RNG bias

ShadowWolf44

I'm beginning to believe this game has a bias against certain players, whether from them not like complaints being filed or because they've determined certain political, personal views don't agree with them, I'm damn near done with this moronic game.

Look, I HATE to have to complain. All I want to do is PLAY the damn game, and be treated like EVERYONE ELSE. I fully understand that, for every person, RNG works differently, but it can NOT be this damn different. Think I'm mad? I've calmed considerably.

Let me try to lay out the issues..I'll do my best to keep short.

When I began, as I do with many games, I studied the AVG RNG for people, in regards to "Gold" drops, from Refining, Writs, Master Writs, Writ Vouchers, and "Motifs". There were a few others, but since this is the "crafting" forum, I leave it here.

From all I could gather, from the forums, online, and talking to people in-game, writ vouchers, I thought, ran between 2-109, with 109 being the highest I've ever gotten. Most people got quite a few of the high vouchers, from mid-way through completion, yet it seemed they received less, the closer they were to finally completing all aspects of crafting...strange, but OK. I didn't find out until fairly recently, that people actually get writ vouchers in the 2-300 range! In my 2 years or so, I've only seen the 2-109 vouchers, 2 in the 90's 4- in the 50's range, 2 in the 36 range, (enchantment), and all of the rest have been in the 2-7 range. It's been a nightmare trying to save up to get anything for my homes. I do all the writs for all 6 crafts, EVERY day. I began Jewelry, but I'm only @ 41 atm. I have all traits researched, save 13 Nirnhoned, give or take 1. I use TONS of supplies, and the 50 writs cost 8 golds, as they are legendary, as are those above this. Extremely expensive.

So, when I found out others have been getting 2-300 writ vouchers from some Master Crafting writs, It began to make sense, as, going the way I have been, I will take me YEARS to ever get things I would like to, with writ vouchers. If I'd of gotten just a couple of the higher ones, it would have helped immensely. Recently, I went 2 months, and all I got was 2- 2-voucher Writs, and 2 5-voucher Writs...in 2 MONTHS. This can NOT be normal. The cost in supplies is extreme. This has made crafting untenable, yet, this isn't the only issue.

Another issue I've had, and I've posted on this before, filed numerous complaints, all just trying to get ANYONE to answer, as to why my "Gold" crafting drops, from refining, are so friggin awful. From all I could gather, and I've checked every place I can find, the mass majority of people average 1 gold drop, every 150-200 items refined. I've received this answer from several players, and it seems to be fairly accurate. So, when I was refining OVER 4,000 Ancestor Silks, (maybe 800 of those from other sources), and only got ONE gold drop, @ the 3800 range, I began getting really ticked off. I mean, I will NEVER be able be able to craft myself ANY gold armor/weapons, especially if I want to fulfill any Master Crafting writ that's over 50 vouchers or over.

For a short time, say, the last 3 months or so, I finally got into that 1/150-200 gold drop area. Granted, 90% were in the 200 area, but still, at least I finally felt I was getting drops like normal people do. Until today. Today, I refined 3900 ores, I got 10 golds Temp plates. This was how it began, on the run up to doing 4k and only getting that 1.

Zos cares nothing about it. They NEVER do anything. I know most people understand how long it takes, just to get to someone who will somewhat listen. 9 times out of 10, they will ask moronic questions, or ask me to do stupid things, that have NOTHING to do with what I'm trying to get help with.

This game charges a FORTUNE to play it. Obviously, that is ALL they care about. Paying more, does NOT mean you are going to be treated better or that they will even bother to fix issues.

I posted about the 2 month period of almost no writ vouchers, over a month ago. I've STILL not heard a word back. probably never will.

I also almost NEVER find Motifs, and, trust me, being disabled, I search ALL the time. I just don't see them. And, when I do, they are one's I already have. It is extremely rare I find one I need. I've looked up all the places I should go, and do everything I should, they just n ever appear.

