Master writs drop rate broken

Glass

I never thought about doing a thread complaining about drop rates since I got more than 1000 rewards in vma and never a sharpened staff of any type. But this is pointing to the same direction, I've done 222 writs so far (60 first day, 54 the days after) and I only got 1 Master Alchemy Writ with 2 vouchers. i know they are based on motifs learned and traits (which I have all in 1 toon and probably 80% on other) But with the one that I got it doesnt have anything researched, not even traits of alchemy mats. I've seen friends that got it in their first writ ever while others 3 out of 10 or similar.

This is a big issue for me, I honestly don't have the gold to buy sealed master writs and buy the things that I need. I spent a lot of effort, time and gold leveling 9 toons for this, and people with just 1 crafter and not even 10% of the motifs and not all of traits researched are getting more than me in 4 days in their first attempt. Some master writs with a lot of vouchers I've seen them going for more than a million. Even if I don't wanna play *housing* like some people don't, why do i have to miss the chance of having one of those?. I will get one eventually I assume, unless there is something wrong with my account, but the prices will drop and I would have missed my chance.

The reason of this thread is not trying to make ZOS change the way this works, they are simply not gonna do it. They love RNG, that's why they keep adding more and more. They must think that making things harder to get will keep people playing the game, and while some people do, others just give up for frustration or not even start due to the endless farming that they know they have to face ahead.
I'd say that they can keep their stupid RNG but somehow make the game even for everyone. Also anyone else is facing this kind of problem? By the numbers that I posted obviously there is no drop rate going on so I can't ask for that.

Xenophis

RNG is the lifeblood of all MMOs whether we like it or not. May RNGesus bless your soul. Don't forget your blood sacrifice.

vyndral13preub18_ESO

Xenophis wrote: »

RNG is the lifeblood of all MMOs whether we like it or not. May RNGesus bless your soul. Don't forget your blood sacrifice.

While i agree, it is also the reason games come up with token systems. So those hosed by rng are not out of luck for ever. and can still slowly move forward. ESO just decided to lock it's crafting token system behind more rng. Sort of defeats the purpose, but baby steps i guess.

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Cpt_Teemo

Spectral_Lord wrote: »

RNG works in mysterious ways. Often times in evil ways.

I got my first Master Writ today, and I do them daily as well. Had to make a staff of a style I didn't even know. Decided to go stupid, bought the staves page for 6k and got 6 vouchers for it.

But trust me. Buying those Writs really is a bad idea. I've seen people ask for 500k to a million for them - which is just absurd.

Those are usually the 100-250 voucher ones people asking for about 4-8k per voucher now atm

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bulbousb16_ESO

I've gotten Master writs on 3 out of 4 days trying, with about 8 writs turned in per day. I'm absolutely cool with that rate of return so far, and knowing it's going to increase in future.

Morimizo

It is an incredibly low chance; I've only gotten one Alchemy MW myself. I thought the frequency might be on par with surveys since the writ itself presents a robust challenge in many cases.

OP, hopefully your patience will reward you with a lucky streak so inundating to challenge your quantity of mats.

Loves_guars

I agree, I don't mind progressing slowly, but knowing that you lost one day is very frustrating.

Remove RNG for master writs please!! Change it to a system where we progress slowly but steadily.

Faulgor

222 writs? Holy cow, batman. I get maybe 10 a day done if I scrounge all my Alchemists together. How are normal people ever going to compete with that, master crafter or not ...

Glass

Faulgor wrote: »

222 writs? Holy cow, batman. I get maybe 10 a day done if I scrounge all my Alchemists together. How are normal people ever going to compete with that, master crafter or not ...

There are *normal* people that play the game since it came out, most of us dont just have one single toon and know how to make profit out of it. Not really hard to be honest. I just decon every material from dungeons and stuff with alts not on my main, that's how i lvl them and it doesn't take too long. For alchemy and provisioning is easy too, there are guides everywhere on how to do it. I takes effort but nothing that you can't achieve. But for now defo not worth it.

