shard yeilding

[ShinkuTachi]

In the states I believe you call it "entrapment" and thus it would be maybe not illegal but unethical for sure.

While this is completely off topic, I will entertain this for fun.

Actually, doing that would be perfectly ok, and not entrapment. There is a thin line, however. This would have to operate in the form of a 'sting operation' by SE. In this, it would be perfectly ok for them to create a dummy website and set people up in various zones to shout. In this scenario, the people who go to them to buy gil are people who would have done so, as there is no direct provocation on the part of SE in this scenario.

This is no different than how cops set up dummy prostitution ads on sites like backpage and craigslist; or how law enforcement sets up in teen/child chatrooms to catch pedos. They don't go in and provoke the act. They simply place the bait, and people who are out to commit the act will take the bait.

Entrapment involves initially enticing people directly and individually, and provoking illicit activity. So there is a difference in what AnimaAnimus was talking about and entrapment.

*For an added piece of information. If you do take the risk to participate in illegal activity with someone. You should know, if you ask the person if they are affiliated with law enforcement, and they say no...that is NOT entrapment. The same would go for SE if they were running sting operations. Undercover operations are undercover for a reason; so they can catch people who intend to take part in illicit activity. People who do not intend to commit an illicit act will not be caught in these kinds of situations.

yeah that could be an issue lol

since I have never purchased gil or gold in any game Im not exactly sure how it works, but I guess all they need is your char name. Ok I rescind my idea lol

Your idea is actually fine, there is nothing wrong or illegal about SE doing sting operations. I would honestly be more surprised if they were not doing it already. You really never know, no matter what they would tell us here.

[PiedPiper]

At the people worried about getting banned for selling shards. As it happens, if you look on the loadstone, there are like... a million Pied Pipers that are probs gill sellers. My account is routinely asked to change its password "for suspicious activity" and I've even been contacted by GM's before and basically asked if I was an RMT. I'm pretty sure they do a fair amount of investigation to avoid banning real players. That said, level lots of different classes and do dungeons, I doubt many rmt's are all/nearly all classes 50 & in darklight.

[CianaIezuborn]

Your idea is actually fine, there is nothing wrong or illegal about SE doing sting operations. I would honestly be more surprised if they were not doing it already. You really never know, no matter what they would tell us here.

If they took money from people in the process they would at the very least be opening themselves up to easy litigation and possibly prosecution for fraud.

If they didn't take money I'm not sure how they would approach it, give out free gil then ban you for accepting the trade? That still seems open to malicious abuse.

There would have to be some type of in game confirmation of the transaction, or else it could be abused as I mentioned above.

SE isn't a law enforcement agency, they don't operate on the same legal ground as such.

[ShinkuTachi]

Well, the live letter is done, and nothing further has been said here or during the letter concerning shards. So I guess the devs see it as a non-issue. With that said, I will bear with it as it is.

On a better note, a lot of cool stuff was said, so I will be looking forward to 2.1

[Gamemako]

Well, the live letter is done, and nothing further has been said here or during the letter concerning shards. So I guess the devs see it as a non-issue. With that said, I will bear with it as it is.

At present, the markets are owned by RMTs. I would guess that over 80% of all shards used on my server are RMT-farmed. Can't really blame people, either. If I want to get one Luminary tool, I need to spend 25,000 shards at least. If I want all 8 luminaries, I can spend 200,000+ shards. Now, let's be realistic: am I going to spend 500 hours bashing my head against a wall farming shards? If I had that much time, I wouldn't spend it farming shards. If it weren't for RMTs, every 20-50 crafted item would be prohibitively expensive because shards would cost 100 gil apiece, and High Mythril Armor would cost 6,300 gil in shards alone. That, plus repair cost plus 24 other mats, would mean you're pushing over 10k just for manufacturing cost along with any time value for something that takes an hour to farm materials and craft -- who the hell would ever buy a 50k suit of leveling armor?

I truly do not know what the designers were thinking with shards in the first place, but the system needs a dramatic reversal, and I just don't see it as likely in 2.1. Until RMTs go away, the markets will continue to be depressed and the situation won't look nearly as dire as it is.

[Radamanthe]

I truly do not know what the designers were thinking with shards in the first place, but the system needs a dramatic reversal, and I just don't see it as likely in 2.1. Until RMTs go away, the markets will continue to be depressed and the situation won't look nearly as dire as it is.

I can only agree with this. Shards is a flaw in this crafting system. There is not even a justification for their existence. I would largely prefer to have to put many more crafting materials into it than these insane shards. They come from nowhere in the design and are just an annoying part of the process. It is not even fun at all to gather them, there is no HQ, no miss probability, this is only as simple and boring as gathering can be initially. And for what ? Just to be able to craft something.

Really, something is very wrong with shards regarding to craft. I can only see frustration there, definitely not the slightest piece of fun. And fun is the point of any video game.

[Ksenia]

Another suggestion for you SE.

At 30 and 50 in the quests for DoL, add in Job stones as rewards for larger shard yields.

[LilPhist]

Some leves give 15-45 shards per turn in. The triple turn-ins can yield 3x that for 1 allowance. I'd say 45-135 shards for making cheap crafted stuff is the fastest way to get shards.

[Ksenia]

Some leves give 15-45 shards per turn in. The triple turn-ins can yield 3x that for 1 allowance. I'd say 45-135 shards for making cheap crafted stuff is the fastest way to get shards.

The level 25 leve will offer 13 shards max reward. At 45 it's max 54 reward.

For the 25 you need 6 shards to make the turn in.
For the 45 you need more than 54.

If you go to Hawthorne Hut, there are level 20 Botany off hand nodes. Three are in a straight line, one is off in the distance. Ignore it, follow the three in a line, sprint back to the first. Repeat and rinse. There is a similar pathing system for each shard. The Hawthorne one is for Wind. It yields around 600 an hour and it's the best method I have found. It's still lipstick on a pig and shard farming is a gruel grind like nothing I have ever seen in any MMO but that's the most efficient way I have found.

[Yoruichi4478]

Why not drop from monsters? They did in 1.0 and we had no issues keeping stocked for our crafting then.