So, basically, the game has become unplayable for me. I really wanted to enjoy this game. After FFXI was closed down for console folks, after they screwed people who literally took YEARS to obtain some weapons/armor, etc, in order to placate the "I want it now crowd", to whom, game loyalty doesn't mean crap, they usually never play long, I was extremely tentative about playing another MMO-type game. When I decided to give this one a shot, having played all of the Oblivion games, etc, I was hopeful. My first experience? The first toon I created got stuck in the "Cold-harbor" part with Lyris. I asked Zos, for MONTHS, to please get my toon unstuck. They never did, so I left. I came back about 2 years ago, toon was till stuck in there, but I DID find a CS rep, who finally told me what happened, and helped me get it out. I'd already made another toon, and it was already @ 160, when they did this. Been downhill every since.

As I said, maybe it's just me. If this is normal stuff, then the game isn't worth playing. If it's not, it's unplayable, because no one will ever fix it..hell, they won't even LOOK at it. So I guess this is where I'm at now. I'm disabled. So I really can't do much else. It's sad, how Game makers have found a way to force gamers into buying all this insane add-on crap. I mean, you don't HAVE too, but if you don't, well, you only get to play half the game. And, they've built walls around themselves, so they don't have to deal with anything directly. I would think this would *** games off, to the point they would finally band together, and STOP ALL GAMING, until these greedy Corps, finally began to LISTEN TO US. But, it seems the new breed of gamers could care less. They live on cheat codes, spec controllers/kb's, speed and other cheats, to blow through the games, then move on, the rest be damned. I guess that's the way of gaming now.

I filed my last complaint. I hold out no hope they will do anything this time, either. I know this was a long post, and, I apologize for that. I'm just @ an end. I've put up with much more than I listed here. After gaming, damn near my entire life, I've never seen this kind of crap. Most of us put up with lag, long-loading screens, drop-outs, DC's and the like, as long as the games have good storylines, are fun, and intense to play. But, this is the first time I've ever, in my life, had to deal with imbeciles in-game, who try to "Hump" my toons, quite literally. I mean..who does that? Sure, some of the people may be young, but, is that supposed to be an excuse? What about people that play with their kids? I've seen a couple of kids crying because of this, yet they do nothing about this, either. How is this right? If they won't put a stop to deviant crap like this, what does it say about them, as a company?

Anyways, good luck, folks. Not sure if I'll stay or if I'll go, guess it will depend on whether I get a response this time or not. But I hold out NO hope for the former, as the latter seems to be the norm, for the foreseeable future.

VaranisArano

Sounds like your RNG sucks.

I don't know what to tell you about the vouchers. The # of vouchers you get per writ is random, but you can increase the chance of getting a master writ in the first place.

I typically get somewhere around 1 of each type of master writ in a week on the character who has all the alchemy traits learned, all the runes learned, and 31/46 motif sets learned+the base racial books. Sometimes more, sometimes less. The # of vouchers is random, tending very much to the low end of things.

TheCyberDruid

100+ vouchers are rare (basically it means getting a nirnhorned weapon master writ, so only blacksmithing and woodworking matter for those) and doing writs on (only) one character means you will get writs less frequently. I agree that a system where there's no RNG and you could just 'buy' master writs with some kind of currency gained from doing normal writs would be less frustrating (going through a dry patch myself right now), but it would also mean that people have less incitement to learn crafting motifs.

If you look at what you can buy via vouchers it might make sense why it's so hard to get them.

Feric51

As far as the master writs go, I've gotten one master writ worth 302 vouchers, but that was in the first few weeks after Homestead was released and the high-end writs dropped much more frequently back then. They made significant adjustments to the drop rate in the year+ since, and the highest I've gotten in almost 17 months has been for 127 vouchers.

Do the higher voucher writs still drop...? Yes, but the percentage is so infinitesimally low, don't get frustrated if you never see one. I'm definitely not holding my own breath for one.

With regards to the gold tempers from refining, it sounds like you really have had bad RNG, but depending on who you ask, there are some ESO voodoo rituals you might try to boost your chances. I personally don't believe any of them work, but if you search the forums or Reddit for methods to increase your rate of return while refining, there are a dozen or more "tricks" out there you might try.

