Item Alchemy Feedback

[Vehelits]

When Gaia came out with the origin manga for Alchemy, I was seriously excited. I was in the shop before the Announcement.
But then when I looked at the ingredients for Nomy the Snail, it all made no sense. The ingredients, total, cost around.. eh, roughly 1 million gold. The marketplace is user-run. Nomy the Snail is worth only 70,000 gold right now, which is actually worrying. I think Gaia could've done something about that, so people would actually go to The Bifrost.
On top of that, some of the ingredients for alchemy are hard to find. I've actually only seen one in the marketplace. Worth 900,000 gold.
Wtf.
So I was all trying to give the shop a chance. Maybe other people will like it. Maybe it's just like Dernier Cri. Everything is expensive. It goes along with Cresento's personality, I guess you could say, and Nicolae's love for gold, definitely. I think.
Maybe Gaia could fix the Daily Chance? Or we could find this stuff in zOMG! ? I don't mean randomly, though, they'd be fairly hard to get. And the item and the place in zOMG! would be related (Succubi Bones are found in Deadman's Pass; Leviathans' Scales are found around Water Spouts or the Shallow Sea).
Also, what is it with the Flames of Rage chance of success Very Low for a level 1 alchemist? I have a higher chance of making a level 9 item, which makes absolutely no sense, considering it's not even possible to make a level 9 item yet. For me, anyway.
Also, it'd be nice if we could try on the items. I understand we're not buying the item, we're buying the formula, but it's hard to want something on Gaia without being able to try it on.
So overall, I am disappoint D; .

[Spiritual Machine]

It's a Titanic failure, both as a feature and as a gold sink.
It has turned so many users off, it's already went the way of the bugs/ink/tattoo exchange.
You can't use it as a gold sink, since the reagents aren't available in gold shops (or in this case, available at all), and requiring CI items to complete even simple formulas is a slap in the face to newer users and users who don't use cash.
(Don't EVEN get me started on the hatred I feel towards the idea of using the much awaited back wings as the bait for this crapwagon, it's just not a place you'll want to go)

[diet otaku]

this feature is seriously BROKENED.

in theory, it's a great idea. i love the possibility of being able to just choose a hard-to-get RIG item, and collect a bunch of ingredients and do some crafting to get it instead of having to spend cash/rely on pure chance.

but the execution is completely BONKERS. aside from issues like limited-supply items being used (hey, if you're gonna require 3 double rainbows for one level 1 recipe, you need to rerelease the double rainbows. like yesterday), the sheer math on some of these items is RIDICULOUS. take the black & silver edwardian shoes for example. a level 1 recipe. it takes a total of 168,000 pink edwardian shoes to compile all the ingredients necessary for that recipe. those shoes can only be gotten from the reward ads, which are not exactly super-common. even before alchemy's release, the pink shoes were hovering around 8k apiece, which at that price would cost 1.3 BILLION gold to buy all the pairs you needed - assuming that many pairs were available for that price. as a result of alchemy, the cheapest listing for one pair of those shoes is now 64k. and that doesn't even get into the OTHER colors you need for that recipe, or the rabbit's tails which haven't even been found yet. did anyone on the dev team for this feature sit down and work that out before determining the ingredient requirements, or did you guys just pick arbitrary numbers out of a hat?

the great thing about a recipe that uses the ocean summer top is that that item is in infinite supply. not only do we get a lot of them from daily chance, but if we ever need more, we can just go to the shops and buy more. frankly NONE of the level 1 recipes should require limited items, and the higher-level recipes that do should only require 1. and there needs to be a way to keep a steady stream of these items entering the marketplace, or else the entire gaian economy is going to collapse.

[dizziedobsession]

ThanatosRising

3) Don't like the use of cash shop items in alchemy. While they're cheap now, eventually as they're used up, they will get more expensive. I think all alchemy ingredients should be -non limited edition- items, even if they are rare.

I think the idea of alchemy is great, but the formulas are too crazy.
I'd rather just buy some of the items then make them from wild other ingredients.

With that said,
I quoted this because I read that Alchemy is meant to be a gold sink...
and I feel like it'd be great if it was a gold sink straight from gold shops, rather than messing with marketplace costs and inflation by affecting the rarity of any limited edition/limitedly released items.

Work out a few things, Gaia, and then maybe I'll consider using it.
Otherwise, I'll stick to the marketplace for now.

[Endrael]

Antiq

Nomy the Snail, a very low level formula, requires Cutin, which is currently selling for.......wait for it.......600k in the MP!
Low level components need to be more available, daily chance alone won't cut it, I think. I mean, the components have been found for a couple of weeks, I still have got even one from DC.

To make this more insulting, the double rainbow item was handed out via a grant link in PR|SM's profile, and said grant link is now disabled. This means there are no more double rainbows coming into circulation unless they put it into DC or something.

What's worse is that Nomy was a fail item from a RIG, and, last I knew, was still being handed out as a fail prize. So why in the world would you want to put in the effort to craft an item that's already handed out like candy simply for losing?

