Mega Topic: Gem System Discussion (Multiple Merges)

[BADASJOHN]

I agree with a trade up on gem shards. I think 10/1 odds is better then them sitting in my items bag collecting dust.
I don't think this will hurt Venan at all when it comes to GS, I don't thing there are to many plays that have more then 100 of each kind of tier 1 or 2 shards just laying around collecting dust.

[bearly_dave]

Love it great idea helps w the randomized way u get gems considering u dont know what ull get w shards some times u get what u need and sometimes u dont

[Penth_chief_among_sinners]

It's very frustrating to spend hours grinding Callisto (or Goblin King, for that matter) to rack up 100 red gem shards, only to get an Int gem for my justicar or a Str gem for my warmage. I understand and appreciate the randomness of lockboxes, but they should at least give you something you can use. How about allowing Int and Str gems to be freely swapped for one another?

[Berlo]

As great as it might be, I think this would impact their profit module. A lot of people spend money on Gold Shields and then purchase the T5 or T6 gems. If people could just collect shards and guarantee 100% they got something they needed, people would most likely spend less money on the game to speed up the process.

[HighElf]

As great as it might be, I think this would impact their profit module. A lot of people spend money on Gold Shields and then purchase the T5 or T6 gems. If people could just collect shards and guarantee 100% they got something they needed, people would most likely spend less money on the game to speed up the process.

God forbid that happen

[Berlo]

This is such a bad mindset to have. Book Of Heroes is a free to play game with no advertisements (excluding free offers for Gold Shields). You don't have an initial payment for the application whatsoever. They have website and server hosting/maintenance costs, which definitely adds up each month when you have thousands of consistent connections. But most of all, Venan employ developers to spend time programming features and implementing bug fixes. Nobody works for free in the game industry, so as a free to play game, a micro transaction profit module is the only sufficient way they can cover the costs of development. It's such a sad time for gaming. People expect everything for free and wonder why publishers shut down games within the first 24 months due to substantial monetary loss.

[DreamingDæmon]

Lockboxes are a roulette wheel. Roulette is gambling. You might get something you want, you might not. If you want to guarantee you get what you want, pay for it with Valour.

[_Gus]

This is a great idea. Please make it happen.

[Cattle54]

A related thought... I hate getting lockbox gems I can't use (melee on my wm). Selling them seems a waste. What if you could break down a gem you don't need for, say, 25-50% (rng) of the appropriate shard? This would help other classes if they decided to respec as well. The cost of new gems is prohibitive to trying new specs currently.

[AdamM]

Actually, this game is advertised as an "on the go" game. How is "grinding" for something even REMOTELY representative of a game claiming to be "on the go" ?

The facts are this: you can "play" this game as an "on the go" game; you will also progress your Toons at a snail pace. To truly play this game, you must at least invest chunks of time to expend energy, complete long endgame questlines, farm materials for enchanting. BoH requires a lot more time to play than Venan/devs want to advertise it as. Having it advertised as a game you can play on-the-go means there is a greater chance someone downloads the game and plays. That in turn leads them to play the game, and if they enjoy it, play the game more. This then leads to a greater chance that person will purchase GS (the REAL, REAL reason for any decision in this game). A player buying GS means it makes the game money.

So much content in this game could be better, and could reward players much better if they actually took into account the feelings of the players. Players grind and grind for gems to replace current ones, they raid and raid and raid for Valor to purchase higher tier gear. What happens to all the old gems and gear? NOTHING. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Anyone with a full set of T5 gems now has a set of T4 gems that do exactly NOTHING, and can be sold back for a pathetic sum of silver (like 6,000?) There is no way to convert lower tier gems to higher tier gems, there is no way to deconstruct a gem into shards of that gem color (y'know, that T4 melee gem you got from 100 shards on a WM is helping A LOT....it would help more to salvage it for shards).

Would it REALLY hurt the coffers to make gems upgradable? Or to have them salvagable for shards? The same goes for old equipment. My T14 gear sits in my pack...because how helpful is it to sell the entire tier set for a little bit of silver?

They think by adding in these features it would make them less money, but for people who already buy GS, they won't stop buying GS just because of these changes. What the devs fail to realize are all the people who DONT buy GS....if I could actually make use of all the things I am not using....how many people *MIGHT* then buy GS? Player morale has no financial value placed on it...but I would venture a guess that a player who is happy and feels the stuff he grinds for isn't wasted is much more likely to spend $ to purchase GS than someone who feels they spend their time playing and grinding, and can't salvage anything they don't use anymore.

I have spent a grand total of $6 (3 $2 GS purchases) in my time of playing BoH. I see no reason (or have no desire) to spend anything more than that for GS because this game's sole purpose (which the devs and Venan will likely deny) is this: force people to purchase GS to actually progress at a decent rate, or spend GS (which players will likely buy) for overpriced things or 'perks'. A great example is a respec token. 5 GS for 1 token; REALLY? to Anyone who doesn't spend $ for GS, 5 GS is not a drop in a barrel to someone who buys Wagons of GS. Another example was the red ornaments for HolidayGob. 5GS for 1 ornament, was someone drunk when that was priced? That comes out to 100GS for 1 item that costed 20 red ornaments. Why make things like this cost absurd #'s of GS? To make money.

I know this probably wasn't the place for this, but it irks me a lot how this game is developed, and that the driving factor in how it progresses feels like it depends on how it will impact how much GS is purchased.