Synthesis breaks below cap

I will start off by admitting that I am not a hardcore crafter - mostly I am in it for the fun - but there is one thing that I have never been able to understand, and that is the tendency of synths to blow up even when they're way below cap.

I have level 80 cooking and I regularly detonate honey, low level pet food, and even roasted corn for guild points (a level 2 synth - one that I have broken 3/24 of today, on the day of the crystal). I have an alchemist friend who has similar problems with synths such as beeswax and his craft is at level 99. My question is simply, why? I can't imagine it has a significant effect on the economy.

It is, however, extremely irritating. Not only is it completely ridiculous, but on a more practical level, particularly for people like me who aren't dedicated crafters making 12 stacks of something at a time, losing an ingredient often means you're one item short of a stack and therefore unable to sell the items without more scrabbling around looking for another of that inevitably rarer or more expensive item.

In short, I would like to ask the developers if it would be possible to make any synth below your current skill rating a 100% success, excluding desynthesis and more logical cases such as being hit by a monster. I would see this as a "usability" adjustment rather than one to increase profits - if nothing else it would preserve my sanity a little longer.

They said before they wont be removing it. What Synthesis needs is more incentive.

It should go:

Synthesis - Chance of item loss, but bigger gain's. As an example: Jug Pet order 6, 8 or 12.
Synergy - No item loss, but less item gain. As an example: Jug Pet order 4, 6 or 8.

The fact you can lose items should instantly mean a completed synth grants you more items, as it stands Synergy loses no items and gets the biggest gain.

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Originally Posted by Jerbob

It is, however, extremely irritating. Not only is it completely ridiculous, but on a more practical level, particularly for people like me who aren't dedicated crafters making 12 stacks of something at a time, losing an ingredient often means you're one item short of a stack and therefore unable to sell the items without more scrabbling around looking for another of that inevitably rarer or more expensive item.

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It's annoying, but it does (or rather, did) create additional demand for items. Also, it's offset by HQ synths, which compensate the 5% lossrate by a considerable margin (in most cases). (HQ synths also throw a wrench in your perfect stack size.)

Personally I don't think synergy should ever have been a flat out alternative to traditional synthesis. The entire system is based around giving bonuses to a very restrictive set of recipes because, as far as I am concerned, there was never a real need for synergy to be introduced in the first place and therefore an artificial set of benefits needed to be added. I would have liked to have seen synergy become a collaborative synthesis system for all recipes, particularly those with difficult or impossible to attain multiple subcrafts, though that's another matter entirely though I suppose...

Did they ever give a reason why they would not be fixing this issue? I am curious as to what possible reasons they might give. Any extra demand for materials cannot be that significant, and even if it does exist I think the benefits to synthesis as a whole almost certainly outweigh that demand. If SE is willing to ensure that synergy recipes cannot break, the "extra materials" reason can't be that compelling to them either.

HQs are nice and I suppose they do even out in the long run (sometimes), but for someone who doesn't do massive batches in one go they don't really help - especially if you're only 15 or 20 or so above cap. It's always best to have a little extra than not enough when static stack sizes are concerned - if it's really necessary spares can be thrown away or NPCed, for which there is not a counterpart for having insufficient items for a stack :(

Thanks for your responses :) I will go back to detonating raw fish all over the walls of the cooking guild.

This is typical SE, program in guaranteed failure to keep the players on the hamster wheel longer. It's totally asinine you can break a level 2 synth at level 80.

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Originally Posted by Kraggy

This is typical SE, program in guaranteed failure to keep the players on the hamster wheel longer. It's totally asinine you can break a level 2 synth at level 80.

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I disagree. Even in RL if your the very best cook in the world, or the very best woodworker ever, 50 years experience, ... You can still mess up or make a mistake. It happens. You cant get it right every single time, no exception.

Now I'm a 100ww with all subs 60. I do understand full well how annoying it is. But it happens. And it should.
What i don't like is the frequency in which it happens. Now iv crafted thousands and thousands of items over the years. While its said their is that 5% chance of break, i have never experienced lower then 10% at best. Thats what annoys me. 5% i can understand. 10%+ is getting a little questionable.