How To Fix Epic Desert Shard Droprate

[mediocresurgeon]

Easy solution:
Allow players to substitute 50 dungeon tokens instead of a Shard when crafting an epic item.

Example: Combining Scroll of Greenblade, Seal of Greenblade, Greenblade, and 50 Epic Dungeon Tokens would grant you an Epic Greenblade.

It's simple, easy to remember, and allows players to craft epic Desert items without (a)having to grind for the one shard they need and pulling 100+ shards they don't and (b)trivializing the acquisition of shards and making the Demon Queen raid pointless.

What are your thoughts/reactions? And if this is read by a Dev, can they please say so?

Thanks!

[grodon9999]

How about let us puts 20 shards in the stone of change and let us pick the one we want.

[adam1oftheround]

If we are asking for a short cut, why set the bar at 50? Why not make it just 5 tokens? Shorter shortcuts...

[Jaid314]

Easy solution:
Allow players to substitute 50 dungeon tokens instead of a Shard when crafting an epic item.

Example: Combining Scroll of Greenblade, Seal of Greenblade, Greenblade, and 50 Epic Dungeon Tokens would grant you an Epic Greenblade.

It's simple, easy to remember, and allows players to craft epic Desert items without (a)having to grind for the one shard they need and pulling 100+ shards they don't and (b)trivializing the acquisition of shards and making the Demon Queen raid pointless.

What are your thoughts/reactions? And if this is read by a Dev, can they please say so?

Thanks!

so.... i could get an epic item without *ever* doing an epic raid? i'd rather just see the drop rate tweaked.

[Renvar]

so.... i could get an epic item without *ever* doing an epic raid? i'd rather just see the drop rate tweaked.

No, I agree with the OP. The turn in rate should be high. 50 or 60 for 1. The point of grinding GH relics, Taps, Tome Pages, Shroud Ingredients, Draconic Runes, Scrolls/Seals/Shards is to provide some time barriers to accessing end game content or acquiring end game gear. There is great value in the MMO making replaying existing content valuable to keep us distracted while they make new content.

The problem is that if the player starts to feel like the time barrier is infinite, or so long that it is not worth attaining the reward, then the player becomes disenfranchised and the grinding becomes something that turns the player away from the game, rather than keeping them interested between content releases.

So, for each grind, they need to find that middle ground between:

Making it so easy that it doesn't eat up the time between releases well enough and the players get bored

and

Making it take so long that the player gives up. On the grind and then the game.

I think it makes sense that every grind have an "end in sight" At some point.

In GH you can trade 3 relics for 1 of the type you need. Plus they are unbound. And you only need 20 of each.

Taps are unbound and you need a finite number. Same with Tome pages and shroud ingredients. Epic scrolls are not finite, but they are unbound. Making things unbound automatically provides a finite solution because the trade/AH system can provide the finite end. You want it bad enough, you pay for it.

The infinite problem mainly exists with bound items.

Raids have 20th runs that give you access to a large portion of the named loot table.

There needs to be a mechanism for Draconic Runes and Epic Shards/Seals to be finite.

Whether it is:

Trade 50 to 1 of Epic Raid Tokens for a "20th run" type list of shards/Seals from that Raid's items
Or
Track the number of Epic Raid completions and the 20th completion give a list of shards/seals.

Same with DT Armor
Trade 50 to 1 of any type of rune (Sov, Temp, Eld) To select 1 that you want from a list. (Maybe not a complete list)
or
Track the number of SoS completions and give a special end reward list for 20th run.

The number (20, 40, 50, 60) can be whatever Turbine thinks hits that balance of too easy and so long that I give up. Once again, never a full set of options. A subset is enough. Players have proven they will run 100-120 Titan raids to get a chattering ring.

But I think having a light at the end of the tunnel makes sense for all grind mechanisms. Especially the bound stuff.

[BlackSteel]

while i think the desert needs to be reexamined. I dont feel that the above is the way to go about it. grinding the sissy epics should in noway have any bearing on the harder ones.

[Monkey_Archer]

While i do like the idea of a # of completions based reward system for epics, it is a separate issue from the actual drop rates, and should not involve tokens (for the reason Blacksteel mentioned: you shouldn't be able to craft epic items from one area by farming another)

The drop rate fix is simple IMO: If you run an epic quest, someone should get something. With newer epic quests giving 100% drop rates, i dont think 1 in 6 is too much to ask. The 1-2% drop rate quests i see as a bug... someone probably added an extra 0...

[Qzipoun]

A MUCH simpler solution (because Turbine loves simple) is to have each of the three quests ONLY drop seals and shards for that quest, the raid ONLY drop seals and shards for the raid and ATDQ ONLY drop seals and shards for desert items.

I'm addition to that, have seals drop in any chest within a quest and increase the drop rate of shards.

With that, the crazy amount of desert items is less of an issue.

[mediocresurgeon]

so.... i could get an epic item without *ever* doing an epic raid? i'd rather just see the drop rate tweaked.

You can craft many epic desert items without ever having done the epic raid.

[HallowedOne]

I think ATDQ1 should have the same stuff that happens with "Into the Deep" regarding shards.

I mean, really, you have to beat her twice, one of them on a tight space and the other on a mine field with mord disj's, not accounting the intense path to the shrine.