Guild Wars 2

I don’t mind the system so much but I hate being forced to do a heart to get it done and I think the cost per identify is too high. Those two things should change.

Maybe I’m just old-fashioned, but I don’t mind the identify mechanic.

I certainly think there’s room for refinement though. And I agree it’s a bit tedious keeping it behind a heart vendor.

I also don`t like the new system that much.

I get what they are trying to do, but aside from bagspace, I don`t really see the benefit for me as a player in terms of rewards.
I even loose money directly by identifying or inderectly in “salvaging”, as there are only green bags, which contain all rarities.

While the suprise of “oh cool a exotic” could be generated, it`s bad because you can easily use salvaging all to loose that oportunity.

It adds an extra step to a system that slightly improved in the past.

In the end it doesn`t even improve much, because you might identify all gearand then you have to salvage, whih results in clutter and I think you get where I am going…

It`s a very short term solution and a money sink, with implied gem-store aplication.
Not that thrilled about it.

Others have already offered much better sugestions

The system is absolutely unnacceptable, not only paying an exorbitant price but having to open up a heart vendor every time you need to ID items. All to get items that we now get for free. The game has a big problem with inventory management, the solution is not to monetise it in this manner.

Jaken.6801:

I also don`t like the new system that much.

I get what they are trying to do, but aside from bagspace, I don`t really see the benefit for me as a player in terms of rewards.
I even loose money directly by identifying or inderectly in “salvaging”, as there are only green bags, which contain all rarities.

While the suprise of “oh cool a exotic” could be generated, it`s bad because you can easily use salvaging all to loose that oportunity.

It adds an extra step to a system that slightly improved in the past.

In the end it doesn`t even improve much, because you might identify all gearand then you have to salvage, whih results in clutter and I think you get where I am going…

It`s a very short term solution and a money sink, with implied gem-store aplication.
Not that thrilled about it.

Others have already offered much better sugestions

I doesn’t even help with bagspace because not all drops are replaced by Unidientified Gear, it’s just another “bag” to clutter your inventory that has a ridiculous cost and inconvenience (the heart vendor) associated with it.

I feel most people completely miss the point of Unidientified Gear. There is absolutely no point to identify it. Ever. Salvage it all with automatic salvage system and forget it even exists. The Unidientified Gear is just in the game to trash all the garbage green blue and yellow gear you never wanted. Don’t waste money and time identifying it (after finishing simple collection about new skins).

Well… I understand the need to complete the heart could be a problem… Then again with new bags which might be 25 slots….. I’d say we should consider if 125-200 slots/character slots are a problem if you have extended times away from heart vendors to do farming… And if any portable unit would be interesting with regard to this issue.

I hope each city will get a open appraiser for goods cor comparable costs.

Here is my idea: Make all the rarity classes (except maybe exotic and ascended as those are rare anyway) seperate unidentified gear stacks. That way people can still salvage all blues/greens but know when they have valuable items. It doesn’t remove the identification process (which imo should be free, no clue why suddenly loot should COST money? Are we going to get showered in money?). I do like that it takes far less inventory space, that’s one thing that always annoyed me in the past.

Maybe Deckard Cain is part of the Team now ^^

It’s a really bad thing which makes an already really annoying gear process worse.

What we currently have is bad. We have to spend a ridiculous amount of clicks and steps to sort our inventories. It shouldn’t be like this. Other MMORPGs laugh at us over this.

The unidentified gear could have been a solution. It still can be, with minimal changes. However in the current implementation it is flat out worse, because these things drop on top of all the existent loot (and bags), and then take even more steps to process.

What I propose:

• Only unidentified gear drops. No more bags containing items (other bags are ok), no more raw item drops other than precursors/exotics.
• One type of unidentified gear for each quality tier. White / Blue / Green / Yellow.
• All of these salvage exactly the same way as if I were to salvage items of that quality tier, meaning all it does is stack them neatly in my inventory.
• There is one concession: You don’t get any runes/sigils from these.
• If you want those, or if you want the gear, you go and salvage them. The money cost here offsets the extra income from the sigils/runes.
• Otherwise, you salvage them. And you’ll still get Luck or Ectos and so on, from the respective stack.

