BEST GEAR IN VENDOR

You know they will never do what you have suggested. You also know why they won't.

Good fix. To be completely honest, no matter what these "vendor gear" guys say, if loot dropped more often for more people, this thread would not exist. If the same few people would stop bumping it, it would already be buried, too.

It's not whether it has an expiry date that I was questioning. It was the need to get every single piece before this 'expiry date'. The false ceiling being that you need to get the gear before it becomes irrelevant or......or....thats my problem, how do you end that sentence?......nothing bad happens, when the new content comes out I will start getting gear from that content. The older content will be run for marks & feats if it's still applicable and we start the gear chase again.

I get your point, under the new system it will be definitively possible for someone to obtain all the gear within it's relevancy window. I get that, but since there is an elite version and I agree there should be an elite vendor, I see no reason to change vendor gear to be in line with raid gear. People will be able to obtain elite gear without the RNG based system which makes sense, it's elite content, the pinnacle of difficulty, keep the CR difference between vendor and normal gear, I like getting a better drop than what I can buy. I'm mean i'm not super anti it, I could live with or without the change. Currently i'm just not feeling it because I don't see the 'problem' the way you and others in this thread do. It's not so much a question of not believing in the cure as not believing there are any symptoms and so no real need for a cure. Maybe i'm lucky when it comes to RNG, maybe I just don't get bothered as easily by seeing the same drops over and over, i'm not really sure. But as I stated in an earlier post, best gear in vendor requires me to make certain assertions about the game that I just do not believe are true.

The only issue is we cant finish a set while relevant at a rate ok to the cycle or relevancy. Save the snarky and symantics cause it wont muddy the water. Oh yea I see ur name as often as anyone fyi so.........
Darn I forgot. Saw ur post about its common in other games. Who cares thks is not them. All I care about is dcuo and we in dcuo had a great system and a fair system. Then we got this and plenty of valid points have been made as to how this is not sustainable nor good for the game. Can u say that for ur side? I am being sincere cause any solution not driving away so many is a good on.

Lastly dont drop a blatantly awful statement. Never is hundreds of thousands ever in unasion, that type of statements awful.

SM is hurt by this system. Cr is king in SM so if ur excluded because ur unlucky well one less person to buy repair bots.
T5 was a replay selling built system. Stats inflation lead to gu47 and devalueing skill points. So why now would I spend money on alts skill points especially like $20? I can get 80 to a hundred in my sleep as many can so 2 quick examples of why it dont work

No matter what they will complain. Um. Lol alrighty

Not only could we complete a set from lajnch till end of the original story line 2 years in we often finished our alt role gear also.

If we had this OR it was to a point we had no hope of restoring the old system id be gone.

True. We need the t5 gear system back.

Also this loot system we have now it's much harder to get the drop our alt role needs vs gear in vendor. Or gearing alts for that matter. Though my sig doesn't show it most of my toons are duel role capable and specced. Maybe if gear was to stay unattuned and be account bound this would solve the problem from another angle... But I still am convinced more than ever best gear in vendor is the best solution. Today's hotfix shows me they know what they are doing is wrong. They could kill this thread but they are trying a " adjustment"

If your not guilty why plea bargain? Hmmm....

LMAO....

First episode where I say rare drop rates adjusted 10-14 days after the episode drop was AF II. It happened again with HoP 2. This trend now has continued all the way to the current content. Supporting drop gear is supporting the game horrible drop rate system that is introduced when content drops and is adjusted roughly 2 weeks later.

I do not know about the other players who support BEST GEAR IN VENDOR, but DBG is using a sale strategy here for gear chasers. They first, give us a horrible drop rate and sell massive RB from those who are naïve about the drop rate and how bad they are when content first drops. When they notice a decide in RB usage drop rate is improved and RB usage increase. This tactic has been employed by DBG for as long as I can remember. I even remember this being an issue before WotL II but it was not as bad as an issue as players had options on how to obtain best CR. Now best CR can only be obtain with drop gear, therefore the tactic being employed is deceptive and is hurting whatever respect and love customers had for DBG and DCUO.

What I hear now from players is frustration and disappointment. That is a sure fire way to lose business and lost business in sub typically mean lose business in other areas, MP cash.

I do not support this fix nor do I support best gear as drop gear. Any player supporting drop gear simply has not paid attention to the issues and all hotfixes since they started playing the game, or they would know drop rate is always adjusted between days 10-14.