Best of luck, and try not to let the game get you down. It's supposed to be relaxing after all....

Lake

From your previous post you mentioned you had "one almost master crafter" with "2/3 of the motifs", so does that mean you're mostly doing writs with one character?

I only do writs on one character (maxed-out motifs & everything) and haven't gotten anything over 60. You're luckier than me!

ShadowWolf44

VaranisArano wrote: »

Sounds like your RNG sucks.

I don't know what to tell you about the vouchers. The # of vouchers you get per writ is random, but you can increase the chance of getting a master writ in the first place.

I typically get somewhere around 1 of each type of master writ in a week on the character who has all the alchemy traits learned, all the runes learned, and 31/46 motif sets learned+the base racial books. Sometimes more, sometimes less. The # of vouchers is random, tending very much to the low end of things.

It sounds like I'm about where you are. I'd read, here, Reddit , and few other places, of some players that ran out tests on the drop rates, and had several players contribute, so they could get an "average", as good as you can, with RNG, that is. I've kept hoping that things would even out down the road, and for a time, it seemed that was going to happen, only to have it head back where it was.

I know some folks just have bad luck, and, being that's me, even in RL, I usually just try to bear with it. No matter the game, I like crafting, however, because it's usually the one thing, as long as the effort is put in, everyone is fairly well "even" in. I just look @ what I have, after almost 2 years of crafting, farming every day, all supplies, and, if I stopped right now, and wanted to craft the armor I've wanted, I don't think I could even do one full set. That's what brings me down the most, I guess. I'll bust my arse to learn/get better at anything, however, the one thing we just don't have control over, is the "RNG" function, lol.

Now, the one positive for me in the game? I've only every bought 2 mounts, both of those with the crown gems. The other's I have, pretty much one from every category, I won in crates, 4 so far just from when they began the "mid month" promotion, or whatever.

However, I'd trade a few of those mounts, to be able to make actual progress in the crafting dept, -js lol.

Thanks for the response.

ShadowWolf44

Thanks for the responses, everyone. A couple things I'll try, even if they're not verified, or even actually work, I can FEEL like I'm doing something, lol. TC

ShadowWolf44

Lake wrote: »

From your previous post you mentioned you had "one almost master crafter" with "2/3 of the motifs", so does that mean you're mostly doing writs with one character?

I only do writs on one character (maxed-out motifs & everything) and haven't gotten anything over 60. You're luckier than me!

Yes, I only do on the one. I was doing on 5, and materials were just flying, w/no real difference, so I went back to just one. I was going to finish on that one, then I could begin on the others again. I guess there's always someone that is having it harder, tho no one EVER want's to be "someone" in this dept, lol.

The one thing I found out that really surprised me, was when I mentioned these people, once they were close, or actually capped out on everything, their Master writs got WORSE. No idea who came up with making that the case, but if true, they should be fired, BBQ'd, and fed to the mud crabs.

ShadowWolf44

TheCyberDruid wrote: »

100+ vouchers are rare (basically it means getting a nirnhorned weapon master writ, so only blacksmithing and woodworking matter for those) and doing writs on (only) one character means you will get writs less frequently. I agree that a system where there's no RNG and you could just 'buy' master writs with some kind of currency gained from doing normal writs would be less frustrating (going through a dry patch myself right now), but it would also mean that people have less incitement to learn crafting motifs.

If you look at what you can buy via vouchers it might make sense why it's so hard to get them.

Yeah, I don't mind "hard", at all. In fact, I enjoy it. What I don't like, is taking months to farm, then getting nothing for it, then spending all that you farmed, for "special clients", and they screw you over...they should give us their names...so we could "discuss" their cheapness, lol.

