there are so many other reactants in the game that are way more useful - like maybe the lower level reactants i need to make armor for my lower toons. there are even other high level reactants that are better. and why should we get a reactant every time we do our apprentice? right now i am over 1500 on azure reactants and counting. they don't even sell on the marketplace. they are just piling up because the ingredients needed to use them are extremely expensive and seldom drop. so they are a waste and the items they make can't even compare with other items you can get in the game. the only reactants that are actually worth anything are the lower level ones. however, because i leveled my tradeskilling on all of my toons before leveling their adventure, i can't get their reactants unless i go kill a named to get them. which i do, but still it would be nice to get something other than those darned azure reactants and those mysterious blue coins- another waste because the ingredients you can buy with them, which can be used with the reactants, also produce outdated armor. by the time my toons are high enough to use them, i want the good stuff from vesspry - not stuff that doesn't even compare. so i spend most of my apprentice time studying the lower level recipes for my lower level toons and don't bother with anything over 90. besides those recipes are simply repeated for every one of my toons regardless of tradeskill. can we please get something more useful? how about etema instead? or the shattered items for the guild halls?
sell them for coin to the merchant, there problem solved etyma no, you have a way as a crafter to get those. I did post a recommendation to add a shattered heartstone to the daily, but its been pretty much ignored.
I recommended adding the heartstone to daily and/of weekly and was also ignored, so don't feel alone in that. As for the apprentices? Meh. They really need some freshening up, they are so far not worth the fifteen bucks they cost.
The apprentices are the source of azure reactants and strange blue coins. While there may be no demand for them, if they are removed from the apprentices it is the same as removing the recipes that use the components and the vendor that accepts them. Are you asking for dev to remove recipes? While the items that you can make aren't particularly valuable anymore the idea of removing the ability to craft things is anathema to most crafters, including myself. When dev introduces a new mechanic they think about how resources for it enter the world and how they would like to control the supply. Asking for old content to generate new content resources generally goes against what they have planned. As such, dev is much more likely to adjust the mechanic they are using than to repurpose older content to fit what they consider the proper supply of heartstones or anything similar.
Azure Reactants are simply the common reward you get. The apprentice will still (just as rarely as before) give a Colossal Reactant.
these are rewards for quests. we don't need to get an azure every time. some of the lower reactants would be nice.and the coins are used only for cobalt scar- for recipes- carpenter only, supplies, etc. even the house items that carpenters get recipes for can be bought with them. since my carpenter can make all of those and the supplies we get are much lower in stats than later gear that those same levels can wear, they are rather redundant. there is a lot more the apprentices can give potions of progress and potions of innovation for example, that would be much more useful. and btw, where do you get that by asking not to get the useless reactants that i have an over abundance of that i would be asking to remove recipes??? they aren't recipes- they are reactants and thanks but i don't want anymore. i want something i can actually use. and no it is not the same as removing the recipes. the lower recipes ask for reactants that we seldom ever get- they are in no way dependent on whether the apprentices give us the reactants and other ingredients for them. you are expected to go loot those reactants. so why not these. i enjoyed when i was leveling up that i got potions and lower level reactants. and now that i am 95 it is like the devs think i have no more use for them. my adventure level and my craft level are two different things. i really would rather have the lower level reactants. if they gave the reactants as rarely as they gave the lower ones, they would have more value. but i get 2 and 3 every day on 9 different crafters. that adds up rather quickly edit reason- right hand in cast and couldn't type well when i had both hands much less now.
It's my guess with the crafting content that comes with the new expansion we'll either get new reactants or something similar or we will get new recipes that use the azure reactants. It's very much in SOE's interest to keep people wanting to buy tradeskill apprentices from the SC marketplace. One other thing they could do is have an exchange recipe for azures to other reactants. Sort of like the transmuting conversions. It of course wouldn't be a one to one, more like a 25-50 or more to one.
yes and to keep us interested in the apprentices, they need to rethink loading us down with blue coins and azure reactants at level 95. this was not a problem before my crafters hit 95. i got potions, rares, low level reactants- stuff i could actually use. considering that cobalt scar came much later than aod, they had to change the apprentices to give these out. I am sure they could change them again. We now have Vesspry. if they wanted to keep up with the later expansions, shouldn't we be getting something from Vesspry instead of just cobalt scar?