That would be a serious improvement over the current spam of things. But the system as it is in the demo is the polar opposite, and adds insult to injury, making for even more RSI-inducing clicks.

It would be ok to me if players get a Identify skill they can develop. Like on low level you know not enough about lore and items, so you have to identify a lot. But on highest level you know so much that items identify automatically.

Albadaran.1283:

But on highest level you know so much that items identify automatically.

So you have to mastery-up that you get gear exactly the same way as before?

Carighan.6758:

What we currently have is bad. We have to spend a ridiculous amount of clicks and steps to sort our inventories. It shouldn’t be like this. Other MMORPGs laugh at us over this.

1 – Salvage All Masterwork and Lower
2 – Deposit All Materials
3 – Sell Junk

I have hard time trying to even imagine system which requires less clicks to clean up whole inventory.

FogLeg.9354:

I have hard time trying to even imagine system which requires less clicks to clean up whole inventory.

Yeah but you left out a few steps, didn’t you? Cheeky.

1. Open bags.
2. Mass-salvage greens/blues.
3. Mass-salvage rares.
4. Deposit.
5. Sell all Junk.
6. Manually go through the list and manually sell a bunch of other items which aren’t sold as junk despite clearly being junk (such as runes/sigils in non-superior quality).
7. Repeat Steps 1-6 because there’s too many bags to open all at once.
8. Bonus with PoF, though luckily optional: Before doing all this, move the stack of unidentified items to an invisible bag. Afterwards complete a heart, identify it, and go through the steps again, possible including the iteration because you had too many things to identify on one inventory.

The big problem is how 8 doesn’t solve anything, rather it optionally adds another few steps of complexity. The inventory system could use significant simplification, like, you know, just dropping junk to give us cash and crafting materials we can deposit (and nothing else, make it crafted/bought!), with the odd actual exotic/precursor rarely tossed in.

You have a hard time imagining a simpler loot system? Play other games then, sorry. As nice as GW2 is in many many many regards, it’s loot/inventory system isn’t just sub-par, it sets the lower rating boundary for all other games, it’s one end of the rating scale.

Carighan.6758:

Albadaran.1283:

But on highest level you know so much that items identify automatically.

So you have to mastery-up that you get gear exactly the same way as before?

Indeed This game is all about skills remember? Taking away convenience and than offer a gem store item to improve convinience… Ehm nah, not how it should be. But skills? Yes, that would be in the spirit of this game.

Unidentified gear may reduce the item bloat a bit but it will add more complexity to the loot system. It will not really solve the problem of the many useless green/blue items which nobody who reached level 80 will need to equip them and the cost to identify these items is too high.

Reducing the the drop rates of these items and replacing them with copper and useful materials would be much appreciated.

FogLeg.9354:

I feel most people completely miss the point of Unidientified Gear. There is absolutely no point to identify it. Ever. Salvage it all with automatic salvage system and forget it even exists. The Unidientified Gear is just in the game to trash all the garbage green blue and yellow gear you never wanted. Don’t waste money and time identifying it (after finishing simple collection about new skins).

I think others have pointed out that they also bury exotics in there as well. Those are immensely important to salvage, and some of the weapons fetch decent money.

As far as yellows not being wanted, that is entirely untrue. I salvage all the armor for ectos and sell all the weapons for cash that adds up pretty quickly.

Oh, and to add a ‘cost’ to having to find those now, that’s silly.

If they are going to do it that way, it should match the convenience we have now:

1) Free
2) Do it from wherever you are
3) Separate items for blue/green, yellow and exotic (or yellow/exotic)

Essentially paying for drops — paying more than the blue/green junk you’re 90%+ likely to get is even worth at that — is unadulterared BS, and the requirement of having to do a daily first is the rotten cherry on top.

I’m going to have to agree with the people that are saying that this is an awful change.

First of all, my characters have been looting stuff like this for ages. Why do they now suddenly not know what the heck cloth gloves are?

Second is that this is just a disguised nerf to our loot, and it’s a poor disguise at that. Pay and get a chance at the full range of loot like you normally get, or save your money but you’ll never see anything better than what you’d get for salvaging blues and greens. That’s horrible.

