Very frustrating issue with IA class set loot system

AScarlato · June 16

Gabriel_H wrote: »

AScarlato wrote: »

I'm fine with Grind, I played the original EQ after all. But I prefer that grind fun and mostly needing to solo IA is not it.

None of the Arenas are fun for me. Not IA, VH, MA, BRP or dear god the granddaddy of boring - DSA. What is fun is what I can then do once I've got the gear.

Edit: Typos

Fair enough. Once the novelty of IA wore off (which didn't take long for me), it stopped being fun and I can't bring myself to go anymore. It's too time consuming, boring, dreary, and frustrating for a lot of players which to me signals it could use a review of it's systems.

LIterally bored out of my mind. If they won't help with matchmaking or increase the amount of gear, maybe remove one of the rounds of trash. It's so boring and having to do 2 rounds of boring trash per boss is so tedious.

I really feel strongly about my aversion to spending time there as it is presently designed.

Ardriel · June 16

I’ve already mentioned that I don’t want anything handed to me for free. All I'm asking is to make it just a little bit less tedious to get these sets. Nobody wants anything for free. That would be boring. I have no problem investing some time in the game to collect new sets. Some time. In my opinion, this shouldn’t take more than 30–45 minutes a day. But not several hours a day for weeks, or even months. That’s completely over the top. Not everyone has that much time to for the game. After all, you want to do other things too—daily quests with multiple characters, random dungeons, maybe even a raid, housing... whatever. Most of us players have lives outside of Tamriel, too.
I haven’t been able to do any of this for over a week because I’ve been grinding in the Archive almost every minute.
Sure, you get pretty good gold. There are also furnishing plans and the like. But to get them, you have to take the time to check all the containers.
Of course, I'd love to have all the class sets complete, now that they're actually useful... But I'm afraid my motivation will run out very soon. I’d like to actually play the game again..
Anyway, ZOS would never have introduced the transmutation system or the sticker book if players were so enthusiastic about grinding...
They did it because a lot of players complained again and again. Complaining about excessive grinding is completely legitimate and has nothing to do with laziness or wanting everything for free.
Transmutation, curated item loot and stickerbook are indeed a huge improvement.
Still IA loot system really needs to be reviewed.

Estin · June 16

Grinding the IA is probably the worst thing in the game. There's too many pieces and not enough ways to obtain them in a timely manner. It's going to be made even worse when the third round of class sets are released.

Even if they made it so you received more gear pieces throughout a run, the core problem of the IA being a slog still exists. There's just far too many useless verses and visions. Like why would I care about increasing the damage of assault or world skills, or slain enemies leaving behind a pool that boosts your resources (these are all completely useless against bosses)? Why would I want to charm enemies or have faster movement speed? Can we talk about how orbiting echos is useless against any small boss in melee range (which is almost all of them), or how you're always at a disadvantage in stage 1 because you don't have any verses to help you? And when it comes to visions, why would I care about increased gold or xp earned when it's already so little, or boosted health recovery when the stat itself isn't even good? What about the crit damage visions not being allowed to bypass the crit damage cap? Really, there are far too many niche to useless power ups in the IA.

If I were to redo the IA, I would remove all the weak/useless power ups and focus more on giving the player strong offensive and defensive ones. I would also allow them to choose a verse in addition to a vision upon completing a cycle so they're not at a disadvantage on stage 1 for a new cycle, especially if a marauder spawns. And on the topic of marauders, I would decrease the amount of damage their LAs do since that is really their only issue. I can eat the LAs of bosses in Arc 5 no problem with barely any defensive visions, but I can't take a LA from a 2-1-2 gothmau with the same amount of defensive visions. That's the definition of over tuned. When it comes to class set drops, I would let them have a chance to drop from all muniment chests and the scamp. The chance would increase the deeper you go.

The IA should be fun, not a slog.