Today is day 14, no surprise.

If you are like me and tired of DBG manipulative tactic of adjusting drop rate, support BEST GEAR IN VENDOR.

If you are a tank or even consider yourself a top tier dps, then you understand the cr problem, especially if your a fire tank. If you are a troller or healer then the cr problem does not affect you directly.

Well said.

What? These terrible drop rates affect everyone.. Especially duel roles and alts.

Look. Something we can agree on. The drop rates suck.

I understand that there isn't a requirement to get the best gear. I always have. Technically, you can beat the current content in the last episode's standard gear, so if we're only allowed to want to upgrade our gear because it's warranted, then nobody should have a desire to want to have the best.

If I am expected to keep playing and maintain a subscription then I need something to warrant that. Sure, they do seasonals every few months and Legends PVE is on going. The odd Survival Mode, too. But none of these require money to participate. Therefore they aren't an acceptable alternative to fill in the gaping holes left by the poor progression system they currently operate.

The best way they can do that without introducing some brand new, elaborate system is the best gear inside a vendor which is purchased with marks, at an inflated cost. Then all 12 pieces of content in the relevancy window you're up to remain viable and an on-going subscription is warranted.

As for your last paragraph, I think you've mis-interpreted me. I don't support vendor gear being in line with raid gear. Never have. Not even when it was happening. I think vendor gear should be the best gear but the dropped gear should be the best style. My set up would be Common trash gear (Static entry level), Rare gear w/ best style (-2 levels from Vendor gear), Vendor Gear (+2 levels from Rare gear). Vendor gear would also be eligible for upgrade via RNG to add Elite affinities to it. Either that or Elite affinities would be incorporated by default into the vendor gear or removed from the game all together (we don't really need them, anyway).

This clean, concise approach would also help with the ongoing power creep issues and wouldn't see such dramatic increases in CR. It would also enable the developers to balance game play around the best gear, instead of 3rd best gear (2nd best max CR) which would increase the overall challenge.

Lol I just saw the hotfix...

On the surface, they're basically diluting their business model. Which means that they're going to give certain pieces more weight to ensure that we can't get everything (keep an eye out for certain pieces not being owned by anyone).

Although "slightly reduced" is not an actual number, so it could literally be 6 bosses instead of 7 or whatever it was. Slightly increased the drop rates could also mean 11% chance to drop instead of 10%. Even +0.01% is an increase. Without numbers, there's nothing to go by and it's useless information.

Remember, the drop rates aren't the result of nature or random. The drop rates are decided by the people building the game who base it on their business model. Every time they seem to do something positive, they'll tinker with it behind the scenes out of sight to ensure their business model still works. History has taught us this many, many times.

Remember when unattuned drops were going to solve everything? They didn't. Remember when solo loot was going to solve everything? It didn't. Remember when 2 drops and a list of items to choose from as well as a bad luck limiter was going to resolve everything? It hasn't.

This is more a damage control hotfix than anything.

Two things:

1 - Who determines what the "best" style is? Tastes differ person to person.

2 - So you think enforcing a huge mark grind for gear would make a sub worth it? Being forced to faceroll outdated content for marks warrants a subscription? Seriously?

Ok, three things. Power creep will continue to be a problem so long as they stay on their 10CR increase pattern. Switching vendor and rare gear will do nothing to alleviate that.

I stopped playing on my level 24 fire toon as I had no desire to gear up another toon for two roles. In fact, I'm about ready to ditch one of my four toons I play now, maybe Cyber or Tiger or Dirty....who knows....

1) Outdated content yet that content is in our relevancy. As for face rolling, I was in FE and a 142 DPS died on the first boss..Yeah face rolling. Mechanics still matter if regardless of some CR. Try to go into Lab and not do the mechanics how long do you think you would be in that instance? Stat clamping can solve a lot of this face rolling problem you talk about....limit stats and CR to best gear based on top CR for that episode.

2) If you understands MMO they are a grind. DCUO has no grind right now. Mods and SP do not matter, grind items removed. Marks grind has gone. All you need is $$$ and you can run the same 15 minute content daily (talking about UM) and get best gear. As for UM Elite, I saw call out for players wanting to run boss 1 and 2 and replay those two bosses. If marks mattered, boss 1 and 2 and than leaving and requeing idea may fade away.

