Jeweler's Orbs and Orbs Of Fusing - enough is enough!
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The thing I don't get with the fusing mechanic is that GGG's stated reason for not allowing character bound item is that they don't want characters to "lose net wealth" binding an item that they bought.
But the fusing mechanic is much much worse, it is literally throwing wealth away. At least when you buy an item that is bound to your character you gain a tangible benefit in the form of a gear upgrade. But after pissing away 100 fusings and ending up with a worse item than you started with and are now broke, what is that supposed to be? It is morally and financially crippling. The linking system and support skill system is fundamentally broken, it's frustrating, it's not fun and the difference between a 4 and 6 linked item is staggeringly massive. Linked items are not like stats on gear, there is flexibility on stats, no exact combination is really required on any piece of gear to make a good character. You don't need perfect rolls on every item to use your skills to kill monsters. But with gem sockets and links, you need to have them if want to execute a build properly, the difference even between 4 and 5 is just so insane, going from a 4 to 6 is like playing a completely different character. No links and you can't use your skills... Then to top it off this hugely game breaking linking mechanic is tied to this obnoxious and soul crushing mechanic that is fusing. It is a absurd level of cognitive dissonance to be on one hand against character bound items because it results in a loss of net wealth, then on the other have the core skill mechanic require players to piss away their entire wealth for no gain whatsoever to have the chance to use the skills they want to use. The most frustrating thing for me is that it should not even be a problem. Why are fusings so random in the first place? The problem can easily be fixed by changing fusing into direct +1 Link items, and having them combine into higher quality +1 Linkers. A +1 Linker with no quality would always add one link to item with no links(with a chance off adding one to a already linked item or adding more than one link to a non linked item, so players can still get lucky) but very little to no chance of adding more links to item that already have them, a quality 4 Linker will always add one link to a item with already one link, a quality 8 will always add a 3rd Link, and so on. With the amount of materials needed to create higher quality Linkers being exponentially higher and being obtained via a vendor recipe similar to how fusings currently are. Bam, fusing is now fun, with chance to hit it big with just one Linker, but you can never lose everything for no gain like the current system. It is still a currency sink, but it is rewarding and fun. This also solves the problem of low level characters having to use very high value fusings just get a 2 or 3 linked item for leveling. Basic no quality Linkers can be cheap and plentiful like Alterations, usable at low levels without feeling like you are wasting currency, unlike how using multiple fusings just to get a 3 link currently feels like throwing money away. You could even go a step further and create a type of "Linker Cutting Prism", that only drops after levels to prevent low level bots farming no quality Linkers to turn in Q20 ones. There is still the problem of 6 link items being so vastly more powerful than 4 or 5 links but the fusing issue can be more or less solved(or at least vastly improved, I don't think my system is perfect however) without even touching the deeper support gem mechanics. An even more simple fix is to add a pseudo random* element to fusing so that the chance of getting a high number of links starts out very low but increases with the number of times a fusing is used on the item, till a point where after 500 fusing attempts(example number only) getting a 6 link is almost guaranteed. But this doesn't help the fact that linking low levels items is not economically viable or attempt to address the bot farming of high level currency at low levels. * Footnote: |
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" This is the hole point about this game. Deleting game after 100 fusings means that you are quite casual and ggg doesnt give a fuck if you play the game or not. Deleting game after1000 means you are pretty much average, well, pity for all those hardcore traders if you leave but ggg still doesnt care. Game is designed for those who doesnt delete even after 10000. thats why this whole fusing slot machine mess will stay forever. Its like casino, It works for all addicted people and not those who come and just want to win. So i guess we deal with it or we play some other stuff. But i must say I am very sad that such a good arpg is designed this way. | |
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And another thing: lets say you can get 6l for 1500fusing. I can imagine that this system would probably keep many average players playing the game because it gives them goal to achieve, even if it takes quite along time.
But what about all those nolifers? They would get that amount of fusing within 2 weeks of farming... There is no way to make fusings different. Edit: btw i think 1500 fusing is insane, the recipe should be set at reasonable amount and that means hardcores would get 6l in couple days. So thats the problem. Last edited by bvnl#7064 on Jul 11, 2013, 1:50:08 PM
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" what I meant there - if I remember correctly (3 months is a long time) - isn't "X fusings and no success": it's "X times you wasted all (or most) of your fusings, trying to craft something, and failed". failure = less links than what you initially had. it's important to clarify, because there's a huge difference between the two cases. Alva: I'm sweating like a hog in heat Shadow: That was fun Last edited by johnKeys#6083 on Jul 11, 2013, 2:05:35 PM
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My 2 cents....