SirBanana1992 · June 17

Trying to think of what ways they could implement to reward more gear without taking away from the currently established system with overworld gear I would think maybe awarding IA gear upon completing the portals to the unknown would be fair. You get 2 each arc, that'd triple arc 1 armor gear drop potential and at most just double arc 2 and beyond. still needs some involvment in the minigame itself, heck maybe you'd see fewer of them just skipped because its more trouble to complete than to lose on purpose. I definitely let the combat arena get me whenever I see it, too much of a hassle and I hate those leggy freaks.

Also I think the monotony of the system probably contributes to some of the negative feeling I see, hence why a lot of the feedback seems related to cutting down on the middle portion. To think initially it was 5 stages per cycle with 4 mob waves before it got cut down during PTS. I think interjecting some more random events to break the repetition or more player-involved choice-making to feel more control over how a run goes might help. Like "choosing to skip a stage but have to fight the boss without a verse" as an additional option when picking a verse for those that want to go through faster but earn less score per arc. There definitely is a lot of potential to spice things up, as it is, and as much fun as I have with it, yes I admit it very much feels "Fisher Price Rogue-lite dungeon".

katanagirl1 · June 17

I’ve said it before, I gave up grinding the leads because I have only got one of each. Stuck in Theater of War hardest level keeps me from getting any from side rooms, so just one chance per run for one arc. I can’t do it anymore.

I’m far from getting the stickerbook done. I just would like more than one furnishing of each but the drop rate is pretty low.

Gabriel_H · June 17

katanagirl1 wrote: »

I’ve said it before, I gave up grinding the leads because I have only got one of each. Stuck in Theater of War hardest level keeps me from getting any from side rooms, so just one chance per run for one arc. I can’t do it anymore.

I’m far from getting the stickerbook done. I just would like more than one furnishing of each but the drop rate is pretty low.

Enter side room. If it's ToW then leave immediately. No downside beyond not doing the side that time. The next side room is random so it might be ToW or any of the others.

katanagirl1 · June 17

Gabriel_H wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

I’ve said it before, I gave up grinding the leads because I have only got one of each. Stuck in Theater of War hardest level keeps me from getting any from side rooms, so just one chance per run for one arc. I can’t do it anymore.

I’m far from getting the stickerbook done. I just would like more than one furnishing of each but the drop rate is pretty low.

Enter side room. If it's ToW then leave immediately. No downside beyond not doing the side that time. The next side room is random so it might be ToW or any of the others.

The game gives me that side room almost 100% of the time, probably because it is the last one I need to finish. I just skip them all now, or did when I was still doing them.

DenverRalphy · June 17

katanagirl1 wrote: »

Gabriel_H wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

I’ve said it before, I gave up grinding the leads because I have only got one of each. Stuck in Theater of War hardest level keeps me from getting any from side rooms, so just one chance per run for one arc. I can’t do it anymore.

I’m far from getting the stickerbook done. I just would like more than one furnishing of each but the drop rate is pretty low.

Enter side room. If it's ToW then leave immediately. No downside beyond not doing the side that time. The next side room is random so it might be ToW or any of the others.

The game gives me that side room almost 100% of the time, probably because it is the last one I need to finish. I just skip them all now, or did when I was still doing them.

Yeah, the randomness is weighted towards those you haven't yet completed the final progression.

Soarora · June 17

I know people want the third IA set but this needs to be addressed before or as the third set is added. Otherwise it would be absolutely bonkers for someone new to get the set they want, even if we include the uncurated boxes.

Ardriel · June 17

katanagirl1 wrote: »

Gabriel_H wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

I’ve said it before, I gave up grinding the leads because I have only got one of each. Stuck in Theater of War hardest level keeps me from getting any from side rooms, so just one chance per run for one arc. I can’t do it anymore.

I’m far from getting the stickerbook done. I just would like more than one furnishing of each but the drop rate is pretty low.

Enter side room. If it's ToW then leave immediately. No downside beyond not doing the side that time. The next side room is random so it might be ToW or any of the others.

The game gives me that side room almost 100% of the time, probably because it is the last one I need to finish. I just skip them all now, or did when I was still doing them.

Best would be to do it once with a friend or guildmate. So you would have the normal random chance again.

