Can we do something about Mudcrab Chitin?

LPapirius · August 31

After reading this thread yesterday I went out and decided to try farming for mudcrab chitin. It yielded more than I thought, but farming mudcrabs is the opposite of the kind of activity I log in to do.

cozmic72 · August 31

Zerith-Var calls coral crabs mud crabs when you kill them so they should drop chitin.

LootAllTheStuff · September 1

cozmic72 wrote: »

Zerith-Var calls coral crabs mud crabs when you kill them so they should drop chitin.

Does he have the same visceral reaction to them that Azandar has? I get the distinct impression he is not a fan...

Vaqual · September 1

It is actually quite brilliant for the player market when common mats and consumable items are going for high rates at the trader:
1) It ensures frequent trader transactions, siphoning gold from the game, while keeping suppliers interested.
2) It keeps newer players financially competitive, if they are willing to do the grind.
3) It disincentivizes writ crafting, which is a gold source that strongly contributes to inflation.
4) It is only problematic if important or unique consumables become largely inaccessible (like roe spikes before the anniversary events), but at the point where people stop burning the mats for writs this process is usually halted. There are sadly some consumables that are not affordable for everyone, but the type of potion or food a build uses is a deliberate decision. If nothing would be valuable we wouldn't need gold anyway.

Elvenheart · September 1

I agree with @tmbrinks that in the long run doing that quest that wants the chitin is more lucrative than not doing it, but I also agree with @LPapirius that farming chitin is not something I want to do with my playtime, so I have LazyWritCrafter drop that quest so I can save what chitin I do get those times I kill mudcrabs in the normal course of playing for other possible needs. Also, Zerith-var teases me when I kill mudcrabs. 🦀

method__01 · September 1

this is the 3rd or 4th time ,players asking for the specific item to be removed but just like surveys ,oko and a few others
zos refuses to handle the problem BUT they adjust the corn flower, in the past,so it can be done

darkriketz · September 1

After having seen this thread for the first time the other day, I seized the occasion that I was leveling and skyshard-collecting with a brand new character to kill every mudcrab that I crossed with said new character, following the example of my role model DenverRalphy (my eternal and unconditional love and worship to them ♥) and guess what ? they barely granted me mudcrab chitin.

I get this material upon killing one crab on like five or six. It's like most of the time the beast is too damaged to be exploited. I get that greedy players that sell for insane prices things that, in the end, just are digital items in a videogame, but most often the offer is just too low to match the demand. Mudcrab chitin loot chances are absurdly low.

I agree that they should be removed from daily writs requirements.

Orbital78 · September 1

darkriketz wrote: »

After having seen this thread for the first time the other day, I seized the occasion that I was leveling and skyshard-collecting with a brand new character to kill every mudcrab that I crossed with said new character, following the example of my role model DenverRalphy (my eternal and unconditional love and worship to them ♥) and guess what ? they barely granted me mudcrab chitin.

I get this material upon killing one crab on like five or six. It's like most of the time the beast is too damaged to be exploited. I get that greedy players that sell for insane prices things that, in the end, just are digital items in a videogame, but most often the offer is just too low to match the demand. Mudcrab chitin loot chances are absurdly low.

I agree that they should be removed from daily writs requirements.

You're paying for the person's time to farm them, I was surprised how much leather I got getting 250ish chitin in an hour or so. I haven't timed it or anything, but it is rng. I watched YouTube and found a new suggested area. Alikr does seem to spawn much slower now.

Al_Ex_Andre · September 1

Ishtarknows wrote: »

Al_Ex_Andre wrote: »

I used to complain about chitin not being auto earned, but now I just abandon the quest whenever it pops. So either way, I adapt now.

Checking the quest and abandoning it is a waste of time and energy though when I have 20 characters to deal dailies with.

You might be interested to know that Lazy Writ add-on has the option to auto abandon writs asking for chitin. There's an option for Violet Coprinus too

y I did learn that, not too far ago. Need to check that. Thank you for your input.

