As many are aware there was an option to obtain cheap non-tradeable tools at the tool merchants in the capitol cities. One clicked on the Info button, then selected the Free Tools link and bought a q250 tool for 1000 dappers instead of the inflated retail prices of anywhere from ~20,000 to 70,000 dappers for the equivalent tools.
Last night the pop-up window said "CLOSED". I wrote a ticked and submitted it an got back this answer:
Given that the cheap tools were never publically announced in the first place, this is a bit on the disingenuous side.
However, those of us with advanced skills should now be prepared to sponsor at least picks to help our new people dig in the higher level areas. The problem is that if you have a q150 pick (still expensive but marginally affordable) you cannot dig in a q200 or q250 area *at all*. It is not that you are limited to the quality of the pick, or your level, whichever is less, you can't do anything at all! (*)
This means that some of the prime digging areas are now closed to an up and coming harvester because he/she cannot afford to buy the pick to allow them to advance their skills. (i.e. if digging at level 140 in a q250 area you need a q250 pick, not a q150 pick, but you can't sell q140 mats for enough to pay for the q250 pick and make a reasonable profit.)
In my case I can probably make a small profit on my digging in q250 areas at level q250 by crafting the result and selling the results on to the merchant (or to the people when I happen to have dug materials that make the results worth marketing), but I certainly could not do so if I was actually paying for any of my armor and weapons, and if I was selling on the materials at a reasonable markup I would barely break even.
Of course *I* can make oodles and gobs of cash by running Overseer Missions and I can run (14x~450,000 - 3,500 (for tp's)) ~6,300,00 dappers in Overseer Missions on a single pick. That's not the point. The average new player can't do that!
When the Tool Hawkers were put in just after the merge, I thought that the devs had realized that the pricing structure for the tools was out of line. When they disappeared but were replaced by the under-the-counter cheap (not free) tools, I felt that was a recognition that this was the case but that they were giving hard-core players an option of doing it the hard way or an easier way. (Certainly the tranferability of the retail tools was a point in their favor in certain circumstances.)
Now it appears that the devs don't have the slightest degree of care for the new players, but expect us more senior players to take up the slack for "fixing" the broken pricing scheme by buying our apprentices the q250 picks and by sponsoring our desire to make items for our friends by running Missions. *pfui*
I doubt that the devs will listen, but I am planning to put a suggestion in the Ideas Forum for at least allowing people to dig in higher level areas up to the level of their pick.
-- Bittty
(*) I am not sure (but suspect strongly) that the limit on digging also applies to care-planning.
Last night the pop-up window said "CLOSED". I wrote a ticked and submitted it an got back this answer:
Tiximei
Hello!
The cheap tools option was initially meant to be ingame for a few weeks after the merge. It has however been available for a much longer period but the shop is now closed.
regards,
CSR Tiximei
Game Master
Given that the cheap tools were never publically announced in the first place, this is a bit on the disingenuous side.
However, those of us with advanced skills should now be prepared to sponsor at least picks to help our new people dig in the higher level areas. The problem is that if you have a q150 pick (still expensive but marginally affordable) you cannot dig in a q200 or q250 area *at all*. It is not that you are limited to the quality of the pick, or your level, whichever is less, you can't do anything at all! (*)
This means that some of the prime digging areas are now closed to an up and coming harvester because he/she cannot afford to buy the pick to allow them to advance their skills. (i.e. if digging at level 140 in a q250 area you need a q250 pick, not a q150 pick, but you can't sell q140 mats for enough to pay for the q250 pick and make a reasonable profit.)
In my case I can probably make a small profit on my digging in q250 areas at level q250 by crafting the result and selling the results on to the merchant (or to the people when I happen to have dug materials that make the results worth marketing), but I certainly could not do so if I was actually paying for any of my armor and weapons, and if I was selling on the materials at a reasonable markup I would barely break even.
Of course *I* can make oodles and gobs of cash by running Overseer Missions and I can run (14x~450,000 - 3,500 (for tp's)) ~6,300,00 dappers in Overseer Missions on a single pick. That's not the point. The average new player can't do that!
When the Tool Hawkers were put in just after the merge, I thought that the devs had realized that the pricing structure for the tools was out of line. When they disappeared but were replaced by the under-the-counter cheap (not free) tools, I felt that was a recognition that this was the case but that they were giving hard-core players an option of doing it the hard way or an easier way. (Certainly the tranferability of the retail tools was a point in their favor in certain circumstances.)
Now it appears that the devs don't have the slightest degree of care for the new players, but expect us more senior players to take up the slack for "fixing" the broken pricing scheme by buying our apprentices the q250 picks and by sponsoring our desire to make items for our friends by running Missions. *pfui*
I doubt that the devs will listen, but I am planning to put a suggestion in the Ideas Forum for at least allowing people to dig in higher level areas up to the level of their pick.
-- Bittty
(*) I am not sure (but suspect strongly) that the limit on digging also applies to care-planning.
---
Remembering Tyneetryk
Phaedreas Tears - 15 years old and first(*) of true neutral guilds in Atys.
(*) This statement is contested, but we are certainly the longest lasting.
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