Guild Wars 2

First of all, hi everyone, this is my first post here !

Let me start by saying Thanks to all the arena net employees for giving us such a nice game, and all the videos before the launched where people talked how this game would be “different” and not a farming run would be semi-true.

I would absolutely love to see a official reply for any kind of employee since i see they are quite active here and monitor threads.

So after 2 months i got 4 lvl 80’s, i explored a whole lot and i still am finding new things and entertaining ways to play the game.
But there is a huge problem, and from the number of posts here and aniwhere else a lot can agree. This problem is related to Gold – Drop Rates – Fustration … all tied in 1 knot.

Let me explain, let’s say 70% of the population does not post on forums, and are casual players, that you will never hear a complain from them, like myself. And these players are also the core base, and yet they are forced to always have small amounth of money and not being able to get a exotic weapon (something like breath of jormag …) due to the extremely high cost.
The rest lets say 20%, are hardcore players that farm, gamble and have gold for things like Precursors, and Legendaries… players that do COF path 1 like 10 hours a day for money.
And there is the rest 10% that are Power traders and simply rule the TP and their prices. I saw a lot of sites with spreadsheets and calculation about the prices goying up and down and how to manipulate the market, you just need a lot of time and a lot of gold. (Real example, 4 days ago on the European server all the precursors for the Mace were 50g, but someone bought all of them and now you cant find one under 100g)

Also there are the boots that farm non stop and i saw several sites that already offer legendary for sale ~ 1000 euros each … and im pretty sure that those guys are in the 10% that control the market also. And by controling TP prices they will get more players to buy gold for real money illegally.

OK, so you see my point, there are some problems, that Arena Net is hard on making a call that doesn’t upset the balance that for now holds (but not for long since every player has a limit until they realize that what is needed to achieve a item is a really really long grind that just keeps getting longer due to decisions not being made on time)
So i propose the most simple solution ever, just simply increase the drop-rates for all T6 items and all LodeStones, make them a reward for daily, monthly, laureal …
Make it such that countless players do not have to stand 1 hour for 1 lodestone (when they need 100 ) and make it that they want to get e legendary, because after all you have the Equip a legendary on the login screen for a reason so that many could see it and go for it at a certain point.
Its a really simple fix, that will ultimately ruin the gold sellers and power traders plans and give ALL OF US the opportunity to get some much desired gear in a fun way.
If it remains the way it is, all your doing is keeping all the masses frustrated that cant get a item and sooner or later they will abandon the game, since nobody wants a second job just for a game.
You can even put it for drops in dragon events, in wvwvw, in spvp … just diversify and make it accessible.

You promised a entertaining game, not a 1hour farm for 1 core …

And if you do not agree, just take a look on how many people have for example Mjolnir ? I never saw it on a European server, i saw a movie on YouTube but the man had gotten it before the recipe changed ….

Please, if you are reading this, reply and give us a ray of hope, a change that grinding is not the way to get some nice items…

I thank you in advance AN employee for taking the time to look and answer this post. It means a lot !

It’s a nice note, but I don’t think that having rare, hard to acquire items means that Anet has somehow broken their promise.

Somethings are supposed to be difficult and hard and take a very long time.

Yes indeed , but the fact remains that this is not a asian style game in witch we should encourage 1 hour farming for 1 core.

I will try to give my example:
I play quite a lot GW2, and for the past months, i have been doing COE almost daily to get some cores, not by grinding but by having fun with guild members (PVE for me = fun, Dungeons = Fun). Even with 600 hours played i have gotten from drops 6 lode stones that i need, and the prices on 1 of that is 4 g on the TP.
I feel the majority players should not be forced to grind on endlessly for some items with such a low drop rate, when you can have everyone happy and ESPECIALLY respecting the Arena Net wishes that we all explore more of the world.

Also a perfect example is:
And if you do not agree, just take a look on how many people have for example Mjolnir ? I never saw it on a European server, i saw a movie on YouTube but the man had gotten it before the recipe changed ….

I am sure, a lot of hardcore players will respond that some items should be hard to get… but where is that line drawn ? 600 hours isn’t much ?

I really applaud your dedication but, us casual gamers want to experience the features also, in our way.

Dreamslayer.7659:

It’s a nice note, but I don’t think that having rare, hard to acquire items means that Anet has somehow broken their promise.

Somethings are supposed to be difficult and hard and take a very long time.

It’s not difficult or hard, it’s boring and tedious, that’s the problem.

Hard is to lift 500kg…boring and tedious is to carry 1kg weights 1 by 1 around the block 500 times.

My point exactly. ArenaNet is telling us from the start and now also in all the recent interviews that they want us to explore the world better and much more.
SO i cannot think of a more better motive to go out there with a group and explore, do new events then the possibility of drops like these being more often and not that tedious to farm.

