[Dev] Repair system problems

[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.

[Delmontyb]

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.

They are going to be doing something like this already with the Materia system coming out next patch. Instead of the gear degrading like you said, players will turn old gear into Materia which will keep gear and demand high, or higher on a gear by gear basis.

[Meimei]

I would like it if the old repair system was brought back to work in harmony with the new one.

Dark matter shouldn't have completely replaced all previous repair materials, it should have been added alongside them as easier options to repair with, in many cases. However, in some cases dark matter is not as convenient to use.

Example: If repairing a Brass Ring, what's easier to acquire? A grade 2 dark matter or a brass nugget? The answer is the brass nugget, obviously. We should be able to have the freedom to choose what we want to use to repair stuffs.

[tachikoma]

I do not want the old system brought back at all, and as yoshi said already he is removing nuggets from all synths in the future (like 1.21+ probably) so eventually nuggets will disappear.

Repairing an item that has near useless stats to fix is silly, i only do it because I dont' like seeing the yellow/red icon. An item like a brass ring is worn solely for the acc bonus and the 4-5 def it provides should not need to be repaired. If it could be made into underwear status that would be greatly appreciated. I have no problem fixing gear which offers me 100+ defense per slot. I actually think if repair npc is added to camps/and aethers with a 100% fix rate and charged 2x the cost of the current dark matter rates then this would get used ALOT and would provide a great gil sink as well. People would love the convinence and crafters would be happy since the prices are 2x the cost of dark matter.

[Nakiamiie]

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

Regarding the last part of Yoshida's post: the development team as all my support and I cheer for them. I, too, want the game to become better and they are doing a wonderful job as a development team. Go devs, go!