Transmutation Crystals needs management improvement

Vildebill

.

crowfl56 wrote: »

WOW what a bunch of whinners

Grow up and L2P

sheeesh complain complain complain

There are much worse problems in this game other than how to get or even manage Trans crystals

Its easy if you use your brain

Thank you for your constructive feedback and for taking the time reading all the posts in the thread. Your answer will be utterly useful for all of us in the ESO community.



...

FangOfTheTwoMoons

crowfl56 wrote: »

WOW what a bunch of whinners

Grow up and L2P

sheeesh complain complain complain

There are much worse problems in this game other than how to get or even manage Trans crystals

Its easy if you use your brain

How does one L2P with a quality of life issue? Lol are you okay? There's literally only two ways to manage them. Use them or let them sit in your inventory. So enlighten us genius.

Aotorae

totally agree with you, they need to manage crystals better not saying make it any easier to get but at least make them stored ? or increase the capacity to 1000.

Vildebill

Bringing up this thread again since I just found one more thing that makes crystals vanish into thin air. The adventurer's backpack that dragons in Elsweyr drops, if they contain crystals and you have 200 on you, they just disappear when you loot.

Getting tired of this tedious crystal management crap, please make the system better ZOS.

mrpaxman

From the Tier 1 end of campaign rewards on multiple characters for some months. In the last 12 months nothing more then the 2 double AP events. Then collecting the 50 crystal geodes on characters i dedicate to hold them. I am now down to 1 character holding 50 geodes with 50 crystals in each. And a 2nd character holding 18ish geodes with of 50 crystals. There has been many more then that amount collected and used. I have never cared about traits when collecting gear since just a few months after transmutation. My account has all characters having multiple sets of completed gear. Now days i can't even farm more sets since ill be destroying other gold retraited full sets for those pieces. Those are the next least valuable items to destroy with the current account storage amount we have.

Basically the cap means nothing to me and never has. That is a huge reason why the cap system is unfair on everyone not liking it being 200. That being a vast majority of people since i find it only a small % of people even knowing any, many or all the steps to have a cap mean nothing at all like the method i use. It seems totally stupid to me to have a 200 cap

Hurbster

crowfl56 wrote: »

WOW what a bunch of whinners

Grow up and L2P

sheeesh complain complain complain

There are much worse problems in this game other than how to get or even manage Trans crystals

Its easy if you use your brain

Was that meant to be 'whiners' or 'winners' ? I'm obviously not using my brain enough to understand.

Palidon

Hurbster wrote: »

crowfl56 wrote: »

WOW what a bunch of whinners

Grow up and L2P

sheeesh complain complain complain

There are much worse problems in this game other than how to get or even manage Trans crystals

Its easy if you use your brain

Was that meant to be 'whiners' or 'winners' ? I'm obviously not using my brain enough to understand.

Got to agree with you on your comment. My god guess some players will complain about anything in this game. Now it's Transmute Crystals. ZOS you need to make a separate thread in your forums. Title it Whiners. Of course the new forum thread will give them something else to complain about. All the negative comments they will get.

MajBludd

Stacking would be nice

Vildebill

Palidon wrote: »

Hurbster wrote: »

crowfl56 wrote: »

WOW what a bunch of whinners

Grow up and L2P

sheeesh complain complain complain

There are much worse problems in this game other than how to get or even manage Trans crystals

Its easy if you use your brain

Was that meant to be 'whiners' or 'winners' ? I'm obviously not using my brain enough to understand.

Got to agree with you on your comment. My god guess some players will complain about anything in this game. Now it's Transmute Crystals. ZOS you need to make a separate thread in your forums. Title it Whiners. Of course the new forum thread will give them something else to complain about. All the negative comments they will get.

Can you please elaborate how this thread is a complaint? It's constructive feedback on a system that doesn't work very well, with examples and pain points. The only complaint I can read in the thread is your comment.

If you don't have anything constructive so say, don't comment.

