[HolyAegis]

While I know most of the player base is caught up on simply grinding their way to 50 I believe this is an issue that should be brought up to the community sooner, rather then later.


Once you hit 50 one of the main things that you can take part in is the Miragents/ Fenrils quest line for the Miragents/Fenrils armor/weapon set... this is one of the main quests in the game that will easily take a fair portion of time to complete.

You must also note that the fourth part of the miragents quest line must be done in that order, meaning before you can get the body armor or weapon you must first get the leggings. This is a main deciding factor in which players will either stick to the miragents quest line or give up their chance to complete the quest chain.


However the main issue is part 4 (the leggings) in which you not only need to be as the title of part 4 says "well rounded" with a crafting skill at 449 but you need to come up with over 125 boiling balaur blood stains, 12 hot balaur hearts ontop of all three types of expert premium fluxes (weapon, armor, accessory).

Now you might say "so? that isn't that bad".

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What I want to see happen: I would like to see the failure rate and requirement for the crit of the recipe "Heart of Magic" turned into a 100% success rate, not every player in the game is into crafting and most players will be raising a crafting skill simply for this quest making it that much more of a time/money sink. Also the requirements to craft the recipe are very costly and difficult to obtain and the total cost of a try can total up to 40million+ on some servers. An amount of money most players of the game won't see themselves. I believe a 100% success rate with the quests pre-req's and more costly oath stone would promote players to do this quest; rather then it's current state of forcing players to surrender due to multiple failures.

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Facts:

-Abyss while it is meant to involve allot of PvP/PvE action is limited in amounts of balaur that can be farmed... and this causes allot of griefing to players of both factions (especially the "underdog" faction) when it comes to somehow farming boiling balaur bloodstains that I would say have a drop rate around 5% of the time.. and hearts around 2% of the time from my own experiance.

What does this cause?
#1: I myself know when Roah (a main farming spot for balaur) was taken over by my own faction that I was HIGHLY upset.. capturing a fortress should be rewarding but this massive blood hoarding mechanic makes capturing a fortress not only damaging and a hindrance to people attempting (allot more on the ATTEMPTING part coming up) but it also stunts this "miniature economy" that this quest is forcing upon the player base.

#2: The smaller faction may as well quit while they are ahead. In my server at least the elyos are primarily the dominant force and we almost always keep asmodians out of the abyss as much as we possibly can and you can find up to 10-15 elyos at any given point of the day farming diving fortress and around 3-5 at other fortresses. This being said the entire mechanic for the blood farming puts tremendous pressure onto the "underdog" and in reality... will they be able to farm 125 bloods/12 hearts with pitifully low drop rates? I really.. have my doubts when I can say I have never seen an asmodian farming at a fortress.

Next up; the fluxes:

These fluxes are not only valuble for crafting items but they are also primarily involved in the prereq's for the crafting mastery quest... why does a sub-quest in the miragents/fenrils quest chain have an even more difficult bar to leap over then a CRAFTING MASTERY SKILL ? These fluxes are costly and are around 5million for a flux and are clearly highly in demand as they are also needed for crafting mastery and making very powerful items which are of course a crafters main priority/want. This recipe needs... all three. That is a bit of a burn.

Okay so you can deal with getting all of the items? How about the next part:

-You are required to have at least one crafting skill at 449, this means you cleared a crafting mastery quest (major money/time sink). Sorry to say but if you were planning to be a weaponsmith/armor smith.. or hell, anything that wasn't involving cooking you are screwed this way and you gotta take it all the way before you can even get the recipe. Also did I mention that if you are trying to finish your expert quest in one type of crafting you can't boot it off and say "Screw weaponsmithing to 449.. I'll take cooking to get this damn quest done!" Nope. You got to take that craft all the way to 449 :)


So you got the items, the crafting mastery... now what is next?



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This would be what I would call my focal point in my arguement.. what the entire topic is about.

-The requirement of the skill level to 449 alone is fine, it shows that you are as the quest wants "well-rounded"
-The item requirement is fine, it will take around the same amount of farming as the shoulder quest... give or take including the variables in the discussion about it above. Also for the armor itself... the armor itself justifies obtaining all three types of fluxes.

What I wan't to say is did you realise that you got to crit this recipe?

Sorry to say but for a quest chain line this is OUTRAGEOUS and absolutely horrible. I know many players who have failed over 6 times and players that gave up after their 4th try... with all the farming and pre-requisites above isn't that alone ENOUGH for a quest line? Sure there are players who have got it on their first try and kudos to them and I really respect what they have done.. but for every one of them there are at least 2 other players out there who have either given up the quest because it is outrageous or are trying to salvage something together to afford another weapon flux and another 125 bloods that are around 300-400k on broker.

And let's not even forget if you DO happen to crit the recipe and recieve a hot heart of magic a normal oath stone doesn't work.. no no... you gotta go out and buy the more expensive one ontop of this all!


