We have some exciting new features in the works for EQII! One of the first we’ll be talking about is Research Assistants.
These hardworking researchers will help you acquire upgrades to your spells and combat arts while you’re off adventuring in the deepest darkest dungeon or asleep in your own warm cozy bed. Even though they’re hardworking, they’re not a speedy service and they are limited in how much they’ll help you. Because this kind of research is complicated, they’ll only be able to work on one spell or combat art for one character per server.
All research requires a base amount of information to work with. In the case of the Research Assistants, this manifests in that they require you to have the previous tier of the spell being upgraded before they can begin work for you. So, in order to research that Master I, you’ll need to first know the Adept III version, though it doesn’t matter whether that Adept III version came from researching or from your friendly neighborhood sage, jeweler or alchemist. The time required to research a spell increase will vary based on the level and tier of the spell. A level 20 Adept I may only take an hour, while a level 80 master will likely take a month or longer.
We’re still working out the details of how these assistants will work in Norrath and we want to hear your feedback. Do you have a preference on how these researchers would look or how you interact with them?
All those and anything else you’d like to share with us is welcome feedback in this thread!
- Kirstie
Weeeeee! Time for me to get started on cranking out Adept III's and sticking them on the broker at every single tier. You have made an Alchemist, Jeweler and Sage very, very, VERY happy!
How are these assistants obtained? And, I have no idea why on earth you are doing this. Why not just change the smart loot master drop rate instead?
Kirstie wrote:
Because this kind of research is complicated, they’ll only be able to work on one spell or combat art for one character per server.
Please elaborte on this part, does this mean 1 person per server gets to use this service or 1 toon per account but everyone gets to use this?
Also why this instead of increasing drop rates or using msters as rewards for some quests or having them purchaseable with 'Void Shard' type system?
EDIT: What is the new vission of where masters fall into progression? Are masters now the baseline? If you increase the amount of masters that can be gained in earlier levels wont you need to recalibrate the mobs to account for more powerfull players?
Spyderbite@Venekor wrote:
Did you miss the part to where they can get adept III's as well?
Nuhus wrote:
Spyderbite@Venekor wrote:Weeeeee! Time for me to get started on cranking out Adept III's and sticking them on the broker at every single tier. You have made an Alchemist, Jeweler and Sage very, very, VERY happy!Did you miss the part to where they can get adept III's as well?
... yah .. I'm rather confused on this. Is it too early for an April's Fools joke?
I mean if it was something like a smarter Broker, one who would actually buy the items you wanted at a certain amount (or a reverse broker .. putting up something you wanted to buy at the price you wanted to buy it at .. ) I'd be fine with it but if it some how pulls spells out of its .. err .. "magical storage locker" in a months time .. that's going to be a big NoNO, for me.
...
Stick with Pink Unicorns that *%!# Hearts ... *grin*
Good point so what are Domino's thouhgts on how this will effect crafters?
Whee -- sounds great. I love it. Please have more useful stuff like this coming.
They're probably reading the part that says "while a level 80 master will likely take a month or longer." and assuming that most people will want to start off with AD3 and work from there rather than research all the way up . Fairly reasonable I'd say, since we'll be limited to one character at a time. I really like the concept. Smart loot is well and good, but its not very... smart. And just because a dirge master might drop that I could use, it may not be one that I would prefer to have as master over anything else. I think with a lengthy research duration as suggested it would be a cool addition without devalueing masters on the broker significantly, and allow those of us with rotten drop luck to finally start filling in the masters we're missing.
Eveningsong wrote:
Nuhus wrote:Spyderbite@Venekor wrote:Weeeeee! Time for me to get started on cranking out Adept III's and sticking them on the broker at every single tier. You have made an Alchemist, Jeweler and Sage very, very, VERY happy!Did you miss the part to where they can get adept III's as well?They're probably reading the part that says "while a level 80 master will likely take a month or longer." and assuming that most people will want to start off with AD3 and work from there rather than research all the way up . Fairly reasonable I'd say, since we'll be limited to one character at a time. I really like the concept. Smart loot is well and good, but its not very... smart. And just because a dirge master might drop that I could use, it may not be one that I would prefer to have as master over anything else. I think with a lengthy research duration as suggested it would be a cool addition without devalueing masters on the broker significantly, and allow those of us with rotten drop luck to finally start filling in the masters we're missing.
Most everyone keeps their good spells at least adept III anyways. So this won't chaneg things in the slightest, they also didn't state how long an adept III would take to "get". But people will have those spells/ca's at adept III anyways.
If adept III's are efficent to get for "free" we are in trouble.
So what your saying is that I can finally get a Master 1 for Ruthless Cunning?
This would be nice for those ultra rare masters that you just can't seem to find or that some some bot has on the broker for 300 plat. lol. So if I have read it right, it would take a year for 12 masters which is not unreasonable. What I would like to know however, is there a way to stop the commision if by some lucky break you happen to get the master that the researcher is working on. Even if it means you loose all the research time, that is fine, but would be horrible to have something made that you happened to get. Also will these be no trade so someone does not just up and have them made to sell to others? Also will it remove that spell off the list if you already have it maxed? Just some thoughts to think about.
Bleah.
Unless they take some sort of payment that's somewhat related to the 'value' of the items, I think this is probably the worst step in the wrong direction possible.
If, on the other hand, they required (as an example) for you to hand them a previous upgrade level of the spell/CA (i.e. an apprentice IV for an adept I, or an adept III for a master I) in addition to having the previous upgrade already scribed -and- an upward scaling amount of coin (gold range for T1 masters up to 30+ plat for T8 masters) in addition to the time element, it wouldn't be all that bad (and I could finally get the master for my level 65 spell that has no higher level version).
That's actually what I think this is, an 'answer' to the complaints abotu the grey spells/CAs that they have no intention of making drop from high level encounters.
Seriously, this whole idea is stupid. Fix the drop rates / smart loot system if finding rare/missing masters is that much of an issue. Maybe even test it before putting it live (*cough* the DOF 52, 55, 58s going from rare, to trash drops like candy *cough*)?
Masters are not supposed to be the baseline our skills, the whole point of having upgrades is something else to max out, if you're giving out a free copy of a classes' hardest to find master it defeats this purpose and trivializes the hard work people have put into fully mastering their skills.
Why would this just come from talking to an NPC? With all the worthless rewards offered for tasks of varying difficulty why would an end tier upgrade be just given away, this seems like just another hand out. Special reward Masters could have been worked into the Shard system, or the faction timelines, or masters (smart loot / in general) could drop from some TSO raid content!??! It just seems like a slap in the face to anyone who bothers/bothered to put in the effort of hunting down all their most hard to find masters.
Assuming the Devs on this project are past the point of questioning whether it will/should be implemented and now just focusing on the how it will be implemented...
The specifics of the whole thing seem bizarre on earth would you make someone wait a month while fake researchers, craft you a freebie Master I? This makes zero sense, its not even a time sink you all are so fond of, its just a go hail the guy, jot it down on your calander to come back a month later?
Please don't let this go live with out a no trade tag? Cause otherwise I see no reason why one wouldnt just make ton of characters and Master out, by buying adept 3s. This will ruin the game economy even more than it already is.
Another awesome easy mode change, keep em coming.
It woulf be even more of a kicker if you had to purchase it from station cash.
