First of all I didn't spend $210 in crowns, plus all my memberships in the past, to be out of luck with all the rest of the maxed characters that farm for weeks today. I am here for the magic that was once there when I played since 2008 up a little past Waterworks updates, now being end game today is hurting my heart. People complain that the drop rate can be 1 in 100 or 1 in 200 or even 1 in 600 for end game characters, even +1500 runs for just pet snacks/amulets/junk . Just because a few Wizards back before Celestial complained of difficulty . Please, don't go by that, it's ruining the magic within as my comment and other Wizards agree. I have a suggestion that could not only interest the Wizards waiting for content updates, but it can keep unlimited fun going as they are farming for important gear. I have a solution that won't make things too easy , but not excessively hard . As these end game items are not for auction, not for crowns, why not make a dungeon reward token for an NPC to trade tokens for drops if it doesn't drop within a certain amount of runs? Let me explain, as you do Cronus, or Gladiator, or Hades, or Morganthe, each of them should drop their own individual gear tokens for the most rarest gear that drops, when a Wizard has acquired enough tokens, which will drop every boss run in bundles of 1-5 at a time, he or she can turn it in for a gear piece to an Dungeon Token NPC (name it whatever you like and the token name) of the world he or she is farming in. This means, a Wizard can earn XX amount of dungeon tokens to gain a rare piece such as important Waterworks gear, important Aquila gear, such as Blade of Felled Titan, or Alpha and Omega Ring, or even end game gear pieces from Morganthe, as farming a lot sometimes never drops for some unfortunate Wizards. How does that sound? That would be a dream come true :). Also could you please add 2-3 more limits on the Bric-A-Brews ? (Pets and small decor fun ideal reasons that I still don't have room for.) With the idea about Dungeon Token NPCs, let's continue on if you'd like some more. About Gold Cards and Library , I notice when new or mid-level Wizards sit all day to ask higher Wizards for helpful Gold Cards, why not just make a Mini-game Maze for single and multi-Wizards a entrance within the Library in each world at different difficulties to earn Gold Cards? That would be interesting to go through, maybe even make flying books that make you take damage as you are going through the maze with traps. I can't think of anything else at the moment, but I'll keep everything posted that I believe will be a dream come true and great addition to the game.
I believe this is an excellent idea, regarding a "dungeon currency" reward system. In PVP, players earn tickets to spend on gear upgrades, I don't see why a similar system cannot be implemented for PVE. This currency system would especially benefit those that play "solo" a great deal as they may not have the time to wait and form a "PUG", or have a readily available list of friends to choose from to assist them.
The gear purchased through this new currency could even be a slight step down from the actual boss drop gear so as not to take away from those that welcome the challenge of repeated attempts in the dungeon.
This could also be an alternative to those that do not wish to spend their time farming reagents throughout the Spiral in order to craft a piece of gear that ultimately doesn't have the desired stats the player wants/needs.
An NPC vendor could be placed at any numerous places, perhaps requiring a series of quests to be completed prior to being able to purchase from.
As an example, I took my daughter's and wife's wizards to the duel in Olympus for the A&O ring after weeks of unsuccessful attempts. My daughter received hers within 3 trys, my wife on the 1st try, yet I still do not possess the ring and I am the only one eligible to wear it. To make matters worse, they don't play with any consistency, so they may never reach the required level to wear the ring, making it a strong possibility that the item will just sit in their personal bank. To date, I still do not possess the desired ring.
I understand that ALL drops are random, but I would gladly settle for something of slightly lower quality and continue my progression.
I think this token NPC idea is a fine thought. I have seen similar in other games and it was a nice addition. I do not agree with making the token bought items less than the original you would farm the encounter for... this would render the token NPC idea moot. You would be buying a completely different item which, by default would be named different, stats different, etc. This would leave the "forever farming until you got the drop" problem unsolved. As far as the items dropping unequally... this is a serious problem. I too have helped others farm for items only to have them drop on everyone I helped and never drop on my character. I even have a myth wizard that, to this day, still has the Eagle War Shield quest in his book because he has never received a potent trap TC. Not one. And this wizard is now in Krysalis part 2. He has returned to Azteca hundreds of times to farm for this potent trap card to no avail. He has quested with dozens of other players who did get them in drops and yet he has not. When it comes to Waterworks (restrain myself) there should be a maximum number of completions on both boss encounters there at which point the items automatically drop. The amazing thing is, on characters that did get the drops in waterworks, they seem to get duplicates with ease now when they return there to help others. Same with the potent trap cards on characters that have completed the eagle war shield quest. They have dozens of them now. My only reservation to this token NPC would be... I'll bet you a hundred dollars to a donut hole KI would eventually start selling tokens for crowns. After all that's what the main goal behind every change and/or addition to the game has ever been. How can we get even more real life cash from our paying customers?
Dungeon currency makes sense for the Aquila dungeons, Morganthe, others. You're right, this would help to recapture some of the "magic."
I would be against dungeon currency for Loremaster, however. All sorts of non-contributing low level characters will show up to learn spells for PvP. I wouldn't want to encourage shenanigans.
With faith that this will come to a reality in the future that W101 devs has already read this. Other Wizards I know as well never have got the ring or athame on any of their Wizards up to a full account since the moment the update came out. On the other hand, as some as said someone who doesn't play that much gets the ring or athame rather quickly compared to how hard you have been working. A Dungeon Token NPC will recapture everything again, otherwise, those new who become end-game will start to realize how painful farming is to overall gameplay. Dropping equally will always be a problem if W101 ignores the fact that it does need to be lifted easier for to drop for everyone in the group, at higher rates.