Guild Wars 2

Does it bother anyone else a little that they decided to add another junk item? It just feels like a way to limit the speed of gathering Pristine samples from open world nodes, thus encouraging players to group up and farm the Toxic Offshoots, since those won’t give you junk samples.

I guess no one else cares…just me then, whatever.

Naw, I hear you. It feels fairly terrible right now I agree.

Originally I thought: “Hey, maybe the droprates will go up as the event goes on, and more nodes will pop up, or respawn more quickly.”

But then, I thought that about the candy corn this Halloween as well.

I’m just not sure what the point of them is. When I harvest five closely-grouped nodes and get one or two Pristine samples, I’m left wondering why there wasn’t just one or two useful ones instead. I’m less “bothered” than I am “confused.”

More XP from harvesting that way?

Redenaz.8631:

I’m just not sure what the point of them is. When I harvest five closely-grouped nodes and get one or two Pristine samples, I’m left wondering why there wasn’t just one or two useful ones instead. I’m less “bothered” than I am “confused.”

To use your harvesting sickles. Unless you have the infinite one, of course…

I think those nodes are just to speed up the Daily Spore Collector when it comes into rotation. Can’t think of any other reason for them to exist.

Because if those clumps of nodes had a 100% output rate, people would stop doing Offshoot events and collect Spores far more quickly than intended?

Try stopping and thinking about something besides your own gains and you might see the reason why next time. Balance, player-motivation, etc.. So many factors besides how easy you want the content to be.

DreamOfACure.4382:

Because if those clumps of nodes had a 100% output rate, people would stop doing Offshoot events and collect Spores far more quickly than intended?

Try stopping and thinking about something besides your own gains and you might see the reason why next time. Balance, player-motivation, etc.. So many factors besides how easy you want the content to be.

Um…so? All of the things from Marjory cost 250 of the pristine spores apiece anyway, and believe it or not, I don’t feel like waypointing from offshoot to offshoot, dealing with things taking half a minute to load fully, and all the annoyances of those offshoots with it. Sometimes I just want to get something by myself without needing to be in farm train all the time do be able to get them quickly.

Unfortunately, that’s apparently asking way too much.

1. So you waste more scythe uses, spending money in gathering tools.
2. So you feel tempted to buy that horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE clown scythe. Whoever buys that, know that you’ve lost my respect and there’s nothing you can do to get it back. EVER. A freaking clown Jack-in-the-box… the only clowns anyone should ever suffer to see are those that Batman punches. Hmpf…
3. So they appear all together in the map, which makes them easier to recognize.

Well, good thing I stuck with the Consortium sickles I had. Do I keep my dignity with those?

Those are fine.

It’ll be better if they were unlocks, tho. Unlocks are always better.

bravoart.5308:

To use your harvesting sickles. Unless you have the infinite one, of course…

Since I can use a copper sickle on Toxic Seedlings, it costs me a whopping 0.48 copper per harvest. Mushed Spore Samples vendor for 17 copper, meaning that each one is 16.52 copper of profit, so it’s not a money sink. I might have to carry around an extra sickle or two if I don’t want to seek out a vendor every 50 harvests, but I have more than enough room in my inventory for that.

So I’m not convinced it’s a pitch to sell infinite sickles. If every gathering node had that bad a return rate, maybe, or if it required orichalcum sickles, but for a limited-time event that can use copper, it’s as easy to just buy a couple extras.

DreamOfACure.4382:

Because if those clumps of nodes had a 100% output rate, people would stop doing Offshoot events and collect Spores far more quickly than intended?

Try stopping and thinking about something besides your own gains and you might see the reason why next time. Balance, player-motivation, etc.. So many factors besides how easy you want the content to be.

Redenaz.8631:

When I harvest five closely-grouped nodes and get one or two Pristine samples, I’m left wondering why there wasn’t just one or two useful ones instead.

Instead of giving out so many booby prizes, they could just give out fewer prizes total. Tweaking the balance in this case isn’t exactly rocket science.

Of course, again, it’s not like Mushed Spores are seriously harmful. Since they vendor for 17, even if you’re using orichalcum sickles, you’re still making anywhere from 8c to 16.52c per swipe. I’m just confused what purpose they’re serving, compared to other gathering nodes that are less common, but without the junk.

Maybe it’s to emphasize the painstaking process of collecting “pristine” samples? It’s a bit of a stretch, but I can see it making some flavor sense. Oh, well.

Yah, I’m not at all fond of the Mushed Spore Samples.