Such a simple fix, chaging some numbers there and voila, people go out more, have more fun in the process, get their items and feel good about the game and theirself and in the process the gold sellers loose popularity and people stop complaining so much about money issues since they will be able to craft themselves their desired things.

So you want to increase the drop rate of T6 and lodes?

That would only increase the demand for precursors even further, which just makes things worse.

Not only that, but your solution wants to make legendaries easier to acquire. No one wants that, because everyone will start running around in legendaries when it’s only supposed to be for the top % players in the game.

Its not that we want every lodestone easier to get, just the ones that are in demand so much.

This screenshot says everything.

Yes, the lodestone do not refer to legendary alone, but to almost all kind of special items. I can assure you a legendary is not only those loadstones, its a multi-challange that only some players will go for and even with lower prices it will still remain the same.

I am positive a lot of power-traders will not agree with this matter since they are the “smart” ones that control the market and buy stacks and dictate prices on a regular basis (also the high demand vs availability increases the price so much to a unfordable level for casual and also for players that stay up to 4 hours a day playing this game.)

Also lets take it to the basics:

Casual Players ( ~1 hour/day )
They will do 1 dungeon run, or explore the world doing events, spvp or w3 …
Average income in that hour lets say 1 gold (maybe they get lucky and something drops but you know the drop rates for exotics so no point in discussing that.)

“Hooked player” (4 hours/day)
Average income per hour 4 gold by doing dungeons or other things.

Hardcore players (8 hours + per day)
They will get around 10 gold per hour, the best i saw.
TRUE FACT, i joined a Arah group, and one of the guys there saw my daggers and told me that those aren’t exotics, he then mailed me 2 exotic daggers, replying that TIME = MONEY and those 2 daggers are less than what he makes in 1 hour so he doesn’t want me to pull the group down and waste him money.
He told me that on average he gets 10 gold per hour farming dungeons and other things.

And then the PowerTraders
Looking on spreadsheets, gaining 100+ gold per controlling prices in TP of items in high demand like LODESTONES, blood, fangs …. see my point ?

vido.2706:

Yes, the lodestone do not refer to legendary alone, but to almost all kind of special items. I can assure you a legendary is not only those loadstones, its a multi-challange that only some players will go for and even with lower prices it will still remain the same.

I am positive a lot of power-traders will not agree with this matter since they are the “smart” ones that control the market and buy stacks and dictate prices on a regular basis (also the high demand vs availability increases the price so much to a unfordable level for casual and also for players that stay up to 4 hours a day playing this game.)

And why should we care what power traders think at this point on? They have so much gold now that they are probably on their 6th legendary, while the players who play the kittening game are left with a near impassable gold grind to get lodestones which aren’t just for the legendary but for other items too.

The rich get richer while the poor get poorer.

Yes indeed, that is why ArenaNet should cater this issue, and i believe a suggestion like that to give those items in events more often will cater to that problem, and the masses will have fun for many more months.

I mean what can be more easily to implement than to give loadstone,t6 material on a daily reward or acquirable with Coins or with Laurels or drop from chests more often.

Easy fix, everyone is happy !

The larger issue that I see that that people want weapons that cost alot of money, but dont want to take the time to get them. There has to be weapons that very few people have as it allows for people to distinguish themselves from others. There is little to no grind in the game since a 2 gold exotic weapon has the same stats as a 500 gold exotic weapon. The only thing that changed was the 500 gold weapon may look better and very few people will have it and it should stay that way.

They already introduced more ways to get loadstones and T6 fine material with the introduction of fractals of the mists so increasing the drop rates again would make it too easy to get some of the rarer weapons in the game.

Problem, even if Anet makes it slightly easier to get a legendary (as they are doing with the scavenger hunt), it will still remain largely out of reach for your casual types. So on the face of it you’re asking for legendaries to be a little cheaper, but even so you still wouldn’t get one.

The only way for a “casual” player to get a legendary would be if they were so easy to get as to be entirely meaningless. So what you are really asking for is a handout, to be given a legendary for essentially the same price as an exotic. By your own testament, you didn’t even have exotic daggers, but you want legendaries to be accessible to you. I don’t think you fully understand the concept.

Perhaps what Anet really needs to do is take off the legendary medal on the login screen and maybe replace that with something more accessible, like equipping a full set of exotics. There are a lot of completionists out there and I think that medal gives them a reason to cry about never being able to have one when it otherwise shouldn’t concern them.

The Blue Ace.2850:

Its not that we want every lodestone easier to get, just the ones that are in demand so much.

This screenshot says everything.

It’s not Arenanet’s problem that a certain item has higher demand than others.

vido.2706:

If it remains the way it is, all your doing is keeping all the masses frustrated that cant get a item and sooner or later they will abandon the game, since nobody wants a second job just for a game.

