71 replies to this topic

[Eon Lilu]

Ecto's?


Does anyone else feel ecto's are over used in the game in general for too many things?

Lets just say for example you would like a legendary, an exotic skin thats hard to get, upgraded ascended items maybe some other things, well your looking at anything from 500-1000+ ecto's....

Upgrading Ascended items 250-500+ ecto's each...
Legendary's 500+ ecto's each....
Crafted Exotics
A billion kazillion amount of mystic forge recipe's for crazy expensive exotics 250 ecto's + each....
Many other things that use ecto's

So someone who does not care about legendary's, ascended or exotic skins well this does not effect you but there goes about 1000 hours of gameplay and pretty much the only thing to aim for long term in the game...

Those who do want to aim for legendary's, ascended, exotics skins, other things etc this does effect you and could tally up to needing a few thousand ecto's before you know it...

So do you think ecto's are used by arena net too much in the game for too many things? With prices rising up to 40 silver and what looks like more ascended items being brought into the game requiring 250 ecto's everytime to be infused etc, plus legendarys, plus mystic forge recipe's all seem to require ecto's, do you think it's a little over the top?

Then you have the "mysterious ecto drop and rare's nerf", everyone discusses it and talks about how they are noticing alot worse salvage rates and rare drops since past few patches, trying to get hundreds of ecto's without just buying them off the trading post seems to be getting harder and harder. Is this to drive more players to the gem store and gems to gold? Get players to put more time into the game? Or is it just in people's heads and there is no nerf and Arena Net are telling the truth?

Would be nice to see something required besides ecto's for everything in the future.

Edited by Eon Lilu, 14 February 2013 - 04:59 PM.

[Khrushchev]

Most of the things that require lots of ecto are optional. Legendaries are optional, infusing ascended backpieces is only really neccesary past lv 30 fractals, and serves no purpose elsewhere, Mystic Forge recipes are just cosmetic rewards, and a full set of Exotic armor costs 30 ecto, which takes maybe 1-3 weeks to get. That's max gear in a few weeks, and it's not even the only way to get said max gear (Dungeons spit out exotic armor like a child on a Summer afternoon spits out watermelon seeds).

Also, please elaborate on these "Many other things that use ecto's" because beyond crafting the things you've already mentioned, I can't think of any.

Regardless, ecto is the higher level base crafting material, you have a chance at it from EVERY rare or exotic you salvage. I haven't found any reason to think there was a stealth nerf of the droprate. People get lucky, people get unlucky. Just this week I salvaged 6 rares I got from fractals and got 3 ecto, but someone else in my party salvaged 4 and got 7. It's unfortunate, but it's by no means solid evidence that the droprate has been reduced.

Edited by Khrushchev, 14 February 2013 - 05:15 PM.

[Eon Lilu]

Khrushchev, on 14 February 2013 - 05:11 PM, said:

Most of the things that require lots of ecto are optional. Legendaries are optional, infusing ascended backpieces is only really neccesary past lv 30 fractals, and serves no purpose elsewhere, Mystic Forge recipes are just cosmetic rewards, and a full set of Exotic armor costs 30 ecto, which takes maybe 1-3 weeks to get. That's max gear in a few weeks, and it's not even the only way to get said max gear (Dungeons spit out exotic armor like a child on a Summer afternoon spits out watermelon seeds).

Also, please elaborate on these "Many other things that use ecto's" because beyond crafting the things you've already mentioned, I can't think of any.

I knew someone would bring up the old..."it's your choice and optional" argument which is flawed because it's part of the game and they would not have put it in the game if they did not want players to aim for it....but I covered it anyway in my post.

Eon Lilu, on 14 February 2013 - 04:55 PM, said:

So someone who does not care about legendary's, ascended or exotic skins well this does not effect you but there goes about 1000 hours of gameplay and pretty much the only thing to aim for long term in the game...

As for the "other things" that require ecto's I was refering to some things that require 1 ecto or a small amount here and there but add to the total overall market by alot.

