your orbs and go for the "guarantee" by paying me whatever the community feels your item is worth.

What I think it comes down to though is this: You don't want to save orbs and trade for gear, you want to spend them, you want the rush of crafting an awesome item. You just also don't want to take any of the risk that leads to that reward. At the end of the day you want to say, "Hey check out this AWESOME item I crafted", when in reality, getting that "awesome" item won't be exciting, it will just be expected - and just like every other person's "Awesome item!".

Unfortunately you remind of me a guy I knew in college who kept bragging about his 300 game in bowling (In case anyone doesn't know, this is a perfect game). We found out through a mutual friend that he grew up with that his "perfect game" was achieved while playing *BUMPER BOWLING* (Again, just in case anyone isn't familiar with this, bumper bowling is where it is impossible to throw a gutter ball because the gutter is filled with an inflated bumper which guarantees you that your ball will eventually make it to the end of the lane and most likely hit some pins).

All in all, getting a 300 game even in bumper bowling is an impressive feat which requires a lot of luck and/or skill. However we still gave the guy crap for two years over his lapse of the "tiny" fact it was with bumpers.

aitalar wrote:

I'd REALLY like to know if there'll be a wipe or not because ill just stop playing until then

This is most likely the exact reason they wait as long as possible to announce one way or another.