When I first found out that Mirage would be the next world back in March, I was really hoping that there would be crafted gear in it. Since Polaris had none, and since KI said they would be refocusing on their MMOS again, I thought that Mirage would end up having crafted gear. However, there was none to be found.
One of the biggest problems back in the second arc was that the level cap was increasing, but there was no new gear to help players get through the new content. Kingsisle later even admitted this was a problem, and they ended up releasing Aquila as a result. However, unlike the third arc, the second arc had crafted gear.
Now in the third arc, the level cap is once again increasing, but this time no new crafted gear is given to us. I also see people complaining about the Mirage difficulty, and while I have no issue with it, I'm guessing that the majority of the people do have an issue with it.
The best gear at the moment is also still the Gauntlet/Darkmoor gear, which a lot of players still do not have despite Darkmoor's many nerfs.
I'm hoping that Kingsisle creates and adds crafted gear in Mirage, so that there can once again be good craftable gear to challenge the currently used high level gear. The only way to get the best gear at the moment is through dungeon farming, and I really want that to change, otherwise there'll likely end up being a Level 120 or 130 dungeon to farm at in the future.
Although crafting may not be seen as a lucrative profit centre for the game, it is in fact part of the game. And people who like to craft often spend real money on areas they can farm for reagents, which may include exotic fish, Celestian Shield, potent trap, turquoise, amber, steel, brass, and motes of various flavours.
We are long overdue to get crafted recipes for a good all-round set of gear. We have some decent offerings from the vendor in Darkmoor, but with the Third Arc's topsy-turvy placement of block on athames, critical on boots and rings, etc. it would help tremendously for players to be able to assemble a strong block profile sacrificing damage and pips, or a strong critical profile sacrificing resist and accuracy, or a strong outgoing healing profile that's somewhere in the middle, with balanced critical and block and reasonable (but not jadelike) resists.
It was once possible to do this using a mixture of crafted and dropped gear, pack gear, and some quest reward items.
Now it seems like the ONLY viable profiles are from farmed dropped gear + a pack weapon. Not even the clothing in hoard packs makes the cut - only the ultra-rare weapon.
Two years ago, we said to new players "You need to craft. Crafted items such as X and Y will be essential to your survival and will reward you many times over."
Now we are telling the same players who ran off and gathered their 64 (now considerably fewer) fossil and did their Legendary Crafting quests, made their block boots, etc. "Don't bother crafting. There's nothing of value after level 86". This has more than a few dedicated questers very ANGRY because they simply do not tolerate the boredom and toxic environment of farming difficult instances.
I am strongly agreeing with you on this. You are totally right that the only good quality gear is from drops and wand from packs. I think the new "Legendary Weapons" crafting was a complete fail. Crafting is pretty much never used in the game anymore. I have a few suggestions on how to fix this, not just the new gear but to promote crafting in general.
1: Add new crafted gear.
This topic was already brought up. But, I think they should make it so you can get crafted gear that is as good/better than the Darkmoor gear, maybe sold by the faction vendors to make them a little more known and a more hyped thing. But make them have to work at it to get the gear like maybe adding some are fish in order to make this crafting item.
2: Update the "Legendary Weapons" stats. At first I was so excited for the new Legendary Weapons until I saw the stats. They are good ideas but they need to have a little more crit, block, and damage to make them feel "Legendary".
Remember Kingsisle doesn't like the crafted gear supply anymore as it reduces the amount of money they make promoting all the powerful bundle gear and exalted duel gear they want us all to buy. Still, that in mind I agree that there should be crafting gear right up front for every wizard that has his 110 and completed Darkmoor, & the crafted gear should be adequate stats to get us through mirage until we get the power gear. That would only be fair consider many wizards at this level have spent much crowns and time on the game already. =
There should be (1) Basic gear (Tier 3) that can be purchased at the beginning of a new world that will help get their wizard through until, (2) Crafted gear (Tier 2) is accessible, better than basic but less than farming, and (3) Farmed gear (Tier 1).
All of the gear should have necessary stats according to their schools. There should not be major sacrifices just to have a piece like "oh, you want critical, so you can have that on your shoes, but we are going to take away accuracy, pips, and block". This should not be the case. There should be good, well-rounded gear that people can use. Now, you can mix and match the different Tiers, add the gems you want, or have a pet with different stats, but the gear you purchase, craft, or farm for should have everything that you need to build on.
I have always crafted my gear. My L110 Ice still wears her L74 crafted robe, because it's the best with the resist she needs. Anything above L74 crafted seriously reduces my resist, which is a necessity for Ice, as they are defense wizard. My Life wizard struggles with trying to increase heal percentage, which is necessary for synergy with a team.
I don't have hours upon hours to farm for all the gear. I farmed 257 times in Morganthe and have only gotten my Myth and Ice athame. NOTHING ELSE dropped. Forget Aquila, too, as I have only gotten 2 Alpha & Omega rings after fighting there hundreds of times by myself and with friends.
RNG needs to be increased drastically in dungeons, and crafting needs to be a viable option for those who don't, can't and won't farm.