If rare and above made their own stack, I might be able to see a player-friendly use to it? But as it is, this is simply player-hostile.

Another thing. I normally give containers to my level 53 to open. This won’t be possible with the requirement of doing a heart first in a level 80 area. Even if I can get it to that area, doing the heart on a regular basis will give that char XP so that starts leveling again.

Why not give us a new elite skill to unlock called Item Identification? It would be part of PoF and encourage sales.

The final form would allow us to ID items in our inventory for free. Or at a minor tool kit cost.

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Another thing. I normally give containers to my level 53 to open. This won’t be possible with the requirement of doing a heart first in a level 80 area. Even if I can get it to that area, doing the heart on a regular basis will give that char XP so that starts leveling again.

Can’t you just salvage them directly on the 53 char?

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Another thing. I normally give containers to my level 53 to open. This won’t be possible with the requirement of doing a heart first in a level 80 area. Even if I can get it to that area, doing the heart on a regular basis will give that char XP so that starts leveling again.

Can’t you just salvage them directly on the 53 char?

Idk. Will they be level 80 gear when salvaged directly or level 53ish? The gear from HoT containers originally was level 80 only. Lower level options was added later. And there’s the problem again of losing all rares and exotics.

Identifying gear from the Unidentified Gear is a gamble. You pay money for the chance you end up with something more valuable. Usually you do not. As with every gambling, you will lose money in the long run. However, you are not forced to identify anything, nobody is making you to identify, or to put it clearer – to gamble. This is something you choose to do.

Do not like to loose money – salvage Unidentified gear. You will get materials like from any item you salvage. You will earn money by salvaging the Unidentified gear.

Only thing currently wrong with Unidentified gear is that the description does not specifically mention the gambling aspect. It hints, but seeing how many players complain about it, the gambling with your money should be made much more clear. With big red letters. That blink. And dance. And make annoying sounds. Like, you know, real casino.

FogLeg.9354:

Identifying gear from the Unidentified Gear is a gamble. You pay money for the chance you end up with something more valuable. Usually you do not. As with every gambling, you will lose money in the long run. However, you are not forced to identify anything, nobody is making you to identify, or to put it clearer – to gamble. This is something you choose to do.

Do not like to loose money – salvage Unidentified gear. You will get materials like from any item you salvage. You will earn money by salvaging the Unidentified gear.

Only thing currently wrong with Unidentified gear is that the description does not specifically mention the gambling aspect. It hints, but seeing how many players complain about it, the gambling with your money should be made much more clear. With big red letters. That blink. And dance. And make annoying sounds. Like, you know, real casino.

I agree with this if we still get our normal, pre-identified (for free) rare and exotic drops from the world, as we do now, based on our MF, drop rates and whatever else happens now. If I still get everything I always used to get, and the rare and exotics that have a chance of coming out of these new items, for a cost, is in addition to what we used to always get, and I’m just paying to gamble to get a little more, then it’s a neat system.

If they have removed all the rate and exotics from the world and they are ‘all’ buried inside those bags and the only way to get them is to pay for them, then I’m pretty angry.

I haven’t seen (or if it was posited, completely missed) anyone demonstrate or assert this is true, that we still get rare and exotics like we used to, pre-identified, in addition to these new bags.

I am thinking that I will probably identify the bags until I get all the skins unlocked then salvage everything after. Only thing I don’t salvage now are exotic weapons and that is only to throw them to the mystic forge. I have been very lucky doing this but with other sources of exotic (not from tp) this is a non issue.

Only things you get pre-identified in the demo right now come from champ bags.

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Another thing. I normally give containers to my level 53 to open. This won’t be possible with the requirement of doing a heart first in a level 80 area. Even if I can get it to that area, doing the heart on a regular basis will give that char XP so that starts leveling again.

Can’t you just salvage them directly on the 53 char?

Idk. Will they be level 80 gear when salvaged directly or level 53ish? The gear from HoT containers originally was level 80 only. Lower level options was added later. And there’s the problem again of losing all rares and exotics.