Edited by Eon Lilu, 14 February 2013 - 05:15 PM.

[ShezuTsukai]

Anet needs to add ectos to a creature's drop. GW1 ectos were the only reason to go to the UW more than once.

Speaking of UW, why do we see old UW creatures and they no longer drop ectos? I'd go do the swamp event a lot more if the Aatxes dropped what they used to drop.

And yes it is illogical for every exotic and higher item to require a boat load of ectos when we can only get them from items.

[Mastruq]

Ectos are just a catch-all item anyway. The plus side is they are interchangeable for various things, instead of each item creation avenue using their own item.

This topic wouldnt come up if you only needed globs of ectoplasm for the mystic forge, but instead piles of divine powder for crafting, vials of stardust for the legendary, flask of ambrosia for whatever else and so on. Then whichever item you end up is only useful for one thing, so you need to trade them off and buy the one you need. Its more effort and a bigger money/tink sink that way. Come to think of it I would prefer it that way but I assume the average player likes the versatility of ectos over what i described here.

ShezuTsukai, on 14 February 2013 - 05:26 PM, said:

Anet needs to add ectos to a creature's drop. GW1 ectos were the only reason to go to the UW more than once.

Speaking of UW, why do we see old UW creatures and they no longer drop ectos? I'd go do the swamp event a lot more if the Aatxes dropped what they used to drop.

And yes it is illogical for every exotic and higher item to require a boat load of ectos when we can only get them from items.

Creatures drop ectos already, just with the intermediate step of obtaining them from the rares/exotics through salvage. Your suggestion is as easily achieved by raising drop rates. I disagree with it though because the constant demand for something to be cheaper/faster/easier will never end, so might as well stop it here and now.

Edited by Mastruq, 14 February 2013 - 05:31 PM.

[Khrushchev]

Eon Lilu, on 14 February 2013 - 05:14 PM, said:

I knew someone would bring up the old..."it's your choice and optional" argument which is flawed because it's part of the game and they would not have put it in the game if they did not want players to aim for it....but I covered it anyway in my post.



As for the "other things" that require ecto's I was refering to some things that require 1 ecto or a small amount here and there but add to the total overall market by alot.

They put achievement tracks like Supply Caravan kills in, which someone who did the math notes would take decades to complete if all you did all day long (Without breaks for food, hygiene, sleep) and were not interrupted by other players. I heavily doubt they expect anyone to complete that title track in the form it is in right now, but it sure is in the game.

Literally the only thing I can think about that requires ecto OTHER than the things that have already been stated are upgrading Vials of Condensed Mists Essence -> Globs of Condensed Mists Essence and similarly Globs->Shards, which is pointless, as you can get Globs and Shards from higher level fractals. I do fractals casually, and I have 23 Shards just sitting in my bank doing nothing.

The reality is that the things that require ecto and few and far between, and the sources for ecto are literally every single thing you do at level 80. Everything you do has the chance to drop a Rare, which are salvaged for ecto.

[El Duderino]

Eon Lilu, on 14 February 2013 - 05:14 PM, said:

I knew someone would bring up the old..."it's your choice and optional" argument which is flawed because it's part of the game and they would not have put it in the game if they did not want players to aim for it....but I covered it anyway in my post.

Not for nothing, but if you want to use that argument against the "optional" argument, it can certainly be part of the argument against ecto's as well. Here goes:

I knew someone would bring up the old..."ecto's are over used argument which is flawed because it is part of the game and they would not put it in the game if they did not intend for players to make these items with ectos.

You can't be picky and use that argument to defend yours while it simultaneously breaks your argument as well.

I'm not saying that you are right or wrong either, I am simply saying that choosing to dismiss someone else's argument because it is "in the game" pretty much destroys your argument as well. You need to come up with something better.

Edited by El Duderino, 14 February 2013 - 05:44 PM.

