The Research Problem

Daemon55 · February 2019

Let me just start this by stating that I do not enjoy crafting. Not just this game but in any game. It’s just not fun to me. I am currently working on leveling my crafting though to be able to craft sets for my characters.
I think that the Research system needs some work. The length of time it take to research one trait is ridiculous. Add to that the fact that for some reason I have to research the same trait again for another piece of the same armor type. Not only that but researching destroys the item without giving me any mats back or giving me the xp to I’d get from deconstructing it.
I think that if I research a trait on a piece of medium gear that trait should be unlocked for medium armor as well as grant decent xp for researching and mats for destroying a piece of gear. It would really reduce the grind that leveling crafting is.

JKorr · February 2019

Depends on how you look at it.

The time it takes to research one trait, actually the first few traits, for a piece of gear is only a few hours. Each trait for that piece of gear will take longer. Considering how you feel about the research time required, why not get someone who already has a crafter to make your gear for you? Do the crafts you don't need to research traits for, like alchemy, enchanting and provisioning.

I'm only suggesting this because, by the time you get to the 9th trait, the time required is about 30 days. About 30 days each for each piece of armor and weapon if you research the 9th trait. The research time for jewelry traits is worse.

I never really thought about not getting mats back for researching. Not when I picked up so many items just doing normal questing, and the rewards from the fighters and mages' dailies.

tmbrinks · February 2019

You do also get inspiration for researching traits as well, which is your XP towards the next level. The research is also passive, so you dont have to actively be on for it to progress, only takes a few seconds to start the next item.

Jayne_Doe · February 2019

JKorr wrote: »

Depends on how you look at it.

The time it takes to research one trait, actually the first few traits, for a piece of gear is only a few hours. Each trait for that piece of gear will take longer. Considering how you feel about the research time required, why not get someone who already has a crafter to make your gear for you? Do the crafts you don't need to research traits for, like alchemy, enchanting and provisioning.

I'm only suggesting this because, by the time you get to the 9th trait, the time required is about 30 days. About 30 days each for each piece of armor and weapon if you research the 9th trait. The research time for jewelry traits is worse.

I never really thought about not getting mats back for researching. Not when I picked up so many items just doing normal questing, and the rewards from the fighters and mages' dailies.

The jewelry trait research time is about the same as Woodworking. People think it's worse since there isn't any passive that lets you research more than one piece at a time. But, since there are only rings and necklaces, it takes about the same time as researching all woodworking pieces (with the appropriate passives).

After 5 years, they aren't going to shorten the times further or eliminate the grind in any other way - other than the research scrolls in the crown store and from the Master Writ vendor.

Also, keep in mind that a lot of the good sets (Hundings & Julianos, e.g.) only require that 6 traits be learned on any given piece. So, you can work on learning 6 traits on the armor/weapons you'll want to craft and then can either stop or continue researching the additional traits. You'll also want to be sure that you put points into the research passives, which increase the number of items you can research (up to 3 in Blacksmithing, Clothing, and Woodworking) and reducing the research time by 25% and a cap of 30 days (including Jewelry).

Crafting is an investment of time and resources and requires patience. If you're not up for it, then as someone else suggested, you may want to find a crafter who can craft gear for you.

Daemon55 · February 2019

See I don’t think anyone should have to slog through a grind in a game like you’re at work. 30 days to research one trait? How is that reasonable at all? 24 hours is bad enough. Crafting should take time invested to achieve the max level but the amount of time currently is nuts. Absolutely bonkers.

Daemon55 · February 2019

That means to have the 9th trait unlocked for light and medium armor it’ll take 5 months. 5 freaking months just for 1 trait. Nah. That’s absurd.

Starlock · February 2019

It's definitely a weird system. I'm not a fan of it either, but given crafting research has been in its present state for quite a while now, I don't anticipate it is going to be changed.

idk · February 2019

1. OP would not like crafting regardless and even states that.
2. OP seems to want things to be easy and yes, basically alludes to that as well.
3. You can buy research speed ups in the crown store.