TESO is taking beta sign-ups. They released a pretty cinematic. I think they will take a lot of people away from GW2, meaning that the market will have a huge shake-up when that happens. Be aware of which date it begins, consider what effects it might have (not easy, since both martketeers and adventurers will probably want to check it out. The only demographic that I can imagine will not be affected – with lower populations – would be bots. Thus there will probably be a greater supply on the market at that point and so the stuff for legendaries should go down in price. That’s my logic anyway).

Svarty.8019:

vido.2706:

If it remains the way it is, all your doing is keeping all the masses frustrated that cant get a item and sooner or later they will abandon the game, since nobody wants a second job just for a game.

TESO is taking beta sign-ups. They released a pretty cinematic. I think they will take a lot of people away from GW2, meaning that the market will have a huge shake-up when that happens. Be aware of which date it begins, consider what effects it might have (not easy, since both martketeers and adventurers will probably want to check it out. The only demographic that I can imagine will not be affected – with lower populations – would be bots. Thus there will probably be a greater supply on the market at that point and so the stuff for legendaries should go down in price. That’s my logic anyway).

No one buys a game due to a cinematic. Go look at Warhammer Online. Awesome cinematic, terrible game that did’t live up to potential. Gameplay footage was released in November and it didn’t look anything special.

Lets be honest here, some items are pure insane to get that’s why you don’t see Mjolnir for example.
People saying that the should be hard to get, they are … any of you farming for 2 weeks for 1 single item is effort enough with 4 hours per day to get that single item.

In my 600 hours i got ~200 gold and most of it sank in items and things like this and its ok, but i realize as the time goes on that im not getting closer to my goal, im getting further away since prices are controlled. And i bet a lot of you experienced this, that instead of getting closer to your goal it seems that each day your not making any progress.

And another thing just look at this:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/24/69079407.jpg/

Its on almost all the illegal sites. Who are we kidding around, most of the TP legendary are belonging to same people that have multiple account with boots and controlling the market.
Its not a coincidence the illegal gold cost is exactly the same amount as a TP posted legendary.

vido.2706:

Lets be honest here, some items are pure insane to get that’s why you don’t see Mjolnir for example.
People saying that the should be hard to get, they are … any of you farming for 2 weeks for 1 single item is effort enough with 4 hours per day to get that single item.

In my 600 hours i got ~200 gold and most of it sank in items and things like this and its ok, but i realize as the time goes on that im not getting closer to my goal, im getting further away since prices are controlled. And i bet a lot of you experienced this, that instead of getting closer to your goal it seems that each day your not making any progress.

And another thing just look at this:
[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/24/69079407.jpg/][IMG]http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/6083/69079407.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Its on almost all the illegal sites. Who are we kidding around, most of the TP legendary are belonging to same people that have multiple account with boots and controlling the market.
Its not a coincidence the illegal gold cost is exactly the same amount as a TP posted legendary.

You’re only at 600 hours. Don’t expect to get a legendary unless you get lucky on drops. And if you only have 200g by now, either you’re doing the wrong things to make money or you’re spending it on a lot of stuff.

I do agree some exotics crafted through the MF use a ridiculous amount of mats (like Gift of Light) but I think the devs didn’t expect demand for lodestones to be that high. I think it needs to be toned down.

My point exactly …
So 2 ways then, either go with what i said about dropping in events … etc.
Or tone down the requirements …

Almost same effect.

Vol.5241:

The Blue Ace.2850:

Its not that we want every lodestone easier to get, just the ones that are in demand so much.

This screenshot says everything.

It’s not Arenanet’s problem that a certain item has higher demand than others.

It is their fault though, because they promised to balance out the surplus and make it easier to get items lacking in supply right here in the supply and demand section:

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/john-smith-on-the-state-of-the-guild-wars-2-economy/

Are you tell me that the charged lodestones are worth 4.3 gold and aren’t lacking in supply, even when theres only a supply of only 281 across all the EU servers!?!?

Some people have been buying charged lodestones today. 12 hours ago there was 570 or so charged lodestones for sale.

Black Wolf.7348:

Some people have been buying charged lodestones today. 12 hours ago there was 570 or so charged lodestones for sale.

Even more reason why there should be more places to get them.

the problem is not more places to get them but horrible drop rate.your lucky to get 1 pr hour. even more lucky if you manage to get more than 1 pr hour.
and you can farm them for 2h at a time since its required to hold dwayna temple to make them spawn.

Black Wolf.7348:

the problem is not more places to get them but horrible drop rate.your lucky to get 1 pr hour. even more lucky if you manage to get more than 1 pr hour.
and you can farm them for 2h at a time since its required to hold dwayna temple to make them spawn.

Thats what I meant, more places beside Orr means a more effective place to farm, which pushes the prices down. Its the reason why corrupt lodestone will always be less than charged, because you can get them from most of the mobs in frostgorge.

A better drop rate too after that stealth Nerf they put on us…

The Blue Ace.2850:

Black Wolf.7348:

the problem is not more places to get them but horrible drop rate.your lucky to get 1 pr hour. even more lucky if you manage to get more than 1 pr hour.
and you can farm them for 2h at a time since its required to hold dwayna temple to make them spawn.

