What's the reasoning behind bound equipment

GrimMauKin

I've never played a MMO before, so excuse me if I'm being ignorant, but is there a reason for equipment becoming bound to a player on use so that it can't be used by other players? It seems a bit of a shame having to dismantle a hand crafted piece of kit when it could be given away or sold on. I would have thought that there'd be a vibrant second hand market, especially when a player's own kit is more likely to have been improved than crafted for sale items.

Super_Sonico

lol But there's no real market in the first place. Only guild markets. Welcome to ESO.

dennissomb16_ESO

It is very common in MMOs. This game is pretty reasonable compared to most MMOs. Reality is, bound gear adds to the longevity of game play in MMOs as you need to always go play for gear for alts, etc. vs simply buying/handing down old gear to others. At the high end of gear it is designed so people have to go do whatever it is (quest, raids etc.) for that special gear vs simply buying it off an auction house

ers101284b14_ESO

GrimMauKin wrote: »

I've never played a MMO before, so excuse me if I'm being ignorant, but is there a reason for equipment becoming bound to a player on use so that it can't be used by other players? It seems a bit of a shame having to dismantle a hand crafted piece of kit when it could be given away or sold on. I would have thought that there'd be a vibrant second hand market, especially when a player's own kit is more likely to have been improved than crafted for sale items.

Certain Items shouldn't be sold. They put in things like raids and trials so that you will do them for the equipment. If someone can run a trial and then sell the equipment then whats the point of another person running the trial? It's a way for you to get something special by completing a task. It also keeps people from just buying the equipment and not doing any content then complaining there is nothing to do. Not sure how else to explain it or if that answers it t your satisfaction.

tordr86b16_ESO

bound items can be stored in the guild bank and another character can pick it up and use it, no other mmorpg (that i have played anyways) has done this.

GrimMauKin

I haven't done a Trial but equipment that's given in response to completing a quest or activity can still be sold unless it's been used first and consequently becomes bound to a player.

In a way crafted equipment is the same; I could craft armour/weapons for someone (either for a friend our to sell) that would give an advantage without that player 'putting in the effort'; I'm just a little unsure why using it first puts it out of bounds.

firstdecan

Bound is a means of putting limitations on the general availability of a particular type of item. Once it's bound it cannot be given to another player, so items are recycled less. One thought on why is that it helps keep rare items rare by preventing redistribution to other players.

In this game I don't think it makes much sense. The crafted items are generally the best ones you can get, and those can be made into perpetuity. The only thing that makes them bound is cosmetic customizations (dyes or convert to Imperial), which isn't something that would affect game balance.

It makes sense that that dropped sets are bound, but they are bind on equip, not bind on pickup. Distribution is not particularly impacted by that, since most players will simply trade the item before they wear it.

So specifically, the bound mechanic is a means of limiting the distribution of items intended to be rare. The effective use of it in this game is somewhat debatable (a minor criticism).

starkerealm

tordr86b16_ESO wrote: »

bound items can be stored in the guild bank and another character can pick it up and use it, no other mmorpg (that i have played anyways) has done this.

Wait, in the guild bank? Or just in the account bank?

Anyway, this is a pretty standard MMO mechanic. ESO is a lot more friendly about it than most games, because, as others have pointed out, it's all account bound, so you can always move bound gear to appropriate alts. It's also fairly common for games to bind everything above white rarity to that character on equip, and bind all quest rewards on pickup. So being able to use a purple, and then pass it to another character is kind of insane.

Attorneyatlawl

GrimMauKin wrote: »

I've never played a MMO before, so excuse me if I'm being ignorant, but is there a reason for equipment becoming bound to a player on use so that it can't be used by other players? It seems a bit of a shame having to dismantle a hand crafted piece of kit when it could be given away or sold on. I would have thought that there'd be a vibrant second hand market, especially when a player's own kit is more likely to have been improved than crafted for sale items.

In an online game you can have one of two popular ways to control items from becoming trivially common:

1.) They decay with use and eventually are destroyed, removing them from both players and the economy, to make new goods needed.

or

2.) They bind when used and thus cannot be passed around like candy, thus being removed from the economy and making new goods needed for people.

Without one of those two primary methods of item inflation control, you destroy any achievement possible in the game other than simply playing for fun as all items become trivial to earn, buy, or obtain, and last forever without repercussion.

Attorneyatlawl

tordr86b16_ESO wrote: »

bound items can be stored in the guild bank and another character can pick it up and use it, no other mmorpg (that i have played anyways) has done this.

No, they can not be stored in a guild bank, just your account's. Allowing that alone is an incredibly lenient system though and allows your alts to use gear from your main with ease.

nerevarine1138

GrimMauKin wrote: »

I haven't done a Trial but equipment that's given in response to completing a quest or activity can still be sold unless it's been used first and consequently becomes bound to a player.

In a way crafted equipment is the same; I could craft armour/weapons for someone (either for a friend our to sell) that would give an advantage without that player 'putting in the effort'; I'm just a little unsure why using it first puts it out of bounds.

Not exactly.

You can craft equipment for someone, but they're still putting in some kind of effort (either they put in the effort of being your friend in real life and being nice enough to warrant such a good gift) or they're a paying customer at your crafting service.

Once you've equipped an item, the assumption is that you're using it. The goal of binding equipment is to prevent people from using items for a specific period of time and then selling said items when they get bored of them. That way, they don't benefit twice from the same item.