Zama666 · September 1

I am terrible, but I love it when drop rates change or are low, the scarcity makes the game more interesting.
Shortages of Columbine....yeah, pay for it.

But kill all farming bots.

I will be hated, but I loved when Jewelry requires a lot more work. It made gold armor a lot more special.

We must grind in life sometimes.

If you must hate me, hate me kindly, please?

Tankz,

Z

katanagirl1 · September 2

randconfig wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

I think it should be added to the reward boxes for doing daily writs. Everything else is, including violet coprinus though at a low rate.

You can get the ingredients that are required for daily writs in all zones except for mudcrab chitin, which is nonexistent in land-locked zones and can only be obtained in the coastal areas.

EDIT: the mudcrab chitin is not actually part of the potion, so it could be easily replaced by something more like the bugloss or alkhest for other writs. Also, I delete all of these writs on all toons because 700 gold for 3 mudcrab chitin is not even close to being fair

I think I sell each mudcrab chitin for 700-800 gold, not 3 for 700 lol. I would hate for them to change this economy, as farming mudcrab chitin to sell is one of the ways I make gold.

I’m saying the gold reward for the potions and the 3 mudcrab chitin is 700 gold upon daily writ turn in. Not worth it for me.

randconfig · September 2

JustLovely wrote: »

randconfig wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

I think it should be added to the reward boxes for doing daily writs. Everything else is, including violet coprinus though at a low rate.

You can get the ingredients that are required for daily writs in all zones except for mudcrab chitin, which is nonexistent in land-locked zones and can only be obtained in the coastal areas.

EDIT: the mudcrab chitin is not actually part of the potion, so it could be easily replaced by something more like the bugloss or alkhest for other writs. Also, I delete all of these writs on all toons because 700 gold for 3 mudcrab chitin is not even close to being fair

I think I sell each mudcrab chitin for 700-800 gold, not 3 for 700 lol. I would hate for them to change this economy, as farming mudcrab chitin to sell is one of the ways I make gold.

Farm more please. There isn't enough in game.

ZOS should add everything that is required to do writs with to their writ drop tables. Period.

I noticed that, I've been able to increase the price from 700 to 950 each and people are still buying them immediately... I feel bad raising the price, but they keep selling and I want gold cause I'm poor lol...

randconfig · September 2

freespirit wrote: »

I rarely farm but I do on occasion visit the beach to the NE of Haven in Grahtwood to kill some crabs(unfortunately it is a popular spot), I kill crabs because for me the Chitin is secondary I want Decorative Wax!!

I usually end up selling the Chitin to buy more Wax, the droprate of wax is still absolutely awful across all its possible sources and it is in so many furnishings!!

I do a lot of dailies but on alts I keep alchemy at a lower level to avoid any Chitin shortages, I still get more than enough surveys and really don't mind missing a few Master Writs.

This is also where I source my crab chitin. There's literally groups of 3 crowded together all over the beach there, at least 21 or more crabs there at any given time. So just sweep from one side to the other, walk back, wait a couple minutes for them to respawn, and repeat.

DoofusMax · September 2

To jump back on on this discussion, I've had an interesting experience over the past few days. What with survey reports stacking now, I took some time to clear out a bunch of Jewelry and Blacksmithing surveys over the past couple of days ("a bunch" meaning roughly 25K raw mats each by the time I finished the last survey). I started on Clothing this evening, but only managed to clear off a couple of dozen surveys in Alik'r and Auridon and will deal with the rest tomorrow (or not - it's not a speedy process), but I spent a good chunk of that time wandering off about 100M from the survey site and harvesting anything in my way before returning to do the next survey in the stack. Picked up A LOT of Mudcrab Chitin while doing that.

Also, no major complaints about distances showing on the compass for this use case, but I can see how folks might want it to be toggled on/off. I'm also kind of surprised at how small the zones are. Seeing something showing as being ~2km away when it's on the other side of the map? I go farther than that to get to the grocery store (on foot, weather permitting).