Thats what I meant, more places beside Orr means a more effective place to farm, which pushes the prices down. Its the reason why corrupt lodestone will always be less than charged, because you can get them from most of the mobs in frostgorge.

A better drop rate too after that stealth Nerf they put on us…

Uh, nope. The reason why it’s lower is because there is less demand for that lodestone since the exotics and legendaries made out of it aren’t as high demanded as those for charged.

vido.2706:

I am positive a lot of power-traders will not agree with this matter since they are the “smart” ones that control the market and buy stacks and dictate prices on a regular basis (also the high demand vs availability increases the price so much to a unfordable level for casual and also for players that stay up to 4 hours a day playing this game.)

I don’t think there’d be many “power traders” in the lodestone market, as there really doesn’t seem to be a clear margin for them to make profit from. There may be some cyclical movement (daily, weekly) that some traders may be taking advantage of, but given the amount of capital this would tie up, I suspect that most would steer clear of this as well.

On the few occasions I’ve bought lodestones (for crafting purposes, not for trading) I’ve found that if I make sure to keep my buy offer on the top, I get the lodestones I want after a small wait (around 5 mins to buy half a dozen usually). This is slow compared to a lot of other crafting materials I buy, but I understand that lodestones aren’t as common.

It seems to me that people forget that there are two sides to the Trading Post, both sellers and buyers. Prices are determined by a combination of what sellers are willing to sell for and what buyers are prepared to pay. In the case of lodestones, the difficulty in obtaining them through normal play or farming, means that a lot of people are prepared to pay more them.

Astraea.6075:

vido.2706:

I am positive a lot of power-traders will not agree with this matter since they are the “smart” ones that control the market and buy stacks and dictate prices on a regular basis (also the high demand vs availability increases the price so much to a unfordable level for casual and also for players that stay up to 4 hours a day playing this game.)

I don’t think there’d be many “power traders” in the lodestone market, as there really doesn’t seem to be a clear margin for them to make profit from. There may be some cyclical movement (daily, weekly) that some traders may be taking advantage of, but given the amount of capital this would tie up, I suspect that most would steer clear of this as well.

On the few occasions I’ve bought lodestones (for crafting purposes, not for trading) I’ve found that if I make sure to keep my buy offer on the top, I get the lodestones I want after a small wait (around 5 mins to buy half a dozen usually). This is slow compared to a lot of other crafting materials I buy, but I understand that lodestones aren’t as common.

It seems to me that people forget that there are two sides to the Trading Post, both sellers and buyers. Prices are determined by a combination of what sellers are willing to sell for and what buyers are prepared to pay. In the case of lodestones, the difficulty in obtaining them through normal play or farming, means that a lot of people are prepared to pay more them.

Which is why we need more places to get them from.

@ The Blue Ace: I’m not disputing that… but that’s part of a much wider discussion around balancing supply and demand for rare items in the game’s economy.

My biggest gripe about threads like these is the tendency to blame the “evil power traders/market manipulators” first for “high” prices, when in reality both buyers and sellers are responsible for setting the market price for every item on the TP. Yes, that includes precursors.

The Blue Ace.2850:

Astraea.6075:

vido.2706:

I am positive a lot of power-traders will not agree with this matter since they are the “smart” ones that control the market and buy stacks and dictate prices on a regular basis (also the high demand vs availability increases the price so much to a unfordable level for casual and also for players that stay up to 4 hours a day playing this game.)

I don’t think there’d be many “power traders” in the lodestone market, as there really doesn’t seem to be a clear margin for them to make profit from. There may be some cyclical movement (daily, weekly) that some traders may be taking advantage of, but given the amount of capital this would tie up, I suspect that most would steer clear of this as well.

On the few occasions I’ve bought lodestones (for crafting purposes, not for trading) I’ve found that if I make sure to keep my buy offer on the top, I get the lodestones I want after a small wait (around 5 mins to buy half a dozen usually). This is slow compared to a lot of other crafting materials I buy, but I understand that lodestones aren’t as common.

It seems to me that people forget that there are two sides to the Trading Post, both sellers and buyers. Prices are determined by a combination of what sellers are willing to sell for and what buyers are prepared to pay. In the case of lodestones, the difficulty in obtaining them through normal play or farming, means that a lot of people are prepared to pay more them.

Which is why we need more places to get them from.

This is an understandable position when you want something that is incredibly rare. It carries the assumption that the rare item is rare by accident or oversight.

I don’t think this is the case at all. These lodestones are rare by design.

It may be frustrating for those who want to make something that requires them, because it may seem that without significant wealth or time, the goal is not attainable.

The corollary to this is that Anet needs to have some items and materials that are exceedingly difficult to obtain – even if just through rarity. It gives the hard core players and the hard core traders something to go after.

