Official: The State of Fusion Update

Quote from GM Coase:

As previously announced on 10/06/2016, the Fusion item system will be updated with a number of changes (see below for the recap). These changes will be released this Saturday (12/16/2017). If you want to pry out any orbs or recharge your fusion equipment under the current system, please do so by Friday 12/15/2017 23:59, in-game time.

As an addendum to the previously announced changes, the enhancive item enchanting/ensorcelling penalty will be based upon the number of orb slots that the fusion item carries (rather than its currently orbed enhancive properties), so it will no longer be necessary to pry out the orbs while the item is being upgraded.

Coase

Fusion will be separated into "old style" and "new style."

Old-style Fusion

Currently "old-style" has a chance to lose potency if pried too often, and will shatter when the bonus becomes 0. Moving forward, old-style orbs, when damaged, will become new-style orbs. This will result in the removal of the shattering chance (complete destruction of orbs). Instead pried-out orbs can be damaged. Damage chance of 5% when pried. Special merchant services will exist to allow for risk-free extraction in exchange for a fee.

New-style Fusion

New-style fusion will never degrade their potency when pried from fusion, but will degrade at a rate of 4% a month (real time) to a maximum degradation of 50%. For example, +10 would lose 0.4 bonus points per month (becoming effective only when a full -1 value is reached, so only after 3 months in the case of the +10 item would any degradation of the bonus actually occur). It would take 13 months to reach max degradation in most cases. Values of 1 would round down to 0.

New-style fusion orbs can be refurbished to full base bonus as a future merchant option.

Prying new-style orbs will have a chance to damage the orb, similar to old-style. When damaged it will uncap the max degradation (i.e. can degrade to zero in all cases). Further damage would increase degradation rate by 1% per month per damage cycle.

Fusion Recharging - Both Styles

Fusion items will cost 125% the value in BPs to recharge, or 150% in silvers (during that time of the year).

This message was originally posted in Game Design Discussions, Fusion. To discuss the above, follow the link below.

http://forums.play.net/forums/19/213/3284/view/360

Quote from GM Coase:

The automatic "loose in the socket" mechanism is going away. Once an orb is inserted, the only way to get it out is to either take the risk of prying it out or pay for a professional orb removal. If you do choose to pry it out, any time you pry an orb of any type there is a 5% damage type.

You will be able to ANALYZE your orbs to find out what tier they are and how much (if any) damage they've sustained. For reference, "old-style" will be called Tier 3, "new-style" will be called Tier 2, and Tier 1 will be orbs that degrade all the way to zero.

Coase

Glad I never went the fusion route, these new mechanics don't seem impressive at all.

Quote from GM Coase:

Prying out an orb takes no RT. If you're not sure pry out all your orbs before Saturday and then think about it afterwards. The damage check occurs upon removal, not insertion, so you will be able to re-add any orbs you pull at no risk if you need more time to think.

The location of the orb does not matter, it is simply a straight-line depreciation of bonus over a set time line.

Coase

what a terrible nerf. Just keep holding your hand out for money while nerfing everything in the game and giving little scraps of "benefits" and "changes" to cover it up. Never been more disillusioned by a game before.

I said it elsewhere, but I think what would benefit this system is to make the fusion shaman permanently available in some capacity. You can still "entice" players by offering all the newly minted services at pay festivals.

Yeah, but just like how WPS played out, we'll never see it. There is a HUGE disconnect between the Dev team and the players expectations. Its becoming more and more obvious as time goes on. And its a huge shame, the creativity and mechanical implementations are fine, but the balance and direction choices are just hot trash. When I cancel my accounts it will be because mechanically the game just isn't fun anymore and I cant stay up late enough to participate in the only consistent storylines.

@ordim said in Official: The State of Fusion Update:

Yeah, but just like how WPS played out, we'll never see it. There is a HUGE disconnect between the Dev team and the players expectations. Its becoming more and more obvious as time goes on. And its a huge shame, the creativity and mechanical implementations are fine, but the balance and direction choices are just hot trash. When I cancel my accounts it will be because mechanically the game just isn't fun anymore and I cant stay up late enough to participate in the only consistent storylines.

I hear you. I think a good trend would be more things available at a nearly constant basis, with free/pay festivals offering the premium version of said services. You can cap people's use of these systems with escalating price structures, and offer pay festivals as a means to partially bypass these cost hikes.

Kenstrom is awesome, but I agree it isn't practical for most to match his hours. That said, the last thing i'd want to see is any attempt to change when/how he does his thing. That's a great way to get him to quit.

That's interesting that the first thought you went to was changing Kenstrom and not, you know, finding other people who have the same drive and abilities. I think it really speaks to the way the game has affected peoples thought processes with their development style and game changes.

@ordim said in Official: The State of Fusion Update:

That's interesting that the first thought you went to was changing Kenstrom and not, you know, finding other people who have the same drive and abilities. I think it really speaks to the way the game has affected peoples thought processes with their development style and game changes.

I'm not sure there has ever been a CE GM as consistent and active as Kenstrom. I wouldn't try to peg the lack of them on policy/mechanics changes, recent or otherwise.