Now, I love the concept, and most games I've played where alchemy/transmutation/whatever was available have been fairly good about it, but the way gaia's implemented this... I'm a long way from impressed, heading deeper into disgusted the more I look at the recipes and the number and type of ingredients required. We should not need limited grant items that can no longer be acquired. We should not need almost 10k of just one item (never mind that many several times over) just to craft one item. We should not need to spend more gold to craft an item that isn't worth the gold spent and is clearly meant to be as common as the ingredients used to craft it (angel imp potions, I'm looking at you).

This feature is great in theory, but I really have to wonder how much thought got put into the numbers and how much checking was done to make sure all items required as ingredients are actually still attainable. Until the feature is usable, I'm going to be ignoring it, because even the level 1 recipes right now are too absurd to bother with.

[Antiq]

Endrael

Antiq

Nomy the Snail, a very low level formula, requires Cutin, which is currently selling for.......wait for it.......600k in the MP!
Low level components need to be more available, daily chance alone won't cut it, I think. I mean, the components have been found for a couple of weeks, I still have got even one from DC.

To make this more insulting, the double rainbow item was handed out via a grant link in PR|SM's profile, and said grant link is now disabled. This means there are no more double rainbows coming into circulation unless they put it into DC or something.

What's worse is that Nomy was a fail item from a RIG, and, last I knew, was still being handed out as a fail prize. So why in the world would you want to put in the effort to craft an item that's already handed out like candy simply for losing?

Now, I love the concept, and most games I've played where alchemy/transmutation/whatever was available have been fairly good about it, but the way gaia's implemented this... I'm a long way from impressed, heading deeper into disgusted the more I look at the recipes and the number and type of ingredients required. We should not need limited grant items that can no longer be acquired. We should not almost 10k of just one item (never mind that many several times over) just to craft one item. We should not need to spend more gold to craft an item that isn't worth the gold spent and is clearly meant to be as common as the ingredients used to craft it (angel imp potions, I'm looking at you).

This feature is great in theory, but I really have to wonder how much thought got put into the numbers and how much checking was done to make sure all items required as ingredients are actually still attainable. Until the feature is usable, I'm going to be ignoring it, because even the level 1 recipes right now are too absurd to bother with.

As it stands at the moment, it certainly needs some serious tweaking. The MP has gone bonkers, tons of components simply aren't available at all, even if you did have the crazy gold being asked for previously cheap items.
However, it's early days. I am expecting more information and updates, because surely Gaia wouldn't want to release yet another never-to-be-used feature, or something that has to be fidgeted with forever, like Booty Grab. .....would they? Don't answer that lol

[Antagonist Green]

Its a fun idea but gaia...i officaly hate you now...

Half of the normal items that wanted are now totaly inflated AGAIN. I thought you said you were going to HELP with the inflation problem, not cause more chaos.

I understand that this does take a LOT of gold and to only attempt it if you have the gold to spare but really gaia...you just made the economy blow up T3T

I sure hope the eonomy levels out again after the hype is all over, cause if not then you are gunna be dealing with a LOT of unhappy pandas...

[MoonRosePetal]

This idea is an amazing idea. In theory, it'd be great to create some of the awesome items shown in the Announcement with all these other items. However...

Cash items. Get them OUT of the formulas! Look at how many of these items have inflated just in one day. They're finite and with how many are needed in some recipes (ex. 25 Star Lanterns for one Zorya), they're quickly drying up. It's becoming a case where these items are becoming more valuable as ingredients than items, which is unfair to users who actually want them as items. It's also becoming a case that getting these ingredients is costing more than the recipe item is valued.

Use gold shop items, exchange items, zOMG items, and gold in formulas! These are infinite and are easily accessible to everyone. These can't really be inflated because they have set prices/can be earned in Towns/zOMG. More can also be used, like 10 inks for recolors. This can help get rid of some of the items junking up the Dumpster Dive, sinking some gold in the economy, and giving a new life to the other item exchanges.

Put all of the new ingredients in Bifrost. I check my DC everyday but have never found one. I didn't even know they existed in DC until the GCD thread was posted with them. They are not getting dropped enough and the ones that are available are being inflated way beyond their worth. There are so many Rank 1 formulas that cannot be completed because 1) the cash shop ingredients are beyond price reach/unavailable and 2) these new ingredients are not available/beyond price reach. If we can't even do simple Rank 1 formulas, how can we exactly level up and continue to use this feature?

Create new ways for some of these formulas to be released. Some of the formulas for past RIG items are being released in the Giftboxes, which is great except not enough are in circulation. Maybe release some in the Cash Shop like with the RIG formulas? Maybe increase drop rates and gift box appearances? I'm not too sure how this could be done, but these formula drops need to increase to stop inflation on them.

[hibi-tea]

Love it. Can't wait till I get my hands on the rest of the s**t to make this kimono * w*

[illumi zaoldyek]

AS IS ME NO LIKE, SORRY...!

