Dear ZOS a plead about infinite crying (archive)

Grumpycrawler · October 4

Last week I made a post in the help forum about infinite archive since by that time I had been farming it for the clothier station for about 2 weeks everyday with just one of the 5 leads dropping.
I posted there since no new lead dropped for me and I was starting to question myself, thinking I did something wrong in the farming procedure or missed steps (and even wondering if the leads even dropped there).
Almost going towards 3 weeks of farming now (while saying to my partner it is time for the infinite daily crying) and the only leads that dropped in the meantime was a lead for a mythic set piece (which I don't want and will never use) and maybe the post painfull lead drop, a lead drop for a 2k archival fortunes container.
This last lead felt extra painfull since there is nothing I can buy for it that actually would give me more chance on the leads I'm farming for. I mean sure 1 of the 5 leads of the clothier station can be both from the squid guy if it by chance pops up there, but with the almost 3 weeks of farming I have so much of those points I could buy multiple versions of that lead (which isn't usefull since you only need one).
This all makes infinite archive feel so unrewarding, especialy since those points are..well pointless. I'm also starting to notive I'm actually getting worse at infinite archive (side portal things and such) since it al just feels like a button smashing slodge after all those runs.

I know you guys don't want to maken every lead easy to get, but this feels like too much. Especialy if you look at how all the other lead craftingstations (for example the new west weald one) are quite easy to farm. (and yes I still need to get my last part of the high isle wood working station in wayrest 2 and haven';t been lucky there yet either, but somehow it feels less like a contineus dread).

Personally I think it would help if all the leads of the apocryphal clothier station (and if I'm aloud to even cheekily sugest the jewelry station) are buyable at the little tentacle boy merchant. Even if they are like 20k archival fortunes a piece. This because then the archival fortune containers actually also would feel as a reward instead of a middle finger rubbing in my face.

I'm even getting to the point that I wish they were in the cash shop.......

(sorry for the missspellings english isn't my main language and I have also been blessed with dyslexia, so if something isn't readable let me know).

Pelanora · October 4

I feel for you.

I read the list of lead locations for that (EVERY single one in IA???!!!) And thought - oh no way I'm trying for that. And I need a clothier station. But, no way. Rnd is too too too brutal for that.

Treeshka · October 4

I think all leads that comes from Archive should be sold by a new merchant. Therefore you can just farm currency and get the lead you desire.

On the other hand.

Sarannah · October 4

Leads seem to drop plenty for me in the IA, but I complete atleast arc 3 every day(including every side area/marauder/boss scamp, excluding the occasional mess up). I'm actually using the IA to fastlevel excavation on characters who aren't excavation 10 yet. Just getting all the leads, then dig them all up, then get them all again. Takes me about three weeks to get all the leads for everything in there, before I have to dig them up due to them no longer dropping once I have them all.

So far I have like 10 of the clothier stations.

Leads seem to mostly drop from marauders, and secondary from side portals(unknown portals) and boss scamps. To get leads from boss chests is very very rare.

PS: Farming for three weeks isn't much, especially if you aren't going far into the archive.
PPS: The side portals are fun(excluding the theater of war)!

Grumpycrawler · October 4

Sarannah wrote: »

Leads seem to drop plenty for me in the IA, but I complete atleast arc 3 every day(including every side area/marauder/boss scamp, excluding the occasional mess up). I'm actually using the IA to fastlevel excavation on characters who aren't excavation 10 yet. Just getting all the leads, then dig them all up, then get them all again. Takes me about three weeks to get all the leads for everything in there, before I have to dig them up due to them no longer dropping once I have them all.

So far I have like 10 of the clothier stations.

Leads seem to mostly drop from marauders, and secondary from side portals(unknown portals) and boss scamps. To get leads from boss chests is very very rare.

PS: Farming for three weeks isn't much, especially if you aren't going far into the archive.
PPS: The side portals are fun(excluding the theater of war)!

I wish I had your problem haha!
I always complete arc 1 and 2 then do a reset and rerun it for 3 times (maybe 4 if I feel spicy) times a day. Do all the side portals, and yes I agree they were fun in the beginning but they just aren't anymore (even liked the theatre of war one). So far never had a lead drop from of those side portal chests only from the boss chests.