[Lunacy Polish]

They did used to be cheaper and easier to come by it seems.  Ectos are nearly double what they used to be.  Mass bot bans at work perhaps?

Any more I just do dungeon runs buy exotics I do not need with the tokens and salvage them with a Black Lion kit.  This does not keep me swimming in them by any means but at least I can score some when I want to.

[Krazzar]

Eon Lilu, on 14 February 2013 - 05:14 PM, said:

I knew someone would bring up the old..."it's your choice and optional" argument which is flawed because it's part of the game and they would not have put it in the game if they did not want players to aim for it....but I covered it anyway in my post.

As for the "other things" that require ecto's I was refering to some things that require 1 ecto or a small amount here and there but add to the total overall market by alot.

Unfortunately it is your logic that is flawed. Not everything in the game is aimed at every single player. The game has many, many paths you can take depending on what is important to you. For example, there are many cosmetic options for armor and weapons, but for someone that only cares about stats the cosmetic rewards are irrelevant. Having so many options only means they try to cater to a wide set of players with different interests, not that everyone must do everything. If you want the bare minimum you don't even need a rare set of armor or weapons to survive in the game, functionally the needs are set very low and don't even require ectos.

Even assuming you need ectos if you do pretty much any content near or at level you can get all the ectos you need quite easily for exotic armor, weapons, and jewlery, unless you sell all your materials and haven't finished a single crafting profession.

ShezuTsukai, on 14 February 2013 - 05:26 PM, said:

Anet needs to add ectos to a creature's drop. GW1 ectos were the only reason to go to the UW more than once.

Speaking of UW, why do we see old UW creatures and they no longer drop ectos? I'd go do the swamp event a lot more if the Aatxes dropped what they used to drop.

And yes it is illogical for every exotic and higher item to require a boat load of ectos when we can only get them from items.

You can easily generate ectos by crafting using materials you get by the boatload for just playing the game. You can't make hundreds of ectos at a time, but it isn't a grind if you actually play the game. By now I must have used a whole stack of ectos without buying a single one.

[Dasviidonja]

I don't think requiring a lot of ectos for the top end gear is over the top. You're not suppose to get everything in a week or a month. It should take years to get that stuff imho. Of course you're going to have your rich kids who are just going to buy them with real life money but you just have to deal with that. Play the game, enjoy the ride, quit thinking everything should be handed to you on a silver platter within your time limits and not the time limits of the game.

Quote

but for someone that only cares about stats the cosmetic rewards are irrelevant.

Yes, now you've got it right as that would be me. I don't see the point in wasting time and money on cosmetics. In GW1 though I had millions in value I never once bought a 15k armor set as it just wasn't worth it. Big deal it looks different but it didn't give me any more power than a 1500gp set that imo looked better than a lot of the 15k junk. I never got a tormented weapon or a destroyer weapon for the same reasons, had the money just didn't see a reason to waste it on a cosmetic weapon. Which brings me to the sad part of this game, without vertical progression there's no need to go after anything on the higher tiers either. Stuff has to have more power or it's just not worth playing for. Wealth also is no good if there's nothing really to spend it on.

Edited by Dasviidonja, 14 February 2013 - 07:27 PM.

[Eon Lilu]

El Duderino, on 14 February 2013 - 05:42 PM, said:

Not for nothing, but if you want to use that argument against the "optional" argument, it can certainly be part of the argument against ecto's as well. Here goes:

I knew someone would bring up the old..."ecto's are over used argument which is flawed because it is part of the game and they would not put it in the game if they did not intend for players to make these items with ectos.

You can't be picky and use that argument to defend yours while it simultaneously breaks your argument as well.

I'm not saying that you are right or wrong either, I am simply saying that choosing to dismiss someone else's argument because it is "in the game" pretty much destroys your argument as well. You need to come up with something better.

It does seem that ecto's are used alot in the game, I don't agree with those that say "it's optional" tbh, is like saying you don't need map completion, you don't need to pvp, you don't need to play WvW, you don't need to play guild wars 2...."it's optional".....just because anything is optional does not take away anything from the debate or current argument being brought up, just to say or tell someone, "it's optional" is not addressing anything that people do not already know.