@Ordim Icemule has had a storyline and more activity of late. It is usually a few hours before KST.

Quote from GM Coase:

The only way that Tier 3 ("old-style") orbs gain Tier 2 ("new-style") functionality is if they are damaged. Otherwise, there are no auto-conversions or anything like that. Tier 3 orbs are still a valid and recognized part of the fusion system, but they simply won't be released via the Fusion Sanctum extractions anymore.

Coase

@evarin said in Official: The State of Fusion Update:

@ordim said in Official: The State of Fusion Update:

That's interesting that the first thought you went to was changing Kenstrom and not, you know, finding other people who have the same drive and abilities. I think it really speaks to the way the game has affected peoples thought processes with their development style and game changes.

I'm not sure there has ever been a CE GM as consistent and active as Kenstrom. I wouldn't try to peg the lack of them on policy/mechanics changes, recent or otherwise.

No, but there has to be a reason why there isn't anyone that comes even close. And really, my point was more "Why would you try and change the thing that works instead of replicate or supplement?"

Dragging down the good stuff to match the mediocre is never a good approach, but feels what we are subjected too more often then not with recent changes.

@Roblar There have been some good storylines that have basically been one offs with intermittent dates and lengths. The relics storyline was really good because it spanned several towns and had a lot of people drop in and out as it moved around. It also occured in eastern prime time.

They actually made some changes I didn't particularly agree with in the hopes of making things easier for CE folks. They did away with town gurus so people like Kenstrom (or aspiring Kenstroms) could create roleplay in multiple towns without needing permission.

And nothing came of it. Everyone still guards/lords over their towns. And its not just like a few weeks later, its been about a year since that change. They are too busy pumping out simucoin events every other month to hit quotas instead of focusing on what makes the game fun. But that doesn't make them as much money so I get it. Unless something changes, I'm done after Ordim caps. 9 levels left.

@ordim said in Official: The State of Fusion Update:

And nothing came of it. Everyone still guards/lords over their towns. And its not just like a few weeks later, its been about a year since that change. They are too busy pumping out simucoin events every other month to hit quotas instead of focusing on what makes the game fun. But that doesn't make them as much money so I get it. Unless something changes, I'm done after Ordim caps. 9 levels left.

There's been some movement for Ta'Illistim to get involved in what's happening in the Landing. Some. Most of the people in Ta'Illistim frankly just don't seem to be interested (based on the attendance at the posted events and the seeming general lack of day-to-day conversation about it). In their defense though, putting items in a bin for imaginary orphans feels more like just going through the motions of roleplay and basically throwing the money/items away than it feels like actually contributing to something and roleplaying (but that could just be me).

There has also been some stuff going on in Ta'Vaalor, though admittedly I've only gone when the beacon is lit so I can destroy whatever is banging on their gates.

Kenstrom's presence isn't the end all, though. While not everyone can be present (myself included), if you really want to be involved, there are lots of people that will fill you in and talk about what's going on, who is doing/planning what, etc. There is a lot of RP that happens outside of when Kenstrom is actually present that is based on the things that happen when he is.

I've tried to expand the story to other areas several times with extremely limited success. It frankly seems like there is limited RP until western time. If thats the case than so be it.

Quote from GM Coase:

How does this system work with +Spirit or +Spirit Regen? Lets say you have +1 to MAX SPIRIT, or +1 to Spirit Regeneration. How could that ever degrade over time? I would assume those items could never change over time?

As noted in the announcement recap, orbs with a starting bonus of 1 round down to zero (at 50%, which is fully degraded T2).

How readily available will orb refurbishment be? Are we talking specialty merchants with limited releases or is it more like enchant unlocking where any merchant doing GALD is likely to be able to do it if asked?

Specialty merchant with limited releases.

Will there be services (rare I imagine) that allow upgrading T2 orbs to T3? Is this something you're even considering?

This would be the equivalent of an auction level service.

Any thoughts regarding allowing the use of Premium Points to refurbish fusion orbs?

Its unlikely to occur.

Any thoughts on any automated systems for refurbishing T2 orbs (for example, high cost bounty points)?

Maybe, but its unlikely to occur in the near term.

Will fusion orb creation (T2) from enhancive items be an automated service?

Yes, extracting orbs from items with the fusion shaman was and remains an automated service.

Coase

Quote from GM Coase:

With the diminished state of fusion, is there any chance that the fusion shaman could be available in some manner of permanent capacity? The services to restore the orbs could still be locked behind festivals.

For all the orbs that currently exist, the main appreciable downtweak is a slightly higher recharge cost (which isn't a factor at all for those that use recharge potions rather than bounty points) and the fact that it is harder to swap orbs around at will. The current functionality of the items is otherwise undiminished. Extraction will remain a limited access service, but the door remains open for the distribution of orbs in a different manner though.

So the price was already increased last year, which players noticed, and you're trying to raise the price yet again from the already increased base.

Oh, it looks like that change was already rolled in. So, no, the only effective change will be PRYing, then, as the recharge cost increase is already live.

