Anything of note changed in the last 3 years?

[Mobius1]

I only came back here because I realized evil Comcast took my Rogue Guild site down. But now I'm debating on reactivating Midgar, because it's so damn hard to quit Gemstone 4 for good.

I got married and thus quit GS for the last 3 years because my wife isn't the most keen on video games. But I do have some time for games.

But I'm curious what, if anything, has changed in game.

[SonoftheNorth]

You can enchant crit weighting/padding now.

[Mobius1]

Interesting. How expensive is ensorcelling these days?

[Palcron]

1.5-2.5m week, but with silvers being cheaper, it isn’t bad. And yeah, being able to enchant padding/weighting is awesome. Adding both has also become more common, with 3 or 4 opportunities a year being obtainable.

[Tgo01]

There is a paid event about every month now, that's something to look forward to.

[Gelston]

You can put damage weighting on crit weighted items and the other way around. You can do a lot of shit now. Check out https://gswiki.play.net/Item_properties

[Mobius1]

So far I don't like a single one of those changes, lol. Crit AND damage padding? I guess that's why they are milking people every month with paid events? Do they at least have some unpaid events anymore?

Now if they made weighted/flared weapons blessable, then I'd be happy...

And do brawling weapons still suck with UAC? I guess it would be nice to get some crit weighting on my knuckle dusters, for some good old school ambushing.

[Gelston]

So far I don't like a single one of those changes, lol. Crit AND damage padding? I guess that's why they are milking people every month with paid events? Do they at least have some unpaid events anymore?

Look at mr negative here.

[Amerek]

IMO, the game is mechanically more fun than it's ever been. They still need to attract more people to the game.

[Mobius1]

Look at mr negative here.

Well, my problem is those are pretty much paid service things. Sounds like they added them to make more $$$ off of us, and not so much to actually improve the game.

I mean, it's freaking awesome to be able to add weighting/padding as easily as you can now, but it still feels cheap to me.

[Tgo01]

I can't really think of anything in the past 3 years that has been really groundbreaking in terms of mechanical changes that aren't tied to events in someway. The bard loresong thing is nice but it's not "Oh my goodness this totally changes the game" nice.

There have mostly been quality of life changes.

[Enuch]

You can bless weighted weapons now.

[Mobius1]

Nice! Now there's some good news. I assume Voln bless works?

[sellstuff1]

Nice! Now there's some good news. I assume Voln bless works?

Yep.

They haven't done any rogue development in at least 6 years, though. No one brings boxes the tower, regardless of how many locksmiths are there (up to five at a time), how often they advertise, or how much of a reputation they have as a good picker.

AFK bigshotting and sloot sell more or less ruined any fun you could have with roleplaying as a locksmith, and Simu has not only done nothing to alleviate the issue, but they're committed to making sure that Larton and his buddies are still the kings of box-opening by guaranteeing no downtweaks for Larton and no rogue development to alleviate problems with RT and problems with boxes hardly being worth picking up. Anyone that doesn't ;sloot sell has a pocket locksmith, anyways. It's shitty.

Most of the development resources are geared towards pay-to-play events. Really insidious shit, too, like dollar-per-entry, 1/9000 chance of anything interesting - attracting only the high-spenders who drop at least a grand on simucoins, instantly sell thier cool finds for silvers, and turn that around into cash to support their habit with record turn-around time.

Coming from one Rogue to another Rogue who I respect despite never having met, it's not worth coming back.

[Enuch]

Regarding the Rogues lack of development with a huge grain of salt they have whispered the last couple months that work is being for lockpicking and with the changes they made to empaths it could be promising. I still have my dedicated locksmith because I can fill a locker and pick to my hearts content

[Askip]

Discord has pretty much replaced the official forums, the GS4 general channel is:

https://discordapp.com/channels/226045346399256576/387270949499830273

:D

[Androidpk]

The heck is discord and how do I get on it? This like Facebook?

It's like Slack.

[Taernath]

It's an ERP channel run by GMs.

[Mobius1]

Yep.

They haven't done any rogue development in at least 6 years, though. No one brings boxes the tower, regardless of how many locksmiths are there (up to five at a time), how often they advertise, or how much of a reputation they have as a good picker.

AFK bigshotting and sloot sell more or less ruined any fun you could have with roleplaying as a locksmith, and Simu has not only done nothing to alleviate the issue, but they're committed to making sure that Larton and his buddies are still the kings of box-opening by guaranteeing no downtweaks for Larton and no rogue development to alleviate problems with RT and problems with boxes hardly being worth picking up. Anyone that doesn't ;sloot sell has a pocket locksmith, anyways. It's shitty.

Most of the development resources are geared towards pay-to-play events. Really insidious shit, too, like dollar-per-entry, 1/9000 chance of anything interesting - attracting only the high-spenders who drop at least a grand on simucoins, instantly sell thier cool finds for silvers, and turn that around into cash to support their habit with record turn-around time.

Coming from one Rogue to another Rogue who I respect despite never having met, it's not worth coming back.