NCsoft, you have worked out issues in westernising Aion such as in steelrake with the stigma quest drops.. where players would run steelrake over and over and over in an attempt to open up a stigma slot.. now the bulk of the dedicated players are getting stuck on this quest and we are asking for your help on this part. This quest would be more then fine if it always crit because it isn't cheap/easy to gather all the materials for even one go and it would be acceptable for the quest. The fail rate and risk is far too high and is turning off more and more players.

Added:

Also I realise players have achieved this already and they won't like this changed but this is just like the exp rates, are you really willing to cut off a main part of being level 50 (an entire quest chain to earn your "level 50 gear") for all of the new players who are leveling up just out of selifshness? This Random Number Generating system is obsolete and unrewarding and ends up stifling players more then it does benifit them. This is a major turn off for most people as this is the main quest line for level 50 players.

This post has been edited by HolyAegis: 12 December 2009 - 09:09 PM

[Arys]

Leave it the way it is.
The set should be rare that you have to work for, not something everyone is running around with.

I'm also being biased because I completed mine. I got it on my 5th try.

I'd also like to note that making te Heart a 100% chance would make the 5th quest for the chest almost impossible seeing as you'd have every who has 125 bloods camping the Lights. The lights aren't even 100% chance to spawn and you will have multiple people camping one spawn. It would take you months to get 20 lights at that rate.

This post has been edited by Arys: 12 December 2009 - 09:09 PM

[Wrath]

You better type this in Korean. Otherwise, it just gonna be another kekekeke thread and no one gives a **** about.

[AlexO]

Is it really that weird for one of the best item sets to be hard to get and actually costing some kinah ?

[Arvie]

Trolls already arrived, and everyone that has it done already will disagree with this, I however agree, not in the always crit part, but in the cost part, this quest should require less mats. Im at 10kk atm, at lvl 48 and Im already fearing becoming lvl 50, ontop of it.

And Im very bored with the plat coin quest, Ive done it for 1 lvl now, as far as I could. But its just so damn boring to farm coins allday in order to make money that I need for the Miragent set, that I cant really find any willingness to log in anymore.

Once again, I do want Fenril/Miragent set being hard to obtain, but not like this, this is just a way to give goldbuyers even more benefits.

Edit: I know 6 ppl that quit already because of failing this quest 4 times, and 1 person that quit because he didnt even want to go there, since all that quest is, is a huge grind for those that are unlucky, not some weird difficulty.

This post has been edited by Arvie: 12 December 2009 - 09:16 PM

[HolyAegis]

Arys said:

Leave it the way it is.
The set should be rare that you have to work for, not something everyone is running around with.

I'm also being biased because I completed mine. I got it on my 5th try.

I'd also like to note that making te Heart a 100% chance would make the 5th quest for the chest almost impossible seeing as you'd have every who has 125 bloods camping the Lights. The lights aren't even 100% chance to spawn and you will have multiple people camping one spawn. It would take you months to get 20 lights at that rate.

Then they should change that as well.


Ncsoft promised they would westernise Aion and in reality having to farm like this for a riddiculous fail rate.. even you said 5 times.. that would be 40mil x 5 attempts = 200million down the drain. Now I wanna know what people that say "casuals have a place in Aion" want to say about that as this is NOT the best of the best gear (mind you it isn't the worst for sure) and this should be as a quest line a staple set that is fair for people to try and get.

This Korean mechanic of hoarding and time sinks and etc is unacceptable in a western mmo, look at how many players have quit Aion simply for the grind. Having such a fail rate and so much reliance on "RNG" is unacceptable in a western style mmo. The lights as well should be given a revamp as well as this quest. A quest line should not only be doable but enjoyable without an incredible failure rate.

[Arys]

You don't NEED Miragent/Fenril set, you choose to do it because it's one of the best sets in the game. It's not mandatory nor will it hinder your game play, unless you rage because someone in full Miragent/Fenril killed you.

It's one of the best and rarest sets in game for a reason. You can always farm AP for Abyss gear, craft gear, or run Poeta and other instances. Granted it won't be anywhere near the same as Miragent/Fenril , it's all on how much time you invest along with a little bit of luck.

[HolyAegis]

People seem to forget this is just like the advanced stigma surkana drops quest.. it is a quest line and should be more readily avaliable.


"No but u need adv stigmas!!"


No you don't, they are simply a thing you obtain at that level that allows you to use advanced stigmas yourself. They are not required and only wanted. The same thing goes with this set. However I am a strong believer that a quest should be doable, enjoyable and realistic.


NCsoft took their stance on westernising that part of the quest with great success and the player base definately showed the difference when people went 4/14 runs for surkanas before to not needing to worry and run instances over and over in hopes for a surkana drop.