All of Marjory’s recipes require 250 Pristine Samples. Plus the 50 you have to turn in before you get access to them. Plus the up to 100 you need to actually make the items once you have the recipe (it varies pretty heavily, Sigils take 100, Runes 50, Toxic consumables / food is small amounts).

Just to learn all the recipes its 1550 Pristine samples counting the initial 50 for unlock (and that’s if you only want one “version” of the Sigil / Rune recipes, if you want it for multiple professions even higher). Considering that rather staggering number, I think its rather lame that 50% or more (in my experience, anyway) of the seedlings you harvest give you junk instead of Pristine Samples.

Unless the actual tower gives you some way to get Pristine Samples faster, its going to be a hell of a grind (or a big TP money sink) to get all the recipes, and Mushed Samples are NOT helping. The numbers for buying the recipes may be the same as the Watchwork Sprockets during Queen’s Jubilee, but Sprockets dropped like crazy from pretty much everything. Pristine Spores are much harder to come by, not helped by the fact that one of the sources for them is filled with junk items that are just as common as actually getting the Pristine Spores you want.

I always think of the ‘Junk’ trophies as basically money. So from gathering these patches you get a minimal amount of gold as well as the spores you’re searching for.

Nothing really to have an issue with.

The Optimist in me says – Even if you use an Ori pick on them and get say 2-3 spores from a group of 5 that’s the pick paid for and everything else is a bonus if you sell on the TP.

The Pessimist in me says – I don’t understand why we have to get so many mushies. Especially when we can do the events and get up to 10 of them if we get a double harvest. How come we can harvest 5 at a time from the event ones then mush the others? Do our toons magically forget how they got them earlier or put on invisible boxing gloves to harvest with when not near an event?

It’s the adrenaline, man.

That’s why I wrestle a bear first anytime I want to get some gardening done.

You can sell the mushed spores to a vendor so they aren’t a waste…..

I was going to say, use the copper sickles rather than Ori. You don’t need to waste your money like that. Not only that, but you don’t need to get all the sigil or rune recipes because it’s the same recipe for each profession. Come on guys, work smarter, not harder.

bravoart.5308:

Redenaz.8631:

I’m just not sure what the point of them is. When I harvest five closely-grouped nodes and get one or two Pristine samples, I’m left wondering why there wasn’t just one or two useful ones instead. I’m less “bothered” than I am “confused.”

To use your harvesting sickles. Unless you have the infinite one, of course…

That’s probably why I haven’t taken note. If I were also wasting sickles that would really upset me.

OP – Maybe because they will re-pawn again in just a few minutes.

Mordule Standish.2371:

OP – Maybe because they will re-pawn again in just a few minutes.

Maybe it would have been better if they only spawned daily and every one gave a spore then? It does seem kind of wrong to waste 4 or 5 sickles in order to get one mat.

It really feels like a waste of time.

bravoart.5308:

Redenaz.8631:

I’m just not sure what the point of them is. When I harvest five closely-grouped nodes and get one or two Pristine samples, I’m left wondering why there wasn’t just one or two useful ones instead. I’m less “bothered” than I am “confused.”

To use your harvesting sickles. Unless you have the infinite one, of course…

It’s to get people to buy the jack-in-the-box harvesting sickle before it leaves the gemstore, of course.

Do you guys realize that even when using an ori sickle, each mushed sample is still a 9c profit? It’s never a waste to harvest these.

I was quite puzzled by the mushes spores too- seems like a waste to me considering the amount of pristine spores you need to get anything.
And yes I have a chucky sickle :P
I like it, problem?

Desbreko.7906:

Do you guys realize that even when using an ori sickle, each mushed sample is still a 9c profit? It’s never a waste to harvest these.

Exactly. It’s not much of a plot to push people into buying infinite tools if it provides more than enough money by vendoring to buy more sickles.

Logic be kittened.

Maybe to enforce the fact that you are indeed an noble adventurer and a terrible sub-par gardener.

well it is a sample so mushy ones are simple ones that got damaged when attempting to get them. Seems pretty normal to me. If anything I’m happy that they at least made them in clusters rather then individual ones spread out everywhere. plus the sucess rate is rather high for a rare find.

i like the mush ones. Because of them, I was able to keep getting armor upgrades as i leveled. Money in the bank. I go through 3 sickles a day now and making some coin and exp. I can bet i gained more than 2 levels from gathering out of the 42 lvl i am now

I bought the Consortium sickles a long time ago, so each time I see the Toxic patches, it’s “Woo, free 2.5+ silver!”