Reward the Player - Gem Slots

No. If this was GGG's intent they would have done it right away. Small stat bonuses don't count for that much anyway so this would basically make gem socket colors meaningless for most people and would lead to abusive gem leveling, ridiculously power support gem combos that before you had to work hard to get... no thanks. I like my PoE the way I like my _____ in the morning. Hard.

I did a forum search for a similar suggestion and came up with nothing. It may have been an unlucky search. If that thread already exists, then post a link to the original thread. If you nor I can find that thread, then you should engage in intelligent conversation about the pros and cons of the addition of this mechanic.

Also, stop trying to read into my reasoning for wanting this mechanic implemented into the game. I'm not sugar-coating anything here. I don't want the game to be easier, as I've already stated. Gems aren't going to have lower requirements. You're still going to want to socket them in the correct sockets. PLEASE READ AND UNDERSTAND MY ENTIRE POST BEFORE REPLYING.

I'm looking for positive reinforcement and rewarding the player to keep casual players and hardcore players interested in the game at all stages.

My "profound lack of insight" comes from several years of teaching experience and understanding positive reinforcement is necessary for keeping people interested in whatever it is they're doing. The mechanic I am suggesting would NOT result in "ridiculously power support gem combos that before you had to work hard to get" because support gems would only interact with skill gems placed in the correct sockets. The bonuses are meant to be small, because every little bit counts in PvP and end game statistics. Do something simple to keep the competitors and min-maxers out there interested.

Blindly shooting down the suggestion because you didn't read the entire OP is negligent and reflects poorly on you as a beta tester/contributor. From here on out, try to refrain from obscene, offensive, or irrelevant posts. Please try to convince me why this mechanic would not work in PoE.

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Xendran wrote:

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Scruff260 wrote:

casual players

link removed

mature. nice. real productive.

by casual i mean people who are going to be playing much less because most of their time is taken up by things other than video games... you do realize casual gamers can still be competitive, right?

No

I like the way it is, you need to either throw it away, or trade for what you need.

Online game is suppose to relate you to other players, not meant for playing on your own. Making friends in this game, joining guides, and etc.

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markshiu wrote:

Online game is suppose to relate you to other players, not meant for playing on your own. Making friends in this game, joining guides, and etc.

Please relate this to the post. This seems irrelevant to me because I'm not asking for a more viable single player experience. In fact, I'm asking for more specific needs at end game which means more trading/interaction.

How do you see this as benefiting single player over multiplayer? I'm legitimately interested in this argument.

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Scruff260 wrote:

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markshiu wrote:

Online game is suppose to relate you to other players, not meant for playing on your own. Making friends in this game, joining guides, and etc.

Please relate this to the post. This seems irrelevant to me because I'm not asking for a more viable single player experience. In fact, I'm asking for more specific needs at end game which means more trading/interaction.

How do you see this as benefiting single player over multiplayer? I'm legitimately interested in this argument.

Because if you are keeping those items, you are not going to trade them away/giving them away.

Also, there are orbs to change the color of the sockets, which is a gold sink (or item sink).

I think keeping it the current way would allow more trades, make use of those orbs, and etc.

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Scruff260 wrote:

Also, stop trying to read into my reasoning for wanting this mechanic implemented into the game. I'm not sugar-coating anything here. I don't want the game to be easier, as I've already stated. Gems aren't going to have lower requirements. You're still going to want to socket them in the correct sockets. PLEASE READ AND UNDERSTAND MY ENTIRE POST BEFORE REPLYING.

You might be right in that we're building a scarecrow argument by declaring that you're just trying to make things easier. But please understand what we're saying here - I've traded powerful items away because they didn't have the right sockets, and chromatic orbs exist because of the desire to recolor the sockets. You'll want to socket them in the correct sockets, yes, but finding the right color sockets on an item is an ENORMOUS carrot that drives the game.

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Scruff260 wrote:

I'm looking for positive reinforcement and rewarding the player to keep casual players and hardcore players interested in the game at all stages.

My "profound lack of insight" comes from several years of teaching experience and understanding positive reinforcement is necessary for keeping people interested in whatever it is they're doing.

As a psychology graduate and teacher with much more than several years experience, I want to point out that you're misapplying positive reinforcement. I know it's semantics and most people make that mistake (I did for a long time until someone set me straight), but as a teacher you'll be better off if you're aware of it.