Plus as stated twice now, I already said this does not effect those that choose not to aim for these types of goals in the game since they are "optionally" choosing not to aim for them....it does effect those that are "optionally" choosing to go after those goals though. Let's try to stick to the topic and not discuss a topic of why the topic is about the topic because of the topic? ok? lol

Quote

So someone who does not care about legendary's, ascended or exotic skins well this does not effect you but there goes about 1000 hours of gameplay and pretty much the only thing to aim for long term goals in the game...

Edited by Leyana, 14 February 2013 - 11:08 PM.
Quoting deleted post

[Nabuko Darayon]

Here's my theory.... ANet gave us first few months "cheap". They used those data to make a plan for future. They've noticed people getting too fast stuff like Legendary and others and now they're adjusting for the future players. They made a goal that for a Legendary you'd need 6+months of just grinding the stuff (regardless of other activities) and that's what they're working on.
If they're going to make weapon skins "special" they have to make them harder to get. Although I do not agree with so many Ectos for a simple Infusion I do agree it's need for unique weapon skins.. Same goes for T6 mats.
If they're going to give you a Precursor "for free" they will make other parts harder to achieve so they fulfill that 6+months quota.

The reason why those simple infusions are so expensive right now is still a mystery but I bet there will be a reason that's going to be unveiled in the future. My bet is that they'll make 1 part of the precursor hunt achiveable by doing lvl 100/200 or more in the Fractals where they'll force you to get those Infusions to get to the next level.

I wish I'm wrong. I'd be totally happy if I get this wrong, but I doubt it,

[Fizzypop]

Yeah and I feel the same way about the mystic forge. It seems like they aren't trying at all...

[Swoopeh]

El Duderino, on 14 February 2013 - 05:42 PM, said:

I'm not saying that you are right or wrong either, I am simply saying that choosing to dismiss someone else's argument because it is "in the game" pretty much destroys your argument as well. You need to come up with something better.

But that's like... your opinion man.

Sorry I couldn't resist

On topic: I do agree that they could have added some more mats to get some variation in. Then again there's still a lot of content to come and I'm pretty sure more of these sort of mats will be added. The question is whether those will be tiered (ie the next step up from ectos) or on the same tier but for different items and different ways to get them. Tbh I don't mind the ectos so much, those are actually pretty easy to get in various ways. It's the 250 of certain T6 mats that really do my head in. blood for example is now around 30s and going up. Besides just buying them (which does cost a lot of gold for a single item), the only way to get them is from mobs/bags with a ridiculous drop rate. In the time I've collected 25 bloods I've gotten 75 ectos.

Edited by Leyana, 14 February 2013 - 11:09 PM.
No

[jthamind]

i'm getting tired of grinding for mats in general. every time i want something new, it's not "i wonder what difficult challenge i'll have to overcome to EARN this weapon or piece of gear." you know, like a real game would have. no, instead it's, "what's the checklist of mats that i'll have to grind for to throw them all in a forge/crafting station? or how many tokens do i need? or how much gold do i need?"

when it comes to the optional stuff, everything is about grinding for either mats, tokens, or gold. now, you don't HAVE to grind all of those. you can get a plain looking set of exotic gear and weapons and play WvW and do dungeons just fine. or you can PvP just fine without grinding, or get world completion without grinding, etc etc.

but the real draw of games like these are things that you "earn" after you've beaten the main portion of the game. and these things aren't REALLY earned, they're just grind checklists.

i've actually started doing jump puzzles and other achievements lately just because i want to feel like i'm genuinely earning something for once in this game. at least with achievements, i have to do a unique task for a reward.

Edited by jthamind, 14 February 2013 - 10:09 PM.

[Sans]

I'm sure you'll be going for "Ultimate Sentinel" because it's part of the game, just like all the other WvW titles.

