[Dev] Repair system problems

[Aeyis]

There are too many loop holes with the repair system to begin with.The reason is that the materials are logically too expensive, thus the dark matter saved the day from expensive of items.

A huge voting poll was made and several others want it gone too.

That shows your inexperience as a crafter i guess. For most crafting classes a single repair item would cost below 1k, in fact for most you could make a stack of repair items for less then 1k.
Dark matter made repairs cost money for me as a crafter, whereas previous i always had the supplies needed to simply craft the repair item in question.

I also find it quite interesting how you manage to list so many points, all of which are false. xd

[Mikita]

If you don't have time to spend on crafting or you don't like to wait long for someone to repair your stuff, here is some advice that works for me 100% of the time:

1. Go to the Repair NPC in Ul'dah, near the Aetheryte, or anywhere you see a lot of people gathering.

2. Offer 4000x the grade of Dark Matter -- i.e. Grade 1, offer 4000 gil. Grade 5, offer 20,000 gil.

3. Say this (substitute your actual item rank and reward):
"Could someone please help me with repairs?"
"Armorer. Rank 36 item. Grade 4 Dark Matter. 16000 gil reward."

See how quickly your gear gets fixed.

Simple!

[Colt47]

If you don't have time to spend on crafting or you don't like to wait long for someone to repair your stuff, here is some advice that works for me 100% of the time:

1. Go to the Repair NPC in Ul'dah, near the Aetheryte, or anywhere you see a lot of people gathering.

2. Offer 4000x the grade of Dark Matter -- i.e. Grade 1, offer 4000 gil. Grade 5, offer 20,000 gil.

3. Say this (substitute your actual item rank and reward):
"Could someone please help me with repairs?"
"Armorer. Rank 36 item. Grade 4 Dark Matter. 16000 gil reward."

See how quickly your gear gets fixed.

Simple!

Yes, how quickly the gear gets fixed is highly variable given the number of different people commenting on the very same subject of offering money for the service, which is part of the issue. The deal is that they can't just make npc repairs 100% and dirt cheap because it will make player repairs useless, which is exactly what every crafter and person supporting the system is saying. That's why if any changes are to happen to the npc repairs, they have to do something to make the player repairs that much more worth it, such as adding in bonuses from having them done. That is the kind of proactive change the repair system in this game needs.

[Colt47]

Has there been any mention of changing the way repairs work further? I know there's been some translated interviews, but I don't think anything was said on the whole repair issue.

[MariyaShidou]

Most likely none, it's working as intended. The most they would do is reduce NPC repair price a bit further.

Though if they are clever, they would scrap the repair system. Instead, reduce all effectiveness of equipments to that of red gear damaged, add an "enchantment" from crafters that last for about as long as 100% durability to 33% durability which make gear back to current normal status. And then people would praise this game like it's some kinda innovations.

It's all about psychology aspect, people don't like to be "penalised", they like to think of being "rewarded".

[Colt47]

Most likely none, it's working as intended. The most they would do is reduce NPC repair price a bit further.

Though if they are clever, they would scrap the repair system. Instead, reduce all effectiveness of equipments to that of red gear damaged, add an "enchantment" from crafters that last for about as long as 100% durability to 33% durability which make gear back to current normal status. And then people would praise this game like it's some kinda innovations.

It's all about psychology aspect, people don't like to be "penalised", they like to think of being "rewarded".

Removing the repair system is a rather idiotic notion considering that they need it to remove currency from the game. What they have to do still is make repairing gear less of a player event mini-game and more of a quick action, whether they keep the current status of NPC repair costs and percentile or not.

[Atoli]

I'm not a high rank crafter yet, but I repair everything I see and am able to repair, because I remember how I hated waiting for someone who repairs my stuff before I found a nice LS who helps me out on that.
But obviously I only repair it if the reward is the same amount of Gil (or more) the dark matter costs at the NPC, because I don't want to pay ADDITIONALLY for someones stuff to be repaired. It would be different if crafters got a lot of SP for repairing stuff, but we don't, so repairing is not really useful in any way but making others happy.