If you make every lodestone or rare item obtainable in a measured, consistent way, then you break a lot of the aspirational appeal of the game and chase off a significant number of players.

Dreamslayer.7659:

The Blue Ace.2850:

Astraea.6075:

vido.2706:

I am positive a lot of power-traders will not agree with this matter since they are the “smart” ones that control the market and buy stacks and dictate prices on a regular basis (also the high demand vs availability increases the price so much to a unfordable level for casual and also for players that stay up to 4 hours a day playing this game.)

I don’t think there’d be many “power traders” in the lodestone market, as there really doesn’t seem to be a clear margin for them to make profit from. There may be some cyclical movement (daily, weekly) that some traders may be taking advantage of, but given the amount of capital this would tie up, I suspect that most would steer clear of this as well.

On the few occasions I’ve bought lodestones (for crafting purposes, not for trading) I’ve found that if I make sure to keep my buy offer on the top, I get the lodestones I want after a small wait (around 5 mins to buy half a dozen usually). This is slow compared to a lot of other crafting materials I buy, but I understand that lodestones aren’t as common.

It seems to me that people forget that there are two sides to the Trading Post, both sellers and buyers. Prices are determined by a combination of what sellers are willing to sell for and what buyers are prepared to pay. In the case of lodestones, the difficulty in obtaining them through normal play or farming, means that a lot of people are prepared to pay more them.

Which is why we need more places to get them from.

This is an understandable position when you want something that is incredibly rare. It carries the assumption that the rare item is rare by accident or oversight.

I don’t think this is the case at all. These lodestones are rare by design.

It may be frustrating for those who want to make something that requires them, because it may seem that without significant wealth or time, the goal is not attainable.

The corollary to this is that Anet needs to have some items and materials that are exceedingly difficult to obtain – even if just through rarity. It gives the hard core players and the hard core traders something to go after.

If you make every lodestone or rare item obtainable in a measured, consistent way, then you break a lot of the aspirational appeal of the game and chase off a significant number of players.

I know they’re meant to be rare, but cmon these charged lodestones are far more expensive than they should be!

100 charged lodestones = 430 gold.

430 is nearly as much as a precursor

A.net are fixing precursors because they are unreasonable.

Thus lodestones should be fixed too.

You talk about any fixes scaring off players, at the moment I’m considering not playing the game at all based on how broken the reward system in this game currently is!

vido.2706:

People saying that the should be hard to get, they are … any of you farming for 2 weeks for 1 single item is effort enough with 4 hours per day to get that single item.

In my 600 hours i got ~200 gold and most of it sank in items and things like this and its ok, but i realize as the time goes on that im not getting closer to my goal, im getting further away since prices are controlled.

Okay, so how much are you selling that item you spent 2 weeks farming to get? You clearly think the TP price is too much, so I’ll buy it from you at the “fair” price.

Its not a coincidence the illegal gold cost is exactly the same amount as a TP posted legendary.

Duh? Did it ever occur to you that maybe they base their weapon prices on how much gold it takes for them to buy it off the TP and hand it to you?

The Blue Ace.2850:

Dreamslayer.7659:

The Blue Ace.2850:

Astraea.6075:

vido.2706:

I am positive a lot of power-traders will not agree with this matter since they are the “smart” ones that control the market and buy stacks and dictate prices on a regular basis (also the high demand vs availability increases the price so much to a unfordable level for casual and also for players that stay up to 4 hours a day playing this game.)

I don’t think there’d be many “power traders” in the lodestone market, as there really doesn’t seem to be a clear margin for them to make profit from. There may be some cyclical movement (daily, weekly) that some traders may be taking advantage of, but given the amount of capital this would tie up, I suspect that most would steer clear of this as well.

On the few occasions I’ve bought lodestones (for crafting purposes, not for trading) I’ve found that if I make sure to keep my buy offer on the top, I get the lodestones I want after a small wait (around 5 mins to buy half a dozen usually). This is slow compared to a lot of other crafting materials I buy, but I understand that lodestones aren’t as common.

It seems to me that people forget that there are two sides to the Trading Post, both sellers and buyers. Prices are determined by a combination of what sellers are willing to sell for and what buyers are prepared to pay. In the case of lodestones, the difficulty in obtaining them through normal play or farming, means that a lot of people are prepared to pay more them.

Which is why we need more places to get them from.

This is an understandable position when you want something that is incredibly rare. It carries the assumption that the rare item is rare by accident or oversight.

I don’t think this is the case at all. These lodestones are rare by design.

It may be frustrating for those who want to make something that requires them, because it may seem that without significant wealth or time, the goal is not attainable.

The corollary to this is that Anet needs to have some items and materials that are exceedingly difficult to obtain – even if just through rarity. It gives the hard core players and the hard core traders something to go after.

If you make every lodestone or rare item obtainable in a measured, consistent way, then you break a lot of the aspirational appeal of the game and chase off a significant number of players.