For me, I absolutely hate when they make something easier for players, because a few whined/complained so loudly, they change it. All I'm wanting, is to be treated as every player. I've told Zos this repeatedly, to no avail. I've offered to let them run through my account, to see what might be going on, as I've seen, not often, but a few, other's, that seem to be having this issue as well. Once I suggest this, they seem to drop the entire thing, and I never hear back from them again. After 4 days, they "close" the files and consider them "solved". Wish I could do that with Income taxes and bills. I'd be rich, lol.

ghastley

I doubt that the RNG really is totally random. There are so many constraints on what's in the pool to select from, and biases like motifs known etc. that the end result is very likely to have unintended skews.

But that means you can change things in the inputs, and have a hope of changing the outcomes. Unless all your potential crafters know exactly the same motifs, traits etc. try doing the dailies on a different one. Buy the missing chapters of a few more motifs, so you have more complete. Deliberately run out of Nirncrux, so that all your writs will be for Nirnhoned (and thus more valuable), turning the bad luck against itself.

VaranisArano

ShadowWolf44 wrote: »

Lake wrote: »

From your previous post you mentioned you had "one almost master crafter" with "2/3 of the motifs", so does that mean you're mostly doing writs with one character?

I only do writs on one character (maxed-out motifs & everything) and haven't gotten anything over 60. You're luckier than me!

Yes, I only do on the one. I was doing on 5, and materials were just flying, w/no real difference, so I went back to just one. I was going to finish on that one, then I could begin on the others again. I guess there's always someone that is having it harder, tho no one EVER want's to be "someone" in this dept, lol.

The one thing I found out that really surprised me, was when I mentioned these people, once they were close, or actually capped out on everything, their Master writs got WORSE. No idea who came up with making that the case, but if true, they should be fired, BBQ'd, and fed to the mud crabs.

For what its worth, during the anniversary event, I was doing level 50 writs on 4 characters. Over those 3 weeks, the character that had the most motifs learned got substantially more clothing, blacksmithing and woodworking writs compared to the characters who knew very few motifs. I didn't count, but my crafter probably had 5-7 master writs while the others got 1 or 2.

So I did see a difference with motif knowledge, which is why I only do clothing, blacksmithing, and woodworking writs on my crafter now. Alchemy and Enchanting are much cheaper to learn, so those I do one multiple characters.

ShadowWolf44

ghastley wrote: »

I doubt that the RNG really is totally random. There are so many constraints on what's in the pool to select from, and biases like motifs known etc. that the end result is very likely to have unintended skews.

But that means you can change things in the inputs, and have a hope of changing the outcomes. Unless all your potential crafters know exactly the same motifs, traits etc. try doing the dailies on a different one. Buy the missing chapters of a few more motifs, so you have more complete. Deliberately run out of Nirncrux, so that all your writs will be for Nirnhoned (and thus more valuable), turning the bad luck against itself.

That's an excellent Idea. One thing I didn't mention, but have noticed, is, the system seems to have a penchant for ONLY giving us Writs, on things it know's we do not know yet, as if it's trying to force us to learn Motifs/Traits etc. I've gotten a couple of writs that I met all requirements are, but they are extremely few and far between.And, of course, we end up with Master Writs we cannot complete until said trait/motif/item is learned....so we have to buy more bank space..and you.. know where this goes. I've had an extremely hard time finding motifs in this game. I've been to every website I can find that deals with locations//how to's//quests needed// etc. As I said earlier, I have no issues, whatsoever, with hard or even time consuming game play. What I do have a hard time with, is stupid hard.

I also liked another comment on here, from VaranisArano about event farming, which I have done. In fact, that main majority of all I have, is from doing these type events. But, as far as say, farming home nations by stealing in banks etc? I only get Motif's I already have. Sometimes I can sell them, however, not being a part of a guild with a seller, it can get much too time consuming, shouting every day. And I've always given good deals, as long as people aren't stupid. I usually let them make me an offer, if they are being a gamer, I accept their price, and deduct 10% or so, if their looking to exploit, they're gonna get hosed or disappointed, don't care which.

So, buying is all I can really do, since unknown drops are just horrible. But, i can make gold, so that may be my best option. I'm about 2/3rd's done with My motifs, so maybe it will improve down the road.

Thanks again, for the input. That's goes for all who bothered on this, as well.