Exalted Orbs: The Nickelback of POE

I feel like you are just purposely being stubborn.

At the moment they are NOT worth using on items due to their rarity. Essentially we might as well rename them "gold", make them not do anything to items, and have at it.




No one can honestly say that they are worth using on items except at major lategame, since its 1 every 4 months of play that isn't sustainable to even try crafting, rather topping up a rare that you have found with 5 affixes, and even then.... probably not.


So why are they THIS rare, that they can't be used for anything that ISN'T gold.

HOW is this not just an equivalent gold at the moment?

No one is saying "make them common", you are strawmanning if you are saying this, all we are saying is "why are they THIS rare".

And so far you have not given any reason, all you are doing is saying "herp derp I am retarded and can't read"

I also don't understand why so many people on these boards feel the need to constantly chant "GGG will never do this, this is the wrong game if you think or want _____________" as if they'e psychic, or are GGG staff members themselves. Some times it's borderline insulting to GGG, since the implication is that GGG is in favor of obtuse, archaic, flawed, nonsensical design decisions. Being hardcore and a modern analog of D2, does not mean that the game has to exist in an absolute game design time bubble, eschewing anything and everything streamlined, intelligent, and progressive, in favor of being lazy or backwards for its own sake, or for the sake of it being similar to an older game. It seems like so many people on this board are so eager for the game to basically be a reskinned Diablo 2, that anything game design wise that lies outside the shortcomings and limitations of the D2 era, is automatically a heinous abomination to be shunned. PoE can be very much like D2, it can be very challenging and not at all "for the masses", while at the same time have intelligent and "modern" design decisions, without automatically becoming D3 or some shit. I guess I have more respect and faith in GGG, that they can skillfully accomplish their goals without designing a game like it's 1999; apparently some of this games most fervent supporters don't share this level of respect for GGG, or think that some of these things are inherently mutually exclusive, and they're not in many, if not most cases.

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aimlessgun wrote:

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Obsidus wrote:

Yeah, allowing things to be as they are in order to staunch the flow of good gear into the game is really a shitty way of going about things.

If this is your opinion, it is very likely you are playing the wrong game. This is a core part of the way this game is designed. If you think binding items to accounts is an option, then you are wasting your keystrokes on this topic until another company buys out GGG, sorry.

I can only partially agree with you. Why? Because of 3 things:

- all devs are ninja looters, FFA is/was a core mechanic
- a 900+ pages topic appeared
- loot changes were next, although the devs CLEARLY didn't like it

So, GGG is clearly willing to change stuff. Sadly, all that is needed is not reasoning, not argumentation - but a flood of complaining. Basically, they need to be taken virtual hostages.

And then, stuff will happen - including modifying whatever "core" mechanic ;)

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AimlessGun wrote:

I disagree, actually. I might not have addressed the axe you are personally grinding, but I addressed the original post.

Actually, you're the one holding the axe. /twilight zone

So we're clear my original post addresses both topics. The intent with which I wrote the post was to address what I feel is holding back the crafting system in this game: the Exalted Orb. I feel it's doing so because:

It is not effective enough at its inherent purpose to make it worth using so much opportunity cost for such a small chance at a positive return.

You see, while my point is the Exalt is holding back the crafting, one of the reasons it is doing so relates to the economy, in this case, price. So yeah, its a factor, but it IS NOT THE POINT OF THIS CONVERSATION.

I have Exalted Orbs. Several. Less, now that I'm liquidating them like Martha Stewart with a hot tip. I have traded for many and I've found more than some people would like to hear, so I'll keep that to myself. I'm profiting hand-over-fist because I'm exploiting the bejeezus out of the inflated price of Exalts. This isn't the bitter whining of a poor and frustrated trader.

I'm trying to contribute to a discussion regarding one of the alleged center-pieces of POE, this "deepest crafting system ever in an Arpg" or whatever. It is anything but deep atm. Deep would be a system that both ate tons of currency AND provided a reasonable assurance that eventually you'll get meaningful results. Rather than, say, a Light Radius bonus on your first Exalt after spending 7,359 Alterations, 257 Regals, and 256 Scourings to get the right first three mods to make it "worth" Exalting in the first place. At this point your options are: Use another Exalt and pray for a mod you need of a reasonable tier despite having just been slapped in the face. Or, you could bust out that 257th Scouring and start from scratch. Or I suppose you could just sit there with your extra-shiny, six-linked, three modded chest piece.

Many of us feel that's slightly unfair. If you read the substance of the people who have been regularly contributing to the discussion you'll see that while the economic issues are relevant to the discussion, they aren't the actual thing we're discussing.

Edited for rudeness.

