Concerning Divination Cards: One Supporters Insight Into The Issues

A very interesting, if somewhat depressing, read. I thought GGG is "cooler" than that.
Thank you very much for your explanation and of course, the support we all benefit from!

My idea for a card (no way can I afford 1100 bucks) would be a littlke bland, but useful to all levels and consistent from a storyline perspective:

"Vinia's wrath"
Reward is a 20Q lightning gem. Card can drop in all areas and maps where you have to fight Piety. Or maybe even only from Piety.
- That's not a game-breaking item
- RNG is still involved in which gem you get
- It saves a huge amount of mindless grind (one extra round of levelling the gem)
- Everyone likes Q on most of the gems they use, and this is directly useful from level 1.

Have fun and good drops,
T

Yep, it's also my point of view OP :(

I wanted my card to drop often enough to be able to drop it myself in a self found scenario, and i knew GGG would choose the way of "way too rare" on this category again. What i didn't know is that they would go that far in the rarity of these cards...

As i said in another thread, i tried to farm a pair of rings with my card (Metalmith's Gift) and found more rhoa feathers than sets...and that's a white ring.

I wanted the ring to be a little more unique than the two stone recipe, so i asked if it could give the legacy implicit (+10%-12% all res instead of 8%-10%). They said no without mentionning any reason. It can't be for balance reasons, as +2% all res is nothing. It can be because of lazyness on their part, it's faster to say "no" in the submit form than explaining or even trying if a legacy mod could be possible, but i don't like to think about this possibility.
My guess is it's from a clarity point of view. It would be confusing for new players (they still have to reach cruel/merciless and spend a good 5+ hours in mud flats to farm a white ring and then realize with blessed orbs they can have a better implicit) to have a different pool of rings.

Or it is something totally different, but in any case they didn't give me any reason behind the "no".


So yes, you can choose basically a "simple" item on your card (i'm lucky that mine was not a complicated one) and that's it pretty much. I was REALLY lucky on the drop locationas i like farming mud flats. My flavor text somewhat inspired GGG i think, but i'm truly sad for other HG supporters when i see the drop rate/location of their cards in a way.

To resume: for those that think they want to buy this pack, your choice is SUPER LIMITED if your idea a little more freestyle than an existing unique or a currency. The process will feel rushed, and you won't have a lot of control on it.
The drop of your card will be awfully low as the rest of the existing ones so don't expect an easy access to any item.

But if you still think about getting one, please go ahead, as it helps everyone even those that don't like your card. It helps the game, the lore for those who care, and the depth of it. It support a company that even if i have a ton of complaints since 2.0 is still developping the most enjoyable hack n slash out there.

"

Kagari wrote:

As i said in another thread, i tried to farm a pair of rings with my card (Metalmith's Gift) and found more rhoa feathers than sets...and that's a white ring.

I'm sorry to say, I don't think your card is interesting at all.

I just got a full set. I then traded it for a white item that I could easily have crafted dozens of times if I wanted to. Your card adds very little to the game, since its rarity and its limited availability (within only three zones, with two being Act 1 areas) make it far less common than the two-stone rings that could be used to craft the exact same thing.

I would have profited more by selling each card to the NPC vendors than by receiving the white ring, at least then I would have received a full scroll instead of just a scrap.

Examples like this make the OP's point moot - sure, GGG has put in place a lot of restrictions, probably too many, in what supporters are allowed to design. But at the same time, some (if not many) of the designs handed by players are simply bad.

Thank you for supporting PoE with so much money.

"

Erasculio wrote:

"

Kagari wrote:

As i said in another thread, i tried to farm a pair of rings with my card (Metalmith's Gift) and found more rhoa feathers than sets...and that's a white ring.

I'm sorry to say, I don't think your card is interesting at all.

I just got a full set. I then traded it for a white item that I could easily have crafted dozens of times if I wanted to. Your card adds very little to the game, since its rarity and its limited availability (within only three zones, with two being Act 1 areas) make it far less common than the two-stone rings that could be used to craft the exact same thing.

I would have profited more by selling each card to the NPC vendors than by receiving the white ring, at least then I would have received a full scroll instead of just a scrap.

Examples like this make the OP's point moot - sure, GGG has put in place a lot of restrictions, probably too many, in what supporters are allowed to design. But at the same time, some (if not many) of the designs handed by players are simply bad.

Thank you for supporting PoE with so much money.