As for power creep: best way to solve that is stat clamp lower content, provide other rewards, rare styles, or marks to buy new unique styles.

Game has many options. Focusing and thinking that the current model is working if fallacy. The current model is a big FAILURE and in time a change has to come to the gear system. I'm hoping sooner rather than later.

Thanks for the bump

There not guilty its been happening since Af2. It's not up to devs, it's up to the higher ups.

IMO content hasn't gotten better gameplay wise, only visually has it improved. The same principles that drive players away are still in play and that goes beyond the lot drops

Something interesting happened regarding this thread. I made a post a few pages ago, and someone send me a PM asking a few questions regarding that. I thought I'd leave the answers here so everyone can see them. If you want to know what these questions are based around, just read my OP with the link at the bottom of my signature (below the picture of Starfire)

What was so good about the best gear being in the vendor in the first place?
Well, I'm assuming you either never worried about getting the best gear when that was the case, or you are new enough to the game that you've never known any other system than what's currently in place.
The best part about having the best gear in the vendor (from my perspective of course, I cannot speak for everyone) was that EVERY time you ran an instance you felt rewarded in one way or another, if you run an instance right now, and don't get any rare drops you feel angry, cheated, frustrated, etc. Previously even if you didn't get any rare drops, you got a mark (victory, fury, triumph, etc.) which helped you save towards the gear you actually wanted in the first place, so no matter what the outcome of the RNG loot in that instance you always walked away feeling at least somewhat happy. You'd just accomplished a very hard instance and were rewarded with a way to help your savings toward that awesome gear! Right now, if you're chasing top CR and you finish a difficult instance, there's a fair chance it will be for absolutely nothing. You won't get any gear you want and the rewards it gives you instead (lesser gear, marks, crafting materials, etc.) are completely pointless.

What was the point of putting any gear or weapons in loot tables if you're just going to get the vendor gear anyway?
The best part about the grind towards the vendor gear was that you had to manage what you were doing, and sometimes plans change for the better. If you were rocking all 90 gear, hoping that eventually you could afford the SWEET 95 vendor gear, then a 93 piece drops for you, that's NOT a bad thing. That only means, if that was a shoulder piece lets say, then you don't need to replace your shoulders quite as soon, it means you can focus on the rest of your gear first. By extension this means the more 93 gear you got, the more you could focus on the 90 still left. Eventually, you would end up replacing the 93 gear, but it acted as a helpful stepping stone on your way to top CR.

I don't understand why people feel cheated about their gear being outdated, in happened in the old system anyway right?

Yes and no. Yes in the sense that it did happen anyway, but on a different scale. It's similar to the mentality of the iPhones, actually that's the best example why don't we go with that?
The main draw of the latest iPhone (regardless of model, simply the "latest") is that it's the best shiniest, sometimes biggest, and most powerful thing you can get your hands on. It's fun to show it off to friends and associate yourself with the best thing around, giving you a feeling of justification at having purchased it in the first place. Despite the fact the iPhone you might have had only a few days ago, was still perfectly functional. Now what if Apple released the iPhone 8 tomorrow, but they told the world:
"Yes, we've just released the iPhone 8 AND goes on sale TODAY AT 3 PM,


BUT two weeks from now, you'll be able to buy the iPhone 9!"


and then proceeded to show everyone how it outperformed the iPhone 8 in every way. The 8 would lose it's luster quickly, and if you ever saw someone walking down the street with an 8, you might think; "Why would they buy that when they could simply wait a few days and buy something vastly supperior for the same price?". Additionally a vast majority of people who pre-ordered the iPhone 8 would feel cheated that they weren't actually getting the latest and greatest, they were getting the runner up for the same price.

That's the best way I can compare the cycles of gear in DCUO. We all know what the current best gear is, BUT we also know that not very long from now, there will be even better gear to get which makes the current "best" look pointless in comparison.
In both the iPhone example and DCUO's current gear system, there is a period where the customer or player has time to enjoy their purchase or accomplishments before it becomes outdated. Once the current (iPhone or gear, it matters little.) becomes old hat or so common, it's no longer really an accomplishment, more a standard to be met by the norms of those around us, we look for what's even better.

Once again, I cannot speak for everyone Satu (person who originally asked me these questions) but those are MY feelings on those questions you've brought up. I'm thinking quite a few others have similar or the same opinions as I do otherwise, this thread never would have existed in the first place

Thanks for reading!