Using a Jeweler or Fusing orb should never make an item worse. Number of sockets should not be reduced. Links should not be destroyed. These orbs should be a +1 mechanic, which may or may not work. Let me explain. - Add Socket Quality and Link Quality Properties to items. - Assign a percent chance that using an orb will outright add the +1 socket or +1 link - If the used orb fails to add the +1 socket or link, add +1 to the item's quality property that corresponds to the used orb; this will improve the chance of getting the additional socket or link on the next orb used - The more sockets or links an item already has, the smaller the chance of outright success - The more sockets or links an item already has, the more quality points required to guarantee the next orb will add a socket or link Sample stats with totally made up numbers... 1 Socket item ============= Base % chance Jeweler orb will add 1 socket = 95% 5 Socket Quality points required to guarantee the orb will add a socket Worst case scenario = 6 Jeweler orbs to get the 2nd socket - 1st orb at 95% fails, adds +1 to socket quality - 2nd orb at 96% chance (the +1 socket quality on the item gives 1% extra chance) fails, adds +1 to socket quality - 3rd orb at 97% chance fails, adds +1 to socket quality - 4th orb at 98% chance fails, adds +1 to socket quality - 5th orb at 99% chance fails, adds +1 to socket quality - 6th orb at 100% chance cannot fail, you get the socket and the item's socket quality gets reset to 0 to set the stage for attempting to go from 2 sockets to 3 sockets (note that success at any point would reset the socket quality to 0) 2 Socket item ============= Base % chance Jeweler orb will add 1 socket = 85% 15 Socket Quality points required to guarantee the orb will add a socket Worst case scenario = 16 Jeweler orbs to get the 3rd socket - 1st orb at 85% fails, adds +1 to socket quality - all the other attempts before the guarantee fail, adding +1 to socket quality - 16th orb at 100% chance cannot fail, you get the socket and the item's socket quality gets reset to 0 .... 4 Socket item ============= Base % chance Jeweler orb will add 1 socket = 10% 90 Socket Quality points required to guarantee the orb will add a socket Worst case scenario = 91 Jeweler orbs to get the 5th socket 5 Socket item ============= Base % chance Jeweler orb will add 1 socket = 5% 95 Socket Quality points required to guarantee the orb will add a socket Worst case scenario = 96 Jeweler orbs to get the 6th socket Apply same mechanic for links. Not enough orbs for the guarantee of the next socket or link, play with the numbers. Simply requiring 2 quality points per 1% chance increase doubles the orbs required for the guarantee. Over the last nearly 2 years, I've been extremely upset on several occasions. It frustrating to hit a wall where you need to upgrade your gear's sockets and links, and then watch as all your time, effort and wealth disappear to no avail, or worse, to detriment. I don't have problem with upgrades being time consuming and expensive, but under no circumstance should my time and effort be wiped out. Change the current Jeweler/Fusing mechanic to something like outlined above, if I blow all my current wealth in attempt for upgrades and fail, at least I won't be set back by destroyed items and will have comfort in knowing that if I continue playing and accumulating wealth that eventually I'll be guaranteed to succeed and will get that next socket and link. However, my biggest problem with this entire situation, even with what I see as an improvement above, it will probably still be cheaper/more cost effective to hit a trade channel and outright buy an item with the desired sockets/links. Personally, I prefer to play and acquire/create my own items. It's just more fun and satisfying than trading. |
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This is one of the few controversial RNG issues that polarizes GGG against virtually the entire community of Beta Test players. Unlike most other debates, I don't see any articulate Alpha Testers defending GGG's socket-gambling system. In my experience, that degree of consensus is rarely found on these forums and indicates a serious disconnect between GGG and players.
Chromatic, Jewelers, and Fusing orbs are cheap and readily farmed in Normal Act 1, and this is exactly the kind of roadblock game dynamic that drives impatient players to botters and RMT sites. Many ARPG fans do not consider this cheating and will see no reason why they shouldn't buy socket-crafting orbs by the 100's, just as they bought millions of Diablo and WoW gold online. |
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" At least Blizz knew they designed a game with garbage RNG and had the courtesy to legalize RMTs in the latest Diablo. Hopefully GGG is thinking about this issue, because if a bunch of battle hardened alpha and closed beta testers think it's BS, then what are a bunch of newbies playing the retail version in October going to think? IGN: Kaasi (Incursion,) Borkrak (Standard)
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" Man, and here I am being all softcorey but honestly the number of fusings and length of grind to get to 6 link don't bother me one bit. To the best of my knowledge 6 link is not required to reach level 100 and kill all the content... solo. I'm a LOT more worried about 4 and 5 link stuff... basic mid-game leveling gear. For those who don't wish to partake in the joy which is online haggling 4 and 5 link stuff is also astronomically out of reach. In other words, you cannot solo this game so their own design goals are missed. THAT would bother me. I don't trade. I don't group. My comments reflect that.
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" Here is the only one thing to keep the frustration down: DO NOT TRY TO CRAFT since poe has no crafting system, just a poor orb gambling system. Always save your orbs and buy the items you need! "Yes, it is perfectly fair. It just sucks ass."
posted by Thaelyn on 12. August 2013 17:33 |
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" You can avoid crafting(every other orb), but not fusing/ljeweller/chroming. |