[Eon Lilu]

jthamind, on 14 February 2013 - 10:07 PM, said:

i'm getting tired of grinding for mats in general. every time i want something new, it's not "i wonder what difficult challenge i'll have to overcome to EARN this weapon or piece of gear." you know, like a real game would have. no, instead it's, "what's the checklist of mats that i'll have to grind for to throw them all in a forge/crafting station? or how many tokens do i need? or how much gold do i need?"

when it comes to the optional stuff, everything is about grinding for either mats, tokens, or gold. now, you don't HAVE to grind all of those. you can get a plain looking set of exotic gear and weapons and play WvW and do dungeons just fine. or you can PvP just fine without grinding, or get world completion without grinding, etc etc.

but the real draw of games like these are things that you "earn" after you've beaten the main portion of the game. and these things aren't REALLY earned, they're just grind checklists.

i've actually started doing jump puzzles and other achievements lately just because i want to feel like i'm genuinely earning something for once in this game. at least with achievements, i have to do a unique task for a reward.

This is pretty much how im feeling at this point, Gw2 does not feel like were earning anything except for grinding dailys, mats, gold or tokens. Would be cool to have some more epic story's or scavenger hunt type gameplay, like the black moa chick in GW1, I really felt like I earned that lol, or sorrow's furnace was pretty cool. Like you said the grind checklists are getting kind of stale.

Edited by Eon Lilu, 14 February 2013 - 11:11 PM.

[Sword Hammer Axe]

Yeah, seeing as they're used for every exotic crafting, I'd kind of like at least a reason why that is.

Ectoplasm was highly sought after in Guild Wars 1 to the point it became a secondary currency, but it was used to craft only a single set of armor. There was even a reason as to why this particular material was needed, although you had to read into it to see that reason.

But in Guild Wars 2 we have no idea why the globs create top class items. We have no idea why so many high level items are apparently coated in this rare material. Wouldn't it make sense if someone asked themself, "What is it with these globs of ectoplasm and the absurd power they possess?"

[Dasviidonja]

Nabuko Darayon, on 14 February 2013 - 09:40 PM, said:

Here's my theory.... ANet gave us first few months "cheap". They used those data to make a plan for future. They've noticed people getting too fast stuff like Legendary and others and now they're adjusting for the future players. They made a goal that for a Legendary you'd need 6+months of just grinding the stuff (regardless of other activities) and that's what they're working on.
If they're going to make weapon skins "special" they have to make them harder to get. Although I do not agree with so many Ectos for a simple Infusion I do agree it's need for unique weapon skins.. Same goes for T6 mats.
If they're going to give you a Precursor "for free" they will make other parts harder to achieve so they fulfill that 6+months quota.

The reason why those simple infusions are so expensive right now is still a mystery but I bet there will be a reason that's going to be unveiled in the future. My bet is that they'll make 1 part of the precursor hunt achiveable by doing lvl 100/200 or more in the Fractals where they'll force you to get those Infusions to get to the next level.

I wish I'm wrong. I'd be totally happy if I get this wrong, but I doubt it,

Remember GW1 and Factions and the amount of points required to get maximum level of friendship with the Kurzick or Luxon? It's a comin to GW2 I bet in the way you're thinking. If I recall it was something like 10 million and players screamed that was too high. lol

[Dasviidonja]

Sword Hammer Axe, on 14 February 2013 - 11:38 PM, said:

Yeah, seeing as they're used for every exotic crafting, I'd kind of like at least a reason why that is.

Ectoplasm was highly sought after in Guild Wars 1 to the point it became a secondary currency, but it was used to craft only a single set of armor. There was even a reason as to why this particular material was needed, although you had to read into it to see that reason.

But in Guild Wars 2 we have no idea why the globs create top class items. We have no idea why so many high level items are apparently coated in this rare material. Wouldn't it make sense if someone asked themself, "What is it with these globs of ectoplasm and the absurd power they possess?"