And yeah 3 weeks wouldn't feel much if I actually got a atleast one lead drop after that but nup.

Marauders are indeed something I struggle with, they almost always one shot the moment I see them. Sure you could say well just get gud or don't try to get it, but the way the lead drops are stated it seems like they were ment to be also obtainable for players who aren't on the complete high end side of the game. I think it would be much more fair if we could actually work towards a goal instead of being so depended on the RNG blessings (especially since there are also so much other lead drops in IA which extra slim down the chance), in that way people are still working for and it investing time in it. Or well maybe not more fair but atleast more rewarding. I mean I dont need it to be free or that it takes no effort. But I dont see me running 2 arcs (and the scamps and the side portals) multiple times a day as putting no effort in.

So the suggestiob @Treeshka has also seems fair for players like you and them who actually maybe want sonething else out of the archive and might even getting sick of seeing those clothier stations haha

Vulkunne · October 5

I'll put it this way. Spent several weeks farming IA for the things I wanted out of there and it took alot out of me. In fact, there was some collateral damage even irl from me getting burned out on IA.

Anyways, in the end, what I realized is you can get anything you want out of IA but you have to want it. You have to be completely all-in and totally driven (almost like a form of mild insanity) to get it. Some know it can be really difficult and so they spend a couple hours thinking they'll get lucky and win by attrition.

That does not seem to work here. You want something out of IA, you got to want it. You can try a repetition like couple hours a day, but that's not what I mean. What I mean is playing all day, every day as much as you can until you reach into IA and pull it out with bloodied hands, muttering incoherent slogans to Reman about freedom, while never holding back or checking to see if you can quit playing already. I quite frankly don't believe many of those who say they just had certain things handed to them. It may be true but just so hard for me to believe after what it took for me to get thru it.

I have similar feelings about Battlegrounds, but I digress smh.

KromedeTheCorrupt · October 5

All I get is leads from there I will never do. But I do feel for people who aren’t so lucky. Don’t worry there are certain leads I quit farming because they refused to drop and then my friend gets it his first try. I’m not asking for anything to be done it’s just one of those rng things that suck imo.

Pelanora · October 5

Vulkunne wrote: »

You want something out of IA, you got to want it. You can try a repetition like couple hours a day, but that's not what I mean. What I mean is playing all day, every day as much as you can until you reach into IA and pull it out with bloodied hands, yelling incoherent slogans about Reman and Freedom and not holding back. .

Absolutely damn awesome post.

katanagirl1 · October 5

I also would like to see all IA leads sold at the vendor. There are so many I still need to just get the first of everything.

I haven’t done an IA run in weeks because I can’t stand the thought of another run with nothing.

Juomuuri · October 5

I can only solo arc 1 with Isobel, and am unable to do any of the minigame portals solo... I only get golden leads when I'm playing with a friend, since we can clear more stages/arcs together. But the drop chance for such a high quantity of different leads is abysmal when you can only manage arc 1-3 (I've never reached the final Tho'at). Would definitely be happy to see an IA lead vendor!

Grumpycrawler · October 5

Vulkunne wrote: »

I'll put it this way. Spent several weeks farming IA for the things I wanted out of there and it took alot out of me. In fact, there was some collateral damage even irl from me getting burned out on IA. Anyways, in the end, what I realized is you can get anything you want out of IA but you have to want it. You have to be completely all-in and totally driven (almost like a form of mild insanity) to get it. Some know it can be really difficult and so they spend a couple hours thinking they'll get lucky and win by attrition.

That does not seem to work here. You want something out of IA, you got to want it. You can try a repetition like couple hours a day, but that's not what I mean. What I mean is playing all day, every day as much as you can until you reach into IA and pull it out with bloodied hands, yelling incoherent slogans to Reman about War and Freedom, never holding back or checking to see if you can quit playing already. I quite frankly don't believe many of those who say they just had certain things handed to them. It may be true but just so hard for me to believe after what it took for me to get thru it.