Do these not drop as trophies in addition to other loot?

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Another thing. I normally give containers to my level 53 to open. This won’t be possible with the requirement of doing a heart first in a level 80 area. Even if I can get it to that area, doing the heart on a regular basis will give that char XP so that starts leveling again.

Can’t you just salvage them directly on the 53 char?

Idk. Will they be level 80 gear when salvaged directly or level 53ish? The gear from HoT containers originally was level 80 only. Lower level options was added later. And there’s the problem again of losing all rares and exotics.

Do these not drop as trophies in addition to other loot?

No, those only come from heart vendors and cost 1 silver, 68 copper plus one unidentified gear.

If you were asking about unidentified gear, they very much seem to replace normal loot, not in addition to it.

Drarnor Kunoram.5180:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Another thing. I normally give containers to my level 53 to open. This won’t be possible with the requirement of doing a heart first in a level 80 area. Even if I can get it to that area, doing the heart on a regular basis will give that char XP so that starts leveling again.

Can’t you just salvage them directly on the 53 char?

Idk. Will they be level 80 gear when salvaged directly or level 53ish? The gear from HoT containers originally was level 80 only. Lower level options was added later. And there’s the problem again of losing all rares and exotics.

Do these not drop as trophies in addition to other loot?

No, those only come from heart vendors and cost 1 silver, 68 copper plus one unidentified gear.

If you were asking about unidentified gear, they very much seem to replace normal loot, not in addition to it.

It’s a simple question they need to answer: “Do I get the same amount of rare and exotic gear (considering all current RNG and other factors) that I always got without having to pay for it?”

If the answer to that simple question is ‘Yes’, then the new system makes sense to me. If the answer is ‘No’, and I have to pay and gamble and spend time with hearts to possibly get back up to the level I had before, then the new system makes _no_sense.

Drarnor Kunoram.5180:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Another thing. I normally give containers to my level 53 to open. This won’t be possible with the requirement of doing a heart first in a level 80 area. Even if I can get it to that area, doing the heart on a regular basis will give that char XP so that starts leveling again.

Can’t you just salvage them directly on the 53 char?

Idk. Will they be level 80 gear when salvaged directly or level 53ish? The gear from HoT containers originally was level 80 only. Lower level options was added later. And there’s the problem again of losing all rares and exotics.

Do these not drop as trophies in addition to other loot?

No, those only come from heart vendors and cost 1 silver, 68 copper plus one unidentified gear.

If you were asking about unidentified gear, they very much seem to replace normal loot, not in addition to it.

If that is the case, then the rate at which they ID into rares and Exos seems to completely justify a 1.68s price tag.

I don’t know if anybody brought this up yet, but I find it very annoying that you have to put Unidentified Gear into invis-bags so they don’t get slavaged when you try to “Salvage All”…

I am at a loss at what ArenaNet is trying to achieve with Unidentified gear. I still got normal trash loot (some blues, some greens) so it doesn’t replace trash loot. I had a few rares in my inventory before I opened some Unidentified gear at a Hearts vendor, so rares do still drop in some way.

At the moment I do gamble somewhat with my loot. I salvage blues and some greens. A few greens I sell, the rest goes into the Mystic Forge in the hope I get a rare out of it. Rares I sell on the TP if the price is good, otherwise I salvage them with a mystic salvage kit for a chance on one or more ecto’s. So this new Unidentified gear is not going to make my life easier. I still can gamble, but now I have to go to a hearts vendor (do the heart) and pay to identify an item. If it is a green I still have to go to the MF, if it is a blue I am still going to salvage it and if it is a rare I still have to check the price on the TP.

To me Unidentified gear seems to be an inconvenience item. I don’t understand why ArenaNet thinks it is a good idea to add it to an expansion. I want QoL improvements, not something that makes it more complicated and annoying.