Oreyn_Bearclaw

Spectral_Lord wrote: »

RNG works in mysterious ways. Often times in evil ways.

I got my first Master Writ today, and I do them daily as well. Had to make a staff of a style I didn't even know. Decided to go stupid, bought the staves page for 6k and got 6 vouchers for it.

But trust me. Buying those Writs really is a bad idea. I've seen people ask for 500k to a million for them - which is just absurd.

The prices will calm down in a few weeks. As a general rule, you should be on the sell side of all transactions for 2-3 weeks post patch.

But remember. It's not that people are asking that much, people are in fact paying that much. I have sold 2 in the 500k range (70-90 vouchers). I would never pay that myself, but I am not going to say no thanks I'll sell it for less.

STEVIL

OP - how many of those 222 were tier-10 writs?

i believe the masters only drop for tier-10s.

i know i and others have run tier-*1* writs very economically but those wont help here.

i have tutrned in 60 so far and have gotten vouchers every day - between 2-4 each day i think but yesteerday it may have been only one.

None of my non-10 writs gave anything so thats as expected.

i can tell you this, it seems the expectation is "tier-10" so skill level is not relevant to chance... beyond being required. the real drivers seem to be achievements and (for equip) research and motifs) so basically the things that say "i really craft" not just "i leveled for the writs."

Over half my master writs came from one character who had been my primary equip crafter with all three equp and most motifs and tons on tons of decon and harvesting done and achievements unlocked all over the place like grandmaster harvest (10k node) and true legend (craft leg clyph and apply to leg item both crafted by you.) Same character has matsered the others but not as much practical time on them.

Panda_iMunch

Yeah, the drop rate is pretty dang low. I got 9 crafters and I only get 1 writ a day. The other issue that is jut as big is that the writ rewards are RNG based too, which can make the difference between 5 vouchers or 100 vouchers.

It really bothers me to think that for the same amount of time I put into crafting, someone can randomly make 20x my progress by simple dice rolls. It is absolutely heinous.

Esha76

The return rate on this MWs is exceedingly disheartening. Nine trait master-crafter with most of the motifs has had only 1 six voucher MW since launch on Monday. My master enchanter/alchemist has not received any, and neither has my master provisioner.

I'm losing interest in doing this at all. I've been playing MMOs for almost 10 years now, I am very familiar with RNG. I'm also aware that the devs set the math behind that RNG. They need to increase to drop rates of these MWs because, as it stands now, it's horrible.

Not looking to have the voucher rewards tomorrow, but progress for my efforts is pretty much a necessity.

Oreyn_Bearclaw

Glass wrote: »

Faulgor wrote: »

222 writs? Holy cow, batman. I get maybe 10 a day done if I scrounge all my Alchemists together. How are normal people ever going to compete with that, master crafter or not ...

There are *normal* people that play the game since it came out, most of us dont just have one single toon and know how to make profit out of it. Not really hard to be honest. I just decon every material from dungeons and stuff with alts not on my main, that's how i lvl them and it doesn't take too long. For alchemy and provisioning is easy too, there are guides everywhere on how to do it. I takes effort but nothing that you can't achieve. But for now defo not worth it.

Actually it is worth learning that stuff I think. I do writs in 9 toons (all level 50 in all crafting lines). On 7 of them I took the time to learn every rune and every reagent (even things like Kuta and haikajo). I get a pretty steady amount of enchanting and alchemy writs (2-6 vouchers each) from the 7, but not the other 2.

But you are still subject to RNG. The best cloth writ I got (90 something) came from my main which is 9 trait and knows most but not all motifs. I also got a 70 writ cloth voucher from an alt that literally knows nothing other having spent the skill points, nothing researched and no motifs.

idk

@Glass m

Beside the RNG, getting a master writs is influenced by a variety of things including that characters knowledge of that craft including traits learned, unlocking knowledge of all runes and plants, purple and gold motifs and recipes known and it's all per character.

Then the RNG.