I have similar feelings about Battlegrounds, but I digress smh.

hmh hmh yes yes..I'm listening, I think I'm starting to understand. I thought I was already going insane but I was not pushing enough. The crying is just the first stage and up untill now I just have been licked by insanity! Maybe IA was actually helping me with that fortune lead, helping me push further into insanity.
So just let me jusr right down the next steps I should take:
-quit job
-move out to a secluded place where I can't be disturbed (husband and cast are distractions for my goal), or maybe I should not solo IA but play with him since if he gets all the leads with ease that would push me towatds the delicous insanity even further! All this time I did not want to include him since I thought I would break if that happend...but maybe that's what I need to get stronger!
-stock up on liquid food....or maybe no food...maybe the sensation of food in my body is also too much of a distraction...

Or what if...hmh yes what was the qoute, insanity is doing something over and over and expecting a diffrent outcome.
So yes the final solution might then actually be that in the endnot have a goal and reach Nirvana, in which case you don't care anymore about the rewards since you'll beciome like those monks who dont need anything anymore since you're mind reached a higher place, or turn into a Hushed (driven crazy by the want of the knowledge of the lead).....or...what if...the marauders are actually players who turned insane becuase they just manage to get one lead (which if you manage to kill them they drop) and they guard it with their life! Their power comming from the endless furry of farming for more leads.....
It's starting to make sense....All the people you meet in IA are also close to insanity wanting something that is in grasp but failing... the lady with the books wanting to bring order but scared to even try since it feels impossible, the butcher want to kill the goat (you the player) but in the end being killed by the goat over and over, the arena lady thinking she's testing somebody for a greater goal but there isn't a greater goal only she being killed over and over again, the poor ghost pofing into diffrent parts then to be put together but then poof into different parts again.....

Or is it in the end a test by Mora, do you respect your boundaries and stay sane letting go of something you crave or lose yourself into it, in something that actually is set in stone by fate but you think you have control over if you just keep on pushing...

Pelanora · October 5

Wouldn't be funny if we all suddenly became Buddhist and were freed of all desire and attachments. What would poor old zos do.

MidniteOwl1913 · October 5

The new marauders have put an end to my even attempting to go past arc one. The only reason in the past I would go past the daily was for a maurder drop but with the additions the odds of getting one I can solo are just so small now I don't bother. I don't get very many leads. The GW guy doesn't show up in arc 1 very often and I can't do the side games.

IA is just a time sink, I don't enjoy it only do it now when it's an endeavor.

Erorah · October 18

I have not been getting Leads in Infinite Archive AT ALL recently. I am there most every night, from Arc 1 and at times through to and into Arc 3. I am solo most of the time and am utterly annihilated by many of the marauders.

If it is going to take so long just to get all the leads for say, the Apocryphal Jewelry Station, I may never see a second one.
I see Gw perhaps once or twice if lucky in an evening, and he gives naught but the likes of 'Blank Library Cartularys' and 'Chant Inversion Tables'... I have yet to see a single Furnishing Plan from ANY of the mini boss Muniment Chests and none from the Tho'at chest.

What gives? People always say, 'Oh, you must just have been unlucky, or have bad RNG... but every day? For several weeks?
It has become beyond tiresome to say the least. Lack of reward for hours spent is not in the least 'rewarding'.

PLEASE - a dev... check the code.. is it working as intended? If this is the intent, the infiniteness will wane more swiftly than you think.

Erorah · October 18

And also I will add.. I do ALL Side Portals (except Theatre of War because Solo it is terrible to bust crystals AND bash the teacher before she slays me).

JaxontheUnfortunate · October 18

For my ia build that I usually run either with a companion or another player run one dmg set and one heavy set then either oaken soul or 2 PC monster set. Due to visions and verses you can get can really buff your damage. Also work on getting all of the upgrades they make runs much easier.

On my DK I run leeching plate, pyrebrand or runecarvers blaze and oaken soul.

ArchMikem · October 18

JaxontheUnfortunate wrote: »

For my ia build that I usually run either with a companion or another player run one dmg set and one heavy set then either oaken soul or 2 PC monster set. Due to visions and verses you can get can really buff your damage. Also work on getting all of the upgrades they make runs much easier.

On my DK I run leeching plate, pyrebrand or runecarvers blaze and oaken soul.

OP isn't looking for build advice, they're talking about the time sink the RNG makes looting all the Leads.

JaxontheUnfortunate · October 18

Whatever I saw someone indicating not being able to get past a maurader I was just posting what I use. Lead drop is all rng.