More LDoN information (one part tradeskill related)

[Itzena]

From Allakhazam's again. The last question and answer was:

Q: Can you give us an idea of what new tradeskills to expect? Will this just be an expansion of the existing skills through new recipes, or will new skills and/or new ways to utilize old skills be added as well?

RB: We’re not adding any new skills for this expansion, but there’s going to be a number of new recipes available. Specifically, Paul Carrico and Jason Mash are working on some new recipes that fill a few gaps in progression for fletching and smithing.

[Pojodan]

Q: You have announced a new item type that will allow players to upgrade and customize existing equipment. Can you explain in more detail how that will work? Will the customized items be no drop? If they can be sold, will there be an easy way for the buyer to know which stats have been adjusted short of inspecting the item, or will there now be 15 different types of each item available for sale in the bazaar?

RB: The new item class is called an Augmentation. An Augmentation is a magical item that attaches itself to a slot on an existing item on your character. To attach an Augmentation to an existing item, you must first find one that is compatible with your existing item. Once you have your augmentation and item, you combine them in a special container much like normal trade skills. Augmentations are very similar to normal items, so you can inspect the augmentation to see what benefits and restrictions it has to offer. Initially, the Augmentations will be no-drop and available only in LDoN.

Can you say 8 hours farming per augmentation peice?

/shudder

[sumamael]

Originally posted by Pojodan
Can you say 8 hours farming per augmentation peice?

/shudder

Not sure where you got that info, care to explain?

[Jannelle Silverthorne]

He's being pessimistic Suma.

More realistically they'll drop like candy for the first week or so in LDoN. Then the drop rate will be nerfed back to "Normal" because they somehow messed up and had it set too high at release. Six months later they'll give every L60 a full set of Augmentations similar to the Charm we got when they opened the planes in PoP.

[OberonMiM]

i hope that

a) the items that have augmentations will become no drop
and
b) they NEVER remove that no drop status from existing augmentations (ie nerfs)

[Androsulach]

Fletching gaps?

The only fletching gap that I'm aware of is 202 to 250. There's only the Substance Tipped Acrylia recipes. Now, if they give us an arrow to cover that 48 point gap, say, trivial about 225-230, then that would be okay. Smithing has some holes, considering the difficulty in getting materials for most of the higher trivial armors.

Now, about 8 hour camps. The entire concept behind LDoN is for us not having to camp, as it's supposed to be a quick 45 to 90 minute dungeon crawl. Hence, no camping needed or allowed for.

I agree that Augmented items should become No Drop. It should be like putting a No Drop object in a bag. Since they haven't mentioned possible removal of Augmentation, there'd be no way of passing on customized pieces.

[Valorale]

Once you have your augmentation and item, you combine them in a special container much like normal trade skills.

Makes me wonder if there will be any skillcheck on this.

Say for example you have your acrylia studded tunic and wanted to augment it .. do it in a tailoring kit? Can you fail this augment? Will you lose both items or just the augment?

[Lilosh]

Originally posted by sumamael
Not sure where you got that info, care to explain?

I bet that was a reference to charms. It took them going back to the previous expanison and GIVING a charm away to make people actually get one.


-Lilosh

[Cigarskunk]

Originally posted by Jannelle Silverthorne
He's being pessimistic Suma.

More realistically they'll drop like candy for the first week or so in LDoN. Then the drop rate will be nerfed back to "Normal" because they somehow messed up and had it set too high at release. Six months later they'll give every L60 a full set of Augmentations similar to the Charm we got when they opened the planes in PoP.

Just like charms did - right?

Flip a coin -

Heads: Sony gets it right and keeps following through

Tails: Sony turns these things into Charms 2.0 and the player base has yet another thing to add to thier list of "could have been" ideas by Sony.

[Jannelle Silverthorne]

Originally posted by Cigarskunk
Just like charms did - right?

Charms are close to the only thing that never dropped way too much during the first week of an expansion. What happened with charms is that they were so rare, and mostly useless, that 6 months after they were introduced SoE had to give them out as a reward for completing flags in the previous expansion.

SoE can't win on the 'get it right' part because no two people are going to agree on what 'right' is.

[zzaris]

Re: Fletching gaps?

Originally posted by Androsulach
Since they haven't mentioned possible removal of Augmentation, there'd be no way of passing on customized pieces.

Actually they did say that augmentations on items would be removable.

[Cantatus]

Well, not that I was really expecting one, but it would've been nice after 5 expansions to see something dynamic with tradeskills such as new ones or higher caps. *sigh*

[Furyrpied]

Gah! Higher caps?!?!?!?!

I'm just over 200 in one trade skill now... don't make me have to go over 250!!

Would really like to see the HQ pelts drop more due to this expansion.. but many tailors have been begging and praying to their respective diety for as long as trade skills have been around

[Reflan]

Not sure I am for no-drop at all, on either the augmentations or the completed items made with augmentations.

Lots of the best tradeskill things only drop in areas where people are who frankly don't really need tradeskills either to equip themselves in good gear or to make items to sell so they can buy their own good(ish) gear. Just like all the best of everything else drops there.

But at least those who are not elemental flagged, say, can pay completely insane prices for tradeskill drops or finished items to the lucky few who are, and in that way get some slow trickle of upgrades and rewards for having mastered tradeskills in the first place.

While those drops are trashing the value of what the average tradeskiller is making, at least he has a chance to get some eventual value somewhere out of the deal.

But if the augmentations are no-drop, they will most likely drop most off mobs and in places the average player can't get to -- at least with any real frequency at all.

And if they don't, then the places they do drop will be camped by ubers -- and even their uber bots while they are out raiding -- forever and a day. Either way, the already well off will lock things up tight.

But just like mostly inaccessible good PoP tradeskill drops still trickle down so as to afford the less privileged the delights of the garbage cans of the wealthy -- er, the open market -- augmentations that are not no-drop will neither force the most advanced players to camp augmentations 24/7 for months(or years) nor guarantee that non-ubers will never even see augmentations because they can't get into the zones where they drop in the first place or maybe can't get augmented items because they can't be sold either.

Locking items into no-drop status just means more KS'ing and guilds and people running each other over on the one hand, and only people who already have plenty of plenty getting plenty and plenty more, while everyone else says, "Augmentations? What augmentations?"

[GremlinClr]

Locking items into no-drop status just means more KS'ing and guilds and people running each other over on the one hand, and only people who already have plenty of plenty getting plenty and plenty more, while everyone else says, "Augmentations? What augmentations?"

Unless SOE puts augmentations into non LDoN instanced zones, there will be no KS'ing. Thats the thing with an instanced dungeon, no ksing, no trains, no camp checks, no camps for that matter. Its a great system.