Taleof2Cities

Vildebill wrote: »

If you don't have anything constructive so say, don't comment.

Here’s some constructive feedback: The system works fine.

The transmute crystal cap is in place to help players change traits on gear pieces they’ve already found.

Transmute crystals are not a substitute for players running content to get their gear.

Have too many? Use them on gear or destroy them.

Vildebill

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

Vildebill wrote: »

If you don't have anything constructive so say, don't comment.

Here’s some constructive feedback: The system works fine.

The transmute crystal cap is in place to help players change traits on gear pieces they’ve already found.

Transmute crystals are not a substitute for players running content to get their gear.

Have too many? Use them on gear or destroy them.

Did I say that the transmution system was a substitute for something? Everything I hear from you is personal opinions of what you think of the system, not why the system "is in place" as you say it.

This thread points out that it's a problem that we have one single currency in the game (except for tickets but that's defferent) that's capped, while the currency is still super easy to get, which clogs up our inventories. That's a fact, not an opinion, like the things you lean of for making an argument.

Full inventories are an inconvenience. The forums are full of threads of people that want more inventory slots. This is one of the reasons.

Do you think we should cap other currencies as well? Max one million gold maybe? And everything over that will be kept in pouches in your inventory. Don't like it? Then, as you so constructively pointed out, DELETE IT

Taleof2Cities

Vildebill wrote: »

Did I say that the transmution system was a substitute for something? Everything I hear from you is personal opinions of what you think of the system, not why the system "is in place" as you say it.

It’s not just my opinion ... it’s ZOS’s too.

Maybe that counts for something?

Vildebill

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

Vildebill wrote: »

Did I say that the transmution system was a substitute for something? Everything I hear from you is personal opinions of what you think of the system, not why the system "is in place" as you say it.

It’s not just my opinion ... it’s ZOS’s too.

Maybe that counts for something?

Dot you have anything to back that up? And did you deliberately ignore everything else I wrote because it didn't fit your personal agenda?

VaranisArano

Vildebill wrote: »

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

Vildebill wrote: »

Did I say that the transmution system was a substitute for something? Everything I hear from you is personal opinions of what you think of the system, not why the system "is in place" as you say it.

It’s not just my opinion ... it’s ZOS’s too.

Maybe that counts for something?

Dot you have anything to back that up?

Actually, yes. I looked it up the last time someone asked me to cite sources.

Here's ZOS's comments when they were in the process of rolling out Transmutation on the PTS. Nor has ZOS made any more recent comments on Transmutation that I could find.

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/373097/pts-patch-notes-v3-2-1

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Transmutation
Developer Comments:

The goal of Transmutation is to provide you with a way to acquire your ideal traits in a way which is less dependent on RNG, without trivializing changing equipment traits or making it incredibly time consuming.The primary sources of Transmute Crystals are guaranteed drops from content you're likely already doing to collect your gear, such as Pledges, the group finder daily random Dungeon, Trial weekly quests, Veteran arena completions, and end of campaign PvP rewards.

Though it was also rather interesting for me to see that during the PTS ZOS increased the crystal drops from various activities, increased the amount of crystals required from 40 to 50, and had to make it so that Transmute Geodes didn't stack because of a bug.


As well as: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/4505195#Comment_4505195

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

The new Transmutation system is intended as a way to assist you in obtaining the trait you desire for your gear as you play, but not be the primary way to obtain it. You'll obtain Transmutation Crystals as you play the content you're already participating in, but it isn't meant to be something you get immediately. We want you to feel like you have a way to eventually get the trait you want.

I'd argue that intent hasn't changed much, even with jewelry crafting, which actually serves as an excellent sink for using up excess transmute stones acquired by trial runners and PVPers.

TheHsN

they just need to make 300 for non-eso plus 500 for eso plus. And I can use it actually when I need.

