Fix the economy/fun! (give us socketing vendor recipe)
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TL;DR
Give us a vendor recipe to set up linked sockets
Some groundwork stuff about the PoE economy
The largest price difference in the economy that I've seen is whether or not an item is 5/6 linked. A quick search of poe.xyz.is reveals this.
A 5L white item goes for 3-5 Chaos orbs, whilst a 4L sought after unique (Voll's protector) goes for the same price. It's not the rarity of the item that sets most of the price, it's the ability to put gems in it, or more specifically... It's the ability to use the item to it's max potential. More important than ANY statistic on an 6L-able item is, in fact, the ability to get 6 links. The difference in performance from 4 to 5 to 6 links is significantly better than any stat I've seen (the possible exception being the Tyrannical mod on a 2h weap vs no dam mod). People who get unique chest/2h drops don't even use them until they are 5 or 6 linked if they are already using a 5 or 6 linked setup. In addition to the above, the ability to perform with sockets is based on player choice, not a static mod, and it's adaptable! Conclusion: sockets, when 5 or 6 linked, are the most valuable statistic, and thus the highest market value overall, event beating out rarity.
Rarity is not as good as links
I tried to do a search on poe.xyz.is for Voltaxic Rift, but the only thing that showed up was 6L's, which were on buyout for ~80 Exalts. I searched for Death's oath, but only 5Ls were on buyout in Domination. I searched Standard instead, and found Death's Oath at 3.5 Exalted for 4L, and 65 Exalteds for 6L. The rarity basically set the smallest price point, but the links set a nearly 20x multiplier.
Another search on Shav's Wrappings shows us that 5L is worth 35-45 Exalted, and 6L 70-170. That's a minimum of 2x price for that extra link. So, what has GGG provided for us to manage the ability to acquire 5 and 6 linked items? Crafting and trading!
Don't hold your breath on drops
I've never seen a 5 or 6L anything drop, and I've seen exactly one story about someone looting a 5L white item on these forums. All other 5 and 6L acquisitions, or at least the vast majority, come from trading and crafting, to my knowledge.
As everyone is aware, crafting using orbs is really a gambling system, and we have seen unending anecdotes about 1000 Orbs of Fusing, lotteries, etc, to acquire that magic 5 or 6L item. In addition, items such as exalted orbs and chaos orbs are used more often for trading than their crafting ability, and as such I suspect they are kept in circulation, inflating the economy. Inflation in PoE is especially bad for GGG, as it is perceived by new players as an enormous barrier to entry. On top of this is pure trading, which has been complained about over and over again on these forums. Examples include all the Self Found League threads, and complaints about how the "only" way to get needed items for a build is to trade for them, etc. Now, online game communities like ours don't mind trading, but we generally aren't fans of gambling as a means to an end, although "grinding" is something we definitely are willing to do. We'll spend hours and hours in the same spot to achieve nothing more than to gain a level with no other reward. If you want to consider using orbs to "craft" as a type of grind, that's not completely outside logic, but gamers much prefer deterministic outcomes over random. We like to plan and strategize the "best" way to achieve a goal, and the easiest way to accomplish that is predicting that the plan will work as designed. That's where we get our enjoyment in Path Of Exile. We make a plan, we try it out, and when it succeeds... endorphins! Character builds are focused around that fact. The passive tree, gem usage, primary skills, secondary skills, defensive skills, equipment type choice(STR, DEX, INT), weapon type choice... it's all a grand plan to see if our mental labors will bear fruit. What's the biggest frustration that thwarts our plan? Gear acquisition! Suppose my plan is to be an INT based Chaos Inoculation character, and I get no good Energy Shield drops. I have 3 choices for improvement: gamble the stat with orbs, trade for an improvement, grind until I get better. It's either that or simply endure low survivability, slowing progress, making the game less fun for most. EDIT** However, you can at least make do with lower stats, so long as the plan is realized. Considering that I know that a CI character requires high ES equipment, I can plan accordingly to not take CI until I have the right gear. There is one thing EVERY build has in common - 5 and 6 linked skills. What are my options? Trade and gamble. Waiting for drops is quite simply not an option for getting high-linked gear appropriate to your build. Not even "best in slot".. just -appropriate-. And while I'm waiting for gambling to pay off or acquiring enough capital to trade for the item I need, I am not having fun... at all. I could progress according to my skill tree layout and EXP, but EDIT** I'm not seeing my goal of combining skills come to light. I am either jaded by the need to roll dice on an upgrade, or I feel no sense of accomplishment just because I acquired currency, and I didn't actually play the game to get the gear I wanted. I don't want easier end game. I don't want my particular build to be the best or work in every situation. I don't want free loot. I only want a plannable, deterministic way to achieve the goal I set out when I started my character.... I want a vendor recipe to make items 5 or 6 linked.