Are they many rogues around these days? If I came back I'd probably want to throw some RP events.

Maybe even bring back the pit fights. That was a lot of fun.

[Taernath]

Are they many rogues around these days? If I came back I'd probably want to throw some RP events.

Right now there are 25 on, which is comparable to most other classes.

[Mobius1]

I stumbled across a map of what seems to be a new capped hunting ground? Sanctum of Scales. How is the hunting there?

[Astray]

Tedious, like everything else.

[Stumplicker]

You may be learning that the PC may not be your best bet for positive thoughts about the game. My advice is to sub for a month. If you like it, great. Stay. If you're finding issues with it still, leave it at that. It doesn't sound like you let yourself get drawn into the microtransaction pitfalls that make gemstone an "investment" as it is, so you're you don't have much to lose. I'd spend $15 to decide on my own rather than take the word of anyone here, including myself.

I enjoy the game though, for what it's worth. (and sanctum of scales is great for monks/weaponless warriors, annoying if you carry a weapon).

[Tgo01]

You may be learning that the PC may not be your best bet for positive thoughts about the game.

Not positive but honest thoughts.

[Mobius1]

You may be learning that the PC may not be your best bet for positive thoughts about the game. My advice is to sub for a month. If you like it, great. Stay. If you're finding issues with it still, leave it at that. It doesn't sound like you let yourself get drawn into the microtransaction pitfalls that make gemstone an "investment" as it is, so you're you don't have much to lose. I'd spend $15 to decide on my own rather than take the word of anyone here, including myself.

I enjoy the game though, for what it's worth. (and sanctum of scales is great for monks/weaponless warriors, annoying if you carry a weapon).

Well, in my case, I'm a weaponless rogue. But hanging out in Solhaven sounds kinda boring...hmmm

Knowing me I will probably try a month. Too bad there's no promo right now.

[Taernath]

There's a permanent returner promo code, something like GSBACKAFTER6 if you've been gone at least 6 months. I believe it's 1 month of premium.

[Stumplicker]

Well, in my case, I'm a weaponless rogue. But hanging out in Solhaven sounds kinda boring...hmmm

Knowing me I will probably try a month. Too bad there's no promo right now.

If you got some multi opponent combat under ya, sanctum might be worth a shot. It's very swarmy, but things die fast. And the landing is a 10 second ;go 228 away from Solhaven, and there are plenty of people there.

[Mobius1]

There's a permanent returner promo code, something like GSBACKAFTER6 if you've been gone at least 6 months. I believe it's 1 month of premium.

That's good to know! Thanks for the heads up. I guess there's no reason not to give it a go then.

[Murrandii]

last time I played was when Gs3 died and became gs4. Lot of people left too and I really thought game was going to die. That was back in 2003. Last year, I decided to try again and cap a rogue (Murrandii). I wanted that goal done, it's stupid, but i felt i had to do it.

;Bigshot helped me do it and 10 months later, I checked that goal done… and decided to stay as all the lich scripts make this game bearable, for now.

2 cents more: don't expect grandiose things, don't expect nostalgic moments like the cul-de-sac or the small parks gave often, it won't happen. No more lively auctions on the black market too, no more Warclaidhm moments, nor Bobmuhthol, nor the good clique that was in from PC. Game is just an almost empty shell of what it was before. Lower a lot your expectations and don't set your hopes on what you experienced before. If you do so, you'll find some peace with the game. Ohterwise, you will get bored, I am telling you.

[Gelston]

last time I played was when Gs3 died and became gs4. Lot of people left too and I really thought game was going to die. That was back in 2003. Last year, I decided to try again and cap a rogue (Murrandii). I wanted that goal done, it's stupid, but i felt i had to do it.

;Bigshot helped me do it and 10 months later, I checked that goal done… and decided to stay as all the lich scripts make this game bearable, for now.

2 cents more: don't expect grandiose things, don't expect nostalgic moments like the cul-de-sac or the small parks gave often, it won't happen. No more lively auctions on the black market too, no more Warclaidhm moments, nor Bobmuhthol, nor the good clique that was in from PC. Game is just an almost empty shell of what it was before. Lower a lot your expectations and don't set your hopes on what you experienced before. If you do so, you'll find some peace with the game. Ohterwise, you will get bored, I am telling you.

He has been gine 3 years.

[Murrandii]

ehh… I saw 13 years, my bad.

[Mobius1]

Lol, yeah, that part of the game was the same 3 years ago. In fact, it's possible the game is more populated now than when I last left.

The Rogue Guild being empty was the hardest thing for me, but I've gotten past that.

If you want some good RP, the only thing stopping it is yourself! (Or the entire room being afk....ugh. Another reason to pick up PP...).

[Mobius1]

Have there been any changes to the enhancive/fusion system?

Or to the forging system? Would be nice if they made it more useful.

EDIT: And what are perfects selling for these days?

[SonoftheNorth]

Have there been any changes to the enhancive/fusion system?



Lol

[Merzbow]

Have there been any changes to the enhancive/fusion system?
?