Vildebill

VaranisArano wrote: »

Vildebill wrote: »

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

Vildebill wrote: »

Did I say that the transmution system was a substitute for something? Everything I hear from you is personal opinions of what you think of the system, not why the system "is in place" as you say it.

It’s not just my opinion ... it’s ZOS’s too.

Maybe that counts for something?

Dot you have anything to back that up?

Actually, yes. I looked it up the last time someone asked me to cite sources.

Here's ZOS's comments when they were in the process of rolling out Transmutation on the PTS. Nor has ZOS made any more recent comments on Transmutation that I could find.

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/373097/pts-patch-notes-v3-2-1

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Transmutation
Developer Comments:

The goal of Transmutation is to provide you with a way to acquire your ideal traits in a way which is less dependent on RNG, without trivializing changing equipment traits or making it incredibly time consuming.The primary sources of Transmute Crystals are guaranteed drops from content you're likely already doing to collect your gear, such as Pledges, the group finder daily random Dungeon, Trial weekly quests, Veteran arena completions, and end of campaign PvP rewards.

Though it was also rather interesting for me to see that during the PTS ZOS increased the crystal drops from various activities, increased the amount of crystals required from 40 to 50, and had to make it so that Transmute Geodes didn't stack because of a bug.


As well as: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/4505195#Comment_4505195

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

The new Transmutation system is intended as a way to assist you in obtaining the trait you desire for your gear as you play, but not be the primary way to obtain it. You'll obtain Transmutation Crystals as you play the content you're already participating in, but it isn't meant to be something you get immediately. We want you to feel like you have a way to eventually get the trait you want.

I'd argue that intent hasn't changed much, even with jewelry crafting, which actually serves as an excellent sink for using up excess transmute stones acquired by trial runners and PVPers.

Thank a lot for digging it up

But what I don't understand, and would love if you or any other defender of the current system could explain, is how this statement contradicts a better way to manage the crystals. That statement, and all other arguments I hear, is about how to gain them and use them, not manage them. Which the whole point of this discussion is. Management. Storage.

I must have said umpteen times that the problem isn't how to gain them. You could do one or two runs in a new dungeon and transmute all the gear directly as it is now. What you guys are afraid of is already happening.

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO

Which the whole point of this discussion is. Management. Storage.

some great idea are your first post in this thread. the best being make a weapon, transmute to nirnhoned, decon, sell nirnhoned trait. pure profit. yes, you don't get a trait stone every time but it is better then losing them or letting them pile up right? are you that worried that zos will take that ability away or something?

Finedaible

Annoyance is exactly what ZoS wants. Just wait for the surprise announcement of new Transmutation Tokens (or some variation thereof) to be added to the Crown Store. ZoS has a tendency to create artificial inconveniences in their systems (Outfit system gold costs and Outfit Change Tokens are a prime example of this) to push more casual players with less time to make 'micro'-transactions. Why do you think they just added skyshard unlocks all of a sudden in the crown store?

VaranisArano

Vildebill wrote: »

VaranisArano wrote: »

Vildebill wrote: »

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

Vildebill wrote: »

Did I say that the transmution system was a substitute for something? Everything I hear from you is personal opinions of what you think of the system, not why the system "is in place" as you say it.

It’s not just my opinion ... it’s ZOS’s too.

Maybe that counts for something?

Dot you have anything to back that up?

Actually, yes. I looked it up the last time someone asked me to cite sources.

Here's ZOS's comments when they were in the process of rolling out Transmutation on the PTS. Nor has ZOS made any more recent comments on Transmutation that I could find.

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/373097/pts-patch-notes-v3-2-1

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Transmutation
Developer Comments:

The goal of Transmutation is to provide you with a way to acquire your ideal traits in a way which is less dependent on RNG, without trivializing changing equipment traits or making it incredibly time consuming.The primary sources of Transmute Crystals are guaranteed drops from content you're likely already doing to collect your gear, such as Pledges, the group finder daily random Dungeon, Trial weekly quests, Veteran arena completions, and end of campaign PvP rewards.