I agree. What makes the card not interesting is the low drop rate. It's way faster to get 3 two stone rings and combine them than farming one set. I'm just happy with it for 2 reasons :

They drop in an area i like farming even before 2.0, and the Item Level is higher than my map RNG allows me to get.

I designed it as an helper for everyone while levelling and people that want to alch a few rings at high level. The rarity of the cards kill this design because no one would spend that much time in mud flats while levelling.
In fact i think it's the problem with every cards except maybe carrion crow. The time it takes to get a set is so long that it destroys the very design of the divination cards as they were announced.

What about a random 20% quality gem as a card? I think both new players and experts would still enjoy that. Another idea is some 5L armor or 2h Weapon. Good for leagues and leveling for all players.

"

diablofdb wrote:

-I've started to read your post and will finish it soon (maybe I'll make a second reply after reading) because it's rare to see someone doing something constructive in the forum :) we need more ppl like you sir.

Absolutely. Great and very interesting post. Thanks for sharing.

Other than that, I can understand the TO totally, its kind of restricting. Especially if you can only design things that can naturally drop within the game, though I can understand that decision.

Personally, if I was to design a divination card, I would go for one that is fun yet not game-breaking or even influencing the game very much: A card for unique maps. Not unique in the sense that their rarity is unique, but in the sense that they have a combination of mods that is just so incredibly unlikely to spawn on a map that it will never happen.

Something like this:

"Christmas in Wraeclast"

Monsters gain 3 Endurance charges every 20 seconds
Monsters gain 3 Power charges every 20 seconds
Monsters gain 3 Frenzy charges every 20 seconds
Monsters fracture
Slaying monsters close together can attract monsters from beyond
Area contains an invasion boss
Area contains many totems
Area contains two unique bosses
Area is corrupted (cause those are 4 pre- and suffixes)

The base of the map would be random, somewhere between 68 and 77 to make it not too extreme. Doesn't even have to be a very high level map, it should just be a very fun map. Something you would like to run for the fun of it, but that would not give you insane benefits.


If they would accept also stuff that is non-standard I would go for:

Monsters gain 2 Endurance charges every 2 seconds
Monsters gain 2 Power charges every 2 seconds
Monsters gain 2 Frenzy charges every 2 seconds
Monsters can have up to 8 charges of each type
Monsters fracture
Slaying monsters close together can attract monsters from beyond
Area contains three unique bosses


Or you could basically copy the map I was in today (it was corrupted and weird, 79 Village Ruin, essentially unplayable):

"A nightmare of everything"

- Monsters deal 100% extra damage as cold
- Monsters deal 100% extra damage as lightning
- Monsters deal 100% extra damage as fire
- Monsters poison on hit
- Players have no life or mana regeneration
- Area contains patches of desecrated ground
- -15% maximum player resistances

I have a screenshot of that if you don't believe me. It was also inhabited by ranged monsters.


P.S.: Yes, I have seen a 20 quality gem drop. From a "items have 20% quality" strongbox in normal act1 on my first character. I also have a few 17% quality ones since I alterated a gem strongbox once until I got that mod.

Actually, I thought of two small improvements to Vinia's card:
1. Call it "Vinia's foul temper". "Wrath" sounds too righteous :)
2. Make it 19% Q and up the drop rate. That way, it's still very good to use, but only worth half a GCP if the gem does not benefit from Q. Also, the user still has to pay a moderate price to make it perfect...

Two things:

1) Stop thinking so much about what the cards do, and focus on them as rewards in themselves.

2) Realize that higher ilvls are important in crafting. "The Metalsmith's Gift" gives you a white item... but it can give that item an ilvl you can't possibly get from drops.

Hey Shags,

why shouldn't we think of what div cards can do? The OP even asked for suggestions, after all.
I love them, btw, even if some of them seem lackluster or are super rare. It's something new to pick up and get excited over when it drops.

And yeah, the high iLevels are a huge benefit, but I think most people know that. No complaints there, either...

Anyway, have fun and good drops,
T

Hi

GGG should either increase the card drops or lower the number needed for the card to function, so far the new addition of these cards to the game has only added another useless drop because of how many are needed per set to work. SO, SO, SO, very tired of GGG erring on cautions side to much, its like going to the races and watching the the number 1 racer ALWAYS stop just before the finish line for tea and biscuits! You would think after a few years of nerfing they would begin to understand how to BALANCE instead.

If I was given the option of better drops by removing the cards feature: I WOULD, because this game already gives players enough lame items.

cheers