On a side note: I am not so sure mounts will be so great. Yes, it was fun riding on a raptor. But there is only one WP in the map. Getting to anywhere outside the city means taking a ride on your mount. If mounts mean we will loose the convenience of WP’s I don’t think they are an improvement to the game

Rose Solane.1027:

On a side note: I am not so sure mounts will be so great. Yes, it was fun riding on a raptor. But there is only one WP in the map. Getting to anywhere outside the city means taking a ride on your mount. If mounts mean we will loose the convenience of WP’s I don’t think they are an improvement to the game

Only one waypoint in the demo, but the map has more. You can actually see another in the NE area outside of the demo zone.

marelooke.9708:

They need to remove the cost to ID and get rid of the requirement to go anywhere to do it. We didn’t need to identify before and I don’t see any reason to bring back that crappy GW1 system.

I barely ever have issues with bag space and since you also have to unlock a heart vendor (effectively bringing one of the worst misfeatures of WoW into GW2: mandatory dailies) this ends up being worse than it was before as far as I’m concerned: more busywork, more clicking and at a higher cost.

No, because you can just salvage the unidentified gear directly for mats. So actually way less busywork.

This is legitimately bad. It takes what might have been a good change to the system and does just about everything possible to make it bad and useless.

marelooke.9708:

PookieDaWombat.6209:

As I said in my original post/feedback regarding this: while I get where anet was going with this, if they insist on keeping this system in the game, they need to lower the cost of ID to no more than 50cp. This way they have a small coin investment that won’t break the bank, especially for new players who are going to 80 bump themselves into the game AND they get to keep their space saving/gamble thing in the game.

They need to remove the cost to ID and get rid of the requirement to go anywhere to do it. We didn’t need to identify before and I don’t see any reason to bring back that crappy GW1 system.

I barely ever have issues with bag space and since you also have to unlock a heart vendor (effectively bringing one of the worst misfeatures of WoW into GW2: mandatory dailies) this ends up being worse than it was before as far as I’m concerned: more busywork, more clicking and at a higher cost.

I don’t think there’s a problem with the cost, afaik, these bounty missions are infinitely repeatable, not having to stop and daily wait, and what not, ya? with that many items coming into the economy by what you know will be people doing bounty champ trains, you need to make a sacrifice like this, 1/10 runs you may find yourself salvaging all them to get the money to id them later on if you wanna gamble.

JustTrogdor.7892:

^ Pretty much everything new is designed to generate gem sales as that is crucial to their business model. So I can’t say I blame them.

I can. It is an excellent way to tick off a portion of your player-base to make things that obvious.

It is a stupid idea, and one that needs to be removed before the expac goes live

god, what people make for a terror here cause of 1s,68c…

I’ve read through a bunch of posts on this, and I think there are a handful of concerns with the system.

1. The Walls – behind a heart and “map currency” to ID – for many, this will slow them down when it comes to identifying day-by-day and will add unnecessary frustration

2. The Cost – gold sink discussion – the additional cost to ID and then salvage is substantial and will create ripples through a lot of markets (core currency well)

3. The Loot Impact – additive or replacement – this is likely my biggest concern, and I think it is for many others. As long as drop rates for rares/exotics are unchanged from core/HoT, the option to “convert” a green into a rare/exotic is part of the gamble. Drop rates for greens/blues should be lower anyway, which would lead to the perceived benefit of stacking these items as unidentified gear

4. Exclusivity – anything locked behind unidentified gear – are their skins/weapons/gear/trinkets/rewards locked behind the gear? This would make it feel necessary to invest the time and money, rather than keeping it additional/optional – as an extension, we can mention anything not locked, but with a much higher drop rate from unidentified gear versus open world

5. Mat market disruption – salvaged material rates – it seems like the unidentified gear provides more mats when salvaged directly, which will boost supply and drop prices for several items. Paired with any gold valuation and a potential currency sink, the TP market is likely to go through some rather significant shifts

I’m no expert, and I’m likely missing some factors here. In the big picture, I’m not sure what adding this feature brings to the game. If it’s the only way to get certain items, it will upset some people. If it replaces some portion of the previous drop system, it will upset some people. If the intent is to disrupt markets and currencies, it will upset some people. When the dust settles, the game state may be pretty good, possibly better, but what pains will be encountered to accomplish that (both acute and chronic)… we’ll have to wait for PoF and find out.

crashburntoo.7431:

I’m no expert, and I’m likely missing some factors here. In the big picture, I’m not sure what adding this feature brings to the game.

