Whether I have been cursed with bad luck or there has been a stealth change to the numbers in refining, showing me (and everyone else) the numbers would clear up any confusion and would let us understand what results to expect from any modifiers. To those who are confused, what I mean is that I would like a stat to appear just like that for harvesting rares or bountiful harvests for every single tradeskill that can be modified either by AAs, potions, and/or items. That way, we players know exactly what bonus is being given by what item. This is not the days of EQ where everything could be kept hidden from the players. Developers make honest mistakes and all it takes is a minus sign instead of a plus sign in the database to make something that should boost a chance to refine to rares or transmute into better results to actually hinder the odds. I want to know what my base chance is to refine a rare into a purified rare and commons into purified commons, as well as how much the Potion of Nimble Fingers boosts that chance. I admit that I have published a very small sample but the my overall results match up with that of other players...roughly 50%. If the Potion of Nimble Fingers adds 0.5% to that chance, then the potion is worthless. If it is supposed to add +10% to the chance, perhaps there is a problem with the entry and it is not adding to the chance to refine properly. The same holds true for the Far Seas Prestige AA that is supposed to increase the odds of getting better refining results. We know just about every other number in tradeskilling, the Devs should add the numbers for refining and transmuting to what is displayed so we can be sure things that are supposed to help really do. I am NOT asking for the Devs to change the base numbers, just let us know what they are and what the various items that should improve the odds do.
This is akin to asking the devs to post what the chance of getting a exquisite chest rather then an ornate off the end mob for a zone. Such numbers are unlikely to ever be published for a various number of reasons.
Our character sheets now include the chance for harvesting rares and for receiving a bountiful harvest...among many other Tradeskill stats. Refining and Transmuting are the exception to the rule and not the norm.
We had this discussion several times with Domino when she was in charge. She actively wanted these things to be mysteries, for people to figure out, and resisted all attempts to pin her down. It wasn't an oversight, omission, or something they just never got around to - they specifically didn't want the exact numbers known. Partly from a "figure it out ingame, not by reading some website" point of view. Partly from a "if they're not out there, we can tweek them freely" point of view. For example, let's say (for the sake of argument) that they did observe X entering the world at a rate higher than intended. If it's not visible, they just tune it down 10-20% and monitor. If it is visible, they can't touch it without starting a forum fire. And other Devs have expressed similar points of view. The flipside is of course, how do we know a mechanic is working if we don't know the numbers. If our trust in their mechanics was 100%, it wouldn't be an issue. But, well, it's safe to say out trust in their mechanics is somewhat south of 100% recently... Actually, they did this. They got it 95% done. They exported the exact loot chances of every item directly via Census for a bunch of zones. We saw the data for most of the CoE heroics, and oddly enough, Antonica. Yes, there was internal resistance, some devs felt it ruined the joy of discovery. But they decided to do it, did it, almost, and then there was a round of layoffs, and that was at least one round of layoffs ago, and the project fell to pieces. The exported data is still there, but will likely never be finished. But by all means, tilt the windmill and see what happens, maybe the current team feels differently, and we'll be surprised.
Actually, no, they do NOT include your chance for harvesting a rare. They show your chance at harvesting an 'extra' rare as a pull completely separate from the normal 3 pulls per node
Semantics. The character display still shows a stat that can be modified by player choices so the player is informed as to what is being increased. Imagine if all jewelry simply said "Grants better mitigation." or "Increases Resistances" and those stats were not shown on the character sheet. I don't believe players would be accepting of it. I am not the only player to question unknown modifiers. There was a thread earlier about one of the other potions granted by the Shipwreck quest. In the very least, I would hope the Dev Team double-checks everything in AOM to be sure it is actually working. I know it would be far-fetched for there to be any mistakes like allowing mission giver dailies to be repeated or anything of that nature but something like a series of incorrect database entries associated with the potions from Raffik could have slipped by the team. Unless we know the numbers, we will never know apart from running massive experimentation runs and then publishing the results. I don't get paid to do Daybreak's work. Listing the stat on my character sheet would ensure that I know exactly whether or not a modifier is working properly.
Let me give you an example of when it is appropriate to show the numbers. Currently, players have no clue as to what affects the chance to harvest a spellshard or foundation. I find this to be a delightful mystery and hope it remains so...unless an item or AA is introduced to specifically improve the odds of harvesting either one. Once such items are introduced, there is no hiding the numbers, the stat has to be shown so a player knows exactly what bonus is being given.
One thing I have always wondered is if the various zones have a latent NEGATIVE to harvesting, etc. that works against what our gear gives us. Conspiracy theory for sure, but I'm more than a little miffed at not being able to harvest ONE T11 foundation or spell shard after all this time. This is with all the "bells & whistles" gear for double harvest and rare chance and spending hundreds of hours grabbing nodes
