VMA Drops and Drop Suggestion

Gam3sta09 · April 2017

Hello,

I have run VMA over 100 times now and I've heard other people run it 200 times and still not get what they want. Now I understand this is an end game content dungeon, but over 100 times and still not see a Sharpened Inferno staff drop? That's pretty terrible, I'm to the point of quitting the game altogether because I'm so sick of running the same content over and over again.

Here's a few suggestions:

1) Remove the traits Decisive, Powered, Defending and Charged from your Inferno staff selections and also either remove or significantly reduce the drop rate of your sword and board. Here's why, end game content will never, ever, EVER require you to run those traits and no tank or build will ever call for a VMA Sword and board, they are useless and therefore should never drop.

2) This is my biggest suggestion. I think this would help people that are sick of grinding this place get what they want. Implement a token system, in which, after every completion you get a single token. These tokens after collecting 100 of them can then be traded to the vendor in the beginning of VMA for a Sharpened weapon (or whatever trait you want) of your choice. You can also include a random drop at the end of VMA as you already do.

This would allow 2 things to happen, one you could get lucky and still get you a Sharpened weapon before your 100th run and two if you're unlucky like me, you could be guaranteed a Sharpened weapon of your choice at your 100th run.

I think this will help motivate the people that are quitting VMA (which are all my friends) because they can't get their Sharpened Inferno staves run VMA more without actually giving them the staves for free (it still takes skill and dedication to run it a 100 times).

Please read and consider implementing, I'm getting sick of running VMA and would really like to dedicate my time in ESO to something else...

Gam3sta09 · April 2017

@ZOS_GinaBruno , @ZOS_KaiSchober . I had originally submitted a ticket on this and was told to post here to get a response.

Masel · April 2017

You're probably the 100th person posting a token thread on here. Thing is that the real issue is not the rng, but the trait imbalance. Balance traits and people will use precise/nirn/infused. That takes out the rng portion and enables us to use more than sharpened.

Gam3sta09 · April 2017

@Masel92 , my issue is not just traits though...in my time of running VMA 100 times, I've seen 2 Inferno staves drop and both were Powered. Balancing trait drops would be fine as long as you get the Inferno staff to drop at all, right? Most end game guilds that shoot for high scores (including my guild) don't use Nirn traits and barely use Precise.

DocFrost72 · April 2017

I half agree with @Masel92. There are already builds, however, that use non sharpened items right now (yay, spriggans and spinners/dk heavy attack builds!) so removing other traits is no good.

I'd shoot for 25 runs being the choice number. 100 runs of maelstrom is at least 100 hours of content for even the great players (be around 150 hours for me). That's absurd by my standards, but then I am biased. 25 runs is 25 hours (more than a day of real life time), and tbh much more fitting.

Masel · April 2017

Gam3sta09 wrote: »

@Masel92 , my issue is not just traits though...in my time of running VMA 100 times, I've seen 2 Inferno staves drop and both were Powered. Balancing trait drops would be fine as long as you get the Inferno staff to drop at all, right? Most end game guilds that shoot for high scores (including my guild) don't use Nirn traits and barely use Precise.

They don't because they underperform. If they would be equally good as sharpened, they would be used. And having at least those three balanced would lead to 1/3 of the rng grind.

Gam3sta09 · April 2017

@DocFrost72 , that's assuming that you don't get the drop before the 25-100 runs to get the tokens to trade in. You would still get a random weapon drop at the end, only difference is you would also get a token, so you would still have a chance to get the weapon of your choice at the end.

Gam3sta09 · April 2017

@Masel92 , I could agree with you on that end. Balance Nirn and Precise to be just as good as Sharpened, that could be the 3rd option on my list to change, but if ZOS isn't willing to make that change across the board for all content, then adjust VMA to be like the token system I've suggested.

Masel · April 2017

Gam3sta09 wrote: »

@Masel92 , I could agree with you on that end. Balance Nirn and Precise to be just as good as Sharpened, that could be the 3rd option on my list to change, but if ZOS isn't willing to make that change across the board for all content, then adjust VMA to be like the token system I've suggested.

They said a while back that they wanted to "keep the advantages that each trait has right now". So that doesn't sound promising in terms of trait balancing anyway.

Sometimes I would like to understand the business strategy that they follow. Balancing traits more leads to diversity > people try out different setups > more fun > more players staying longer > more income.