Honestly, upset research takes time, destroys the piece without giving stuff back and just seems to want things fast and easy.

So buy research speedups in the crown store if you want it fast and easy. Deal with losing the piece you research. This is not going to he changing.

Jayne_Doe · February 2019

Daemon55 wrote: »

See I don’t think anyone should have to slog through a grind in a game like you’re at work. 30 days to research one trait? How is that reasonable at all? 24 hours is bad enough. Crafting should take time invested to achieve the max level but the amount of time currently is nuts. Absolutely bonkers.

Daemon55 wrote: »

That means to have the 9th trait unlocked for light and heavy armor it’ll take 5 months. 5 freaking months just for 1 trait. Nah. That’s absurd.

I don't disagree with you that it takes a LOT of time, but it's not really WORK is it? You just have to find the trait piece to research, which can be dropped from mobs or purchased from a guild trader. Plus, there are many players who are willing to craft most trait items for free or with just the supply of mats.

There is some work to be done to level your crafts in order to unlock the research passives. You'll need to be able to research 3 traits at a time, and even then, it'll take almost a year, unless you use research scrolls.

It's the way it's been since launch, and I really don't think they're going to change it. For whatever reason, they want crafting to take a long time. If the crafted sets were better overall, I could see that, but there are very few that are competitive with dropped gear.

That's why I suggested just getting to 6 traits with the items you will use, since that will give you access to two of the best crafted sets (Julianos and Hundings).

Whether you think it should take this long or not won't change anything. You're not the first to complain about the long research times. Players have been complaining about this since launch.

macsmooth · February 2019

Yeah it took me a full year to do every research item that’s without eso+ at the time it wasn’t fun and I’ve only done it on one toon I will not be doing it on any other toon

I’m glad that jewellery wasn’t this bad

It wasn’t a fun thing but it was worth it in the end

Taleof2Cities · February 2019

As mentioned above, @Daemon55, crafting is completely optional to gameplay.

If you don’t enjoy it then by all means don’t do it ... and get another crafter to make gear for you.

But, if you’re going to go through with finishing trait research, then no free passes ... everyone else has done it and so can you.

I have three (3) nine-trait crafters and working on a fourth. So, players can do it with some patience. Those research time boosts are there in the crown store (if needed).

The rewards are nice, though. Just made a set of blue Willow’s Path jewelry on my lowbie (level 26) Health Tank ... to supplement a double Willow’s Path sword and board.

JKorr · February 2019

Jayne_Doe wrote: »

JKorr wrote: »

Depends on how you look at it.

The time it takes to research one trait, actually the first few traits, for a piece of gear is only a few hours. Each trait for that piece of gear will take longer. Considering how you feel about the research time required, why not get someone who already has a crafter to make your gear for you? Do the crafts you don't need to research traits for, like alchemy, enchanting and provisioning.

I'm only suggesting this because, by the time you get to the 9th trait, the time required is about 30 days. About 30 days each for each piece of armor and weapon if you research the 9th trait. The research time for jewelry traits is worse.

I never really thought about not getting mats back for researching. Not when I picked up so many items just doing normal questing, and the rewards from the fighters and mages' dailies.

The jewelry trait research time is about the same as Woodworking. People think it's worse since there isn't any passive that lets you research more than one piece at a time. But, since there are only rings and necklaces, it takes about the same time as researching all woodworking pieces (with the appropriate passives).

After 5 years, they aren't going to shorten the times further or eliminate the grind in any other way - other than the research scrolls in the crown store and from the Master Writ vendor.

Also, keep in mind that a lot of the good sets (Hundings & Julianos, e.g.) only require that 6 traits be learned on any given piece. So, you can work on learning 6 traits on the armor/weapons you'll want to craft and then can either stop or continue researching the additional traits. You'll also want to be sure that you put points into the research passives, which increase the number of items you can research (up to 3 in Blacksmithing, Clothing, and Woodworking) and reducing the research time by 25% and a cap of 30 days (including Jewelry).

Crafting is an investment of time and resources and requires patience. If you're not up for it, then as someone else suggested, you may want to find a crafter who can craft gear for you.