Potential Positives:

1. There is a possibility that players will experience some bag space saving. It seemed that way to some posters, but we don’t really know, due to small sample sizes.
2. There is a possibility that those who choose to ID will come out ahead on rares and exotics.
3. It seems likely, even with small sample sizes, that salvaging players will get more mats by salvaging before ID than they would by salvaging a random green item.

Potential Negatives:

1. As you say, material proliferation may result in market downturns, which could make increased material drops a wash for salvaging players and a hit to anyone else’s gold gain. The flip side of this possibility is that mat prices would be sustained through higher supply by generating increased demand, in the form of more material sinks. That would be a plus for salvaging players.
2. If IDing generates more rares/exotics, then we could also see either a downturn in mat prices for things like ectos, or the actual rares/exotics themselves. Alternatively we could see another ecto sink. This could benefit IDers, and either cause no impact or hurt people getting rares by existing means.
3. If the system is implemented only in PoF, increased material gains via salvaging will make PoF farming superior to farming older zones. “By how much” is the question whose answer will determine the impact on the sustainability of older zones. This is nothing new. Farming SW, HoT and LS3 mats is already a lot more lucrative than farming in core.

Certain Negatives:

1. Choosing to ID is going to make loot management more tedious. If you have any interest in seeing what loot you get, there is added inconvenience and cost. Only those who disdain their loot (i.e., it’s only salvage bait) exchange added inconvenience for convenience.

crashburntoo.7431:

If it’s the only way to get certain items, it will upset some people. If it replaces some portion of the previous drop system, it will upset some people. If the intent is to disrupt markets and currencies, it will upset some people. When the dust settles, the game state may be pretty good, possibly better, but what pains will be encountered to accomplish that (both acute and chronic)… we’ll have to wait for PoF and find out.

It seems certain that this feature is going to upset some people. It already has.

Boogiepop Void.6473:

This is legitimately bad. It takes what might have been a good change to the system and does just about everything possible to make it bad and useless.

Hrm, I don’t know. I mean I am fairly disappointed with the specific implementation, but I still think it’s by and large a good change.

What I’m getting now: ~75% of the trash drops I would get are now stackable, and can be readily salvaged from that stack.

What I’d prefer to get:

• One stack of unidentified gear per rarity.
• All item drops dropped that way, maybe except Precursors/Exotics/Ascended.
• Otherwise same as now, can identify to play the roulette wheel, or just salvage it for convenience and ease of clearing inventory.

But to be fair, other than not being split by rarity, and ofc that trash drops still exist, I don’t truly have a big problem with it. It certainly helps clear the inventory clutter a lot already.

crashburntoo.7431:

I’ve read through a bunch of posts on this, and I think there are a handful of concerns with the system.

1. The Walls – behind a heart and “map currency” to ID – for many, this will slow them down when it comes to identifying day-by-day and will add unnecessary frustration

2. The Cost – gold sink discussion – the additional cost to ID and then salvage is substantial and will create ripples through a lot of markets (core currency well)

3. The Loot Impact – additive or replacement – this is likely my biggest concern, and I think it is for many others. As long as drop rates for rares/exotics are unchanged from core/HoT, the option to “convert” a green into a rare/exotic is part of the gamble. Drop rates for greens/blues should be lower anyway, which would lead to the perceived benefit of stacking these items as unidentified gear

4. Exclusivity – anything locked behind unidentified gear – are their skins/weapons/gear/trinkets/rewards locked behind the gear? This would make it feel necessary to invest the time and money, rather than keeping it additional/optional – as an extension, we can mention anything not locked, but with a much higher drop rate from unidentified gear versus open world

5. Mat market disruption – salvaged material rates – it seems like the unidentified gear provides more mats when salvaged directly, which will boost supply and drop prices for several items. Paired with any gold valuation and a potential currency sink, the TP market is likely to go through some rather significant shifts

I’m no expert, and I’m likely missing some factors here. In the big picture, I’m not sure what adding this feature brings to the game. If it’s the only way to get certain items, it will upset some people. If it replaces some portion of the previous drop system, it will upset some people. If the intent is to disrupt markets and currencies, it will upset some people. When the dust settles, the game state may be pretty good, possibly better, but what pains will be encountered to accomplish that (both acute and chronic)… we’ll have to wait for PoF and find out.

