Divination Cards - Help me Understand the Point

So with Diamond and Eternal support, the opportunity to create a unique item was presented. As we all know, Highgate supporters get to Design a Divination Card. But what is that adding to the game?

Let's take the example Chris used, a card that when redeemed would reward 10 mirrors, or even a single mirror. If the card is just as rare (or rarer?) than 10 mirrors, what is that adding to the game that doesn't already exist? The chance to get a mirror (or ten) still exists just as much as the card. I just don't understand why this is worth $1,100, which sucks, because I really want to support GGG. However, this just isn't making any sense to me.

Let's use another example. A Divination Card that when redeemed would reward a Voltaxic Rift Bow, which is only able to drop in level 78+ zones. So that probably means that Divination Card would only drop in level 78+ zones, so you could still get a Voltaxic to drop, or a card, so again, what is this adding to the game? What's the point? Where's the legacy -- to be able to say, "Oh, I designed the card that gives a Voltaxic"? I'm lost.

Seriously, please help me understand this. What am I missing...?

heh, i was asking me since 2 days the exact same question.

so i can fully understand your confusion.

I assume we miss a piece of the riddle..

Ideally this is a way to actually progress towards an item. Lets use your Voltaxic Rift example...

I've run 100's of 78 maps. I've never dropped a Voltaxic. I may never drop one. In an ideal system I'm dropping a card every few maps. This gives me a way in which I can actually progress towards the Voltaxic. I have a little control.

Now if they do it wrong and a card is just as rare as the item, then the system sucks, but the idea is still solid. Cards should provide somewhat measurable progress so that RNG is not as devastatingly harsh as it can be in this game.

It's supposed to be more or less the same thing Voricci did for socketing, I think. If you really want X item, you can go where the divination card for it drops and now you have both that and the item dropping.

I agree it's extremely lackluster compared to past offers such as the unique item. If I was just looking for what I get out of it I certainly wouldn't have bought a supporter pack this time around, but GGG's doing mostly great things still and I want to keep supporting them.

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majesw wrote:

Ideally this is a way to actually progress towards an item. Lets use your Voltaxic Rift example...

I've run 100's of 78 maps. I've never dropped a Voltaxic. I may never drop one. In an ideal system I'm dropping a card every few maps. This gives me a way in which I can actually progress towards the Voltaxic. I have a little control.

Now if they do it wrong and a card is just as rare as the item, then the system sucks, but the idea is still solid. Cards should provide somewhat measurable progress so that RNG is not as devastatingly harsh as it can be in this game.

Right, but I think what he is asking is what are you "creating" in terms of the cards. Its not unique when someone creates a card for the bow. Maybe the cards are a recipe? So you get to create an ingredient card in that recipe for the bow?

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echoBr00tal wrote:

Right, but I think what he is asking is what are you "creating" in terms of the cards. Its not unique when someone creates a card for the bow. Maybe the cards are a recipe? So you get to create an ingredient card in that recipe for the bow?

You get to name it and write flavor text and influence the card's art. Again, not much compared to the past, but it's something. Additionally, GGG isn't making any divination cards for the expansion, so it's up to us to decide what items we want to make these paths for.

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majesw wrote:

I've run 100's of 78 maps. I've never dropped a Voltaxic. I may never drop one. In an ideal system I'm dropping a card every few maps. This gives me a way in which I can actually progress towards the Voltaxic.

Ok, so are you saying when I design the card with GGG, I'll actually get to decide on a number, say 12 for example, 12 of my designed cards would let you redeem a Voltaxic? So given enough time, and drops, once a stack of "my design" were accumulated, then one could redeem it for said item?

If so, that makes sense, but I still don't see the value or what it adds. One could just as easily farm jewelers (for fuse), regals, and chaos to trade for exalts to buy a Voltaxic.

I dunno, I'm still not seeing the benefit.

I can see where the lack of satisfaction comes from compared to actually designing a unique, but I don't think the vast majority of high-tier supporters are really in it for a sense of "value" as opposed to just wanting to support the game. It's still a cool system though, either way.

I think that these cards are going to be seen as a way to target specific goals... like getting your rift.

I also think this is going to backfire. The reason games like this are popular is that there are these goals that players set for themselves. They say, either by trading or by farming, I'm going after that rift. I'll get it. It will be a goal. It will be fun because all sorts of things will give me essentially the same type of chance to get it, or currency for it.

Add cards to that and the activity is now "anything I do other than look for this specific card isn't going to be as optimal, so I have to do the same thing over and over in order to feel like I'm not wasting effort"

It will create a tunnel vision approach... that players feel forced to replay the exact same encounter in order to optimize their chances of achieving their goal.

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DoomCloud wrote:

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majesw wrote:

I've run 100's of 78 maps. I've never dropped a Voltaxic. I may never drop one. In an ideal system I'm dropping a card every few maps. This gives me a way in which I can actually progress towards the Voltaxic.

Ok, so are you saying when I design the card with GGG, I'll actually get to decide on a number, say 12 for example, 12 of my designed cards would let you redeem a Voltaxic? So given enough time, and drops, once a stack of "my design" were accumulated, then one could redeem it for said item?

If so, that makes sense, but I still don't see the value or what it adds. One could just as easily farm jewelers (for fuse), regals, and chaos to trade for exalts to buy a Voltaxic.

I dunno, I'm still not seeing the benefit.

I think it's targeted more towards players that don't trade much or at all. But yeah, it's pretty much going to be another form of currency.