I think the reason behind Anet's reason is to not let ectos become what they were in GW1 ....currency. You have to use them in this game and not horde them or is it  hoard them? I never could get which was which right. lol Ectos became currency in GW1 because they were not needed except for that one set of armor but they maintained their value in the market and they made it easier to transfer items to other players for items valued at more than 100k. A stack of ectos now is equal to about 1,625,000 and sometimes 1,750,000 but the fact you can put like 8 stacks in a trade window you can see how easy it is to use them for high value items.

[Nabuko Darayon]

Globs of ectoplasm were logical in GW1 as they dropped in UW and FoW (they dropped in The Mists from ghostly/shadowly creatures) but in GW2 I just can't find the sense in them... sorry but that's just how it is.

Yeah I know ectos could've been bought but still  only place the dropped was the above places and you felt like they were part of something bigger. Now every "cool" looking weapon requires ectos, even if not related to the Mists in any way (except for few ones)

[The Condor]

There's several issues with how ectos work right now.  It doesn't matter that ectos are used mostly for cosmetic items, because they're still used for non-cosmetic items and have gone up in price to the point that crafting exotics isn't the best course of action.

My first lvl 80 is in crafted exotics, but none of them since then.  It's easier to run dungeons for gear or save up jugs of karma for karma gear.  Especially now that I can get exotic karma jewelry.  I just always thought that crafting would be the easiest way to get max stat gear as opposed to dungeon gear, and that's not the case for me at least.

The problem I see is that the in-game economy is too overbearing on the rest of the game.  The people who play the Auction House have more money than people just playing the game.  We're all worried about the cost of items and how we can obtain them.  I want to get rewards by just playing the game.  Dungeon and Karma gear reward you for playing the game, no need for the AC there.

I think A-net sees this problem too, that's why they added laurels.  It'll be even better when they improve the dailies.  What I'm saying is we don't need ectos to get most of what's needed in the game, at least not now.  Hopefully it'll keep improving as the game goes on, or have separate crafting requirements for your gear needs (exotics) and cosmetics (legendaries).

[Kurosov]

I agree they are overused as a material and in far too large quantities.

Although i find the generic use of them as a whole a little odd compared to gw1. Any rare of a certain level can salvage to ecto's, to max crafting disciplines you need ecto etc. It seems in the last 250 years that strange pink goo has become an everyday item on tyria. Gems i can understand, but ecto...it's just strange.

[Bloggi]

The Condor, on 15 February 2013 - 02:18 AM, said:

The people who play the Auction House have more money than people just playing the game.  We're all worried about the cost of items and how we can obtain them.  I want to get rewards by just playing the game.  Dungeon and Karma gear reward you for playing the game, no need for the AC there.

That's true, and threads like this are, humorously, going to cue price rises for the item being discussed, making the AH traders rich.

I'm also not convinced about the 'stealth nerfs' made to drop rates. My drops have actually been quite uniformly poor since the day of headstart...although admittedly if anything, it has improved of late.

[Humfly]

Lunacy Polish, on 14 February 2013 - 05:58 PM, said:

They did used to be cheaper and easier to come by it seems.  Ectos are nearly double what they used to be.  Mass bot bans at work perhaps?

They have quadrupled in price pretty much the same as every limited supply item desired by high level characters. More gold inflation than anything else.

IMO ectos have an important function and are working as intended. They cause rares and exotics to the salvaged and removed from the game world, they cause people to stuff greens and low level rares into the forge to get rares which can be salvaged for ecto.

Without ectos the TP would be full of greens, rares and unpopular exotics at not much more than vendor price. Ecto price sets a minimum price for rares and materials (especially T5 fine materials) which can be crafted into something from which ecto can be salvaged.

Ectos have a profound effect on the gameworld economy and I believe it is by design.