Remember Kingsisle doesn't like the crafted gear supply anymore as it reduces the amount of money they make promoting all the powerful bundle gear and exalted duel gear they want us all to buy. Still, that in mind I agree that there should be crafting gear right up front for every wizard that has his 110 and completed Darkmoor, & the crafted gear should be adequate stats to get us through mirage until we get the power gear. That would only be fair consider many wizards at this level have spent much crowns and time on the game already. =
KI should rethink this, if it is at all true.
Players who self-identify as crafters usually score high on personality indices of Conscientiousness and Agreeableness. They have an internal locus of control, that is they view the quality of their life and their circumstances as something they can change and influence, rather than complain or blame others.
They are patient with others and will be more likely to help another player improve his/her stats, skills, and overall game experience than someone who does not craft or garden and must rely on luck to improve. Can you say player retention?
They tend to be creative thinkers, thinking outside the box to beat cheating bosses and solve problems. They will go and craft oddball clothes with say, storm and ice damage and pop a mastery on and go to town with both Lord and Giant.
They are last but not least a little on the Neurotic side, and this is where KI is really letting them down. I have never met an avid crafter, fisher, or gardener that was not a little obsessive-compulsive about something.
The pet expert who wants to hang on to every pet with a unique or potentially useful talent that can be leveraged into a unique strategy - think of those folks who create custom pets with multiple wards, or multiple maycasts to remove shields - or simply the pet collector who has to "catch 'em all". They will spend, spend, spend until they get the rare pets any way they can.
The fisher who has to "catch 'em all" and display them in a particular order, or buys extra castles just to display their vast inventory of rare beauties. Even I have bought multi-tanks to house my modest catch.
The crafter who must always have not only their standard-issue questing clothes, but also one each of the dual damage robes for their school; who will buy Shadow Palace simply because of the stone blocks and ores in the courtyard.
I'm hoping that Dworgyn and other Kingsisle workers see this thread, as well as the many other posts on Central asking for crafted gear, and add it in Test Realm.
Test Realm will still be here next week, so I'm hoping that Kingsisle will create and add crafted gear to a random merchant somewhere in Mirage during that time. Kingsisle needs to understand that not every player likes farming difficult dungeons for gear that rarely drops, and that they would rather have a more accessible way to get good gear, like through crafting. Furthermore, they should not be raising the level cap and creating more difficult content for players without giving good gear to compensate for these new challenges.
the one thing I was looking forward to with the new world. I said to myself this has to finally be it, finally they are making some new crafting spells to add that little extra to the game play everyone loves. HOLY COW! I don't think this could be another more disappointing game update. Honestly why waste your time on creating the game the way you want try adding things the players want. You all try so hard to make money on this game but in fact, its the actually fun game play that makes you the money. Nobody could care less if a new world comes OUT!! WE the players really only just play because the game is fun. When you take concepts like crafting out of a game. it really just makes the developers pretty much ignorant and brainless when it comes to keeping a good game going and FUN! players will spend money as long as the new updates help a game evolve! seems like its been torn apart lately just to half fast new worlds with boring content nobody finds fun after the first go at it. I recommend you guys take a look back at your orginal game concepts that really made this work. if the game proceeds in a down word spiral and becomes another money hungry game sell out concept. then like me and everyone else. there won't be many people sticking around to play.
Bottom Line - You need to bring back the crafted gear. give us those extra crafting quests etc. widen the game dynamics again please. give me a reason to keep that membership going.
I'm hoping that Dworgyn and other Kingsisle workers see this thread, as well as the many other posts on Central asking for crafted gear, and add it in Test Realm.
Test Realm will still be here next week, so I'm hoping that Kingsisle will create and add crafted gear to a random merchant somewhere in Mirage during that time. Kingsisle needs to understand that not every player likes farming difficult dungeons for gear that rarely drops, and that they would rather have a more accessible way to get good gear, like through crafting. Furthermore, they should not be raising the level cap and creating more difficult content for players without giving good gear to compensate for these new challenges.
I agree, and I think this is what's behind a lot of the "nerf Mirage" posts. Its a much different experience to go through that world in DM gear than it is in a mix of crafted KR and pack gear. Ironically, its the more casual players most likely not to have the best gear that have the hardest time. They aren't usually wanting a big struggle, but they get a worse struggle than the players who actually like that kind of challenge. A lot of them, because they are casual, had casual friends who have since quit the game over difficulty issues. So now here they are, in their less than best gear, trying to do team up. Often, they are ignored at the sigils or have to deal with toxic players. No wonder they scream for a nerf!
With dungeons that require a good team of four to complete as the only way to get decent gear, it is a problem for casual players. Most of them don't have the required teams to get through them, and we all know what team up is like. Yes occasionally, its possible to get a decent team but, more often than not, the experience is not good and leaves a bad taste in the player's mouth. Imagine to actually try to farm hundreds of times under those conditions!
In the past worlds there was crafted gear. I don't know why there isn't now. Also, the crafted gear needs to be on a par with the farmed gear, kind of like how WT gear was on a par with Waterworks gear. Crafters work hard to get their badges and then to make their gear, they need something decent to come of it.
This game is supposed to be a game for families. The "try hards" say it still is, but more and more of the casual family players don't agree.
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