Curse

HotSnack · Mar 06, 2005, 04:36 PM // 16:36

With some work, I for one think that ID Kits can actually make a good money sink (please put down your rocks and hear me out).

Unlike bags which takes gold from the fresh chars i.e. the poor, ID Kits are a money sink mainly for the battle wary and the vets i.e. the semi-rich and rich. However the problems I can name with ID Kits are that:

1) There's not enough explanation about them. I didn't know what they were for, the first time I saw them, and so consequently only bought one when BWE was near an end. Even then, I wasted several uses of these kits just to figure out what they actually did (though I feel sorry for newbies who unknowingly bought them with what little gold they had, thinking they would need them).

2) It's a money sink only for the poor and the semi-rich. As 40gp isn't much of a hurdle if you easily gain quadruple that in a few hours of playing.

My suggestion to fix this is that one use of an ID Kit only takes off a percentage of what is needed to identify an item. The more powerful the item, the more ID Kits it takes to identify it, with the number of ID Kits required being exponential.

That way ID Kits act as a minor novelty for new players, while hopefully being a real money sink for the rich players

Dragonne · Mar 06, 2005, 04:45 PM // 16:45

In theory that could really get expensive, and most people think it's too expensive as is for a single use of an identify.

Though I think that would be OK if items that really NEEDED that identify were the only ones that had it. As it was in the last BWE, I IDd several items only to find that they were basic items or have a value (I think) rating that was higher than one which translated into essentially nothing when reselling to an NPC. If the value rating were to be the actual resell cost to an NPC, then it might be worth it to ID something for just that. Maybe it was broken or incomplete last event, at least I hope so.

HotSnack · Mar 06, 2005, 04:56 PM // 16:56

I agree that currently ID Kits are overpriced, I was going to suggest that ID Kits be changed so they are much cheaper, but only have one use, and are stackable like crafting items, so players don't lose out on a lot of gold if they were only going to ID a single, probably worthless, item with it.

Unik · Mar 06, 2005, 05:13 PM // 17:13

I have to agree, I often found myself using the ID kit on a drop and it pretty much turned to waste since the item wasn't worth it in the end. I think they need to adjust this to balance out the cost/worth ratio of the kits and items.

Although this is a bug, but regarding cost you can sell the ID kits and Salvage kits back to the oufitter for half the prices you paid for them, even if it has only one use left. So this does bring down the price of using them considerably.

Mandy Memory · Mar 06, 2005, 07:47 PM // 19:47

i think the id kits were a great idea....they just need a bit of work

i like the idea of stronger items using more id kits, but perhaps it should be 10gp per kit (and have newbie items use like a quarter or a kit) because for new players that want to find out what they are...they are really expencive

they should also have a quest that explains them

for example Joe lost his sword! it has +1% critical on it. He hands you an id kit (quest version) and tells you who stole it. you go there only to discover 3 swords all unidentified. you have to id them (with the quest one, as they are all quest items, therefore unequipable and unusable on other items) and find out which one is his, you get mobbed and give back to other two swords (after threatening the theives that you will go to the athorites about the stolen sword you found, they allow you to take only that one) you take it back to Joe and get experience and a free id kit ( a real one) and an unidentified item (a decent weapon for your class, low damage but good modifier)

this would teach you what they do, how to use them, and when

Loviatar · Mar 06, 2005, 08:09 PM // 20:09

one partial solution would be a variation of the *this item is not salvagable* message that pops up without costing a use

if the item is a common unknown you could get a this is common do you want to proced?

Odd Sock · Mar 06, 2005, 10:23 PM // 22:23

I like Mandy's idea of a quest to explain how things work. I didn't bother doing the Ascalon missions (I want it to be perfect for when I play it at release) so I don't know if there are missions like this but perhaps it would be cool if all the lowest level missions had an objective like this. In one you'd learn how salvage kits work and you'd have to find a rune with an expert kit (ie colelct 10 Iron ingots and 'accidentaly find an ancient family-owned rune). In another you'd learn how charms work (ie go meet a priestress and buy a necklass). You guys get the idea. I think it would be a great way for people to learn these things as long as it's fairly subtle.

One question I have in terms of farming however is what were those unsalvagable salvage items ? I'm talking about stuff like 'Unnatural Seed' or 'Worn Belt' or 'Smoldering Heart' ? They had the icons of things like wood and scales yet weren't used for anything particular. Is this intended to slow down farming since it fills your inventory quicker ? Or will these items be used as low-end substitutes for the more common crafting materials (ie you have to find 10 Unnatural Seeds to make 5 planks of wood) ? These new items confused me last BWE.

HotSnack · Mar 06, 2005, 11:34 PM // 23:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Odd Sock

One question I have in terms of farming however is what were those unsalvagable salvage items ? I'm talking about stuff like 'Unnatural Seed' or 'Worn Belt' or 'Smoldering Heart' ? They had the icons of things like wood and scales yet weren't used for anything particular. Is this intended to slow down farming since it fills your inventory quicker ? Or will these items be used as low-end substitutes for the more common crafting materials (ie you have to find 10 Unnatural Seeds to make 5 planks of wood) ? These new items confused me last BWE.

If you played Pre-Searing, you usually traded items like the ones you mentioned to collectors in return for small prizes i.e. a belt pouch, minor armour upgrade, hides, etc.

Btw, I'm curious as to what drops worn belts.

Xma · Mar 06, 2005, 11:42 PM // 23:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by HotSnack

Btw, I'm curious as to what drops worn belts.

I've had lvl 24 Zealots dropping those... was sooo happy

About the initial post, maybe limiting ID needs to rare items ?
So the poor noob can use and get advantage of magical items he finds for free, and rich hardcore players need to pay some to identify their farming results.

Xapti · Mar 06, 2005, 11:50 PM // 23:50

Most mantle, to name one, drops Worn Belts. (edit: beaten to it)

I believe all those type items will be salvageable in the future. It makes it so you can carry more salvage without having a salvage kit than having to salvage tons of rods, bows, swords, etc. which don't stack. You can stack 123 worn belts in your inventory then salvage them when you get back, or whenever you feel like it.