The forge's (or Lion's arch garbage disposal facility) ability to eat four mouthfuls of garbage and occasionally spit out something less garbage has a similar and equally profound effect

[Sword Hammer Axe]

Dasviidonja, on 15 February 2013 - 01:45 AM, said:

I think the reason behind Anet's reason is to not let ectos become what they were in GW1 ....currency. You have to use them in this game and not horde them or is it  hoard them? I never could get which was which right. lol Ectos became currency in GW1 because they were not needed except for that one set of armor but they maintained their value in the market and they made it easier to transfer items to other players for items valued at more than 100k. A stack of ectos now is equal to about 1,625,000 and sometimes 1,750,000 but the fact you can put like 8 stacks in a trade window you can see how easy it is to use them for high value items.

If that's their line of though, it seems a little redundant. The reason ectos became currency was exactly that 100 k limit, so the ectos became a stand in for money, being traded at around the price of the rare material traders. But seeing as that limit doesn't exist here in Guild Wars 2, there's no reason the ectos would become a secondary currency. In fact, with how the market works, it's impossible for there to even be a secondary currency, as you can't make actual trades with other people other than through the greatly flawed mail system.

[El Duderino]

Eon Lilu, on 14 February 2013 - 09:24 PM, said:

It does seem that ecto's are used alot in the game, I don't agree with those that say "it's optional" tbh, is like saying you don't need map completion, you don't need to pvp, you don't need to play WvW, you don't need to play guild wars 2...."it's optional".....just because anything is optional does not take away anything from the debate or current argument being brought up, just to say or tell someone, "it's optional" is not addressing anything that people do not already know.

Plus as stated twice now, I already said this does not effect those that choose not to aim for these types of goals in the game since they are "optionally" choosing not to aim for them....it does effect those that are "optionally" choosing to go after those goals though. Let's try to stick to the topic and not discuss a topic of why the topic is about the topic because of the topic? ok? lol

I don't really have an opinion as to whether there should be more or less items that require ectos. But, I would definitely agree that ectos are used in enough things to make their value continually creep upward, which means that the demand is outpacing the supply.

However, there are many creative ways of getting ectos. Salvaging rares is definitely one of them. In fact, a good way to earn some startup cash in this game is to buy rare armor and weapons off the trading post between lv 68-80 and salvage them for rares.

If you buy for the right price, it is a fairly easy and risk free way of gaining a few gold. Not necessarily the quickest way to gain gold, but certainly a good option for people with little to invest.

Swoopeh, on 14 February 2013 - 09:59 PM, said:

But that's like... your opinion man.

Sorry I couldn't resist

Good stuff!

[Testud0]

GUYS

WHAT IF WE COULD BUY ECTOS WITH LAURELS

[XPhiler]

If it wasnt ectos it would have to be something else. Thing is every MMO must provide rewards that keep you playing for a good while. In a vertical progression game its not hard to do. You lock gear behind content that requires a previous tier to complete and you limit the drop rates / times you can run that dungeon.  So for example If I want mock armor set A to be achieveable in at least 6 months of gameplay I put it in a dungeon you can only run once a week that requires the highest tier of gear that might require a month to get and I tweak the drop rate so that the drop rate together will the spread will ensure that any person doing the will get an average of 1 piece every 4 runs.

Guild wars 2 isnt a pure vertical progression game so they cant do that. Instead they're slowing people down by limiting the drop rate of the stuff thats required to make that item. This must be really a lot of work since it needs to be balanced between various materials, drop rate of  those materials, alternative ways of getting those materials, player driven market etc... But in any case to tweak the speed in which you can get exotics, ascended or legendary its all about the required stuff to get those items. If it wasnt ectos it would be something else.

Testud0, on 15 February 2013 - 03:10 PM, said:

GUYS

WHAT IF WE COULD BUY ECTOS WITH LAURELS

technically you already can, buy gear boxes and salvage them.

[Alex Dimitri]

OP has a pretty good point !

For a item that doesn`t drop on it`s own (from mobs) it`s rather demanding thing to get hold of, and Anet really loves to spicy things up with figures that sometimes make your head spin !