Alchemy writs no longer viable - the Nirnroot Conundrum

Nolphi

Its been mentioned before: 3 out of 4 max tier alchemy writs require 3 nirnroot to complete. Nirnroot is now trading for 400g and even at at price it is hard to find at the guild traders. Combine that with alchemy writs generally rewarding only 2 writ vouchers and it basically makes alchemy writs useless. Its also just weird to keep on asking for the same mats. Why not just ask for 3 random reagents or at least a larger subset. I am a Lord of great renown and own a huge castle, I will be damned if I am going to go around lake and rivers like a common peasant looking for nirnroot!

DRXHarbinger

Nirnroot is so easy to find, Hollowcity has 6 spawns for instance, Northwest Stonefalls right by where you walk into the rift there is a river below it which has tons of Alchemy mats inc Nirnroot / Hyacinth.

Shadowfen is littered with the stuff too, water water everywhere.

It would be far more upsetting if they asked 3x Cornflower or Lady Smock everyday. or mushrooms requiring you to run to each and every tree in search for them.

Nolphi

DRXHarbinger wrote: »

Nirnroot is so easy to find, Hollowcity has 6 spawns for instance, Northwest Stonefalls right by where you walk into the rift there is a river below it which has tons of Alchemy mats inc Nirnroot / Hyacinth.

Shadowfen is littered with the stuff too, water water everywhere.

It would be far more upsetting if they asked 3x Cornflower or Lady Smock everyday. or mushrooms requiring you to run to each and every tree in search for them.

Read my last sentence: I am a Lord of great renown and own a huge castle, I will be damned if I am going to go around lake and rivers like a common peasant looking for nirnroot!

Haha, just kidding. I guess I can leave my throne room, put on my overalls and go to shadowfen and hang with the commoners for a day.... still its a stupid system to keep on asking for the same root. What makes it worst is that I dont belief Alchemy surveys can spawn nirnroot.

Slurg

I grab some when I'm in Craglorn turning in writs. Any water location will do. But yes, it's very annoying almost all of the top level writs ask for Nirnroot. How about taking some of the Alkahest I am currently drowning in?

*Makes mental note to list extra Nirnroot for 399 gold each on guild traders tonight.*

Fudly_budly

Or.. Learn to shop. Found 100 nirns for 10k last night at a trader kiosk. ZoS doesn't need to change the whole alchemy writ system to accommodate your laziness. lol

maboleth

Of all Rng stuff in the game, the one that should be but is not are writs. I'm mostly doing same stuff every day. Come on, shuffle it a bit Zos.

OldGamerESO

Fudly_budly wrote: »

Or.. Learn to shop. Found 100 nirns for 10k last night at a trader kiosk. ZoS doesn't need to change the whole alchemy writ system to accommodate your laziness. lol

Well that means you just found a good deal. The poor guy probably had no idea he was about to get fleeced. You should have paid 40k for that nirnroot

Deep_01

So, that's why people are requesting me at such higher prices!! I farm about 50 nirnroots in 40min and have been supplying people at 175g to 350g each. The MM price was at 81 and was confused why people where buying so much! Never asked questions. But hey, I made a sweet lump of gold.

redspecter23

The OP has a very valid point. There is a price at which doing the writs becomes pointless. It's not about laziness. It's about simple math. If you can make more money simply selling the nirnroot instead of doing the writ, why do the writ? Just sell the nirnroot instead.

DRXHarbinger

Nolphi wrote: »

DRXHarbinger wrote: »

Nirnroot is so easy to find, Hollowcity has 6 spawns for instance, Northwest Stonefalls right by where you walk into the rift there is a river below it which has tons of Alchemy mats inc Nirnroot / Hyacinth.

Shadowfen is littered with the stuff too, water water everywhere.

It would be far more upsetting if they asked 3x Cornflower or Lady Smock everyday. or mushrooms requiring you to run to each and every tree in search for them.

Read my last sentence: I am a Lord of great renown and own a huge castle, I will be damned if I am going to go around lake and rivers like a common peasant looking for nirnroot!

Haha, just kidding. I guess I can leave my throne room, put on my overalls and go to shadowfen and hang with the commoners for a day.... still its a stupid system to keep on asking for the same root. What makes it worst is that I dont belief Alchemy surveys can spawn nirnroot.

See this is where we need Alchemy gardens like we had in Frostcrag Keep in Oblivion etc. No doubt hitting a crown store near you soon ( Farmer to harvest it at extra cost )

I would actually pay for it too, and some kind of Farm / Abattoir for mats and personal mine.

