Originally Posted by lyra_song

I like what Anet has actually been doing. Lets take a look at the evolution of loot shall we? Im going to exclude changes to treasure chests since thats not part of the topic.

Originally rare items of perfect caliber were very rare. Even rarer were rare items of perfect caliber and rare skins. Getting rare items with low requirements was hard too. Salvaging weapon mods was also VERY risky, since perfect mods were hard to get off of weapons.

This creates an environment where prices for useable weapons is very high. Yes collector items are perfect, but theres mod NPCs so buying weapon mods is costly. Theres a sense of elation when you get a good item since those are so rare to begin with. Theres also a sense of anger when you try to salvage that perfect mod, only to get wood. Armor prices are fixed. Skill prices are semi-fixed. Getting a gold item meant a lot of money really quick. This is also the time when runes were VERY expensive, remember when superior absorption was 100k? And monk runes meant lots of cash?

This was the time when a req 11 rare item with imperfect mods could be sold for some money, since there was so few good stuff.

Since white items dropped plenty, farming could easily generate money for armors/skills. However the truly COOL (but not required) stuff required lots more grinding since they are so expensive.


Fast forward..... What has Anet added?

Improved Drop rates - Believe it or not, drop rates are much better now.

Improved Rare item stats - Believe it or not, rare items have higher chance of being perfect in stats now. Especially with the inherent mods added to staves.

Improved Salvage - This is obvious. Remember when you wanted that 10/10 sundering, and salvaged iron? Doesnt happen anymore.

Introduction of Green items - Good weapons for everyone. Need a decent healing staff? Get a wenlauss.

These things have increased the number of rare items with perfect mods. Prices for some items dropped. Rare skinned weapons still commanded good prices, but things are generally cheaper. But now...selling your crappy gold was impossible. Only perfect items will sell. Rune prices have dropped heavily. Green items provided an alternate way to gain weapons as well as make money.

White items still drop decently, so farming them can get you your armor/skills. But getting a rare drop no longer meant instant cash. Its easier to gain items, but harder to make money.

Fast Forward some more.

Introduction of Inscribable Weapons and Armor
The whammy of all whammys. Prices plummet. Inscribable weapons are great to use, but harder to sell for money. Only the truly rare items are worth much. Non-inscribable weapons drop in value. Now you need even more perfect inscribable weapons to make money. Insignias and inscriptions provide a new market to make money, but only few standouts are really expensive.

Introduction of Loot Scaling and Hard Mode
Now white items are harder to farm for cash. Hardmode has added a new place to get rares but their worth has dropped drastically that its still hard to make money with perfect rare items, if you can even sell them.. Meanwhile...armor costs and skill costs are still there.

So overall. Usable items are easier to gain. Cold hard cash is harder to get. Armor and Skill costs more or less stay the same.

So what else needs to be changed?
Skills need to be able to be gained without intensive farming - See my skill token idea.

Non-elite armor prices are ok to me....but increasing white loot for full parties is a good reward and incentive to casual non-farming players so they can afford their armors. Insignias need to increase in drops as well.

I think rare items are at a good place right now, we just need a better way to sell it.