In short: Good concept, bad execution

The bad:

gonk #1) INGREDIENT-ITEMS BECOMING RARE THEMSELVES
Some people want the ingredients for the items they are, but because of this new alchemy feature their market value is sky-rocketing. Furthermore, those items will disappear forever into the ether for every successful attempt at a recipe, becoming rare themselves and thus aggravating inflation.
Not to mention, some of those items-turned-ingredients are specific drops from certain CIs; since old CIs don't get opened so often once their hype is over, those items-turned-ingredients will be in higher and higher demand "exponentially" faster.

gonk #2) UNPRECEDENTED INFLATION
Speaking of "exponentially", just look at the state of the inflation with just one day of Alchemy. If goldsinks are theoretically helpful in keeping inflation under control, what to say of Alchemy as a goldsink? My impression is that so far it's been disastrous, for people questing as well as vendors.

gonk #3) PREVIEWS OF FINAL PRODUCT UNAVAILABLE
There should be a way to preview on the avatar the items to be crafted, so that everyone can be sure it is worth the investment.

gonk #4) UNREASONABLE AMOUNTS OF GOLD INVOLVED - AND IS IT REALLY WORTH THE RISK?
With no way to preview the final item and vast amounts of gold to risk in a game of chance, I wonder how many people are willing to try this out and possibly advance level. Most gaians don't have a lot of spare gold to "blow on hats" so to speak, and even within the minority that does have lots of gold it may be that not all of them are brave enough or willing to gamble it.

The good:

mrgreen #1) GOOD CONCEPT
It's a good idea, but I think the ingredient-items and amounts of gold required should be revised before it can be fun, useful, worthwhile and accessible to the average not-so-rich gaian.

mrgreen #2) I got a Pink Link flying box because I took the time to write this post =)))

[The Real Ryu Hi]

I'm actually not going to complain about how much gold it would take to make anything that uses gold shop items (effective gold sink), but rather the whole, using items that we can't get bit....this is nuts...there are some people complaining about the re-release of items, but let's face it, for as much as it costs to make anything from these, that's not really the issue here.

However I have faith that Gaia will fix it. After all it is new, so they need to work out the kinks, no worries. 3nodding

[Chieftain Twilight]

even the level 1 Alchemy Formulas seem to be the purview of higher-end Gaians, and there is absolutely no room for potential profit.

the items and costs required for the end results often reach between triple and 5x what the end-result item would be if it weren't so hard to get (and there are often plenty of nearly-as-good alternatives for MUCH less), and on top of the high chance of failure for anything half-decent there isn't much incentive to pursue it.

I don't even think Achievment Whores will care. sweatdrop

I love the concept, but it needs to be evened out better. for crying out loud, 3 DEVIL IMP POTIONS for any of the alternative skin-toned Devil Imp Potions? that's 72k on top of the 2.5k gold cost for the Formula, on top of the other rare-looking items needed for it. and it's a VERY LOW success rate! do the math, it just doesn't feel very level-1. confused

here's hoping for an overhaul of the recipes. I think there's some SUPER potential here! smile

[Mangacide]

After reading through the new posts (maybe 13 pages of posts will get their attention?) I came up with this AMAZINGLY SIMPLE solution to that princess wig I posted about earlier:

Blond Princess Locks x1
Brown Ink x500 (or more or less depending on how hard you want it to be)
x number of other alchemy related ingredients
Gaia Gold component

If you want to make it more complicated than that, it could also require:

x number of Island Girl and/or Ritzy Brown wigs

Like the body dyes, it's difficult, but it isn't nigh impossible. And it doesn't trash 4 extremely rare items. Only the one blonde one because A: blonde is an easy hair color to dye and B: it's the base style of the hair you want to make.

Heck, since we're making the hair brown, it could be a variable requirement. Where you could use the red or the blonde wig and either one would work.

But still only One. Not 4. One. v.v||

[HaoAsakura358]

What everyone else said. I'm not on GAIA much, though I have long wished for Demonic batwings, this is in no way shape or form what I had hoped for....

[Eudaemon]

Someone told me to repost my idea on how to fix Alchemy in the SF...apparently, it's a great idea on how to fix it.

Quote:

For this, I am going to use the example of Nomy the Snail.

Nomy the Snail takes 1 Cirque de Junk Food, 3 Double Complete Rainbow, 1 Sherbet and 1 Cutin to craft.

First of all, the items required to make Nomy the Snail should be able to be crafted themselves. Cirque de Junk Food does have a recipe, but it is outrageous to make. The recipes for Cirque de Junk Food, Double Complete Rainbow, Sherbet and Cutin should be composed entirely out of gold shop items that have an unlimited supply. For the sake of being a gold sink, the gold is being taken out of the economy, while the items are super-easy to get.

For example, the Double Complete Rainbow would be crafted out of 7 gold shop items that are the colors of the rainbow and it would cost about 2k in total to make. Sherbet could be made out of the arm wings, etc.

Level One items should be the easiest. They should be only made of gold shop items and then as the levels progress, items would start to incorporate uncraftable items. While the low level items would end up being cheap in the MP and only used to level up, once you hit a level where there's EIs and rare loot, then alchemy would be profitable.

What do you all think?