Though it was also rather interesting for me to see that during the PTS ZOS increased the crystal drops from various activities, increased the amount of crystals required from 40 to 50, and had to make it so that Transmute Geodes didn't stack because of a bug.


As well as: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/4505195#Comment_4505195

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

The new Transmutation system is intended as a way to assist you in obtaining the trait you desire for your gear as you play, but not be the primary way to obtain it. You'll obtain Transmutation Crystals as you play the content you're already participating in, but it isn't meant to be something you get immediately. We want you to feel like you have a way to eventually get the trait you want.

I'd argue that intent hasn't changed much, even with jewelry crafting, which actually serves as an excellent sink for using up excess transmute stones acquired by trial runners and PVPers.

Thank a lot for digging it up

But what I don't understand, and would love if you or any other defender of the current system could explain, is how this statement contradicts a better way to manage the crystals. That statement, and all other arguments I hear, is about how to gain them and use them, not manage them. Which the whole point of this discussion is. Management. Storage.

I must have said umpteen times that the problem isn't how to gain them. You could do one or two runs in a new dungeon and transmute all the gear directly as it is now. What you guys are afraid of is already happening.

Here's the argument in a gist:

ZOS doesn't want transmute crystals to be the primary way to change traits on gear. But transmute stones are easy to gain, so ZOS wants to make sure that players don't hoard a whole bunch to trait change all their new gear without having to run the content enough. They do this a couple of ways.

A. Capping the amount you can hold.
B. Use them or Lose them. Either use your stones, or lose the new ones you get.
C. Want to hoard your Geodes anyway? Welcome to inventory management problems! (As an aside, ZOS deliberately creates inventory management issues for a variety of reasons, but most obviously to sell for ESO+ crafting bags.)
D. Want the new Jewelry Crafting traits on dropped gear? You've got to spend your transmute crystals to get them.

And yes, all those are pain points for players who want: access to lots of stones, hoarding without inventory management problems, and no more "use 'em or lose 'em".

So the crux of the argument is that those pain points are working as ZOS intended. They are a feature, not a bug. The pain points don't always stop players from accumulating a vast horde of geodes or transmute stones, but they do make it much more annoying to manage such a horde, encouraging players to use their stones instead of hoarding them to use on the gear from new content.

Now, ZOS isn't ever going to come out and say "We deliberately made it annoying for you all to hold your crystals." But that's effectively what they did and are still doing, and its not that hard to see why when I look at it from the perspective of the game developers rather than as an annoyed player.

Taleof2Cities

It’s not “annoyance” in the purest form.

It’s making sure you’re doing the content to get the gear you need.

To put it another way, it’s making sure players don’t buy two overland 5-piece sets from the guild traders ... and immediately change the trait on all 10 pieces of said sets.

peacenote

The cap on transmute stones is a nuisance. Since this game is about fun (and not being annoyed) I would like to see it removed. I greatly dislike caps on any "currency." So what if a few players have enough stones where they don't have to grind for a correct trait? Most of us will never have THAT many.

And as long as it takes hundreds of runs to obtain a BSW fire staff or a Jorvuld's lightning staff or the coveted whatever-is-BIS dagger, re-running content will be a thing.

There is absolutely no need for a slightly annoying inconvenience that has zero impact on how I actually use my transmute stones.

At LEAST make it unlimited for ESO+ and quadruple the limit for everyone else! My two cents.

Derra

bigelle.x3_ESO wrote: »

God people blow 50 shards just to sell a nirncrux? I have so many things that need to be transmuted and this hurts my soul.

I wish i could sell some of my 6000 transmute stones.

VaranisArano

peacenote wrote: »

The cap on transmute stones is a nuisance. Since this game is about fun (and not being annoyed) I would like to see it removed. I greatly dislike caps on any "currency." So what if a few players have enough stones where they don't have to grind for a correct trait? Most of us will never have THAT many.