There are expectations for a mmo that claims to accept "westernisation" and this would be one of them.

[Arvie]

Its funny to see how 2 posts that were against it both had full miragent sets :<

[Kasuga]

Eh, I know of at least 10 people farming bloods. Everyone *will* be running around in Miragent's, just like Korea. Two sorcs I know crapped the set out in 4-7 days. One of them even had Poeta/Eltnen campaigns all unfinished. Luck based **** is dumb and the only reason the sets are regarded so highly is because there's nothing better. No other content in the game besides AP farming, which will be 80% farm and 20% PvP.

It's an easy starter set and that's exactly what it should be, if not for the lack of content.

[Awra]

The only thing I'd change is the quest they added to "alleviate" some of the burden of grinding bloods. It feels more like a slap in the face than anything. I have to fail five times and then you'll give me enough bloods to almost make one more attempt? Meh.

Regarding the fluxes, I'm surprised this is an issue for you. I'm only 10(solo) medals in to my shoulder quest and I've already gathered enough fluxes for two attempts at the heart. Just gewd luck, I suppose.

[MooMooCow]

100% crit? That's way too high a chance for one of the best armor in the entire game. I'll gladly accept something along the terms of 1 Hot Heart or 3-5 non-procced hearts for the quest turn instead. At least you know that you'll have a chance at the armor instead of replying on a RNG. This is from someone who already have failed a heart craft already.

[Arys]

The quest is doable and realistic. Notice I left enjoyable out there for a reason.

If you're trying to solo and do all the bloods alone then good luck. With my legion, we're just helping one another finish the quest chain. Feeding one or two people bloods and hoping they crit is faster than dealing with 10 people trying craft at the same time.

This game overall is a pure grind. You're going to have to grind and put in time as I said before for your gear. The quality all depends on how far you're willing to go. I rather it be left the way it is, even if I didn't finish my quest. I know how frustrating it is because I did fail 5 times, but I didn't give up or emo quit over it. I just went back to the abyss and farmed, along with receiving help from my friends.

[HolyAegis]

Arvie said:

Its funny to see how 2 posts that were against it both had full miragent sets :<

If you got it why support making it easier? Just the sort of mentality that has choked out subscribers from Aion due to grind and etc.

Kasuga said:

Eh, I know of at least 10 people farming bloods. Everyone *will* be running around in Miragent's, just like Korea. Two sorcs I know crapped the set out in 4-7 days. One of them even had Poeta/Eltnen campaigns all unfinished. Luck based **** is dumb and the only reason the sets are regarded so highly is because there's nothing better. No other content in the game besides AP farming, which will be 80% farm and 20% PvP.

It's an easy starter set and that's exactly what it should be, if not for the lack of content.

THANK YOUUUU!!!! This was the post I was looking for. Someone else who played k-aion.

These are quests.. and should be treated like them. They are like a booster pack for players to work at when they get level 50 so they can be "legendary level 50's " this is definately not the best gear when you compare it to anuharts/abyss set but it is exactly what it is.. a very nice starter pack.

[Arys]

K-Aion has also been out a year, this has only been out almost 3 months. I'm sure it'll be more common in the future...when people rather just go straight to AP gear and sell their bloods along with those who have completed the quest.

[Arvie]

Arys said:

K-Aion has also been out a year, this has only been out almost 3 months. I'm sure it'll be more common in the future...when people rather just go straight to AP gear and sell their bloods along with those who have completed the quest.

Killing players for APGear = Fun
Killing countless mobs for maayybe Miragent Leggings = ........yea

[Arys]

Once again, you aren't -forced- to do it, you choose to do it -_-.

[Arvie]

Arys said:

Once again, you aren't -forced- to do it, you choose to do it -_-.

You aren't forced to get any new gear at all. You can just lvl up in newbie armor and pvp in it.

[Phangan]

personally i am hanging on the quest before that one with pandemonium medals.. come on LIKE I HVENT GRINDED ENOUGH.
give some challenge, hard bosses but not a dumb mindless grind.

i am doing DP and Lannok for now.
mostly playing alts since i am sick of that quest.
the worst is that DP, lannok drop rate sux and you arent even sure to get the quest drop for a medal.

[SirNiko]

The best stuff should be rare. I concur.

There are better ways of making things rare than making it a lottery. As it stands, the criteria for getting all the best stuff in this game is "get lucky" "spend a lot of time grinding" or "spend a lot of kinah". Skill is never a factor.

This quest could be vastly improved. Require the player to craft several items that must be crafted together, so that everyone suffers the same grind, not some randomly rewarded and others randomly punished. Implement some sort of game to the crafting system, so a player can use skill to influence the outcome. Make the mats for the recipe drop from powerful, complex bosses so you have to earn them. Anything to introduce skill into the formula, and not just time and luck.

-SirNiko