Glass

STEVIL wrote: »

OP - how many of those 222 were tier-10 writs?

i believe the masters only drop for tier-10s.

i know i and others have run tier-*1* writs very economically but those wont help here.

i have tutrned in 60 so far and have gotten vouchers every day - between 2-4 each day i think but yesteerday it may have been only one.

None of my non-10 writs gave anything so thats as expected.

i can tell you this, it seems the expectation is "tier-10" so skill level is not relevant to chance... beyond being required. the real drivers seem to be achievements and (for equip) research and motifs) so basically the things that say "i really craft" not just "i leveled for the writs."

Over half my master writs came from one character who had been my primary equip crafter with all three equp and most motifs and tons on tons of decon and harvesting done and achievements unlocked all over the place like grandmaster harvest (10k node) and true legend (craft leg clyph and apply to leg item both crafted by you.) Same character has matsered the others but not as much practical time on them.

If you mean by tier 10s all 222 lvled to 50 and handed in Craglorn. Like I said in the first thread, I have my main toon that knows 100% of traits and motifs except the few that came out in this patch, being sort of a completionist character having most of the achievements in the matter, and other at probably 80%. The one that I got the alchemy survey probably knows the ravage health trait only since I crafted enough of those just to lvl up and nothing else.

Glass

Giles.floydub17_ESO wrote: »

@Glass m

Beside the RNG, getting a master writs is influenced by a variety of things including that characters knowledge of that craft including traits learned, unlocking knowledge of all runes and plants, purple and gold motifs and recipes known and it's all per character.

Then the RNG.

Pretty sure that's the first thing I said that I'm aware of

Ourorboros

It's the nature of RNG. I've received 4 Master writs in 4 days. 3 were on my 100% Crafting Achievement crafte, one for provisioning on an alt that knows maybe 30% of recipes. But she's my lucky alt. She gets more from refining and extraction too. Also has better luck with glass and psijic fragments. Sounds like you don't have any lucky alts.

Recremen

My greatest concern is how little crafting mastery seems to matter when it comes to the drop rates. My main knows everything, and I mean everything, except three of the new motifs from this patch and two provisioning recipes (the two forms of aetherial ambrosia). I've only gotten three master writs so far after four days for a total of 13 vouchers. Meanwhile, people with no traits and no motifs are raking in plenty. I think it's totally fine that such people are able to receive master writs, but it seems like actually being a master of your craft does not increase your chances of getting one significantly enough. While we've only had these for four days, the variability points more towards an overall very low drop rate, regardless of the skill of the crafter.

If that is indeed the case, then we are diving into a situation where master crafters are more likely to need to buy sealed writs from other players than they are to actually get them on their own. Indeed, master crafters are nearly the exclusive market for the writ economy, since they are the ones most likely to be able to complete the writs. So the Master Writ system ends up being, on average, yet another gold sink for crafters, but highly profitable for comparatively unskilled laborers.

Also, in before "but my annecdotal evidence suggests that the drop rate is just fine! A positive experience for me is surely the statistical average!"

Glass

Recremen wrote: »

My greatest concern is how little crafting mastery seems to matter when it comes to the drop rates. My main knows everything, and I mean everything, except three of the new motifs from this patch and two provisioning recipes (the two forms of aetherial ambrosia). I've only gotten three master writs so far after four days for a total of 13 vouchers. Meanwhile, people with no traits and no motifs are raking in plenty. I think it's totally fine that such people are able to receive master writs, but it seems like actually being a master of your craft does not increase your chances of getting one significantly enough. While we've only had these for four days, the variability points more towards an overall very low drop rate, regardless of the skill of the crafter.

If that is indeed the case, then we are diving into a situation where master crafters are more likely to need to buy sealed writs from other players than they are to actually get them on their own. Indeed, master crafters are nearly the exclusive market for the writ economy, since they are the ones most likely to be able to complete the writs. So the Master Writ system ends up being, on average, yet another gold sink for crafters, but highly profitable for comparatively unskilled laborers.

Also, in before "but my annecdotal evidence suggests that the drop rate is just fine! A positive experience for me is surely the statistical average!"

