Item Alchemy Feedback

[Eiruna]

alchemy is all about turning lead into gold, not the other way around :/

what I mean is that making an item from much more expensive items makes no sense.

it should take lots of cheap items to craft a better one. like summer ocean tops, or amigo pants, or maybe some event items like christmas items etc.

the way it works now - not good.

[St V-Starr]

I got excited at first but now it's all gone with MP prices far beyond almost everyone's budgets making it impossible for anyone other than the super rich to enjoy this. My ideas to improve it? The same as everyone else.

1) ALL of the components must be buyable for the gold shop... and soon! I heard that there was a listing for Stardust at 15,000,000,000 Gold! Plus, how can I make a Devil Imp Potion if there's no Succubus's Bones to be found even though it says it costs 1000 Gold?

2) NO ONE wants to spend real money or their GC waiting for a really cool CI/MC to buy formulas with low succes rates.

3) Do I really wanna buy 10 (insert RIG prize here) to make one (insert corisponding RIG here) when I can get the RIG for half the cost?

4) Want more traffic to zOMG? How about releasing the components there?

5) Gold shop item(s) + gold = Componet. Everyone would be happy with that!

[Rhaetic]

I was interested until I saw the items required for the formulas, not to mention the amount. D:

I'm also really surprised that you didn't incorporate more items that can be obtained in towns. Wouldn't it increase the dropping numbers of users visiting? Two birds with one stone sort of thing?

To me this seems like gaia is crying out for more money. neutral Making cash shop items the ingredients? Of course you knew they would inflate resulting in more people using gaia cash to purchase them.

[St V-Starr]

Xanilus

Here's one thing (among countless other things already mentioned by others) that I truly dislike. I seriously do not want to have to keep re-posting this in hopes that it is seen, so I do hope that someone is actually reading these posts and taking notes.

Crafting a formula takes the FIRST item ingredient if you have multiple.

For example, the started formula. Aspiring Alchemist. It required an Ocean Summer Top. I had two: one was acquired years and years ago, and was located higher up in my inventory list, the other was acquired more recently through Daily Chance, and was therefore much further down in my inventory. I crafted the Aspiring Alchemist and checked my inventory. The OLDER top is gone, while the newer top is still there.

This does not sit well with me. A lot of my items have specific sentimental value. If I have to purchase an item in order to craft something, I do not want to lose my original item in the process. Yes, they are simply pixels, however, they are pixels that mean something to me. Will I be forced to move my items back and forth in and out of storage each time I have to purchase a duplicate in order to craft something?

I'd rather wash my hands entirely of this ridiculous farce.

I 100% agree with you.

[Lisonallie]

Scantier Than That

So I have everything I need to make a Goldfish Kimono, but I can't because it's way high level.
How about changing the fail rates to be directly linked to the levels, instead of the items? Allow everyone to craft an item at any level, but tweak it a bit. If I am level 5, and crafting a level 5 item, success should be high, regardless of the item. If I am level 5 and attempting level 6, then the success rate should be lower.
That would also be a more effective goldsink at this time, since I might repeatedly try something at a lower level.

fantastic idea

[Lisonallie]

like everyone else, I'm really quite pissed off about this, I was excited then don't get to do anything or even know how to get some ingredients. what the ********.
on the other hand, you could make a new system entirely for alchemy, functioning like the prize & joy shop with you earning points of some kind (cookies, if you will) while around the site, and able to spend them in the alchemy shop to buy ingredients you need for recipies.
edit: ingredients that are buyable in the alchemy shop only or gold shops. because only then would it truly be available to all users with all users having a chance like you said.
edit 2: also you better listen to what all these people are saying. I seriously love the idea it will be soooo much fun when it's fixed. if you're not listening to all these complaints and trying to do stuff you're going to lose people. I read up to page 11 or so and I already saw about 4 long-time gaia members saying they were close to, or done, with gaia because of the execution of this feature. I hope you fix it, and I have been on the site since 2005.
edit 3: I don't particularly like or have time for zomg!, I'm sure I'm not the only one. Requiring people to play the game to get stuff is stupid, I'm not interested and don't want to play it so find another way....people are all like ooh this will bring more people to zomg!. people who don't play zomg! either don't know about it or don't want to play it for a reason so please don't require players to do that combining recipe systems and other things =/.