If you don't take the passives to cut down on the research time for jewelry, its 60 days each for ring and necklace for the last trait, iirc.

I know the passives cut down on the time. I wasn't in any particular hurry, and didn't want to invest the skill points and then have to respec to get them back after the research was done. For someone who doesn't have the extra skill points to invest, the amount of time might be a consideration.

JKorr · February 2019

Daemon55 wrote: »

That means to have the 9th trait unlocked for light and medium armor it’ll take 5 months. 5 freaking months just for 1 trait. Nah. That’s absurd.

It would be if you had to park your character at a crafting station for the full length of time to do the research.

Being able to start the research and then go play the game the way you normally do? Not so much. It does take a few minutes out of the playing time to make sure you're researching something. Once you do that though, you're done until the research completes. I currently have two 9 trait crafters out of a full roster of 15; all the others are, or will be shortly, 8 traits completed.

BringerOfOmens · February 2019

The first 2 weeks of trait researching can be hectic because of the short research times to maximize what you are getting done. At that point you can pretty much make all the sets you would really want to make. After that it is about the "commitment to crafting" which affects drop rates in writs for master writs and such.

If you are already frustrated with trait research you are really going to get frustrated with building up your recipe books.

It's a marathon, not a sprint.

LadySinflower · April 2019

If you only take the time to learn 6 traits, eventually your crafter is still going to reach max level. If you're doing writs, you're going to start getting some master writs. Most assuredly some of the master writs will ask for gear with traits you chose not to research. That's the only problem I can see with the suggestion to stop at 6 traits.

But if you hate crafting, you're probably not bothering with crafting writs. So it may not be an issue. That's a lost opportunity for some easy gold, but that's just my opinion.

If you're stopping at 6 traits, make sure you prioritize the most popular ones. If you miss out on doing Divines, for example, later you or someone you're making gear for may want Divines and you would have no way to immediately do it.

yRaven · April 2019

I'm want to get 6 Traits unlocked on every Medium Armor, and in the middle of the exchange from 4 traits on all to 5 traits on all. God. The 3 i'm searching are taking 4 Days to end, i can only thank that this month will have 3 Research Skips as Daily Rewards

yRaven · April 2019

LadySinflower wrote: »

If you're stopping at 6 traits, make sure you prioritize the most popular ones. If you miss out on doing Divines, for example, later you or someone you're making gear for may want Divines and you would have no way to immediately do it.

This. Try to focus on unlock Training, Divines and Impenetrable for Armor and Training, Infused and Precise to Weapons, for the rest you can go random

Wavek · April 2019

I agree it takes a long time but it is a effort vs reward thing. You can easily research the first few traits of every item pretty quickly. Very few sets need you to have 6 or more traits researched so you can get what you need pretty quick. If it comes down to the really long timers. Use an 'instant all research' scroll once you have all your slots filled with 'long timer' research.

silvermistktralasub17_ESO · April 2019

It's worth noting, too, that you can buy the research scrolls for the traits in the guild stores (they only drop a day at a time, and have a day cooldown, so double speed, effectively), so it's no where near as bad as it could be. That's even just looking at 'gold only' solutions. I

DaveMoeDee · April 2019

OP is misinformed. Research DOES give you inspiration/crafting XP.

Research is also pretty casual. Sure, it takes too long. But it isn't grindy. It is just slow.

It does get grindy if you are doing research on a lot of alts at the same time. But everything is grindy if you do it on 10+ characters at the same time.

If OP wants to craft sets for characters, they should check how many traits they need for the sets they want and prioritize the pieces and traits they will need.

bmnoble · April 2019

Its suppose to take time to keep you playing the game, if your not planning to spend a lot of time playing, you should avoid crafting its a time/gold sink. There are plenty of guilds out there who will make you gear if you supply the mats and are specific about what you want.

To be honest the most of the 7 - 9 trait sets are awful and I rarely ever bother making them. More often they serve as place holders till I farm the dungeon sets I want which I then upgrade.