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-aa-Bgj4OXFo/W3CpzN50XzI/AAAAAAAAM_M/_9LshpBEyTcoO3eMrcoBEiEl0bLur07-gCJoC/w530-h256-n/Nerf%2BCrotchbat_.jpg

[Mobius1]

Lol, why did they go and destroy the fusion system? What was wrong with it?

I just found out today that blessing crit HCW weapons is basically worthless, too. Damnit! I thought I could finally get some weighted knuckle dusters....

[Stumplicker]

Lol, why did they go and destroy the fusion system? What was wrong with it?

I just found out today that blessing crit HCW weapons is basically worthless, too. Damnit! I thought I could finally get some weighted knuckle dusters....

I think round about three years ago, maybe a little before was when they announced the new and exciting changes to the fusion system where all the orbs would decay to 50% potency after a while and likely break when you removed them. There was a huge backlash against it because of course there was, and they haven't revisited fusion since. I don't think they even let you make the orbs anymore. At least I haven't seen the vendor in a while.

Personally, I believe that the reason they nerfed fusion into the ground and then subsequently abandoned it was because it was a way for players to achieve a high level of combat effectiveness without throwing dollars into the grinder.

Now they've got the special tokens to let you add special flares if you grind seashells, the smithy to let you convert dollars into crit/damage weighting/padding, et cetera, et cetera. You wouldn't need or desire those things nearly as much if your weapons were already strong from fusion or other systems.

[Stumplicker]

As to your other question regarding forging, the only development has been that they found a bug with dying the hilts and instead of fixing it, they just removed the wiki entry on how to dye your hilts.

[audioserf]

My read on the fusion nerfs (which were really something else) was that they'd rather they'd never implemented it and making it damn near fucking useless was the best they could do to shove the genie back in the bottle. Hardly anyone uses it anymore, from what I can tell. If you had good fusion shit before the change, you were grandfathered in. They essentially created an insurmountable barrier to entry.

[Leafiara]

My read on the fusion nerfs (which were really something else) was that they'd rather they'd never implemented itThat was what I got out of it too--I forget which GM (or Wyrom?) said it, but something to the effect that they didn't expect so many people to be running around with full +50 enhancive sets active.

[Methais]

I think round about three years ago, maybe a little before was when they announced the new and exciting changes to the fusion system where all the orbs would decay to 50% potency after a while and likely break when you removed them. There was a huge backlash against it because of course there was, and they haven't revisited fusion since. I don't think they even let you make the orbs anymore. At least I haven't seen the vendor in a while.

Personally, I believe that the reason they nerfed fusion into the ground and then subsequently abandoned it was because it was a way for players to achieve a high level of combat effectiveness without throwing dollars into the grinder.

Now they've got the special tokens to let you add special flares if you grind seashells, the smithy to let you convert dollars into crit/damage weighting/padding, et cetera, et cetera. You wouldn't need or desire those things nearly as much if your weapons were already strong from fusion or other systems.

Classic Simu. Nerf now, fix later, and later never gets here.

[Mobius1]

That's been the story since I first started playing in the 90's.

How long did the game go before you could get new items with weighting/padding? And don't even get me started on DB items. Heh, or my Might Mortal dagger in Lineage 2 :D

The fusion thing is sad, because it was one of my favorite systems that they have ever introduced. I could think of several easy fixes off the top of my head, but whatever.

And now, if they ever do improve it, it will screw over people who spent a lot of money on grandfathered orbs. Like when I lost craptons on my GS3 katanas, heh.

[Methais]

That was what I got out of it too--I forget which GM (or Wyrom?) said it, but something to the effect that they didn't expect so many people to be running around with full +50 enhancive sets active.

In a game where people spend countless hours/months/years figuring out Simu's retarded secret formulas and putting together all sorts of spreadsheets and other bullshit in order to min/max the fuck out of their character, you'd have to be extremely retarded to put out a system like fusion and not expect people to eventually be running around with shit maxed out.

https://i.imgflip.com/2mo3nc.jpg

[Donquix]

It's a straight downgrade and all but people act like if you look at old fusion stuff funny it gets fucked up and changes to the new shitty version. It's only a 5% to get damaged, it happens, it sucks, it should be avoided....but 95% of the time it works just like it used to.

[Mobius1]

Geez, you guys didn't tell me about the change to Gift of Lumnis!

[Gelston]

Geez, you guys didn't tell me about the change to Gift of Lumnis!

Because that isnt new.

[Mobius1]

Because that isnt new.

The xp absorption changes and contest are all new since I last played

[Gelston]

The xp absorption changes and contest are all new since I last played

Thought the contest was older, but I guess it has been around for about 2 years now.

[Gelston]

Lumnis has been around since 2004 mothertrucker. Contest and switching it from time to amount absorbed is newer.

We're talking aboutn the contest. lrnreadnub

[Stumplicker]

Yeah, I guess it's new-ish. I got back in April 2015 when the free to play thing was released, and it was new after that, so less'n three years.

[Gelston]

Why are you fabricating posts skubscrub?

wut