And as long as it takes hundreds of runs to obtain a BSW fire staff or a Jorvuld's lightning staff or the coveted whatever-is-BIS dagger, re-running content will be a thing.

There is absolutely no need for a slightly annoying inconvenience that has zero impact on how I actually use my transmute stones.

At LEAST make it unlimited for ESO+ and quadruple the limit for everyone else! My two cents.

Not everything in the game is about fun.

A fair bit of it is about making money for ZOS.

Hopefully its obvious how "running content a bunch of times to get the gear you want OR running content to get the transmute stones you want" combined with "subscribe for a higher cap on crystals + less inventory management headaches OR use your crystals and therefore grind more" helps ZOS make money.

I believe Finedaible described it very well.

Finedaible wrote: »

ZoS has a tendency to create artificial inconveniences in their systems (Outfit system gold costs and Outfit Change Tokens are a prime example of this) to push more casual players with less time to make 'micro'-transactions.

Just because ZOS' inconvenience has no impact on you doesnt mean it doesnt serve their purposes across the whole game population.

Vildebill

VaranisArano wrote: »

Vildebill wrote: »

VaranisArano wrote: »

Vildebill wrote: »

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

Vildebill wrote: »

Did I say that the transmution system was a substitute for something? Everything I hear from you is personal opinions of what you think of the system, not why the system "is in place" as you say it.

It’s not just my opinion ... it’s ZOS’s too.

Maybe that counts for something?

Dot you have anything to back that up?

Actually, yes. I looked it up the last time someone asked me to cite sources.

Here's ZOS's comments when they were in the process of rolling out Transmutation on the PTS. Nor has ZOS made any more recent comments on Transmutation that I could find.

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/373097/pts-patch-notes-v3-2-1

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Transmutation
Developer Comments:

The goal of Transmutation is to provide you with a way to acquire your ideal traits in a way which is less dependent on RNG, without trivializing changing equipment traits or making it incredibly time consuming.The primary sources of Transmute Crystals are guaranteed drops from content you're likely already doing to collect your gear, such as Pledges, the group finder daily random Dungeon, Trial weekly quests, Veteran arena completions, and end of campaign PvP rewards.

Though it was also rather interesting for me to see that during the PTS ZOS increased the crystal drops from various activities, increased the amount of crystals required from 40 to 50, and had to make it so that Transmute Geodes didn't stack because of a bug.


As well as: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/4505195#Comment_4505195

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

The new Transmutation system is intended as a way to assist you in obtaining the trait you desire for your gear as you play, but not be the primary way to obtain it. You'll obtain Transmutation Crystals as you play the content you're already participating in, but it isn't meant to be something you get immediately. We want you to feel like you have a way to eventually get the trait you want.

I'd argue that intent hasn't changed much, even with jewelry crafting, which actually serves as an excellent sink for using up excess transmute stones acquired by trial runners and PVPers.

Thank a lot for digging it up

But what I don't understand, and would love if you or any other defender of the current system could explain, is how this statement contradicts a better way to manage the crystals. That statement, and all other arguments I hear, is about how to gain them and use them, not manage them. Which the whole point of this discussion is. Management. Storage.

I must have said umpteen times that the problem isn't how to gain them. You could do one or two runs in a new dungeon and transmute all the gear directly as it is now. What you guys are afraid of is already happening.

Here's the argument in a gist:

ZOS doesn't want transmute crystals to be the primary way to change traits on gear. But transmute stones are easy to gain, so ZOS wants to make sure that players don't hoard a whole bunch to trait change all their new gear without having to run the content enough. They do this a couple of ways.

A. Capping the amount you can hold.
B. Use them or Lose them. Either use your stones, or lose the new ones you get.
C. Want to hoard your Geodes anyway? Welcome to inventory management problems! (As an aside, ZOS deliberately creates inventory management issues for a variety of reasons, but most obviously to sell for ESO+ crafting bags.)
D. Want the new Jewelry Crafting traits on dropped gear? You've got to spend your transmute crystals to get them.