^ This

BadLuckCharm

I got my 1st writ yesterday (it was for enchanting). I have 2 characters that can do 1 top-tier crafting daily each, and 2 characters that can do 2 top dailies. My MW gave me a total of 2 vouchers. When i saw how much attunable crafting stations cost, i was a bit disappointed.

VerboseQuips

Same feeling, here. If I had not spent all my gold on recipes and motifs and all my time on finishing all the crafting achievements on my main before Homestead hit live, I'd already have one of the largest houses, which I'd delightfully enjoy decorating.

I spent an enormous amount of time and effort trying to get in a good position for the update, in hope to take advantage of the master writs system. And now that it's live, I got a grand total of 18 vouchers in 10 days. Yay! All this while people who are far from master crafters get writs for above 200 vouchers. If I had spent just some afternoons during the XP-boost events maxing out my tradeskills on my alts, I'd be better off than with all those days of farming motifs, recipes, gold for both, and mats for achievements.

Discovering that sheer luck, mere luck, has a much more prominent role than all my effort leaves me with a bitter taste. I feel like all my effort are rendered null and worthless, that I did all this in vain. This is severing my enjoyment of the game, really. Why would I keep invest my time and effort if it offers no sense of reward?

Also, now we're left with an enormous, overwhelming quantity of stuff to buy. Achievement furniture. Weekly luxury furniture. Houses. Sealed writs. All those blueprints we won't get by ourselves unless we farm forever. Crafting mats we won't get by ourselves unless we renounce to farm for anything else. I fear that there is zero chance that we could finish this farming before Morrowind goes live, and it'll probably add new motifs, new houses to buy, new blueprints for Hlaalu, Telvanni, Redoran, Ashlander and Dwemer style, and whatnot.

Not only have I lost the feeling of any reward for effort, but the quantity of new and over-expensive stuff that was added is so overwhelming that I now have the feeling that investing more time and effort in the future will never provide that rewarding feeling of nearing completion anymore. Maybe I'm approaching game burnout or something?

Enemy-of-Coldharbour

Do the Master Writs come off the writ boards just like ordinary writs or are they awarded in the urns you get for completing writs? I still haven't been able to get a straight answer to this. Thank you.

ixie

Enemy-of-Coldharbour wrote: »

Do the Master Writs come off the writ boards just like ordinary writs or are they awarded in the urns you get for completing writs? I still haven't been able to get a straight answer to this. Thank you.

from the urns you get for completing writs

redspecter23

I find the drop rates quite reasonable, however, this is coming from someone that has 12 characters maxed in crafting doing 72 max writs every day. I'm at the extreme end of the min/max line and I find the drop rate "reasonable". I can't imagine how long it would take someone with only one or two toons doing max writs daily. You could go a week and only see a few vouchers worth of rewards. I fear they've balanced the system around min/max players instead of average players.

cschwingeb14_ESO

Judging by what I've seen from having 1 master crafter and 7 guys that have 50%trait research, and all the easy stuff discovered:

Your chance of getting a sealed with a master crafter is low. But it's roughly 5-7x as good as the chance of getting something from a partial crafter.

As far as I can tell, the number of vouchers that your sealed writ will be worth is RNG. But my sample size is still small

Taleof2Cities

redspecter23 wrote: »

I fear they've balanced the system around min/max players instead of average players.

In my opinion (and I think in ZOS's opinion too) it's supposed to be that way, @redspecter23.

This is end game for crafters.

The system rewards players who have put in the time and skill points to be masters at their craft ... why should it not reward players like you?

I'm on a much smaller scale, here ... only three (3) characters that are legit master crafters. However, today's drop rate was still pretty good:

Four (4) master writ contracts received.


My Stam DK, who has the worst master crafting resume, received two today.

Tasear

Achievements count too. So if don't quest you will hurt too.

Stillian

30 writs on maxed char, all traits and stuff. Two master writs for 7 vouchers total.
Old main with 8 traits everything and non-dlc motifs, same amount of writs, 2 writs for 4 vouchers.