(This is mirrored from a thread I posted on GW2 Guru. Sorry if mirroring it isn’t kosher, I just want it to be in a place the devs might see it.)
The way the system currently works, when you use a transmutation stone you essentially combine two items. You pick a skin, which set of stats to use, and which item’s upgrades/runes to keep. A lot of people don’t like this system, for various reasons. One is that it does essentially consume your items. You lose resources, essentially, as a result. A lot of people also don’t like the system because they’re used to more lenient systems in other MMOs, such as appearance/costume slots or WoW’s transmogrification.
Of course, it’s my personal opinion that not every system is perfect for every game. I also believe that ArenaNet didn’t decide on the system they chose lightly. Perhaps they thought it was a good idea to have a system that removes equipment from the game so crafted items have a higher value? The problem with the current system, in my opinion, is that the way it works discourages people from using it. Most people just sit on their transmutation stones. It’s almost unthinkable to use them on exotic items.
So what to do? Well, the GW2guru user Ardene proposed an idea that I happened to like. I think what she proposed isn’t quite totally in line with what I think ArenaNet is trying to do here, but I want to give them credit because I’m proposing a modified version of their idea.
Alright. In my opinion, transmutation needs to work totally differently. When you use a transmutation stone on an item, it should actually break the item down into three parts. The skin, the base stats (let’s call it an “Armor Kit” for the purpose of the discussion), and whatever upgrades you had on that item.
The skin of the item would work like how it does for the heritage skins. You just double click the skin, drag an item to the window and you’re done. Furthermore, there should be a collections tab in the bank for armor skins that you can draw/deposit from, similar to how it works for minis.
The armor kit, when double clicked, will ask you to use a skin on it. Perhaps it’ll even let you pick one from your supply of them in your collections tab without having to withdraw it first. This essentially recreates the item you just disassembled, just with a new name and appearance. The item’s color rarity and whatever other suffix the item has would be attached to this part.
The rune or upgrade would just be returned to you, much like a successful salvage works now.
Wait, wouldn’t that make higher level salvage kits useless? Yeah, it pretty much would. You know what? I think that’s just fine. I think having to destroy your items for a chance to reclaim an upgrade is too harsh. Again, I think the purpose here is to remove equipment from the system so crafters can more readily provide. However, it’s somewhat self-defeating if it’s so harsh that most people won’t use it. I can’t think for the life of me why anyone willing to destroy their items to get a rune back would use anything but the valuable 100% success kit to do so. I’m no economist, but I believe this creates a market bottleneck.
So yes, I say remove all the fancier salvage kits from the game and let transmutation stones be the standard means for transferring upgrades. Once you’ve done so, if you want the original item back, then just double click on the armor kit and reapply its original skin.
So where does this leave crafters, then? Well, under the system I propose, I think they can still make a healthy profit by selling the skins. Or even playing the market by buying underpriced armor with a highly valued skin and then selling the skin high. I also think the trade and management of skins as a resource would be fun for both the crafters and their customers.