Gates Conversion Rates 4th Edition

[Grimwood]

I've been playing along with the conversion game, the one where we are supposed to be able to work up to 3 converted items per raw material. but somehow the whole scenario always seems broken.

The three I've been converting are the Raw Pale Nihilite, Taelosian Tea, and Raw Aligned Ore. With well over a hundred hours of hunting in Natimbi I've been able to run about 5 full stacks of the Nihilite conversions, so I'll use that as the example:

1) The first stack ran mostly 'single' returns, i.e. one Pale Nihilite for each conversion, with a few doubles... about 28 or so Pales for 20 converted Raws.

2) After 4 full stacks I was getting mostly two returns, with the occasional three. The fifth stack was about 80% three converted items returned. No single-returns at all.

3) Then came the script bug where everything was three returns.

4) Then the script bug got 'fixed' and bingo, the first two 'raw aligned ores' I did, just to check... flat out poofed. Nothing at all back. (My aligned ore conversions are in the same ballpark as the Nihilite, over four stacks converted to date.)

5) Just checked the Raw Pale Nihilite this weekend ... 8 Raws gave me 11 converted Pale Nihilites. A couple of 'doubles', all the rest 'singles', when I should really be averaging better than 2.5 returns per conversion. Like I am right back to where I started from, as if I had never done any conversions. Can't find the right thread to link from the EQ official website, but people there are questioning over there whether their 'flags' or whatever for conversion-amounts got reset somehow. So am I ;-).

Is anyone else noticing problems with their conversions of any of the Gates materials?

(Supposedly the conversions are independent of skill level, but just for the record I'm working at "effective" skills of Jewelry = 210 (Nihilite), Blacksmithing = 252 (Aligned Ore) and Brewing = 252 (Taelosian Tea).)

--Grimwood

[Eleena Transient]

Yup, I had same thing one the stones for fletching. Did over 100 of them, then it got reset and now I'm back to mostly 1 with a few 2s.

I've given up on combines and take the given 2 from handing. Its not worth it to bother 'learning' it any more when it just gets 'forgotten'

[Jarak_akn]

Im in a simmilar position.

I have not done as much as Grimwood and in fact the only time that I have consistantly got better than 2* results was during the "bugged" period.

There is a post on the eqlive boards discussing this and there have been previous threads here, however no reall clarification seems to have come through.

Jarak.

[Taadieri]

I am glad to here I am not alone in this. I have experienced the same thing with Nihilite, Aligned Ore and Dark Matter. The only one I converted enough of recently to be certain of is Raw Dark Matter. I converted 50-60 pieces before and during the period when the recipes were returning one extra and was reaching the point where almost all combines returned 3.

Since the yields were "fixed" I have done another 80 conversions are received an average of 1.5 pieces back from the first stack to the last.

The smaller quantities of raw nihilite that I have converted followed the same pattern.

[Jarak_akn]

Here is the eqlive thread if you want to stick your ore in.

http://eqforums.station.sony.com/eq/...essage.id=1784

Sorry for the pun.

Jarak.

[Sharrien]

I'm not going to do any of my own conversions until it seems that they have everything fixed. I do, however, have a question. If you combine a ton of the lesser drops, for example aligned ore and get good enough at it to average above 3 per combine, does that mean you will also be better at converting shimmering ore? Or is this just wishful thinking?

[Grimwood]

That's my understanding, yes. I came across one lonely "raw shimmering nihilite" and hoarded it for weeks 'til I'd done enough conversions of the "raw nihilite" to be getting mostly three's back. One last flurry of conversions of the regular stuff for good luck, then.... gulp... (Kids, don't try this at home.)... Combine Time for the shimmery one!

Got three "shimmering nihilites" back :-).

That was then, this is now. I wouldn't dare convert a shimmering myself.

--Grimwood

[Thorigarn Grim]

sad face

Also not alone here. I posted on the last thread of this topic and was missed. It seems I've been punted to starting over on my ore combines. Customer Service in game has been useless. They even told me we were only ever supposed to get one per combine and that now it has been fixed so that's all we'll get.

