Upcoming Cultural Changes - Next Full Patch (Estimated End of September)

[Carleton]

Will drop rate for new skill-up paths be reviewed?

Now that the skill-up path items are dropping, my initial assessment is that 'plentiful' is an understatement. Ngreth has frequently cited shissar scales as the prime example of what is wrong with DoN skill-up paths. If these new skill-up paths appear to be as plentiful (or more) as shissar scales, will the drop rates be adjusted? How soon after going live will some sort of assessment be made?

These new drops have huge multipliers, which Ngreth has been citing as positives. It's too early to be certain yet but my quick assessment is that they go way too far. Think of it this way: shissar scales can be used for items that trivial from 182 - 300+. In an average day, how many shissar scales drop that find their way to a tradeskiller on an average server? 200? 300? Now, for the same trivials Rubicate, Indium, Rhenum, Tungsten and Cobalt ores can be used for the same trivial range. Bonded loam can be used as well. Given that drops are global and the HUGE level range that all those ores can drop, how many ores will find their way to a tradeskiller each day on an average server? Far, far more than 300. So, while an individual ore might drop less than a shissar scale, the multiple ores, dropping everywhere over a huge level range makes the skill-up path ores so 'plentiful' as to be huge nuisance to the average player. It's too soon to be sure about it, but my initial concern is that there will be HUNDREDS of Expert Tailors and Expert Smiths on each server within months of this going live. Is that what 'an improved skill-up path' is all about?

[Eleena Transient]

From what I've been able to find:

http://home.comcast.net/~mathadon/TS.htm

(couldn't easily convert the table to show, so just uploaded it instead)

As for what sets go with which existing cultural, I'm not certain.

[Fonceur]

Thanks Eleena, just what I needed! So I updated my post.

[Ngreth Thergn]

Our problem was not so much the ability to gain skills with sisshar scales...

our problem was the ability to make the final cultural armor so commonly, and the total disparity between races.

You will find the cultural drop itself is not so common.

Additionally... the skillup bonus is ONLY on the higher end cultural combines, and NOT on the Templates (the plain skillup combines)

[Ngreth Thergn]

Also..

it is dropping from some NPC's that should not have it. The patch on the 3rd should fix the code problem (the code is fixed on beta... just did not go with the data for the LoN stuff) then it will be seen less often.

[Tattedsoul_Zek]

Skillup ?

Ok, I have about 2000 imbued emeralds and about 500 each of rubys, sapphires, emeralds making cutting sickles currently at 255 smithing....Should I {make a big effort} trying to use it all up and get 300 or should I just sell it all back for a fairly large chunk of change? Any advice would be great

[Kross]

depends on how paitent you are. the new tradeskill stuff is going to be insanely over priced (already is) but i have no doubt that they will drop in a month. the stuff seems pretty common and are global drops, not one specific type of mob in one zone which is great.

[Eggborn]

Is there a link to the new book quests and recipie quests somewhere? I have all of the old books, but I saw that we should be doing the new ones before they get expensive. I am a bit lost in information.

[Ngreth Thergn]

Ok, I have about 2000 imbued emeralds and about 500 each of rubys, sapphires, emeralds making cutting sickles currently at 255 smithing....Should I bust my balls trying to use it all up and get 300 or should I just sell it all back for a fairly large chunk of change? Any advice would be great

Use em before October 3rd or you will have wasted your platinum, the sellback will be at some loss of course.

As for the skillpath, that is up to you. It will take some time for you to get 500 combines worth of drops, even at a good drop rate.

Additionally as people have mentioned, Players will probably have way inflated prices to start with, but this stuff should be common enough to not support that for very long, as long as people are smart and do not pay those prices.

So it depends on how much of a time crush you feel, and how much you are willing to take a loss on the sellback of the Sickle parts.

[Ngreth Thergn]

Though now that I think of it. I forgot to adjust the sickle down... heh.

But it *****WILL***** be adjusted, just maybe not at this patch... and I will consider the warning I have given enough, and will not be bothering to make another big announcement about when it actually gets adjusted, it will just be a patch message.

[Vinnie]

droprates

Ok..just finished several levels in paludial and neth lair, and got some drop rates for you as well as the apparantly tier1 drops...
i have it on a spreadsheet at http://www.callvinnie.com/t1drops.xls hope it helps...
Silks
Tacky 24
Sullied 130
Thick 8

Fluid
Tacky Spinneret Fluid 8
Sullied Spinneret Fluid 74
Thick Spinneret Fluid 5

Skins
Tattered 8
Sullied 53
Crude 11

Marrow
Desiccated Marrow 6
Dusty Marrow 21
Dry Marrow 7

Ores
Silvril 7
Thalium 53
Iridium 8

Loams
Salty Loam 7
Alkaline Loam 29
Pliant Loam 6

[Xenephex]

Ok..just finished several levels in paludial and neth lair, and got some drop rates for you as well as the apparantly tier1 drops...