And yes, all those are pain points for players who want: access to lots of stones, hoarding without inventory management problems, and no more "use 'em or lose 'em".

So the crux of the argument is that those pain points are working as ZOS intended. They are a feature, not a bug. The pain points don't always stop players from accumulating a vast horde of geodes or transmute stones, but they do make it much more annoying to manage such a horde, encouraging players to use their stones instead of hoarding them to use on the gear from new content.

Now, ZOS isn't ever going to come out and say "We deliberately made it annoying for you all to hold your crystals." But that's effectively what they did and are still doing, and its not that hard to see why when I look at it from the perspective of the game developers rather than as an annoyed player.

No I totally understand that as well, and I'm trying to point out how stupid it is to have such an approach. Because you can still work around it, it just takes a little more time, and in the process the pile of arguments of quitting the game just increases a little more each day. Nobody wants to be annoyed. And ZOS sure isn't winning with this kind of attitude in the long run. But as long as new players are buying the game and the crown store is selling, they'll ignore this kind of feedback I guess.

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

It’s not “annoyance” in the purest form.

It’s making sure you’re doing the content to get the gear you need.

To put it another way, it’s making sure players don’t buy two overland 5-piece sets from the guild traders ... and immediately change the trait on all 10 pieces of said sets.

I'm almost amused that you still refuse to understand that there's a LOT of players that can buy loads of overland sets in different traits, or do just one dungeon run and get all the required pieces, and then transmute the whole shebang and still have piles of crystals left.

DaveMoeDee

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

It’s not “annoyance” in the purest form.

It’s making sure you’re doing the content to get the gear you need.

To put it another way, it’s making sure players don’t buy two overland 5-piece sets from the guild traders ... and immediately change the trait on all 10 pieces of said sets.

I have enough purple geodes or whatever they call the containers as well as jubilee containers to do that. They are just cluttering up inventory instead of being added to my currency.

Taleof2Cities

Vildebill wrote: »

I'm almost amused that you still refuse to understand that there's a LOT of players that can buy loads of overland sets in different traits, or do just one dungeon run and get all the required pieces, and then transmute the whole shebang and still have piles of crystals left.

I get it ... you can do it. But it’s slightly harder to do since you’ll need geodes over the 200 stone cap.

We’ve explained why the cap exists.

Whether you accept that now or later ... I really don’t care.

Tsar_Gekkou

They won't even let us stack or put runeboxes in our banks out of an attempt to inconvenience us. They definitely won't let us bank or stack geodes.

VaranisArano

Vildebill wrote: »

VaranisArano wrote: »

Vildebill wrote: »

VaranisArano wrote: »

Vildebill wrote: »

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

Vildebill wrote: »

Did I say that the transmution system was a substitute for something? Everything I hear from you is personal opinions of what you think of the system, not why the system "is in place" as you say it.

It’s not just my opinion ... it’s ZOS’s too.

Maybe that counts for something?

Dot you have anything to back that up?

Actually, yes. I looked it up the last time someone asked me to cite sources.

Here's ZOS's comments when they were in the process of rolling out Transmutation on the PTS. Nor has ZOS made any more recent comments on Transmutation that I could find.

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/373097/pts-patch-notes-v3-2-1

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Transmutation
Developer Comments:

The goal of Transmutation is to provide you with a way to acquire your ideal traits in a way which is less dependent on RNG, without trivializing changing equipment traits or making it incredibly time consuming.The primary sources of Transmute Crystals are guaranteed drops from content you're likely already doing to collect your gear, such as Pledges, the group finder daily random Dungeon, Trial weekly quests, Veteran arena completions, and end of campaign PvP rewards.

Though it was also rather interesting for me to see that during the PTS ZOS increased the crystal drops from various activities, increased the amount of crystals required from 40 to 50, and had to make it so that Transmute Geodes didn't stack because of a bug.


