Please note that this is my personal opinion, and it doesn’t mean I’m right. These are just my thoughts on it.
To begin with, I want to get some things out of the way as a few posters might have recognized my posts in this sub-section.
Originally, as I continuously threw exotics and rares into the mystic forge and received nothing in return, I began to question why there was no set recipe for the items in the game and voiced this opinion on the forums. My opinion has changed on the matter, and this is why.
I have a friend who originally foresaw what would happen and purchased his dusk when it was still 60g, by selling every single item he had in deposit and well as in his inventory.
My friend is now almost complete his twilight, while I have the majority of items except Dawn/Dusk as well as the gift of x weapon, as I want to see what I get from the mystic forge before I work on that component.
Fast-forward to today, we get into a debate about this and I bring up having a set recipe for the weapon. My friend disagrees and I tell him he’s only against it because he already has the weapon.
For obvious reasons he gets annoyed, and tells me I am entitled and that having a set recipe would only ruin the game in the long-term and explained why.
After his explanation and examples from past games he gave where changes like this were made to a game, I realized he was right. Having a set recipe would only ruin the hunt in the long-term, and here’s why.
Legendary Weapons are meant to be very special, if there is a set recipe, that means everyone will eventually be able to get it so long as they invest the time in to it. You might say this is a selfish reasoning, but think about it.
The way it is right now, the other components aren’t very difficult to get as is. If a set recipe is introduced, a large amount of grinding will have to be introduced to justify it. I am afraid that if the requirements aren’t too difficult, lots of players will be running around with a legendary in 3-6 months.
I feel like there is a lot of reasons why people are feeling so much anger and frustration and this is because of a few reasons I will try to outline.
Lack of Information
There is a severe lack of information as to how to get these weapons, besides through the community’s efforts to figure them out. The only ways we know are the following:
1. Random world drop and from Temple events in Orr as well as Claw of Jormag.
2. (Post-patch) players reported only getting precursors from 80+ rares and 71+ Exotics.
3. Purchasing from the trading post for 200-300g.
It would greatly help if we could get some information or a breakdown on which level of rares or exotics gives us a higher chance to get a pre-cursor. This will help the economy and player-base get a better understanding of what their chances are.
Alpha Testers
The first person to technically(bugged temple) craft a legendary was an alpha tester. They were ahead of everyone else in regards to how to get the pre-cursor as everything besides the acquisition of it was changed.
Exploits
There was an exploit where players could use level 65 rares in combination with other higher leveled weapons and got a higher chance of receiving a pre-cursor through this method.
Their items were not destroyed.
Possible Market Manipulation
Nobody can confirm that it is going on, but many believe players who did the sword exploit are now controlling the market for these weapons. This can not be confirmed, so it’s a sketchy point.
Possible solutions
Let players know the odds
Right now, it’s a mindless gamble and there are so many differing opinions as to what item gives a higher probability of a pre-cursor.
I truly believe if people knew the probability of getting a pre-cursor and what level of item will give you a higher chance, the complaints would die down, as players would have nobody to blame but themselves if they received nothing from the Mystic Forge.
Put a reasonable cap on pre-cursors
This is a very difficult suggestion to implement, as I personally don’t think anyone should tell someone what their item is worth.
What it would do is let people know the items’ value and give them an idea of how much they have to work to purchase it. As it is now dusk is around 300g, I can’t see many trying to buy it if it continues going up.
It would most likely just lead to people ignoring the trading post and spamming map chat which could lead to scamming and various other issues. I don’t really think this is a good idea, but it’s an idea.
tl;dr People are mad and want pre-cursors. Give them numbers,or cap Pre-cursor price.