[Bayohne]

Yoshida made a lengthy post regarding repair (amongst other topics) that I think would fit well into this thread.

Hi, this is Yoshida, the Producer/Director.

I’m sorry that the posts from development have seriously lagged.
Every thread regarding fixes is being looked into.

Gear degradation as a penalty for dying
First of all, I plan on continuing the degradation of gear as a penalty for dying, though the specs will be adjusted. Although the relationship between risk and reward is not as harsh as losing EXP, which was common in first generation MMOs, I think that some kind of penalty is necessary.

I would absolutely like to avoid players thinking that “I can take as many risks as I want, because nothing is lost when I die.” Therefore, I would like to maintain the incentive to stay alive, because “My precious gear will degrade if I die!”

In a world where crafting and gathering exist, I think that the relationship between item degradation and repairing makes a lot of sense.
(Gear degradation due to use will be adjusted during the battle reforms.)

Repair
However, I have received many suggestions and a lot of feedback about the current state of repairs, and I agree that changes must be made. I also understand that the difficulty of performing repairs turns away new players and causes players waiting for repairs to logout. As such, I would like to take the reform of repairs very seriously.

Direction of adjustments to repair

• Rejuvenation of repair NPCs (Placement in more locations/price adjustments/performance adjustments/balance adjustment with player repairs)
• Price adjustment of dark matter (Adjustment to the proper price using dark matter and thanks to the crafter)
• Simplification of repair procedures (Less steps in the repair sequence)
• Easing of repair requirements (Easing of optimal repair rank and necessary skills)

In addition, visibility of repair requests will also be improved based on player feedback.

Crafter motivation and repairs
Crafters should place creating items as their highest priorities. Crafters should earn their respect through developing their skills to a high level. This is why we are spending a lot of time to implement the materia craft system.

I think that repairs should be easily accomplished through using a small part of the skills that crafters have spent so long to develop. Crafters should receive the most satisfaction out of creating challenging weapons and armor and exploring the materia craft system.

Therefore, I would like to simplify the repair process. I believe that it would be sufficient to simply maintain repairs as an occasion for players from the battle classes and gatherer classes to interact.

It will take some time, but I will reveal more specific details before implementation.
Thank you for your patience.

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P.S. (The following will be removed eventually.)

I have a request for a certain group of players.

There were some players who criticized the priorities for crafter/gatherer fixes. I assure you that the priorities were decided based on my time restraints and there are no other intentions. I apologize that there has been a delay in the fixes.

I believe that the critical stance from the players comes as a result of my posting being delayed as well.

However, I ask that you please do not make posts that can be seen as personal attacks. I understand the frustration that players may feel, but please understand that we developers are humans too. There is a limit to how much we can do and how much criticism we can take.
(I would have no problem if I was the only one being criticized. )

We will continue to work on updates as best as we can, so I please ask that you understand where we are coming from and use the forums appropriately
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[Eruantien]

Price adjustment of dark matter (Adjustment to the proper price using dark matter and thanks to the crafter)

What does this mean, I hope it doesnt mean lowering the price, makes it even more useless adding it to gathering, if they are worth a tuppence

[Alia]

If anything the current system is too lenient. 100% repair with no item degradation makes the items reusable indefinitely. This ofcourse leads to items costing less than the crafting materials, and in turn the demand for the item is much less when items are reuseable. While the duration loss on return seems a bit extreme the repair system itself is too kind.

I suggest that the npc cost for repairing items be adjusted to the cost of material (dark matter) further more npc repairs to decrease the maximum duration of the item with each repair. The advantage of player repair items would be to try to save some of the max duration from being lost and that amount would depend on the player's rank and the item rank. Crafters should also be given a ability for a special repair that can be used once a day when they reach rank 50 or complete some prerequisite in which they will be able to repair the item with out any max dura loss.

With this items will be semi-disposable after using an item for a long period of time you'd have to either throw it away or turn it in to materia. Which would increase the need for carrying multiples of that item and still keep the vital role of crafters in repairing for rare items.