A note on those rates, from my experience on test server: What you're seeing is that the mobs you are fighting are in the center of the range for the most common drops that you saw (e.g. thallium ore), not that those drops are in any way more common generally. If you'd been fighting mobs a few levels lower, you would likely have seen a preponderance of sivril rather than thallium (or whichever one is lower, I don't remember off the top of my head).

And yes, I have seen one mob drop 3 different levels of one type (3 different ores for example) on the same kill, so there is evidently a considerable overlap in mob range at every level of drops.

You likely realized that already, but I wanted to make sure that was clear to anyone reading this.

[yiadara]

Thank you for all the valuable info , im a avid tradeskiller and raider . My only gripe and im sure im hijacking this thread,(at work havent had time to review all threads) but can u please figure out a way to either give us a better inventory system (if i need to hoard ts items on my 8 chars on 1 acc) or can we please do something creative with the bank slots or for the love of god just increase tradeskill items (stack ability) ok u dont wanna make all ts items 100 can we meet half way and goto 50 or so , it sucks to have 5 seperate stacks of silk (20/stack) when silk is not heavy at all im sure its lighter then clockwork gnome screws (and these stack to 100). I honestly dont see the big deal on making everything stack to 100. i hate having to tab outta game and continuosuly update my magelo so i can see what i have as far as tradeskill items go on my many acc's (i have 4 diff accs) cant quad box but just for holding tradeskill items thats a lot of slots filled with items that only stack to 20 and omg the nightmares i have of trying to locate items on diff ac's . OK im done rant off sorry for the hijack.

yiadara / tinkaton (300 in most tradeskills) cept fletching 287 and smithing 296 (thos last 4 pts are a killer) tailoring bah a dismal 248 trying to find a viable path is the suxor.

[Carleton]

What does the huge increase in the drop rate mean for tradeskilling?

Our problem was not so much the ability to gain skills with sisshar scales...

our problem was the ability to make the final cultural armor so commonly, and the total disparity between races.

You will find the cultural drop itself is not so common.

Additionally... the skillup bonus is ONLY on the higher end cultural combines, and NOT on the Templates (the plain skillup combines)

So there is no intent to make it easier to gain skills? Really the intent is to set a consistent success rate for final combines among all races? While I'm sure the latter is true, surely this revamp is also about making it vastly easier to skill up. The sheer breadth, depth and volume of drops to be used solely for skilling up says otherwise.

The issue of the drop rate highlights an extremely important question for the tradeskilling community: how easy should tradeskilling be? Particularly for tailoring and smithing. Not once have I seen this topic specifically addressed for this revamp, either here or on SoE forums. Again, it is too soon to be certain, but the early indications are that the overall volume of drops has been expotentially increased. This is in addition to reduced combine costs, reduced numbers of components and unlimited farming opportunities. The new stuff is so prevalent it's almost a taunt to every player to get started as a tradeskiller. What should the balance of tradeskillers in the game be? Should everyone be one? Tailoring has certainly been the most difficult skill to Master. How much easier should it be?

It is astounding to me that SoE management in so many areas for the past year has been conservative, until now. The philosophy has been to err on the side of fewer drops on introduction (with items like LoN cards and sunshard ore) yet this time, without really disclosing how overwhelmingly the volume of combinable items is being increased, SoE is going crazy. If ever there was a time to be a little conservative, it is with this new system. It is so much harder to reduce the drop rate than increase it.

The paramount issue is this: tradeskilling is a special part of this game, even a separate game within EQ, and the drop rate fundamentally changes everything. As a tradeskiller, this is comparable to changing AAXP from level 51 equivalent to 21. On one level you could argue that everyone benefits from such a global change but on another level doesn't someone need to wonder what the long-term effects of such dramatic change will have on the game? This appears to be exactly the situation here. Sure, in theory, everyone benefits from an expotentially increased drop rate, but in the long run, is that really what is best for the game?

Isn't anyone else concerned about this issue?

[Fonceur]

Based on /buyer and /bazaar over the weekend, it would seem that the Superb Marrow has not been patched in yet, or that no one on The Rathe is killing the righ mobs...