3. replacement for event rewards, and loot drops in the zone iirc (but heart quests are easily doable anyways… if you just want the gold, salvage it and u never need to do HQ to identify.)

4. Yes, there are special skins and items locked behind UnID gear, Sunspear set of weapons, for example. it gives incentive to ID, just like weapon skins in fractal chests gives incentive for those.

5. you will mostly receive only 2 of the item when salvaged, yes, you CAN receive 25, but it is rare.

Xbon.9086:

crashburntoo.7431:

3. The Loot Impact – additive or replacement – this is likely my biggest concern, and I think it is for many others. As long as drop rates for rares/exotics are unchanged from core/HoT, the option to “convert” a green into a rare/exotic is part of the gamble. Drop rates for greens/blues should be lower anyway, which would lead to the perceived benefit of stacking these items as unidentified gear

3. replacement for event rewards, and loot drops in the zone iirc (but heart quests are easily doable anyways… if you just want the gold, salvage it and u never need to do HQ to identify.)

This was all I really cared about getting an official answer to. If it’s a replacement, as you suggest, then they are charging me for things I used to get before for free. In my case, any 70+ weapon was 30-ish silver, salvaged 70+ armor for ectos. Exotics depended on supply/demand, sold if I could get a penny, otherwise saved if I wanted the skin or salvaged for mats. I didn’t have to pay to see if I got any rare or exotics, I just got them. I got two ‘Truth’ axes today on an AB run.

If it’s a new additional mechanic, then the cost is part of a new ‘gamble’ mechanic, and that’s kinda fun and fine. To take away my usual allotment of rare and exotic drops, based on drop rate + my current magic find (which, I got plenty of them…enough to keep me in mats and ectos and gold…contrary to the arguments I’ve seen here indicating what I got was nothing, still trying to figure that argument out), and tell me I have to gamble to get my usual supply of ectos and gold, how is that an improvement?

I can see it more if it was a new feature that boxed all the green/blues in a convenient stack of things, with an added new feature to let you spend money to gamble on turning them into better things, or salvaging them as is. That’s a neat new mechanic. To then ‘bury’ my usual supply of rare and exotic drops inside those bags and ask me to pay for them, that just doesn’t make any sense. Is the new cost to pay for the development of the new feature? Like we’re tax payers paying for a professional sports team’s stadium renovations?

It just sends an odd message, and I’d like to know what that message is. If it is a replacement for rare and exotics, and to find those to salvage, I must now pay for the privilege to use my magic find + drop rate to get any rare and exotic items (or the items I used to get naturally), what was the thinking behind that? What gaming issue does it solve? How does that help us enjoy the game more?

If it’s solely about taking money out of the economy, and they feel we have too many rare/exotic items to sell or salvage for ectos or legendary mats, why not increase the AH fees? I’m completely confused as to what it’s purpose is, with respect to making us pay to find what we used to find for free.

Carighan.6758:

What I’m getting now: ~75% of the trash drops I would get are now stackable, and can be readily salvaged from that stack.

That’s anecdotal evidence and not necessarily accurate due to small sample sizes. My anecdotal PoF demo experience was different, with maybe 90% of the trash drops still appearing as trash drops. Also, there were multiple different containers with one bit of something or other in them. Likely, neither experience is indicative of what will really happen.

Even if your guesstimate is close, creating convenience for one segment of the player base at the expense and inconvenience of another is not the way to go. ANet would be catering to the concerns of those who think loot stinks by thumbing their collective noses at those who don’t. A far better experience could be had by all players if ANet were to:

• Condense loot bags into one type per rarity per zone (as you said)
• Do away with blue lot bags
• Make green loot bags salvageable; or allow them to be opened normally with normal chances for loot

That way everyone wins. The current way, more gambling is added to players’ detriment and loot management for those who want to open bags is worse than it was. The system stinks.