[ThunderGigas]

I have issues with Item Alchemy: it seems like too many drops from Chance Items are required, and I don't care for the ones that require me to give up finite supply items like Starmony and Double Rainbow. Maybe have alternate recipes that replace the finite supply items with smething more common but still rare enough that you have to hunt them down.


I have another complaint, and I brought it up in a thread in the Item Alchemy forum Here: Angel&Devil Imp Potions..."

Basically, I have no problem with Alchemy granting skin potions, but I think the multiple real life skin tone options being offered for the Angel and Devil Imp forms should have been available in Skin Tyte from the moment the potions were first released. I think it's good you have that option now, but I don't think it's fair that anyone who wants to be something other than a Caucasian Angel Imp has to jump through more hoops and expend more resources to do so.

Now, I have heard that these new potions are actually equipable, non-consumable items with different leg poses, and it would be fine jumping a few hurdles for something like that. But I don't think it's right that someone who wants to be an Asian, African, Native American or Latino Angel/Devil Imp has to work that much harder for it than someone content with just being a white skinned Angel/Devil Imp..


I wouldn't mind coughing up at least 72100 Gold for potions that granted a truly unique and special forms (no telling how much those Feathers and Bones will be!), but again, I just don't feel like it's right to put these new humanoid skin tone variants behind this wall.

[My Ciel Phantomhive]

level one will cost every one 5 billion gold just to get to level 2 and level 2 to level 3 100 billion gold


come on gaia leaders people you must have a idea you will distory the mp on doing this.remove all rig items from the level 1 - 6 use only gold shop items we can buy from the shops.

level 6 - 8 use what we made up from level 1 - 6 level for level then 6 - 8 to make level 9 and level 9 use for level 10

[Eltanin Sadachbia]

Alchemy is an exciting idea, but the way it has been introduced to us has effectively destroyed the Gaian virtual economy... Especially for people who can't afford alchemy or who have no wish to participate in this feature...

By eliminating items, supply is eliminated, and thus there is a higher gold-to-ratio sending prices of items up across the board as demand increases.

If the Alchemy was originally meant as a goldsink, it is an excellent idea, but right now it is eliminating more items from the market than gold, which negates the effects of a goldsink.

I would be more than happy to give a more detailed explanation to any developer of why I feel the way I do, and I would love to hear from a dev if there is some intent behind driving prices up and eliminating market supply.

[Pixie410]

It's nearly impossible to use this feature.

-The UI is manageable, with some amount of time, I could probably figure it out if I wanted to. But I don't want to.

-These prices are insane. You have to realize that not everyone on this site is an over privileged child who's parents bow down to buy them any thing they want. Gaia Cash, yeah, not everyone can get it. And if you want to do something to help THAT, contract some worthwhile free cash ads and links. There's like five that work, and the rest you pay for (I know this because I've done been through those lists about five times now). I can't just simply buy some either. Ever hear of a starving college kid? Kthnxbai.

-The items are rare as hell. I can understand that Alchemy is still in it's soft release phase, but come on guy. Take the example of every MMO out there. When soft releasing something, always introduce the items first so people can get all WTF over them, and then get all pumped up when they know they have a stack of this or that and will be able to use this junk finally. And THEN release the main feature. Because then people actually WANT to use that crap. And as for the items in your ads at the bottom of the screen, I'm online like 24x7. I've never, I repeat NEVER seen a free item ad, and I never turned the see ads feature off. Change the frequency on random items.

-You could possibly try using some perhaps non chance and non cash items? Again. Starving college kid here. I'm not spending money I need for food on your damn cash shop, no matter how damn shiny it is. Place is overpriced anyway.

Conclusion

Your concept is great. Your implementation sucks. Your use of nonexistent items suck. Your prices suck. I give a 1/2 star out of 10.

[O.T.L.]

I know I'm not the first person to say this, nor will I be the last, but...