The basic premise
** You should be able to acquire enough materials by level XX (guessing between 60 and 80) through drops and vendor recipes to forge a 5 or 6 linked item via the vendor. This includes converting low value orbs to higher.. and yes it might mean collecting every blue drop and selling it.
** The value of the materials should be equivalent to the value of the average number of orbs GGG intended to be used via RNG to acquire a 6 linked item. ** The output item has the same rarity and base type as the input, with a precise amount of linked sockets based on crafting inputs ** By default the output item is unidentified ** Item quality is removed
My first thought on the recipe
Each socket to be forged onto the item requires a certain number (say one stack) of each...
** Jeweller's Orb - representing the number of sockets ** Orb of Fusing - representing the linking of sockets ** Chromatic Orb - representing the color of sockets So... 6 linking would require, for example, 120 each of the above. Setting the color on each slot requires a skill gem of each color. You could make it so that off-color slots (Green on a pure STR item) require 2 gems, a 20% quality gem of the color, or something similar. You would need a "catalyst" orb.. like a stack each of Alchemy, Chaos, Transmutation orbs, for example, with varying numbers to approximate the value of orbs required to achieve via crafting. Optional: Keeping the item identified with its original stats, changing only the sockets, requires some number of Exalted Orbs. I think requiring a single Mirror, while more thematically in line, would be too prohibitive to do based on the drop rate.
What this provides
** Orbs maintain their value as RNG gambling tools, since the value of the recipe is equivalent to GGG's intended usage
** Additional currency is removed from circulation since people would use this recipe over trading in many cases ** Trading is more normalized to rarity of a drop instead of how many linked sockets it has ** Achieving character planning goals is more viable without making it "easy"
Warning
GGG, if you do take this to heart... do NOT "stealth" this recipe in with a "we've added a new recipe"! At least tell us it's available, and we'll figure out the rest.
Last edited by durnitol#2394 on Dec 19, 2013, 11:48:14 AM
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Skill makes up what cheap/self-found gear lacks. Last night I was in a 10 minute skirmish with a Rogue Exile. I was lvl 56, this was a 61 zone (crypts). My gear is crap; I've got 1 or 2 4l pieces, each piece only has 2-3 worthwhile stats.
If while playing, you don't get your endorphin fix from several instances of pure badassery, you might want to consider an easier game to feed your addiction. Pokemon just put out a new version, didn't they? Look, man. Video games are hard, okay?
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My first 6L took 2522 fuse.
That said, my second 6L came in just 50 fuse when i was aiming for a 5L. I am sending you this message to let you know that I have removed your signature as it is designed to mislead others. Please refrain from using similar signatures in the future. - Rob_GGG
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" IGN: korgan_bloodarrow
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I looted 4 five links in domination before I quit.