FlyLionel · April 2017

Agreed. At the very least buff garbage traits so that you can make up a reason to use it and others would not mind it much(ohh decisive gives me alot of ult gen plus itboosts my ultimates damage). That being said I have everything I want from VMA except a sharpened mace/greatsword and defending greatsword/battleaxe. Asking for another sharpened inferno would be cruel. Buff nirnhoned or keep it the same and make precise weapons deal extra critical damage on top of the rating. I am blinded sometimes by the design team, how about an A for a little creativity on my end..yes your sharpened weapons will be bis still.

Gam3sta09 · April 2017

FlyLionel wrote: »

Agreed. At the very least buff garbage traits so that you can make up a reason to use it and others would not mind it much(ohh decisive gives me alot of ult gen plus itboosts my ultimates damage). That being said I have everything I want from VMA except a sharpened mace/greatsword and defending greatsword/battleaxe. Asking for another sharpened inferno would be cruel. Buff nirnhoned or keep it the same and make precise weapons deal extra critical damage on top of the rating. I am blinded sometimes by the design team, how about an A for a little creativity on my end..yes your sharpened weapons will be bis still.

That's the thing, this isn't a direct request for Sharpened. I used that trait as an example because it's what I need. But the token vendor would have everything in the drop table available for purchase. If you needed something else like a Sharpened Battleaxe or something in a different trait entirely, then he would have it in his inventory. You would be able to change the tokens in for whatever you would like, provided you have enough.

Again, I agree with making Precise or Nirnhoned as good as Sharpened, but as mentioned before I think ZOS isn't willing to change the traits for all content, with that said, I think a token system would at least give me something to hope for.

Gam3sta09 · April 2017

Masel92 wrote: »

Gam3sta09 wrote: »

@Masel92 , I could agree with you on that end. Balance Nirn and Precise to be just as good as Sharpened, that could be the 3rd option on my list to change, but if ZOS isn't willing to make that change across the board for all content, then adjust VMA to be like the token system I've suggested.

They said a while back that they wanted to "keep the advantages that each trait has right now". So that doesn't sound promising in terms of trait balancing anyway.

Sometimes I would like to understand the business strategy that they follow. Balancing traits more leads to diversity > people try out different setups > more fun > more players staying longer > more income.

Yeah, I remember them saying that. I don't understand their business model either. In previous MMOs that I played, all you had to do was get the item to drop (didn't have traits) and you could use that item for end game content. This is kind of the first MMO that I've played that has traits. That being said, it would be great to get a trait buff so that I could use something other than Sharpened, but without ZOS being willing to change it, there has to be something done to make it easier to get these end game drops.
They decided to allow trade in dungeons, so that made it possible for you to trade in trials and dungeons to get your gear a little easier. If you can't trade in Maelstrom and you're not willing to make other traits as good as Sharpened, then implement a token system of some sort.

DocFrost72 · April 2017

Gam3sta09 wrote: »

@DocFrost72 , that's assuming that you don't get the drop before the 25-100 runs to get the tokens to trade in. You would still get a random weapon drop at the end, only difference is you would also get a token, so you would still have a chance to get the weapon of your choice at the end.

@Gam3sta09 I don't know many that have their desired weapons after 25 runs. 100, however, you are very unlucky, my friend. That sucks.

Gam3sta09 · April 2017

@DocFrost72 , I agree. I am very unlucky, but my buddies have way more completes than me, one is at 205 runs. It's the main reason why I bring up this token system, because I've never played a game that I've put 100 or more hours into something and still don't have what I want. It's the simple fact of them allowing me and other people the ability to move on and do other content.
This system allows people to get what they want, but still have to work at, whether it be 25, 50 or 100 times. Just give me a reason to keep going into VMA (ex: token system).

Draekony · April 2017

yep got my first sharpened staff lastnight.. frost! yay. lol frankly i think ive done 50 and find myself getting mad at VMA. probably going to stop with it and focus on something else, i dont play this to *** myself off but the opposite =p

0jtpk0 · April 2017

@Gam3sta09 Right there with you. I've lost track of how many clears I have, but it's way more than it should be to get one single desired item.

The thing is, I will probably continue to run it after I get my staff (assuming I ever do) because I want to shoot for high leaderboard scores. However, the drop system sours the whole experience. Same could be said of virtually ALL end game content. I want to play the content because it's fun and competitive, not because I'm obligated to because of the drops in it.