I know they’re meant to be rare, but cmon these charged lodestones are far more expensive than they should be!

100 charged lodestones = 430 gold.

430 is nearly as much as a precursor

A.net are fixing precursors because they are unreasonable.

Thus lodestones should be fixed too.

You talk about any fixes scaring off players, at the moment I’m considering not playing the game at all based on how broken the reward system in this game currently is!

It’s not broken – Mjolnir is one of the most rare and expensive skins in the game – it’s not a legendary but it’s clear that it is intended to be very very rare.

To just assume that nothing should cost more than a legendary is missing the point – Mjolnir does not require map completion or badges of honor or karma – it just requires time/money.

Your complaint is with the drop rate – there are plenty of these lodestones available – others players have found them and decided to trade them for gold.

The essence of your complaint is that Anet made the weapon so awesome, so desirable that too many people want it and many of the people who want it are willing to pay more for the ingredients than you are.

The core problem here is the perception of value. If other players are willing to pay up to 4 gold per stone, then that is what the stone is worth.

Just out of curiosity, I would like to hear you explain what you think it should cost, and why.

Similar availability for crystal and corrupted lodestones, yet crystal costs more than double that of the other.

The other ones have high availability, yet some have stupendous prices (e.g. Onyx ~2.5G!) – I don’t get it.

Dreamslayer.7659:

The Blue Ace.2850:

Astraea.6075:

vido.2706:

I am positive a lot of power-traders will not agree with this matter since they are the “smart” ones that control the market and buy stacks and dictate prices on a regular basis (also the high demand vs availability increases the price so much to a unfordable level for casual and also for players that stay up to 4 hours a day playing this game.)

I don’t think there’d be many “power traders” in the lodestone market, as there really doesn’t seem to be a clear margin for them to make profit from. There may be some cyclical movement (daily, weekly) that some traders may be taking advantage of, but given the amount of capital this would tie up, I suspect that most would steer clear of this as well.

On the few occasions I’ve bought lodestones (for crafting purposes, not for trading) I’ve found that if I make sure to keep my buy offer on the top, I get the lodestones I want after a small wait (around 5 mins to buy half a dozen usually). This is slow compared to a lot of other crafting materials I buy, but I understand that lodestones aren’t as common.

It seems to me that people forget that there are two sides to the Trading Post, both sellers and buyers. Prices are determined by a combination of what sellers are willing to sell for and what buyers are prepared to pay. In the case of lodestones, the difficulty in obtaining them through normal play or farming, means that a lot of people are prepared to pay more them.

Which is why we need more places to get them from.

This is an understandable position when you want something that is incredibly rare. It carries the assumption that the rare item is rare by accident or oversight.

I don’t think this is the case at all. These lodestones are rare by design.

It may be frustrating for those who want to make something that requires them, because it may seem that without significant wealth or time, the goal is not attainable.

The corollary to this is that Anet needs to have some items and materials that are exceedingly difficult to obtain – even if just through rarity. It gives the hard core players and the hard core traders something to go after.

If you make every lodestone or rare item obtainable in a measured, consistent way, then you break a lot of the aspirational appeal of the game and chase off a significant number of players.

A significant number of recipes that are not utterly generic have these lodestone requirements.

A unique look or style shouldn’t come at the expense of the vast majority of the player base, it should come from enough variety in desirable models to make the likelihood of the same “look” infinitesimal.

It’s one thing to have a couple hard to obtain models. (this is what legendaries are supposed to be about), but when every model worth having is this way, you may as well just give up and go home now rather than waste your time chasing something that rises faster than inflation.

Add to that the loot bugs that put roughly 50% of the playerbase on perma-dr, and you have a recipe for serious bitterness.

I hate to say it, but I will definitely be looking to ESO if I don’t see an ANet announcement that DR is going away and these crafting mats are going to be adjusted in supply relative to popularity to stabilize their price to something attainable.

Anything that takes more than 3 months of casual play to attain is ludicrous, and I have a job that pays for the roof and the car to worry about.

It’s time for ANet to realign its loyalties from kids with too much time on their hands to people with paychecks who can actually monetize their game, before they skip town for being ignored.

It’s not broken – Mjolnir is one of the most rare and expensive skins in the game – it’s not a legendary but it’s clear that it is intended to be very very rare.

No, it is broken. Mjolnir is not rare – its easy to make and the recipe to make it is well known. Level 1 char with 0 hours played across account can make mjolnir in 5minutes.

What’s rare are materials that are required for Mjolnir, which are not mjolnir specific but shared across various items.

Anything that takes more than 3 months of casual play to attain is ludicrous, and I have a job that pays for the roof and the car to worry about.

It’s time for ANet to realign its loyalties from kids with too much time on their hands to people with paychecks who can actually monetize their game, before they skip town for being ignored.