I 6l'd two items in less than 100 fusings a piece. In Cb/Ob I used over 800 fusings on a Taryn's Shiver and never 5l'd it. Crafting system is too random. Drop system for 5l/6l white items was either fine for me, or I was insanely lucky. I did play a ton though.. had two 80+'s in domination. The crafting system should have diminishing returns on "failure" for jeweler and fusing orbs. |
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"Ignoring the insult, I will address the point you made by expressing what I already addressed it in my original post, but I will elaborate since you have already pigeon-holed me as a whiner (which I may be), complaining that the game is too hard (it isn't). I also have crap gear, I also have only 4L on any piece, I also play in zones several levels above my own (current char is level 56 as well by coincidence), and I also consider it a kind of challenge to accomplish. The distinction is that the challenge isn't skill, it's tedium. I have to do a 10 minute dance with a tough mob, such as your bandit example, bobbing and weaving to survive while eeking out the damage, waylaying adds, potting, going back to town if necessary, and coming back to do it all over again if the first try didn't get the job done. I also swap out gear, change tactics, change my skill setup or weapon approach, if my current setup just isn't getting the job done on a particular encounter. An easy example would be sacrificing DPS and a bit of HP for cold resist when fighting Merveil. But none of these things helps my main point, which is that I set out to accomplish a goal with my build from the moment I created the character, based on the passive tree and skills used. I am perfectly fine with the mediocre stats on my equipment. I don't have maxed resists (average of 35% in Merc), my equipment DPS and defense is low, but I'm getting through content all the same. But I don't want to just get through content, I want to see my plan come to full fruition. I want to see it work. I want my play skill to enhance my plan, not be the ONLY plan regardless of my goals. I want to have mad bragging rights that I dreamed up a build no one else did (to one degree or another), and it was my creativity that was responsible. Creativity: That's the appeal of this game. I couldn't care less if I have to continue to progress slowly, treading carefully around poison bomb throwers and leapers, kiting Kole and Brutus, etc. I only want to be able to use the skills I had intended and carefully planned out at level 1. I don't want easier... I don't want better/more stats beyond what the game already provides. I just want my plan to be realized. Generally 6L is the optimum plan, but it can be at least realized with 5L, and 4L just wallows in "this wasn't what I planned" status. For now, I am grinding through RNG to get better than 4L, and there is no skill at all involved. No act on my part beyond trading will accomplish what I need to see my build come to life, stats be damned. Had I known I could forge a 5 or 6L item from the beginning, I could have planned for the exact currency required and waited for the right moment to choose which gear I collected was right for me to use it on. I have no hope of that as it stands. A vendor recipe for this provides MORE options for character builds.. which is exactly why I play. Last edited by durnitol#2394 on Dec 19, 2013, 11:41:43 AM
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Edited the original post to be clearer on my main point: barriers to 5L and 6L items prevent rewarding creativity.
I've never played Pokemon, since it started well after my gaming days started, but I assume it is an easy child's game, known only to simpletons. |
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Your going to need to jack up the prices to like 2000 apiece.
Otherwise I'll just make a 6link in like 2 days. |
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"Why is 2 days a problem? You can do this sooner by trading for orbs.. and gambling. It is statistically possible to achieve a 6L with 2 orbs, but on average much more. I already stated that the recipe should be equivalent to the value of the average number of orbs required... if that means 1k each Fusing and Jeweller's, then the recipe requires the equivalent in value... just not necessarily in quantity. Some Alch and Chaos orbs could make up the difference. Last edited by durnitol#2394 on Dec 19, 2013, 12:10:38 PM
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" You are aware that it's cheaper trading because people will always sell a 5-6 link less then the average amount to takes to craft one because you can find one for free (or get lucky and get one before spending a ton of fusings)? So if this recipe lowers the threshold of 5-6 links to the "efficiency " of current trading. Trading will just undercut the self-crafting and the same "issue" people see will arise. It also cost upon average 30-40 exalts (around 1500 to 2000 fusings) starting with a 6 socket item to 6 link it with a drastically high chance that you'll 6 link before hand or a low chance get it with your first 5. Last edited by RagnarokChu#4426 on Dec 19, 2013, 12:17:18 PM
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