Tonturri · June 17

I'd be more fine with IA if it encouraged me to try and push, but the most effective/efficient method is to just do a certain number of arcs and reset. It defeats the point and makes it tedious, particularly once someone gets used to the first few arcs and they can be done on autopilot.

Also, changing it so that it leans towards dropping stuff for my class regardless of arc would be great. Odd/even arcs dropping different stuff and then extending into other classes once its loot table is done is a pain...Why can't the jewelry drops turn into armor drops for my class until that's done?

By and large I consider ESO to be the least grindy amongst the available MMOs, but it still makes some very odd decisions that tend to suck the fun out of stuff sometimes. Targeting specific arcs and resetting before I actually fail doesn't do much for me. Sure I can auto pilot arc 1, but like...why. What point is there to making players do that.

s3dulo · June 17

If something in a game can be accurately described as "annoyingly tedious" it should be changed. I can think of other things in this game like that, but IA set farming is definitely one of them. Curated chests are helpful if you have 1-3 pieces left but they are also pretty expensive. It takes literally hours to acquire 10k Archival Fortunes if you are starting form arc 1. This is one area that needs to be balanced. It simply shouldn't be so annoying to farm gear.

The end of each arc should just give any unobtained class piece from the class you are actually playing. Once both sets are fully completed, then start throwing in random unobtained pieces from other class sets.

katanagirl1 · June 17

Ardriel wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

Gabriel_H wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

I’ve said it before, I gave up grinding the leads because I have only got one of each. Stuck in Theater of War hardest level keeps me from getting any from side rooms, so just one chance per run for one arc. I can’t do it anymore.

I’m far from getting the stickerbook done. I just would like more than one furnishing of each but the drop rate is pretty low.

Enter side room. If it's ToW then leave immediately. No downside beyond not doing the side that time. The next side room is random so it might be ToW or any of the others.

The game gives me that side room almost 100% of the time, probably because it is the last one I need to finish. I just skip them all now, or did when I was still doing them.

Best would be to do it once with a friend or guildmate. So you would have the normal random chance again.

Yes, that would be the best way, if I knew a friend or guildmate who wanted to do this. If I cared anymore.

There are just so many other things in this game that I do that are much more fun than this. IA isn’t fun by any measure. I get a bunch of overland drops when my stickerbook is already full of them and I get one chance to get something new. I am not willing to take away from those other activities to do an IA run anymore. If they add more chances to get stickerbook items and leads from the IA then I might come back and rerun it. That’s a big “might” though.

Ardriel · June 18

katanagirl1 wrote: »

Ardriel wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

Gabriel_H wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

I’ve said it before, I gave up grinding the leads because I have only got one of each. Stuck in Theater of War hardest level keeps me from getting any from side rooms, so just one chance per run for one arc. I can’t do it anymore.

I’m far from getting the stickerbook done. I just would like more than one furnishing of each but the drop rate is pretty low.

Enter side room. If it's ToW then leave immediately. No downside beyond not doing the side that time. The next side room is random so it might be ToW or any of the others.

The game gives me that side room almost 100% of the time, probably because it is the last one I need to finish. I just skip them all now, or did when I was still doing them.

Best would be to do it once with a friend or guildmate. So you would have the normal random chance again.

Yes, that would be the best way, if I knew a friend or guildmate who wanted to do this. If I cared anymore.

There are just so many other things in this game that I do that are much more fun than this. IA isn’t fun by any measure. I get a bunch of overland drops when my stickerbook is already full of them and I get one chance to get something new. I am not willing to take away from those other activities to do an IA run anymore. If they add more chances to get stickerbook items and leads from the IA then I might come back and rerun it. That’s a big “might” though.

I totally get that. Farming IA is a real pain. After more than two weeks of grinding, I’m slowly losing my motivation. Even after 1 run, I can barely concentrate anymore—I get headaches and stomachaches. Of course, my friends in real life can’t understand why I’m putting myself through this.
Even other in-game activities aren’t much fun anymore. That’s a real shame. Maybe I should take a break…