I feel very similar to this. I ve bought a game, I do enjoy it, but vast majority of aesthetic content is locked away behind paywall or spending XXXX hours. I ll keep playing, for some more time, but its unlikely i ll buy expansions.

Dreamslayer.7659:

The Blue Ace.2850:

Dreamslayer.7659:

The Blue Ace.2850:

Astraea.6075:

vido.2706:

I am positive a lot of power-traders will not agree with this matter since they are the “smart” ones that control the market and buy stacks and dictate prices on a regular basis (also the high demand vs availability increases the price so much to a unfordable level for casual and also for players that stay up to 4 hours a day playing this game.)

I don’t think there’d be many “power traders” in the lodestone market, as there really doesn’t seem to be a clear margin for them to make profit from. There may be some cyclical movement (daily, weekly) that some traders may be taking advantage of, but given the amount of capital this would tie up, I suspect that most would steer clear of this as well.

On the few occasions I’ve bought lodestones (for crafting purposes, not for trading) I’ve found that if I make sure to keep my buy offer on the top, I get the lodestones I want after a small wait (around 5 mins to buy half a dozen usually). This is slow compared to a lot of other crafting materials I buy, but I understand that lodestones aren’t as common.

It seems to me that people forget that there are two sides to the Trading Post, both sellers and buyers. Prices are determined by a combination of what sellers are willing to sell for and what buyers are prepared to pay. In the case of lodestones, the difficulty in obtaining them through normal play or farming, means that a lot of people are prepared to pay more them.

Which is why we need more places to get them from.

This is an understandable position when you want something that is incredibly rare. It carries the assumption that the rare item is rare by accident or oversight.

I don’t think this is the case at all. These lodestones are rare by design.

It may be frustrating for those who want to make something that requires them, because it may seem that without significant wealth or time, the goal is not attainable.

The corollary to this is that Anet needs to have some items and materials that are exceedingly difficult to obtain – even if just through rarity. It gives the hard core players and the hard core traders something to go after.

If you make every lodestone or rare item obtainable in a measured, consistent way, then you break a lot of the aspirational appeal of the game and chase off a significant number of players.

I know they’re meant to be rare, but cmon these charged lodestones are far more expensive than they should be!

100 charged lodestones = 430 gold.

430 is nearly as much as a precursor

A.net are fixing precursors because they are unreasonable.

Thus lodestones should be fixed too.

You talk about any fixes scaring off players, at the moment I’m considering not playing the game at all based on how broken the reward system in this game currently is!

It’s not broken – Mjolnir is one of the most rare and expensive skins in the game – it’s not a legendary but it’s clear that it is intended to be very very rare.

To just assume that nothing should cost more than a legendary is missing the point – Mjolnir does not require map completion or badges of honor or karma – it just requires time/money.

Your complaint is with the drop rate – there are plenty of these lodestones available – others players have found them and decided to trade them for gold.

The essence of your complaint is that Anet made the weapon so awesome, so desirable that too many people want it and many of the people who want it are willing to pay more for the ingredients than you are.

The core problem here is the perception of value. If other players are willing to pay up to 4 gold per stone, then that is what the stone is worth.

Just out of curiosity, I would like to hear you explain what you think it should cost, and why.

Any weapon that requires lodestones to make it should be less than a legendarys amount. 100 charged lodestones is already 430 gold for sunrise, but 350 lodestones for a exotic?!?! Thats 1505 gold for some mats for a weapon that will never have its stats match ascended gear unlike legendarys!!!

Also I understand that a gold amount for a legendary should be a requirement, thats why I had no problem buying icy runestones.
But in terms of time and work needed gold covers 90% of both for a legendary and thats wrong, it has become a rich mans toy rather than a reward for your journey and adventure. (which is what we were promised by a.net)

As for me, I think I’ll get sunrise once the lodestone prices stabilize and the precursor hunt is released.

Many items should be unobtainable by the vast majority of players.

Rogacz.9865:

It’s not broken – Mjolnir is one of the most rare and expensive skins in the game – it’s not a legendary but it’s clear that it is intended to be very very rare.

No, it is broken. Mjolnir is not rare – its easy to make and the recipe to make it is well known. Level 1 char with 0 hours played across account can make mjolnir in 5minutes.

What’s rare are materials that are required for Mjolnir, which are not mjolnir specific but shared across various items.

Anything that takes more than 3 months of casual play to attain is ludicrous, and I have a job that pays for the roof and the car to worry about.

It’s time for ANet to realign its loyalties from kids with too much time on their hands to people with paychecks who can actually monetize their game, before they skip town for being ignored.

I feel very similar to this. I ve bought a game, I do enjoy it, but vast majority of aesthetic content is locked away behind paywall or spending XXXX hours. I ll keep playing, for some more time, but its unlikely i ll buy expansions.

So then it is rare, what are you getting at? Your rationale is like saying Sunrise is as rare as Vision of the Mists

@ plasmacutter.2709 WELL Said

@ The Blue Ace.2850 exactly same position … getting each day further from my goal.