Or even better, I would pay 5K Crowns for a fishing pond that drops all fish in the game.

Tan9oSuccka

Nirnroot? Seriously?

People must be incredibly lazy. You can't walk five feet without tripping on it.

runagate

I made a fishing pond. It's got fishies but no sand dollars or a starfish yet :-(

Seems like a fancy lord could afford some 400g nirnroot

I have 439 of em after doing 40 writs a day since Homestead dropped - guess you need Shadowy Supplier and Hirelings on every character. Solves a lot of farming problems.

Fudly_budly

redspecter23 wrote: »

The OP has a very valid point. There is a price at which doing the writs becomes pointless. It's not about laziness. It's about simple math. If you can make more money simply selling the nirnroot instead of doing the writ, why do the writ? Just sell the nirnroot instead.

sure. why not, whatever. It takes about 10 mins to farm 3 nirn roots at 0g. i.e. Lazy!! so he wants the system changed..? lol

sumisu1

I pick them everywhere I see them, because that sound is irritating. If only thieves troves were that annoying to listen to.

MakoFore

in future housing updates they should offer seeds as writ rewards- to plant alchemical reagents which respawn say every 4 hours or so. this might be a nice compromise, allow variety in housing decorations and also reward players for doing writs.

and also satisfy a green thumb.

Fudly_budly

Tan9oSuccka wrote: »

Nirnroot? Seriously?

People must be incredibly lazy. You can't walk five feet without tripping on it.

^
exactly!!!!

redspecter23

Fudly_budly wrote: »

redspecter23 wrote: »

The OP has a very valid point. There is a price at which doing the writs becomes pointless. It's not about laziness. It's about simple math. If you can make more money simply selling the nirnroot instead of doing the writ, why do the writ? Just sell the nirnroot instead.

sure. why not, whatever. It takes about 10 mins to farm 3 nirn roots at 0g. i.e. Lazy!! so he wants the system changed..? lol

You're still not getting it. It's not about being lazy. If you farm those 3 nirnroot and do your writ and make back 1200g in materials and gold you have lost money compared to just selling the nirnroot. That's a problem with the system when your average gains from doing the writ are less than just selling the ingredients. If the point of the writs is to earn resources (gold, experience, time, etc) then the entire writ becomes pointless when the price of nirnroot reaches a certain threshold. Also, the cost of farming those nirnroot does cost you 0 gold, but it does cost you time. That's a resource as well.

danno8

I am happy it is Nirnroot. It's one of the easiest to focus harvest since it always around water.

It would be better if it was more random though.

STEVIL

redspecter23 wrote: »

The OP has a very valid point. There is a price at which doing the writs becomes pointless. It's not about laziness. It's about simple math. If you can make more money simply selling the nirnroot instead of doing the writ, why do the writ? Just sell the nirnroot instead.

yes and no..

the surge in tier-10 writs being run is not due to a massive increase in the gold value of goods in them. its due to the fact, at least for many, that they provide an access to equipment vouchers thru master writs. if you want those things, you do these writs or others. So for many its not just the gold sale value zero-sum math - its that the writs are the way to an end.

As for the not worth it, market shifts.

At the point the writs are not worth the mats prices folks wont do them and mats wont sell and... the prices go down etc. Equilibrium is reached.

the more expensive the nirnroot sales become the more folks will harvest.

i for one am working more of my chars to Db4 now, have 7 of 12... that supplier provides nirnroot fairly frequently.
you also do get nirnroot in the alchemy packs - somewhat infrequently.
watch vendors...

not too hard to keep up.

So far based on what i see happening, i expect that to feed my 12 alchemy writs a day i will need about 27-30 nirnroots a day.
i expect to get about 6-9 from supplier more when i get them to 12.
i expect to get 3-6 from alchemy boxes a day.
that means i only need to harvest or buy 9-15 a day to keep up.

that is easily manageable without feeding the 400g plus per nirn sellers. but if i had to feed them, with my drop rates, its still worth it.

llSRRll

If your so rich it shouldnt matter how much your paying smh

Tan9oSuccka

redspecter23 wrote: »

Fudly_budly wrote: »

redspecter23 wrote: »

The OP has a very valid point. There is a price at which doing the writs becomes pointless. It's not about laziness. It's about simple math. If you can make more money simply selling the nirnroot instead of doing the writ, why do the writ? Just sell the nirnroot instead.

sure. why not, whatever. It takes about 10 mins to farm 3 nirn roots at 0g. i.e. Lazy!! so he wants the system changed..? lol

You're still not getting it. It's not about being lazy. If you farm those 3 nirnroot and do your writ and make back 1200g in materials and gold you have lost money compared to just selling the nirnroot. That's a problem with the system when your average gains from doing the writ are less than just selling the ingredients. If the point of the writs is to earn resources (gold, experience, time, etc) then the entire writ becomes pointless when the price of nirnroot reaches a certain threshold. Also, the cost of farming those nirnroot does cost you 0 gold, but it does cost you time. That's a resource as well.