Positive reinforcement for a behavior is supposed to be immediate. There already is positive reinforcement built into the game - you kill something, you are immediately reinforced with the creature's death and likely an item drop. When the item is blue, brown, gold, or orange, you get an increasing sense of satisfying reward for doing it. It isn't until later, when you're analyzing the item, that you are dissatisfied - these are two very different cognitive processes. When the colors are wrong, what action are you being negatively reinforced for doing? The ambiguity of antecedent action undermines the positive/negative reward outlook, as the brain tends to pick something to associate the action with rather than have a concrete association that is necessary for appropriate reinforcement.

Is there positive reinforcement involved? Yes. But what you're implying is that the colors of the sockets would be positively reinforcing a player's action of playing the game. The consequence, however, does not directly follow the antecedent, (since you're typically looking at the item later) so it's not positive reinforcement. You're right in that it would be motivating, but that's only for some people - others get their motivation from finding the right color(s) precisely because it's so difficult.

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The mechanic I am suggesting would NOT result in "ridiculously power support gem combos that before you had to work hard to get" because support gems would only interact with skill gems placed in the correct sockets. The bonuses are meant to be small, because every little bit counts in PvP and end game statistics. Do something simple to keep the competitors and min-maxers out there interested.

I know you're looking at it to give people bonuses for using the "correct" gems, but I don't think you realize how much stronger and generally usable it would make items to be able to socket any gem into them. As I said before, I've thrown powerful items away because they didn't have the right color gems, and I've used every chromatic orb I've found more quickly than any other currency item. The bonuses are small, sure, but they take away that deeper sense of accomplishment that accompanies finding the right color of sockets on an item. In my opinion, that's an extremely important part of the game that you're not recognizing, and your refusal thus far to deal with it is undermining your entire argument.

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Blindly shooting down the suggestion because you didn't read the entire OP is negligent and reflects poorly on you as a beta tester/contributor. From here on out, try to refrain from obscene, offensive, or irrelevant posts. Please try to convince me why this mechanic would not work in PoE.

We did read the original argument. We are trying to convince you why it wouldn't work, and there are many, many important reasons. Yes, my "No" response was rude, so I'm sorry about that. We are listening to what you are saying, we just don't agree; while the bonuses would be nice, they don't nearly outweigh the negative impact your suggestion would have on everything else.

Well, see Laimbrane, your post (*edit* And Markshiu's post) are the only posts so far that breaks the argument down enough to directly address the issue. I understand I was getting negative feedback and people were disagreeing, but I didn't know why people were disagreeing.

Your post, however, is well constructed and I appreciate the time you put into it. Thanks for the definition of positive reinforcement. It may be semantics, but people constantly argue semantics so I'm glad you cleared it up without making it the basis of an argument.

"your refusal thus far to deal with it is undermining your entire argument."

I would gladly have dealt with this if someone had articulated why this is a more rewarding system than what my proposed system would be.

You make a good point, and everyone else has made the point, that the grind for gear is most rewarding when useful items are hard to obtain. The way the system works is rewarding. I totally understand that, through and through. Since we're getting to the point where we're understanding why the system is rewarding, why don't we talk about (if there is any interest at all) ways that this system could be implemented without breaking the item hunt. At that point, if the system becomes more complicated than it is rewarding, or if there is no way to avoid breaking the item hunt, then I think it should be scrapped.

Here's the basis of my argument
Why I think my idea works: The biggest contributors to making unique and viable builds are support gems. Since support gems and the skill gems they are modifying would have to be socketed correctly, wouldn't this allow the item hunt to be just as rewarding?
Also, since skill gems would have to be socketed correctly to receive experience, wouldn't players favor items that allow for correctly socketed skill gems?

Please focus on responding to these questions. Thanks!

This idea is already implemented. However, instead of buff to stat points, you get penalty to your net worth when trying to socket incorrectly. Start spending those chromatic orbs - they're cheap as sin anyway.

But but but Chris has stated that this game isn't geared for casuals. This game is not geared towards this market.

You have put alot of thought and seem to be emotionally invested in this idea to be seen through. Look, it ain't gonna happen.

Rolling for the right number, colours and linkages is the bigger carrot, not finding the 'perfect item' with the right properties and sockets. Drop the D3 mentality. This isn't D3. Don't try and turn this game into the game you /ragequit, whether you are doing this unconsciously or not, as a doctor in the mental health profession, I would have expect a psychologist to realize this.

Instant gratification (which appears to be what D3 relies on), or as you call 'positive reinforcement' is seen here as you see your character grow more powerful as you improve your gear, skills etc.

Crafting oops Rolling an item for the right colour, number and linkages between sockets, this is more akin to chance and hence gambling, is a much more powerful hook, rather harpoon, that will keep you grinding for the currency to craft such items. You a messing with addiction right here. this is what makes people coming back for more, to make it too easy, well, that would defeat the purpose.