Vol.5241:

Rogacz.9865:

It’s not broken – Mjolnir is one of the most rare and expensive skins in the game – it’s not a legendary but it’s clear that it is intended to be very very rare.

No, it is broken. Mjolnir is not rare – its easy to make and the recipe to make it is well known. Level 1 char with 0 hours played across account can make mjolnir in 5minutes.

What’s rare are materials that are required for Mjolnir, which are not mjolnir specific but shared across various items.

Anything that takes more than 3 months of casual play to attain is ludicrous, and I have a job that pays for the roof and the car to worry about.

It’s time for ANet to realign its loyalties from kids with too much time on their hands to people with paychecks who can actually monetize their game, before they skip town for being ignored.

I feel very similar to this. I ve bought a game, I do enjoy it, but vast majority of aesthetic content is locked away behind paywall or spending XXXX hours. I ll keep playing, for some more time, but its unlikely i ll buy expansions.

So then it is rare, what are you getting at? Your rationale is like saying Sunrise is as rare as Vision of the Mists

The difference between those two swords is 430 worth of gold in lodestones and thats not even including the other gifts.

Vision is reasonable, but anything that requires charged lodestones is not worth the time or work.

that said, vision has an ugly skin, I would rather use dungeon exotics anyway.

Gisei.5749:

Many items should be unobtainable by the vast majority of players.

If you make them unobtainable by the vast majority of players, they will become the vast majority of players in a different game that won’t import the worst aspects of real life, namely:

Insurmountable wealth gaps
inflation rising faster than the cost of living
the vast majority unable to obtain anything actually worth obtaining.

This is supposed to be a fantasy game, an escape from reality, not some microcosmic reinforcement of reality (At That, the most heavily dystopic and corrupt reality since the gilded age and tammany hall).

Still no answer for a official spoke-person.
I hope they at least try to change things in this upcoming patch on 28 and do some of the changes required for the frustration to go.

vido.2706:

Still no answer for a official spoke-person.
I hope they at least try to change things in this upcoming patch on 28 and do some of the changes required for the frustration to go.

I got an official answer.

A rude one.

The Blue Ace.2850:

vido.2706:

Still no answer for a official spoke-person.
I hope they at least try to change things in this upcoming patch on 28 and do some of the changes required for the frustration to go.

I got an official answer.
A rude one.

Honestly, you were more rude than John Smith himself. You were throwing statements with aggression that they already know about.

You didn’t consider the drawbacks of simple fixes or if you didn’t look at the bigger picture. They said they were going to take a look at it. If you didn’t read the 6 months upcoming updates they were willing to provide, then I suggest you take a look it.

Legendaries and “cool” looking items were supposed to be a long term goal. Long term goals meaning a long time.

Screaming Cantaloupe.2308:

The Blue Ace.2850:

vido.2706:

Still no answer for a official spoke-person.
I hope they at least try to change things in this upcoming patch on 28 and do some of the changes required for the frustration to go.

I got an official answer.
A rude one.

Honestly, you were more rude than John Smith himself. You were throwing statements with aggression that they already know about.

You didn’t consider the drawbacks of simple fixes or if you didn’t look at the bigger picture. They said they were going to take a look at it. If you didn’t read the 6 months upcoming updates they were willing to provide, then I suggest you take a look it.

Legendaries and “cool” looking items were supposed to be a long term goal. Long term goals meaning a long time.

Show me.
I pushed the topic because nothing was getting done. Simple.

And the long term excuse is laughable, market players get all their lodestones within a few days while the real players will take months to do it.

Long term … since when long term is equal to spending all your free time, of a game doing boring stuff.

In my opinion and i think also Arenas Net, legendaries were to be obtain by playing something like 3-6 months 2 hours per day and being able to get it as a reward for beeing a loyal customer, and in the process like me buy things from the market to support them. Well i spent ~80 euros on the market and now when there is a real problem in the game that everyone talk about and has such a simple fix, they are just ignoring it.
The few people that rushed and got a legendary got it at start when people did not knew about precursors so well, and the market wasn’t controlled by GOLD sellers.
Lets be real, 2800 GOLD a legendary = 1000 euros … not a coincidence all the sites have same gold/legendary price …

When your not resolving issues with certain items like Lodestones, those 100 lodestones cost you in time 400 Hours played time, that is ~17 days of playing the game non stop grinding just a small part of a legendary.

Please, there are 2 different things to have something hard attainable and something that just waste time/money without any back-up.

I really hope that arena-net employees play this game and look at the situation, because it is in dire need of assistance.

As a side-note, that i know i will be blamed for, its my opinion that the success of this game and the fact that people have not left servers and are still playing is a testimony that this game is good.
BUT do not get drunk with power since you saw from past events in other mmos that is the payer based is being ignored for too long they will start leaving and when they do, there always is a next mmo coming and promising more…