Most of what people ask for when they want me to craft something for them is all sets with 6 or fewer traits.

Usually I will get asked to make either Hundings, Julianos, Seducers and fortified brass. Either in Training, Impen, Infused or Divines.

For weapons its usually the same sets but with Infused, Sharpened, Nirnhoned traits.

But more often then not I will get asked: need light/medium/heavy armor, few moments later stam/mag build. no further details until I pry them out of the person.

I haven't finished all my research yet currently 9 traits in wood working almost 9 traits in jewelry, 9 traits in heavy armor, almost at 7 traits on blacksmith weapons, Light armor has a bit over a month to go and medium is almost all to 6 traits.

Even if you get all the traits researched that's only part of being a crafter, you still need to flesh out your motif collection. I have just reached the point where all that's left to buy are the expensive and stupidly expensive motifs. Got about 8 styles to go not including the crown store exclusives.

It cracked me up when someone in the one of the guilds I am in managed to get his hands on a Gold battleaxe of the Daedric trickery set, had a crappy trait and people were asking him where it dropped from. He got it in his mind that it was worth a fortune, thinking the set applied the 5 major buffs all at once every so many seconds instead of what it actually does which is apply a random trait for X amount of time then a cool down.

It took 3 crafters responding to him for him to realize it was worth the gold mat if that.

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO · April 2019

you dont need to craft any armor. none of the armor sets are better then what you can get by drops. yes, hundings is good but you can get better.

Killum · April 2019

Researching is not a problem it just takes time.

You don't have to stand by the table or even be in the game while you are researching traits. You can go off and play other aspects of the game while research continues in your absence regardless.

Patience is all the is really required.

david_m_18b16_ESO · April 2019

JKorr wrote: »

Depends on how you look at it.

The time it takes to research one trait, actually the first few traits, for a piece of gear is only a few hours. Each trait for that piece of gear will take longer. Considering how you feel about the research time required, why not get someone who already has a crafter to make your gear for you?

But you cant have someone transmutate gear for you.

So you need to research a lot of trait on a lot of stuff on every single character that you play.

I can get how sad this game can be for poeple who do not anjoy crafting.

You must level alchemy bcuz added time on pot is a game changer.

You need to do quite a bit of research and youll need to get your crafting quite high since researching traits 1 by 1 will be locking for months.

tmbrinks · April 2019

david_m_18b16_ESO wrote: »

JKorr wrote: »

Depends on how you look at it.

The time it takes to research one trait, actually the first few traits, for a piece of gear is only a few hours. Each trait for that piece of gear will take longer. Considering how you feel about the research time required, why not get someone who already has a crafter to make your gear for you?

But you cant have someone transmutate gear for you.

So you need to research a lot of trait on a lot of stuff on every single character that you play.

I can get how sad this game can be for poeple who do not anjoy crafting.

You must level alchemy bcuz added time on pot is a game changer.

You need to do quite a bit of research and youll need to get your crafting quite high since researching traits 1 by 1 will be locking for months.

why do you need to research it on every character? transmutation doesn't character bind the gear... only account bound... you can still transfer it through your bank to a "crafter". Sure, it's convenient to be able to do it on any character, but by no means a necessity.

HalvarIronfist · May 2019

Personally, as a 9 trait on PS4, and almost 9 trait on PC once more.

I love crafting, I love how useful it is in ESO. But The longer research times are a bit over the top. Am I playing a bad phone MMO? 27 days (ESO +, Maxed out research timer upgrades) for a single. (Or 3) trait(s)?

Meh. That's my only gripe about the timers. Sure I can speed them up every 20 hours if I want to waste my writ vouchers on scrolls instead of anything I'd preferably want. Or I could pay money.. to reduce a timer.. Yay phone-mmo idea!

As for crafted sets. Personally, I don't see half of the 7th/8th trait crafted sets even used. It's a joke. When I take crafting requests in 90% of cases, people only seem to want Hundings, or Julianos, and sometimes Innate Axiom.

While they are good sets, if the rest are so poorly represented, or have low use.. You think ZOS would give them some attention by now.