Controversial Idea: Make the remaining demonic crafting components buyable with plat
Okay, as the title hints, keep this one civil as I am fully aware that a lot of people are gonna disagree with this.
One of the newer features that STS introduced with the Demonic Sets was to make the recipes buyable with platinum. I propose making the crafting components buyable with platinum as well.
The following items would be buyable with platinum (I recommend a price of 3 plat a piece, which was the same price as components would have cost in the Sewers):
- Para Aramid Leather Fibre
- Para Aramid Cloth Fibre
- Para Aramid Plate Fibre
- Imbued Gemstone Setting
- Glyph Crossbow Base
- Glyph Mace Body Base
- Basic 1H Glyph Blade
- Basic 2H Glyph Blade
- Basic Glyph Wand
- Basic Glyph Staff
- Basic Glyph Bracer
- Basic Glyph Buckler Shield
- Basic Glyph Wing Shield
I may have forgotten a few; I think most readers know what I mean.
Anticipated criticisms:
Is it fair to the people that already bought?
Only a very small percentage of people have spent gold, so the sooner this idea is implemented, the less people will have to lose. In fact, one of the reasons why I am advocating this is to put demonic sets into the hands of any player will to pay quickly, particularly because there is a CTF tournament coming up. This would negate any advantages that one team could have over the other, provided that most members are willing to pay (and in PvP, that is a yes in most cases). I see it as a win-win-win. The people who paid a premium got the prestige of getting the sets first. Everyone else gets the sets a few days after and the people who paid first no longer get an advantage for the CTF games. STS walks away with some platinum sales.
Will this set a precedent?
STS has already done that by making the recipes buyable with plat. The only things that I would consider truly unique that I feel should never be sold in the plat store are items like the Founder's Helm (although a vanity with similar stats in my opinion should be offered; founders of course would still have the pride of owning a unique item), Crowns of Persistence, the Shield of Gratitude, and the White Hardlight Shield (for SL name reservations).
Furthermore, items purchased from the plat store shouldn't be sellable in the CS.
This does make the game a bit more pay and do things faster, but at the same time, that's what many players want. The sheer volume of elixir sales is a testament to that.
The purpose of this is to give players choice. Nobody is forcing a player to buy elixirs nor to buy recipes. Players who wish to can always do so the long way and feel good about themselves. But people who don't want to do that will also have a choice to buy what they need if my suggestion is implemented.
Frugality of Farming: In Accordance With Dispensation of Income
Let us consider, for a moment, amongst the vitriolic verbage spewing forth, and the thumping of chests, the assigned developer drop rate of any Legendary (pink) item. It's 1%. The equation is on a thread, I believe his name is Physiologic (I may be wrong about the name and I apologize). The point farming, as the fan boys call it these days, is futile. It's fruitless labor. The devs know it. We know it as players. Yet, like Pavlov's dog, we salivate over the Elixers, hoping that re-roll will net us the prize.
The Reward v Risk is skewed in the developers favor. They [want] us to spend hours in the game. They [want] us to spend (X) hundreds of dollars each pay period to stuff our virtual pockets with platinum for the next 15 hour grind-fest through Nuri's Monotonous House of All Pain and No Rewards. If anything should come of this, the developers need to realize that as a game without fun, useful rewards for killing the Boss, and new challenges, the game becomes stagnant. People lose interest.
It's not those fan boy Guilds that hold a monopoly upon the players it's the developers themselves for not incorporating a better drop rate. Higher level players deserve better drops. Higher level players deserve to feel like they've accomplished something. At this juncture of the game's genesis, being level 60, I don't feel like I accomplished anything. I don't feel my character is Legendary. Open the drop rate of Legendary items. Open the crafting items for sale. The players inevitably will come to the trough to feed. You'll still get your money. Players will get a better experience. Everyone will be happy.