Curse

BigTru · Aug 04, 2005, 05:21 AM // 05:21

Ok, I know Fissure armor is meant to be the "uber" armor in this game and that is optional... but this is simply ridiculous.

Obviously if it was included with the game it was meant to be obtained. Obviously there are those who are simply obcessed with having the best looks.

With that said, the prices for this armor encourage either hours of "grinding" or buying gold through Ebay, despite you claiming that you discourage repetitivce farming (Despite what Gaile Gray or anyone else may say on this forum, I remember clearly the official website saying something about how they discourage it and plan to make it obsolete).

What I propose is this - Make Ectoplasm and Obsidian Shards craftable and/or dropped by enemies more often.

This suggestion is nothing without numbers, no?

Current cost of Ectoplasm in the US districts- 10k
Current cost of Obsidian Shards in the US districts- 3k

Number of Ectoplasm required to make chest piece of Fissure Armor - 45
Number of Obsidian required to make chest piece of Fissure Armor - 45

[45 x 10,000] + [45 x 3,000] + 15,000 = 600,000

600k is the cost of the Ectoplasm, Obsidian Shards, and 15k payment for crafting the armor. That estimate does not include the cost of other materials used to craft the armor.

Now let's say the person who wants this armor can farm up, say, 5k per hour.

[600,000 / 5000 = 120] x 60 = 7,200

You will be farming for 7,200 Minutes (or 120 Hours) just to get the cost of the Obsidian Shards, Ectoplasm, and 15k fee for the armor, again, not including other materials.

That's a pretty big figure for a single PIECE of equipement (Not even the whole set), yet this game does not encourage grinding? Just because it isn't a required piece of equipment doesn't mean it does not encourage grinding - It's in the game, it's meant to be obtained by someone.

I also feel that if the prices go down, so too would the number of people resorting to ebay and IGE.

Again, I know I will probably be flamed for purposing making a "uber" item drop more often or become craftable, but I'm fairly certain I'm not the only one who thinks this.

"You suck!" "You aren't so Big!" "I already paid 10k for an ectoplasm! If you lower the price, your stealing my gold!"

Kakumei · Aug 04, 2005, 05:27 AM // 05:27

I generally agree with you, though I can see the other side of the argument as well.

Meh. I have mixed feelings about this one.

spikydude · Aug 04, 2005, 05:39 AM // 05:39

Fissure armor is optional, and doesn't really give you an advantage in stats over someone else with Droknar's Forge armor.

That said, if you dont like the grinding, then why bother get Fissure armor, it's only optional after all, so it makes this particular type of grinding purely optional too.

When you play through the regular levels and missions, there's no grinding. This is because you can still go through about 50% of the game with crappy armor and items, and somewhat low level. I also believe that the early missions are quite easy, up until Kryta. This fits into the no-grinding philosophy of Anet.

So the grinding you are talking about is the optional kind I think. Anet probably meant no-grinding to get to the end of the game. Fissure armor is sort of like a side-thing.

slasc · Aug 04, 2005, 06:47 AM // 06:47

I 100% agree with you, BigTru.

The economy in this game is driving me nuts. Suddenly, things that would have, before, been worthwhile are worth jack (dye and runes for example) now.

However, you still have to have stuff like obsidian shards and ectoplasm to get the high end armor. Those items are still worth lots of money. Hell, at this point, I wouldn't even stockpile the items. I'd just sell them so I could have some money. At the rate I play, I might make 10k a week. You're talking at least 6 weeks of nothing but farming just to get one piece of gear at that rate. (and I always end up spending that money on more imediate needs)

It's ridiculas.

I don't care how much you think grinding should be important for getting the fissure gear. No one should have to grind to this degree for anything. This is Guild Wars. These things should be obtainable. Esp. with the lack of customization in other respects. (in other words, if there were 20 different types of armor PER class, I wouldn't have a problem with one being really hard to get. But when there's only about 4 (8 if you include ascension gear) per class....)

EmperorTippy · Aug 04, 2005, 07:06 AM // 07:06

My question is why is an obsidian shard only worth 3K? The trader has none of them. I had a guilde stnad in each district in ToA an tell me every time a person said WTS: Shard or the like. This is what I discovered: More people are selling ectoplasm than are selling shards. By a rate of almost 4 to 1. So why are shards worth 3K while ecto is worth 10-12K?

I mean I go to sell 100 shards to this guy and tell him that the price is 5K each. He can either pay me 500K for them, waste a very long time trying to find a hundred of them at 3K each, go attempt to farm them, or call me a scammer. Sadly he chose the last option. I mean people don't understand that it's a sellers market with this stuff. You can always find a buyer at 3K each but can you people trying to buy find a seller in a reasonable length of time at 3K each?

a_scrawny_gnoll01 · Aug 04, 2005, 07:09 AM // 07:09

Usually, I'm not for a lot of these posts about the rarity of items. However, this is one that I agree with. I do agree with you on the fact that shards/globs need to drop more frequently, or be able to be crafted somehow. (probably some artisan somewhere, correct me if there isn't) They're just a massive timesink meant to keep you doing something...
I think the whole cost/time invested for these armors rivals the Vex Thal Key quest in EQ... just a massive timesink to keep players around...
Utter trivialness if you ask me.