Ok, before Cobalt Scar you got the exact same thing (other than Azure and Blue stuff) you get NOW from the apprentices. After Cobat Scar they added azure reactants and blue coins to the reward for the daily quest. Before Cobalt Scar was introduced you got reactants based on the level of your crafter. That has not changed. Neither has the rarity. The only thing that could of changed was the level of your crafters doing the apprentice quest. If you start a new crafter you'll start getting low level reactants from the apprentice again. Reactants are a much more common reward at low levels than they are at high levels. Just like rare harvests are, and just like dropped reactants from mobs. The potions, reactants and common harvests are rewarded exactly the same from the time Tradeskill Apprentices were introduced back in AoD till now. When you asking for changes, don't ask for changes based on your character. There are other crafters out there. There will be new crafters tomorrow. The requests in the OP would prevent new crafters from making items that require azure reactants because apprentices ARE HOW THEY ENTER THE GAME. Arguing that the items aren't relevant would be the same as saying that drops from Chains of Eternity should be removed and replaced with ToV equivalent drops. Sorry, old content in EQ2 doesn't get updated every expansion. When new recipes were added to the apprentices with ToV they kept the azure/blue stuff because you need it for older content. That wasn't an oversight on dev's part. I can't decide if this request is more irresponsible or selfish. If you want the coins and reactants removed, then suggest a new method for players to obtain them. Abandoning old content just because it isn't the top end of the game is NOT in the best interest of crafting.
You misunderstand what I am saying in my post. I am saying that at MOST they could add a conversion recipe for azure shards to something else. I'd be perfectly alright with it if they did nothing at all. Sticking the azures in my depot isn't really interfering with anything and they are there should I ever need them for anything else. The coins also are just hanging out in case I need more, it's not like they take up bank space or anything. I still get other reactants (I got a colossal reactant last night in fact). I still get potions. I still get booby prize common harvestables too. The azure reactants and coins are in addition to the normal loot table, not taking the place of or even taking a spot in. They are just added in apparently on their own loot roll, since the numbers of each vary. You miss out on nothing while you are getting them.
i wasn't asking them to completely cut them out. the thing is i am overloaded on them and not getting potions, which i really need, and murmuring reactants or any other kind- just these two things. I don't think it is selfish to ask for consideration for people who might need something different from the game than you do. after all, the whole thing about crafting centers around the needs of the person crafting, not the game as a whole. there shoudl be a way to opt out of those incessant coins and azure reactants. it is like they are saying "hey, you had the gall to raise your crafter to level 95 so here you go, as punishment we will load you down with coins and reactants and you may, once in a blue moon, see something else." oh and there is another way to obtain them, I got all i needed and more of the blue coins just doing the quest line in cobalt scar and the reactants should drop from mobs the same as other reactants do.
i am glad you are getting other stuff. I haven't seen a colossal reactant since the last time i went hunting for one - which was at least 6 months ago. so if it is working for you great, i would like to exchange them for something else or turn them off for my toons.
you know, when answering people in the forums, it is one thing to say you disagree with them or that you don't see their point of view. However, you have no right to pass judgement on them or label them. That becomes very insulting and is a problem in these forums. And if you don't ask for changes based on your character, then you have no other criteria to ask for changes. We all ask for changes based on our character. If we didn't, then we would never ask for any changes. And the request, as i see it, would not affect new crafters. first of all, if they are new, they won't be seeing those azure reactants for some time. secondly, she didn't ask for them to stop completely, just to slow down. it can get frustrating to need something like potions and all you get are reactants and coins and an occasional fish thrown in. just because you don't see the validity of the request doesn't make it invalid. it makes your response insulting, inflaming, and makes you look like a boor. In the past i have seen you be more sensitive to others. sorry, this time you flunked. i might could have seen your point if you hadn't outright insulted her.
Your conclusion is not the only possible consequence of your premise. There are other criteria that can act as the basis for change requests. Quite a few of us either have experience designing games or (at the very least) have formal training in doing so. Some of us analyze the parts of the game with which we come in contact and if we see a problem, we then try to come up with an equitable solution to the problem - a solution that would be good for the game, instead of just our characters. There have been numerous times that I've noticed things that could be improved that would help my character, but did not submit feedback because it wouldn't be in the best interest of the game as a whole. In most cases on these forums, if I suggest something that doesn't sound like it is for the good of the game, it is generally a sarcastic response to illustrate the degree of imbalance inherent in the suggestion to which I am replying. (And normally, I'll offer an alternate option which is usually either to maintain the status quo* or a suggestion that would fix the problem, but do so in a manner that isn't imbalanced.) Occasionally, someone will come up with a solution that is more balanced than one I've suggested, but this is to be expected - none of us are infallible**. To summarize, some of us ask for changes based upon what is good for the game rather than upon what is advantageous for our character(s). * If I suggest that the status quo be maintained, it is generally because doing so is (in my opinion) the path of least detriment. ** If you encounter someone that claims to be infallible, there are two possibilities: That person just hasn't messed up yet - and you don't want to be near them when the law of averages finally catches up to them. That person is lying. tl;dr - There are other conclusions that can arise from your premise.