Are you out of your frickin' minds with these requirements? Sacrificing multiple rare RIG items and out-of-print Cash items for a not-particularly-impressive item? (Which, of course, caused massive inflation for those items; if you didn't see that coming, the only possible explanation is that it's your first day at Gaia.) Seriously?

Use common items, consarn it! You know, the stuff that can be found in the gold shops? At least for the lower level formulas. Even if you have to use the expensive gold shop items, at least it won't utterly destroy the economy.

The system could have been great, but... well, I just don't see any way I'll ever actually do anything with it in its current state; it's not worth spending that much gold (or Cash, which I'm sure was your real objective all along) for these things. Sorry. Better luck when you eventually have to revise the entire thing due to justifiably outraged Gaians ranting en masse.

[Song of the Century]

Pixie410

And as for the items in your ads at the bottom of the screen, I'm online like 24x7. I've never, I repeat NEVER seen a free item ad, and I never turned the see ads feature off. Change the frequency on random items.

Guess what?

You have to buy a certain amount of gcash in order to see those ads for a certain amount of days.

Sucks, yeah.

[MistressMinako]

A few suggestions: (1) Use more zOMG and Towns items; (2) Consume renewable resources at least for the lower level formulas; (3) Use lower level items in higher formulas to encourage and reward constant use; (4) Reduce or eliminate multiple cash-based items.

My first thought on seeing this feature is that it would be a chance to make impossible RIG items somewhat obtainable. I am not a fan of a 20mil price tag on a group of pixels in the vague shape of a cat. How you've actually presented it, makes the formula-crafted item more expensive than just to buy something outright. Currently you have created something that is a complete waste of development time and money, as well as something that is an insult to the user base.

As a zOMG player, time and time again we've been saddled by the administration with the promise of site integration and all the wondrous things that would do for our game. I have counted a total of three formulas that use zOMG loot as component items. This makes no sense as zOMG loot consists of basic items like wood and various metals. The same goes for the bugs and paper out of Towns, basic items that are rendered largely useless while cash items that were once plentiful, cheap and beloved are now almost extinct from the marketplace.

There is nothing to justify the system as it is, the only people that win in this situation are those that bought up the supply of component items and are now hording. Alchemy has destabilized the economy worse than was done by unbalanced RIG drop rates. I still have faith that there is some good in this system, and I implore anyone with GaiaHQ who might see this post to use what already exists on the site instead of demanding the use of new or extremely limited component items.

[Opera Phantomess]

Song of the Century

Pixie410

And as for the items in your ads at the bottom of the screen, I'm online like 24x7. I've never, I repeat NEVER seen a free item ad, and I never turned the see ads feature off. Change the frequency on random items.

Guess what?

You have to buy a certain amount of gcash in order to see those ads for a certain amount of days.

Sucks, yeah.

Masquerade! Paper faces on parade. Masquerade!

That is actually false. You get the item advertisements randomly by having AdBlock turned off and allowing the advertisements to show despite having "donator" status or not.

OP: I would like to add to what everyone else has been saying and put the Alchemy ingredients as drops in zOMG! along with allowing those that do not or cannot play the game to obtain them via other means, like randomly searching through Towns, keeping them in the Daily Chance, Dumpster Dive, and Overseer rewards, or putting them directly into The Bifrost for X amount of gold a piece.

Hide your face so the world will never find you.

[Alex Nightwalker]

First off, I can't even USE this feature even if I wanted to. My web browser isn't fully supported by gaia. xP

Second off, Devs, this goes DIRECTLY to you, STOP hiding, show some balls and face your users. LISTEN to what these 200+ people are telling you! If you DON'T fix this chaotic problem soon, you're going to lose BOTH users and cash payers.
What do you plan on doing if you can't support your own site? Take the suggestions here and put them to use!
Your users, the people who COME here and the people who PAY here aren't happy with with this feature!
You can't seriously be waiting for the majority of gaia to start ranting about Alchemy!

Third off, The aspect of Alchemy is based off of the laws of EQUIVALENT exchange. . _ . Are we all suddenly forgetting this?