Regarding the Proposed Desynthesis Changes in Live Letter LIII

[Laigerick]

Today was the Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LIII. During it, Yoshida-san answered many questions from these forums and much of what was discussed was exciting news! However, one of his responses in particular stood out to me:

Q43:
I feel like the amount of time/effort required to level desynthesis and the returns don't match. Do you have plans to make major changes to the desynth system?

A43:
Will be making large changes to Disciples of the Hand and Land-related systems in 5.1. Desynthesis rates will be changed to be 100% guaranteed, no need to level up skills. Desynthesis will be something used when you have a surplus of something. That’s the plan we have in mind. I’ll provide more details on this when we’ve solidified the details.

While I share the sentiment of the person who asked the question that desynthesis is exceedingly tedious to level and often feels less rewarding than it should, I do not agree with the proposed solution Yoshida-san said that they have planned for Patch 5.1. Removing levels and success percentage entirely feels like the dev team is simply throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Not only will this completely invalidate the extensive amount of time, effort, and Gil that thousands of players have already sunk into the existing system over the years, but it will also shatter the need (and therefore the market demand as well) for desynth-related consumables such as Bacon Broth and Tinker's Calm.

Again, I do agree that changes need to be made to the existing desynthesis system to make it more approachable and rewarding. However, I am confidant that there are a myriad of other ways the dev team could approach a potential rework that would not completely invalidate the years of effort many players have invested in achieving their high skill levels. For instance, they could keep desynthesis levels (roughly) as they currently exist, but instead the process of actually desynthing items would be item-level agnostic - meaning even at desynth level 1 you would have a base success percentage on an i450 item. This base chance of success could then be increased either by using consumables like Bacon's Broth or Tinker's Calm or simply by leveling up your desynthesis rating. This would get rid of a majority of the tedium that comes with currently leveling your desynthesis by eliminating the need to go back and farm or craft large amounts of low-level gear within very specific item-level ranges.

I could speculate for hours about other potential ways to better rework the existing desynthesis system, yet that wouldn't accomplish much. The point of the matter is that the proposed solution in today's Live Letter is simply not a good one. I can only hope that Yoshida-san and the rest of the dev team are looking to these forums for feedback on this issue and will try to take the concerns posted by myself and other like-minded & dedicated desynthers seriously.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

[RinaShinomiya]

I agree.
If they ditch the levels then not only will everyone be able to overflow the market with these desynth-only materials (and glamour), severly reducing their worth, but also the "specialization" aspect will be lost since currently you can only desynthesize in 3 categories at a time.
A different approach that I wouldn't mind is tie desynthesis to crafting levels and make it so Specialists have 100% desynth rate while non specialized crafters only have 50% (as long as the class level matches of course). This way there is still barrier to entry albeit much softer than before and the system is less tedious while providing value to your chosen specialists.

[Nezerius]

you can only desynthesize in 3 categories at a time.

You can only fully cap 3 at a time.

The total cap of desynth levels can be spread out over all 8, although one of them will get its level reduced whenever you go over the total cap.

As for the change itself, it doesn't really surprise me that they went with a low effort change. They haven't really done anything with desynthesis since ARR, with its useability popping up every now and then after that (glass fibers in HW).

[Niwashi]

As for the change itself, it doesn't really surprise me that they went with a low effort change. They haven't really done anything with desynthesis since ARR, with its useability popping up every now and then after that (glass fibers in HW).

Doing nothing except for giving it some reward items would be an even lower effort change, and one that wouldn't screw over the players who've worked on it or who like it.

I like desynthesis primarily because it gives me something else to level up and another way to advance my character. SE is planning to take that away from us. Updates should add to the game, not take away from it.

[Jkap_Goat]

Yep, I saved and spent 4 million GIL at the start of the expansion and worked on getting my Weaver, Goldsmith and leatherworker up so when I go into duegons, I could easily get some mats from gear. Now I can dysnth the ilvl440 gear and I feel so accomplished I did it, it was hard but it was worth it. Now my hard work will be for notthing becuase soon, everyone will be flooding the dysnthing mats on the Market Board

There will be no use for HQ Bacon Broth any Tinker's Calm.

[Ardox]

I don't mind having more desynth material/glam on the MB, but I agree they should aim for a middle ground..

What I'd dislike about the current system is that even if I have a crafting class at 80, I still have 0% chance on desynth for ARR gear.
• I would like to see crafter lvl or ilvl introduced in the formula to determine the percentage of chance of success
• I would like to see a certain amount of skill increase even if the desynth is a failure
• I would like to see the shared cap removed

I absolutely don't mind to have to increase my desynth skill, but losing everything on a failed desynth and knowing that I can lose progress in one class if I go to far in the other feel bad

[gentlemisfit]

If they tie the desynth with crafting levels; it might be a real kick in the teeth to people who have bothered to lvl desynth levels but not crafting levels past 30. for eg. fishers who lvl cul desynth but not cul. (If i'm understanding this correctly) to be suddenly behind a lvl 80 cul.

[Ardox]

If they tie the desynth with crafting levels; it might be a real kick in the teeth to people who have bothered to lvl desynth levels but not crafting levels past 30. for eg. fishers who lvl cul desynth but not cul. (If i'm understanding this correctly) to be suddenly behind a lvl 80 cul.

Yeah they would, though I wonder if there's a lot of people who are in that exact situation.

Personally I'd see the crafter level have a impact on what can actually be desynth (like giving at least 1% on items that are 10 levels below your level). Coupled with my 2nd proposition, it would mean a level 80 crafter you could desynth SB gear and start putting points in their desynth skill more easily.

[RinaShinomiya]

If they tie the desynth with crafting levels; it might be a real kick in the teeth to people who have bothered to lvl desynth levels but not crafting levels past 30. for eg. fishers who lvl cul desynth but not cul. (If i'm understanding this correctly) to be suddenly behind a lvl 80 cul.

Considering SE's answer to the overmeld question was basically "if you don't like bothering other people to overmeld, level Crafters in your spare time instead" I'd think that they would prefer that outcome since it adds a second incentive to go for these classes.

[Nabril]

I agree with this change. I think it's enough that I have spent months and millions leveling up my crafting jobs. Why do I have to also spend months and millions leveling up crafting related abilities?

Wouldn't that be similar to leveling up a Black Mage and having to then level up your spells too? When does it end? How many millions do I have to dump into crafting just to unlock it all?

Sorry, there's nothing that will make me not agree with this change. I have 4 level 70+ crafting jobs, 1 level 60+, and 3 level 50+. I want the light at the end of this tunnel!