Opportunity cost is definitely a valid point. However, this is a problem that was caused by the community, and one which can only be rectified by it. At some point, there will be so many exalts in the economy, that it is only inevitable, change will come.

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Real_Wolf wrote:

At the moment they are NOT worth using on items due to their rarity. Essentially we might as well rename them "gold", make them not do anything to items, and have at it.

"At this moment". In the future, they will be worth using more often. The pendulum swings both ways.

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Undon3 wrote:

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aimlessgun wrote:

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Obsidus wrote:

Yeah, allowing things to be as they are in order to staunch the flow of good gear into the game is really a shitty way of going about things.

If this is your opinion, it is very likely you are playing the wrong game. This is a core part of the way this game is designed. If you think binding items to accounts is an option, then you are wasting your keystrokes on this topic until another company buys out GGG, sorry.

I can only partially agree with you. Why? Because of 3 things:

- all devs are ninja looters, FFA is/was a core mechanic
- a 900+ pages topic appeared
- loot changes were next, although the devs CLEARLY didn't like it

So, GGG is clearly willing to change stuff. Sadly, all that is needed is not reasoning, not argumentation - but a flood of complaining. Basically, they need to be taken virtual hostages.

And then, stuff will happen - including modifying whatever "core" mechanic ;)

Looting is the one 'core philosophy' I've seen changed, yeah. And the amount of effort it took to change that one thing was enormous. I doubt that level of complaining will ever be seen again, but I could be wrong.

Also, nobody was going to quit the game over GGG adding more loot options. But people WILL quit the game if you added something like Bind on Equip. And they will quit noisily and messily, and the "this game is turning into D3" posts will be replaced with equally hysterical and ridiculous "this game is turning into WoW" posts.

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aimlessgun wrote:

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Real_Wolf wrote:

At the moment they are NOT worth using on items due to their rarity. Essentially we might as well rename them "gold", make them not do anything to items, and have at it.

"At this moment". In the future, they will be worth using more often. The pendulum swings both ways.

Actually no this is not true.

If the drop rate stays flat, which at the moment it is roughly 1 in 4 months for an ambitious amount, then ignoring trading, they will not be being used for items very mucha t all considering their benefit vs rarity. You will hold on to it until you get a 5 affix perfect drop, which itself you will never find.

Ignoring the trading the PROBLEM STILL EXISTS. The reason the economy is taken into the discussion is because of its value to the economy, not because it changes the argument. Take off the trading portion of 'exalts aren't worth using compared with their effect', and NOTHING changes

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Real_Wolf wrote:

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aimlessgun wrote:

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Real_Wolf wrote:

At the moment they are NOT worth using on items due to their rarity. Essentially we might as well rename them "gold", make them not do anything to items, and have at it.

"At this moment". In the future, they will be worth using more often. The pendulum swings both ways.

Actually no this is not true.

We'll revisit this in 6 months. See you then :)

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aimlessgun wrote:

We'll revisit this in 6 months. See you then :)

Given no change in drop rate or mechanics, I have 5 Exalts on Real_Wolf, assuming we're all still here.

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aimlessgun wrote:

Looting is the one 'core philosophy' I've seen changed, yeah. And the amount of effort it took to change that one thing was enormous. I doubt that level of complaining will ever be seen again, but I could be wrong.

Also, nobody was going to quit the game over GGG adding more loot options. But people WILL quit the game if you added something like Bind on Equip. And they will quit noisily and messily, and the "this game is turning into D3" posts will be replaced with equally hysterical and ridiculous "this game is turning into WoW" posts.

Yes, it took a huge amount of (posting) effort to change looting. Yet, it worked, which shows GGG are susceptible to public pressure. It is understandable the resistance that GGG presents when it comes to such changes, PoE is their brainchild and they envision it a certain way.

In the end, it will all come down to a evaluation of what side is more numerous. PoE maintaining the mechanics it has now, will result in slow bleeding, because there is an influx of new people to help ameliorate the issue, and it take quite a while until PoE becomes a problematic game that makes people QQ on the forums, i.e. hitting Merciless, which many players might not be able to reach.

If PoE radically changes core mechanics, for example BoE just like you mentioned, the bleeding will be more severe but of very short duration. I believe this is the better long-term option for GGG, or they will set themselves in a small niche from which there's no escape.

The thing is, GGG's hopes to create new ARPG hardcore fans from today's gamers are vain and almost impossible to realise - my opinion. People have become quite familiar with the level of usability and accessibility modern games offer, you won't be able to regress them into the early 2000's, sorry. It is naive to believe you can achieve that, especially with a half-finished, non-AAA product with problems such as desync.

GGG still have a HUGE chance to relauch, but more so reboot the whole ARPG genre. I have serious doubts they will manage anything significant if they continue in this vein though.