Nestor · September 2

One solution, at the risk of giving up Master Alchemy Writ drops, is to set your Solvent Proficiency to a lower level so that you use less rare Reagents. However, you still get the same Survey Drop Chance, Gold and I think the Exp doing lower solvent level writs.

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Alchemist_Writ

I did this with most of my Crafting Mules. Until recently, and I am thinking about going back to a lower solvent again.

Sordidfairytale · September 2

We should get one chitin with every forum post.

BretonMage · September 2

I farmed a little today, and I think they've bumped up the chitin drop rates since last year. It was dropping at least every other mudcrab for me today.

BXR_Lonestar · September 2

Either the rare ingredient should be removed as writ requirements, or there needs to be an easier way to farm those resources, or you should have a higher chance of getting those resources from your surveys.

Now I haven't had a problem with running out of these resources (yet), but I also kill mudcrabs wherever I see them and I farm when I'm bored, so I'm constantly restocking. But these are hard-to-get resources so it makes no sense for me to use up what I have giving it away to doing my daily writs rather than doing something else with them like crafting high-end potions or poisons.

LootAllTheStuff · September 2

BXR_Lonestar wrote: »

Either the rare ingredient should be removed as writ requirements, or there needs to be an easier way to farm those resources, or you should have a higher chance of getting those resources from your surveys.

Maybe every time you get to an alchemy survey writ area, a couple of mudcrabs could spawn in with an increased chance to drop chitin.

MorallyBipolar · September 2

BretonMage wrote: »

I farmed a little today, and I think they've bumped up the chitin drop rates since last year. It was dropping at least every other mudcrab for me today.

It's maybe 1 in 5 for me. Which is still pretty high, but farming mudcrabs is something most won't ever do. That's not much of a game.

xencthlu · September 4

I just ran out of mudcrab chitin in spite of spending a significant amount of time playing every day. It needs to be removed from daily writs.

Vaqual · September 4

Why not just skip a writ if it is a loss? The cost of materials can fluctuate for any reason. What if the next zone is riddled with mud crabs? Should they change the writ tables again? This is a very unreasonable thread.

Bobby_Digital81 · September 4

We had/have a huge problem on consoles (PS/NA) with farm bots farming Mudcrabs for the chitin and other mats they drop. Would see lots of those mats in the mafia/alliance guilds traders in the capital cities. Like stacks from alt accounts. Haven't looked in awhile, but it was an issue.

Would be nice if there were better ways to earn materials like this through dailies or something.

DenverRalphy · September 25

This happened to me today and I couldn't help but remember this thread. LOL!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjplRA-ZJAY

daim · September 25

Imperial_Archmage wrote: »

As in either increase its abysmal drop rate or remove it from the daily professional writs circuit because it’s literally a massive gold loss to do those dailies.

Mudcrabs are easy compared to Violet Coprinus!

But yea please add them both the surveys or remove crabs and mushrooms from dailies..

AzuraFan · September 25

There should be more variety in the daily crafting quests and material required. Given the number of recipes, cycling through the same 4-5 every day is pathetic. This needs an update.

zaria · September 25

DoofusMax wrote: »

Imperial_Archmage wrote: »

As in either increase its abysmal drop rate or remove it from the daily professional writs circuit because it’s literally a massive gold loss to do those dailies.

I think my Bank balance would beg to differ with that assessment, but I do agree that it is probably the most annoying of the writs because chitin mostly restocks by intentionally hunting mudcrabs. Most other Alchemy writ stuff can be picked up through surveys, picked up through writ rewards, looted from various containers (licitly or il-), or whatever, but chitin has so few sources that hunting it down is often the only efficient method of keeping up stocks. The number of times I've tried to turn in daily writs and then had go hunt mudcrabs because I'd run out of chitin and could not turn in Alchemy are too many to count, but somewhat less than four-plus years of daily alchemy writs.

If the mudcrab swarm in fungal 1 dropped mudcrab-chitin fewer would skip skip to last boss

daim · September 26

zaria wrote: »

If the mudcrab swarm in fungal 1 dropped mudcrab-chitin fewer would skip skip to last boss

That would be a bot heaven!