Tornik Grimshade
Rodcet Nife

[Sylphan]

This is completely as expected. This is EQ we're talking about after all. Of COURSE it gets reset, or bugged, or both, when they tinker with it.

I'm sure some people will think I'm sarcastic and mean for saying so, or just a big pessimist. But come on... this one was predictable from day 1, even more than most.

[Maddoc-the-Wayfarer]

Nothing was reset.
Nothing was reset.
NOTHING was reset.

I've posted a few times -- There was a bug that caused you to get the normal amount of refined material +1. That bug was fixed and now you're getting the correct amount of refined product.

Now, if you have complaints about the amount of combines required to increase your refined product, that's a different story, but please don't go running around perpetuating unfounded rumors.

-- Maddoc

[Jarak_akn]

Maddoc,

I would figure that the best way to stop th rumors is to tell us (at least approximatly) what we should expect.

At the moment the only time that I have got 3 returned is when it was bugged to give +1.

I have done the quest
I have jeweler at 252 (with GM tool)
I have done at least 150 refines.

I still get less than if I had done none of the above and simply handed them in.

This does not seem terribly fair to me. It may be how it is coded, but it does not seem fair.

So with no knowledge of what the code actually says I have to say that I am getting back less than *I* expect.

Cheers,

Jarak

[Moraganth]

There was a bug that caused you to get the normal amount of refined material +1. That bug was fixed and now you're getting the correct amount of refined product.

Just.. out of curiosity.... you're saying that when people were getting 3, it was a bug.. and now it's been fixed, so a person can never get more than 2?

If that's the case.. um.. why would anyone ever do the 400+ combines to be able to refine learn how to refine it themselves, instead of always giving it to the NPC?

Maybe i'm missing something?

[Brickhaus]

Just.. out of curiosity.... you're saying that when people were getting 3, it was a bug.. and now it's been fixed, so a person can never get more than 2?

An early patch had fix a few problems with GoD. Tradeskillers started to see 2 and 3 return products from their refinements (instead of 1 and 2s) and assumed that one of the problems WAS the refinements. Maddoc and Absor came onto the boards and specifically said that something was wrong and later indicated that the formula had an extra +1 in it (which is why you never saw 1 during this time period).

There are reports of at least one person receiving 3 for a refinement on the boards EVEN AFTER THE REMOVAL OF THE PLUS 1 but for most of us, it's still 1s and 2s.

If that's the case.. um.. why would anyone ever do the 400+ combines to be able to refine learn how to refine it themselves, instead of always giving it to the NPC?

That my friend is the question. From personal and other folks experience posted here, I would say that 100 minimum refinements were necessary before even hoping to see 3 per combine. But we just don't know because the drops aren't that common still, there are a number of different drops, and the EQ folks have been very silent on the issue.

If you are dealing in second level drops, I would never refine on my own but instead use the guaranteed 2. For the first tier, especially the items that have no know use so far, you probably aren't missing much by refining yourself. Natimbi is pretty easy to farm for a high level character now.

Brickhaus

[Ngreth Thergn]

You problably need 400+ combines to get to the 3 level. the 3 level should exist. No I do not have a secret number given to me, just making a guess.

[Jarak_akn]

Taking Ngreth's guess as a working hypothisis then.

All you need to do is the Quest (400+) combines
Then refine 400+ Raw material in order to start breaking even with the hand in.

So by the point you start to get a 1:2 conversion you can assume that you have effectivly lost, what, 200 refined items compaired to the hand in.

Then presumably to consistantly get 1:3 you need to do say annother 400 conversions. I guess in this time you will probably make back most of the refined items that you effectivly lost above.

So after (for arguments sake) 400+ Quest combines (and hand ins which are the worst part) and ~800 refines you finally start showning a gain over the guy who simply hand in the raw materials.

That sounds fair :-/

Jarak