RNG Refining for Gold Improvement Mats Dead?

nickomcbrain

I have talked to countless people confirming my experience since update 40 that gold improvement mats when refining are just not yielding crap anymore. I typically get about 1% yield. All skill points are applied. I received 2 gold mats from 1300 raw mats most recently. That is horrible. I've also noticed that the chromium grains are no longer dropping in daily writs. It was a nice little run between 39 and 40, as I was getting mats from both refining and writs. Now it has gone to hell. I also don't know if there is any validity to this idea that the more sparse the population near the crafting station, the better the yield. I have found this to be opposite lately.

I have stopped refining altogether hoping something might change. Anyone else getting this?

Taleof2Cities

Unfortunately it's just plain bad luck biting you ... and not an active change in the game. That's all it is. Nothing more.

nickomcbrain wrote: »

I also don't know if there is any validity to this idea that the more sparse the population near the crafting station, the better the yield.

This is a superstition ... one of the many "parables of crafting" that players make up to justify bad RNG.

Want another superstition?

Here's one I live by:

Only refine mat stacks in the starter zones - Betnikh, Bal Foyen, Khenarthi's Roost, Bleakrock, and Stros M'kai.

Mudcrabber

I think it's always been 1 in 200 mats (or 1 in 20 refines), random.

I've noticed that the price of tempering alloy has dropped sharply from a year ago, from 7.4k to 4.4k on PC/NA. So market-wise, it seems more abundant to me.

ghastley

The secret for getting gold improvement mats is to run out of the purples. Then you'll get more gold than you ever saw before, and probably one fewer purple than you actually need.

Since you need to use the purples, before you get to using the golds, I find they run out faster than any others, especially as many Master Writs just call for Epic, and never use up the higher mats. Of course, if you're buying pre-made Epic to upgrade, then you've specialised a bit too much, and the RNG gods will rub their hands with glee.

JKorr

nickomcbrain wrote: »

I have talked to countless people confirming my experience since update 40 that gold improvement mats when refining are just not yielding crap anymore. I typically get about 1% yield. All skill points are applied. I received 2 gold mats from 1300 raw mats most recently. That is horrible. I've also noticed that the chromium grains are no longer dropping in daily writs. It was a nice little run between 39 and 40, as I was getting mats from both refining and writs. Now it has gone to hell. I also don't know if there is any validity to this idea that the more sparse the population near the crafting station, the better the yield. I have found this to be opposite lately.

I have stopped refining altogether hoping something might change. Anyone else getting this?

No, not really. Last night I refined 24 ore, and got a gold. I refined 89 fiber and got 1 green. Refined 34 wood, and got 2 blue. On other recent occasions I've gotten a green and two purples from the same amounts of raw mats. The best return I had recently was 2 golds and a blue from 60something ores. The RNG gremlins move in mysterious ways......

tmbrinks

nickomcbrain wrote: »

I have talked to countless people confirming my experience since update 40 that gold improvement mats when refining are just not yielding crap anymore. I typically get about 1% yield. All skill points are applied. I received 2 gold mats from 1300 raw mats most recently. That is horrible. I've also noticed that the chromium grains are no longer dropping in daily writs. It was a nice little run between 39 and 40, as I was getting mats from both refining and writs. Now it has gone to hell. I also don't know if there is any validity to this idea that the more sparse the population near the crafting station, the better the yield. I have found this to be opposite lately.

I have stopped refining altogether hoping something might change. Anyone else getting this?

13 gold mats from 1300 raw? You had good RNG before, the "law of large numbers" means you'll regress towards the mean, which is probably half of that. Congrats on the earlier good luck.

Xerikten

noticed no difference.

but if I don't get a gold or purple after 3 tries I stop. if I do I keep going and will almost always get at least 2 more . I always stop when I start getting nothing after 3 tries. the rng generators on these mmos are very streaky. learn to use them wisely.

firedrgn

What is a gold mat people is that a grain or a plating.?

TheCyberDruid

It's a 5% chance to get the gold mats from refining (or like others have put it 1 in 20) with maxed out skill for extraction. Sometimes you get lucky and other times you don't. That's RNG for you.

firedrgn

TheCyberDruid wrote: »

It's a 5% chance to get the gold mats from refining (or like others have put it 1 in 20) with maxed out skill for extraction. Sometimes you get lucky and other times you don't. That's RNG for you.

What? Really its that high? Im not seeing that high of a number.

firedrgn

Ok i just refined 4k of platinum dust. The score is.
1. 53 Terne Grains
2. 52 Iridium Grains
3. 36 Zircon Grains
4. 20 Chromium Grains

firedrgn

Im beginning to think some of you dont actually refine.

I qm going to post again when i refine and see what the numbers are like.

firedrgn

ghastley wrote: »

The secret for getting gold improvement mats is to run out of the purples. Then you'll get more gold than you ever saw before, and probably one fewer purple than you actually need.

Since you need to use the purples, before you get to using the golds, I find they run out faster than any others, especially as many Master Writs just call for Epic, and never use up the higher mats. Of course, if you're buying pre-made Epic to upgrade, then you've specialised a bit too much, and the RNG gods will rub their hands with glee.

This is false. I sent all mine off in the mail.

JKorr

firedrgn wrote: »

What is a gold mat people is that a grain or a plating.?

"gold mat" could be any gold improvement; tempering alloy, rosin, dreugh wax, chromium, whatever. The op didn't specify jewelry.

firedrgn

Oh my bad some how i had jewelry on the brain.

wolfie1.0.

nickomcbrain wrote: »

I have talked to countless people confirming my experience since update 40 that gold improvement mats when refining are just not yielding crap anymore. I typically get about 1% yield. All skill points are applied. I received 2 gold mats from 1300 raw mats most recently. That is horrible. I've also noticed that the chromium grains are no longer dropping in daily writs. It was a nice little run between 39 and 40, as I was getting mats from both refining and writs. Now it has gone to hell. I also don't know if there is any validity to this idea that the more sparse the population near the crafting station, the better the yield. I have found this to be opposite lately.

I have stopped refining altogether hoping something might change. Anyone else getting this?

I think you just had bad rng and you may want to expand you test pool. But if it helps I just refined 11k mats and got 215 gold mats. That's 1.95% rate for me

Malborn66

I think that what you are experiencing is (bad) Luck of the RNG.

I will confess that the odds seem poorer at the moment but I doubt that the numbers have been changed.

If you are stopping refining at the moment, I assume that you are still accumulating Raw Mats?
Or have you given up on that as well?

If not you can either build up a large amount and for your own (dis)satisfaction then do a statistically significant amount of refining and see what you get. Alternatively you can just flog the Raw Mats as the market for those seems quite healthy.

If you are not acquiring the Raw Mats at all, you have allowed a bad run of RNG to deprive you of one of the benefits (such as they are) of the game.

Malborn
PC-EU

MacMurroughTheFirst

firedrgn wrote: »

Ok i just refined 4k of platinum dust. The score is.
1. 53 Terne Grains
2. 52 Iridium Grains
3. 36 Zircon Grains
4. 20 Chromium Grains

I wish I had that kind of luck. I refined ~2.5k a couple days ago and ended up with something like 3 or 4 Chromium Grains, iirc.