As well as: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/4505195#Comment_4505195

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

The new Transmutation system is intended as a way to assist you in obtaining the trait you desire for your gear as you play, but not be the primary way to obtain it. You'll obtain Transmutation Crystals as you play the content you're already participating in, but it isn't meant to be something you get immediately. We want you to feel like you have a way to eventually get the trait you want.

I'd argue that intent hasn't changed much, even with jewelry crafting, which actually serves as an excellent sink for using up excess transmute stones acquired by trial runners and PVPers.

Thank a lot for digging it up

But what I don't understand, and would love if you or any other defender of the current system could explain, is how this statement contradicts a better way to manage the crystals. That statement, and all other arguments I hear, is about how to gain them and use them, not manage them. Which the whole point of this discussion is. Management. Storage.

I must have said umpteen times that the problem isn't how to gain them. You could do one or two runs in a new dungeon and transmute all the gear directly as it is now. What you guys are afraid of is already happening.

Here's the argument in a gist:

ZOS doesn't want transmute crystals to be the primary way to change traits on gear. But transmute stones are easy to gain, so ZOS wants to make sure that players don't hoard a whole bunch to trait change all their new gear without having to run the content enough. They do this a couple of ways.

A. Capping the amount you can hold.
B. Use them or Lose them. Either use your stones, or lose the new ones you get.
C. Want to hoard your Geodes anyway? Welcome to inventory management problems! (As an aside, ZOS deliberately creates inventory management issues for a variety of reasons, but most obviously to sell for ESO+ crafting bags.)
D. Want the new Jewelry Crafting traits on dropped gear? You've got to spend your transmute crystals to get them.

And yes, all those are pain points for players who want: access to lots of stones, hoarding without inventory management problems, and no more "use 'em or lose 'em".

So the crux of the argument is that those pain points are working as ZOS intended. They are a feature, not a bug. The pain points don't always stop players from accumulating a vast horde of geodes or transmute stones, but they do make it much more annoying to manage such a horde, encouraging players to use their stones instead of hoarding them to use on the gear from new content.

Now, ZOS isn't ever going to come out and say "We deliberately made it annoying for you all to hold your crystals." But that's effectively what they did and are still doing, and its not that hard to see why when I look at it from the perspective of the game developers rather than as an annoyed player.

No I totally understand that as well, and I'm trying to point out how stupid it is to have such an approach. Because you can still work around it, it just takes a little more time, and in the process the pile of arguments of quitting the game just increases a little more each day. Nobody wants to be annoyed. And ZOS sure isn't winning with this kind of attitude in the long run. But as long as new players are buying the game and the crown store is selling, they'll ignore this kind of feedback I guess.

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

It’s not “annoyance” in the purest form.

It’s making sure you’re doing the content to get the gear you need.

To put it another way, it’s making sure players don’t buy two overland 5-piece sets from the guild traders ... and immediately change the trait on all 10 pieces of said sets.

I'm almost amused that you still refuse to understand that there's a LOT of players that can buy loads of overland sets in different traits, or do just one dungeon run and get all the required pieces, and then transmute the whole shebang and still have piles of crystals left.

Of course there are lots of players who can do that. ("Lots" being subjective...I don't have access to the data on how many players over the whole player base hoard crystals, but ZOS does)

The last time I recorded my gear runs for armor, it worked out like this. Warning: not statistically significant.

Using 1 transmute geode took 30 runs to get the 5 armor pieces I needed in the correct trait.

Using 4 transmute geodes took 5 runs to get the 5 armor pieces I needed.

Now obviously that's heavily reliant on luck and RNG. So I wouldnt put too much weight on the exact numbers. Still, its indicative that the more transmute geodes you have to use, the less you have to grind for what you want simply because trait doesnt matter any more.

Bpryr_125

Nublet Question. When you Transmute, is it bound to that character or to account?

darthgummibear_ESO

I'd honestly be happy if the crystal boxes 1) stacked and 2) you could put them in your bank.