Ok. I'll continue to get the gold and Alchemy surveys.

Lush Columbine, Bugloss and Mountain Flower....thanks!

Lythandra

I have a bunch of Nirntoot and for 400g each I may just list them instead of doing the writs. Well, list a few of 3 packs at least to test.

Fudly_budly

STEVIL wrote: »

redspecter23 wrote: »

The OP has a very valid point. There is a price at which doing the writs becomes pointless. It's not about laziness. It's about simple math. If you can make more money simply selling the nirnroot instead of doing the writ, why do the writ? Just sell the nirnroot instead.

yes and no..

the surge in tier-10 writs being run is not due to a massive increase in the gold value of goods in them. its due to the fact, at least for many, that they provide an access to equipment vouchers thru master writs. if you want those things, you do these writs or others. So for many its not just the gold sale value zero-sum math - its that the writs are the way to an end.

As for the not worth it, market shifts.

At the point the writs are not worth the mats prices folks wont do them and mats wont sell and... the prices go down etc. Equilibrium is reached.

the more expensive the nirnroot sales become the more folks will harvest.

i for one am working more of my chars to Db4 now, have 7 of 12... that supplier provides nirnroot fairly frequently.
you also do get nirnroot in the alchemy packs - somewhat infrequently.
watch vendors...

not too hard to keep up.

So far based on what i see happening, i expect that to feed my 12 alchemy writs a day i will need about 27-30 nirnroots a day.
i expect to get about 6-9 from supplier more when i get them to 12.
i expect to get 3-6 from alchemy boxes a day.
that means i only need to harvest or buy 9-15 a day to keep up.

that is easily manageable without feeding the 400g plus per nirn sellers. but if i had to feed them, with my drop rates, its still worth it.

^
was hoping you'd jump in.

I do only 3 alchemy writs per day but same plan. My Master Writ RNG sucks so I'd never buy them at the current PCNA MM price but farming is 0g and easy.

Prof_Bawbag

They need to start asking for more of that top tier solvent Alkahest. I have that particular solvent running into the 1000's, with nothing to do with it. I only keep getting more because it's easier to collect everything in certain delves than it is to go through each item piece by piece.

Nolphi

I became a Lord of great renown by spending my in game time and effort smartly. Its not worth my time to actually bend down and pick up the nirnroot you say I should be tripping over

But seriously: the math is going to stop working the moment each writ comes at a bigger opportunity costs. There is also just no rational to make it so that 3 out of 4 writs ask for one specific reagent. That is just ZOS throwing in another annoyance gold sink mechanism.

Anyway, for now I will bite the bullet and buy or farm thay damn singing plant to get my lousy 2 writ vouchers but its an unnessecary annoyance...

HereKittehKitteh

It is sheer laziness to demand they change it because you can't be bothered farming or paying at traders. However I do wish they'd add a few more reagents to add more variety to the writs.

UrQuan

It is stupid that almost all alchemy writs ask for nirnroot. I've been doing 8 max-level alchemy writs a day since Homestead came out, and in the same time period I've had 12 different characters getting the "potions & poisons" option from the shadowy supplier every day. I'm getting nirnroot from the shadowy supplier at a slightly lower rate than I'm going through it for writs.

Nestor

With every other level of Alchemy, the only difference is the Solvent, either for the Potion or to be turned in. The Reagent is always variable, at least with the various levels I have done. It is only the top end writ that always asks for Nirnroot if it wants a reagent.

This illustrates a problem with the top end writs, not a situation to be cherished and protected.

So, just make the top end writs just like all the others for consistency.

MasterSpatula

Some sort of reward actually worth having would be a nice thing to add to Alchemy writs, but for the life of me, I can't imagine what that would be. Nothing associated with Alchemy is really rare, so there's really nothing cool to drop.

idk

Have mentioned before that the alchemy writs should share the love with some other matts. So much nirnroot is unbalanced.

@ZOS_GinaBruno please pass this along. Thx.

Ghost-Shot

If you are paying 400g a flower for any alchemy mat you are doing it wrong, on PC/NA even columbine is down to like ~240g per thanks to tel var flower bags.