*pokes mod stick*

Paul Templar · Aug 04, 2005, 07:14 AM // 07:14

dont need it so wont bother with it
If I have enough to get well I will then
but playing dressing up my dollies was not why I got the game anyway
it seems people only want it because its so expensive doesnt look that hot and no extra skills or anything
no big deal if they want to play dress up then let them it doesnt change the game play

sandman1 · Aug 04, 2005, 07:14 AM // 07:14

i got 7 ectos last night in 2 runs
either i was very lucky or they seem to drop more often now
and yes i solo

kg_lildude1 · Aug 04, 2005, 07:22 AM // 07:22

100% agree with time sink, and with all the new nerfing, going through the main missions and such, as intended, i barely get enough to buy the lowest stuff, which encourages me to grind to get a neccesity like droks armor, i was able to make about 15k a week if i was lucky, i can barely keep 1k in my storage, because i keep having to upgrade armor/weapons and i'm not even buying the aesthetic ones, the game is starting to promote grinding, especially to people just starting off

meh, "grind wars"

=====================================
cool game to play when you cant get to GW
http://games.photics.com/rogueBATTLE/?u=918
=====================================

kg_lildude1 · Aug 04, 2005, 07:24 AM // 07:24

of course you get 7+ ectos when solo'ing, you get all the drops, kinda stupid question/statement to say

AWC Sandman · Aug 04, 2005, 07:43 AM // 07:43

I think its right like it is, it gives some of the hardcore PvE players a goal to aim for, also it keeps the FoW armour in the whole wow thats cool (or you have to much spare time) section of the game.

firstwave · Aug 04, 2005, 07:48 AM // 07:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by kg_lildude1

of course you get 7+ ectos when solo'ing, you get all the drops, kinda stupid question/statement to say

Please try soloing UW before you post something like this. Getting more than 2 ectos per run is very rare. Generally, people find 0-2 ectos per run.

To everyone: If you find the need to grind, by all means, GRIND. I think increasing the chances of dropping ecto or shard is a bad idea, because it would make the game even easier to play. Seriously guys, it is not hard to make 10k+ an hour right now. If you feel like you have no gold, maybe you should a)play more, b)look into other people's money-making ideas.

Suuk · Aug 04, 2005, 09:34 AM // 09:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by firstwave

Please try soloing UW before you post something like this. Getting more than 2 ectos per run is very rare. Generally, people find 0-2 ectos per run.

Exactly! 7+ is very rare for soloing...

BigTru · Aug 04, 2005, 09:40 AM // 09:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by firstwave

increasing the chances of dropping ecto or shard is a bad idea, because it would make the game even easier to play.

I fail to see your point of view. What does the amount of time you spend looking for a glob have to do with difficulty?

Time Sink =/= Difficulty

ElderAtronach · Aug 04, 2005, 10:37 AM // 10:37

You guys are ignoring spikydude's assessment. Fissure armor is totally optional. Hell, 15k armor from the grotto or citadel is completely optional. All it does is add aesthetic value to your character (and sometimes that's debatable, lol).

You are bitching about grind that only you are making yourself do.

PS, ecto drops a lot less than shards do. That's why ecto is worth more, obviously. And the reason why the trader has no shards in stock? They are cheap and can be acquired without having to hoard a lot of gold to buy one from said trader.

Snuk the Great · Aug 04, 2005, 03:54 PM // 15:54

Mixed fealings too, Like the challange at one hand, at the other it seams impossible. Though let it stay the way it is. Its more of a dilema for the one that wants the armor then if they should change it.
If you want it do the work. If you do not want to do the work you wont get it

.

Zell Murasame · Aug 04, 2005, 04:05 PM // 16:05

It's only asthetics. If you want your armor to look good, you have to dish out the cash. If you don't want to put all that effort into it, wear your Droknar's armor and live with it... If you want nice things you need to work. Stop complaining...

BigTru · Aug 04, 2005, 04:29 PM // 16:29

Read the original post. Yes, it's optional, but if they didn't want people to have it, then why put it in?

120 Hours for one piece of armor? Nobody should have to grind that much for ANYTHING.

Hell, going through all the missions is optional, too, but you still aren't gonna make them take 120 hours per mission are you? (Ok, poor comparison... but you get the point...)

If you put this stuff in the game and make it take this long to achieve, obcoarse there will be many people who resort soley to Ebay. Fissure armor encourages this because it's so hard to obtain.

Besides, like someone else said, there is very few customizabilty in this game. If they had more than 8 armor sets per class, I wouldn't mind having an absolutely impossible armor to obtain. But they don't.

120 Hours is more than anything I've ever grinded too. Even FFXI wasn't that bad (unless you consider the Relic weapons... but they had so many weapons it didn't matter if it was impossible to get).

Zell Murasame · Aug 04, 2005, 04:40 PM // 16:40

Have you ever considered that your calculations are WAY off? How does someone make 5000 gold in an hour when they're farming? I make 5000 gold in about 20 minutes. Plus, you were calculating for the most expensive piece. Besides, Fissure armor is the 'be all end all' of all armors. Once you get this, there is nothing (currently) more expesnive to get.

Isis Snowflame · Aug 04, 2005, 04:43 PM // 16:43

5k in 20 min where are you farming that...???