The OP did include a request to outright replace them. " can we please get something more useful? how about etema instead? or the shattered items for the guild halls?" The later evaluation of said post wasn't all that out of line. It is irresponsible to ask for something like this to be changed, when there is still use to people coming up in levels. Neither of the suggested replacements would ever happen, just because the apprentice tasks are too easy for such a reward. The best way to deal with these would be to have some sort of simple conversion to something more useful. As much as I dislike the new currency vendor and its offerings, that seems the best way to handle the blue coins. Azure Reactants should be used with Colossals to make a new set of gear for 95-100.
the thing is, when someone suggests something, to disagree and point out why is constructive. to place labels on the person and be insulting is not. when you attack someone, they often become defensive. it is hard to get someone to see another point of view when they are on the defense. and maybe in the future they will give us a reason to use the reactants. the coins however, are pretty much used the same as etema. if it is ok to give coins, then why not etema too? and to be honest, i have all tradeskills maxed and several toons and have not yet used even one azure reactant. the do seem pretty useless at the moment. when someone is throwing a suggestion out, it usually is for discussion and simply a starting point- not an end-all be-all solution. and no, most of us playing this game are not game masters and don't want to be. we simply want to play the game. we leave the mechanics to you guys who know more about it. at my age, i am not likely to go back to school to try to catch up to you. and sometimes when some of you give your input, you sound like you are one of the devs in disguise with all of your attitudes about "this is why it was handled this way" if you are a dev, then say so. if not, then you really don't know why they did it that way, you are making assumptions and putting them out as reality.
There is a great difference between a guess and an educated guess. Which do you think has a higher probability of being accurate? If you said the former, then you may wish to take a little more time and apply some logic to the question. Go ahead; we'll wait. I promise. _______________________________________________ What they might* be able to do is make it where level 95 crafters get 1-5 of a different type of item than the shattered heartstone. Something like heartstone dust. Then they could make it where 10 or even 20 dust can be combined with a draconic etyma to form a single shattered heartstone. This would control the introduction rate, since it would take an extremely long time to get enough shattered heartstones (through this method) to get the guild hall. At a minimum, it would require 15,000 visits to the tradeskill apprentice** as well as 7,500 draconic etyma. * By might, I mean that they can do so, but they may decide that the payoff from doing so is not be great enough to justify its introduction. ** Which means that even someone (or a guild) with 100 lvl 95 crafters would still take at least 150 days to get a guild hall using only this method***. *** I am aware that it would be a herculean effort to use this method for all 7,500 High Keep Heartstones (for the T2 hall; the T3 hall would require 10,000), but there are other methods to obtain them (such as buying them on the broker or adventuring for them). This would be an option for those that refuse to use the other methods to still obtain them - albeit after a substantial amount of time invested. And since it requires a sustained effort****, it isn't very susceptible to gaming the system. **** Although it wouldn't be especially difficult to get the 1-5 dust, obtaining enough of them for the 7,500 Shattered Heart Stones still represents a substantial time investment.
I would love to see a reduction of the Azure Reactants. Maybe give you a 50% Chance to get an etyma instead of the Blue Token. Could even do a small 10% Chance to get a T10 crafting item. I am not saying give crafters a raid dropped item. Just maybe a 10% Chance to get a slightly better one over the Azure Reactant
I think part of the problem here is that Reactant rewards are keyed to the level of the crafter, so that once you out level the Reactant you no longer have any chance at all of getting it. A possible solution would be to add a vendor that allows you to spend Azure Reactants to purchase armor Reactants. The amount of Azure required would have to be based on the rarity of the other Reactant, of course. Maybe 1000 for a Colossal (just pulling a # out of my head there), low level Reactants costing less, but made available to level 95 crafters simply by having the vendor in existance. That would solve the problem of low level adventurer/95 crafter not being able to get a Reactant except from the broker.