Coase

@epona said in Official: The State of Fusion Update:

In their defense though, putting items in a bin for imaginary orphans feels more like just going through the motions of roleplay and basically throwing the money/items away than it feels like actually contributing to something and roleplaying (but that could just be me).

QFT. I fail to see any appeal at all in doing this.

Quote from GM Coase:

The previously announced fusion changes have now been released. These include:

Fusion orbs have been separated into three tiers (T1, T2, and T3). All currently existing orbs are T3.

T3 ("old-style" fusion orbs)

T3 orbs do not decay their enhancive bonus. T3 orbs, when damaged due to PRYing, will gain the functionality of T2 orbs. The net result is that the old shattering chance (complete destruction of orbs) and degradation of bonus has been removed. Instead pried-out orbs can be damaged. Damage chance of 5% when pried. Special merchant services will exist to allow for risk-free pries in exchange for a fee.

T2 ("new-style" fusion)

T2 orbs will degrade their enhancive bonus at a rate of 4% a month (real time) to a maximum degradation of 50%. For example, +10 would lose 0.4 bonus points per month (becoming effective only when a full -1 value is reached, so only after 3 months in the case of the +10 item would any degradation of the bonus actually occur). It would take 13 months to reach max degradation in most cases. Values of 1 would round down to 0.

T2 fusion orbs can be refurbished to full base bonus as a future merchant option.

Prying T2 orbs will have a chance to damage the orb, similar to T3. When damaged, a T2 orb will gain the functionality of a T1 orb (which uncaps the maximum degradation of the enhancive bonus all the way to zero). Further damage would increase degradation rate by 1% per month per damage cycle.

Fusion Enchanting and Ensorcelling

The enhancive item enchanting/ensorcelling penalty is now based upon the number of orb slots that the fusion item carries (rather than its currently orbed enhancive properties), so it will no longer be necessary to pry out the orbs while the item is being upgraded.

Coase

This message was originally posted in Game Design Discussions, Fusion. To discuss the above, follow the link below.

http://forums.play.net/forums/19/213/3284/view/395

Quote from GM Naos:

Recent updates to the Fusion Arms system included normalizing the difficulty of enchanting Fusion Arms gear. Given the long-term nature of Enchant Item (925) projects, we have updated the system to ignore this difficulty adjustment for projects started before the release of these changes. This should all be transparent to players, but the change should be reflected in the messaging shown when the difficulty of your project is assessed via a cast of spell 925.

I have reviewed logs for all enchanting attempts performed since the release of the difficulty adjustment on 12/16/2017 and found no evidence of any failures on Fusion Arms gear.

-- Naos

This message was originally posted in Game Design Discussions, Fusion. To discuss the above, follow the link below.

http://forums.play.net/forums/19/213/3284/view/402

Quote from GM Coase:

Regarding enchanting, it was previously the case that fusion items could entirely bypass the entire enhancive item penalty that applies toward enchant/ensorcell attempts with zero risk due to how the PRY mechanic used to work (riskless pries after a week or so). Unfortunately, fusion items are entirely about -being- enhancive items and they should have had the same penalties as equivalent enhancive items. The fact that they did not was quite a serious design oversight and it needed to be fixed.

It should be noted that T2 orbs degrade to half their base value and then stop there. Once it hits 50%, that's its actual permanent bonus. If you orb an item, we want to make sure that you (or someone) actually wants to make use of it in a fusion item right away, and not speculatively. We could have made all exactrations just extract half the bonus instead, but chose to allow players to have the opportunity to have some extra bonus for a year (which is a fair length of time), provided that it is actively being used. Refurbishments are an option, but its not really meant to be an upkeep service, but an actual upgrade service. A T2 orb extraction is an extraction to 50% of the bonus value being extracted, with a temporary bonus on top if it.

The reason why we needed to change how extractions worked is because it was becoming clear that players were increasingly seeing "vanilla" enhancive items as mere delivery vehicles for orbs rather than being actual items in their own right. Things like worn location, crumbly status, maximum charges, alternative item functions, weight, and so on are all properties of items that we try to vary to create items that provide interesting choices and character building "puzzles" and options. The ability to relatively trivially negate all those other properties to extract one property at its full value was a serious design flaw in fusion that needed to be fixed.

Duskruin put a lot of enhancive items out (and so does the treasure system), but the reason they can do so is because you often need to stretch a bit (or a lot) to actually use the items in their intended form. That is an intended part of the entire inventory system. If, instead, all those items' enhancive propertiers are just harvest-able to place in a single optimized item, then that is quite a big unintended bypass of most of the inventory system. Fusion extactions, as previously handled, were not sustainable going foward, unfortunately.

Coase

What a joke. Flush out the Dev team, new blood! Maybe find people capable and willing to come up with creative ideas instead of just nerf after nerf. If you didn't get the idea right from the start and people are OK and happy with what exists, don't try to cram a square peg in a round hole by going backwards. Maybe use some creativity to find a better way to manage it moving forward without nerfing everything else into oblivion.