SmokeJumper Clarifies Research Assistant Changes
Earlier this week, we commented on a change to Research Assistants which would have an effect on Scholars (Sage, Jeweler, and Alchemist). Namely, it allowed players to Research a spell all the way from Adept to Master without needing the assistance of a crafter to make the Expert first. Some players have downplayed the ramifications of this change, pointing out that most players will not want to wait for the Adept -> Expert upgrade, as with a 28~30 day Master, it adds another 13~15 days wait.
After the jump, SmokeJumper has posted his own thoughts on this change and what it means for crafters going forward.
First:
Okay, I’m coming to this discussion late, but let me explain a few things:
1) I have a level 90 alchemist. I leveled it up the hard way and I’ve been actively making spells, buying rares on the marketplace, etc. I’m familiar with what you’re talking about (although certainly not as experienced as many of you on these forums).
2) I can’t sell Journeyman spells to save my life (okay, dribbles of them occasionally, but usually not), so I’ll exclude this from my explanation.
3) That pretty much leaves Expert spells for discussion.
That being said:
- Researching from Adept to Expert takes time. Unless you’re talking about the level 80+ spells, very few players will be in the pertinent level ranges to sit and camp and RA their spells up to Expert level.
- Those that *are* in that level long enough (rare) will even more rarely be willing to wait that long without breaking down and purchasing upgrades from crafters instead of waiting for the research to complete.
This change will not impact crafters very much, if at all. It will, however, make the ability to research spells in the first place much more obvious (players see the widget on their spellbook now instead of having to find a welll-hidden NPC somewhere). It also adds a bit more micromanagement fun (for the players that like that sort of thing) as players tinker with their research on the way up to the level 60+ spells…which is where most players start looking for broker upgrades anyway.
and:
Who will buy Experts? Answer: People unwilling to wait the many weeks to upgrade each of their 30-40 spells from Adept to Expert via the Research widget. (This is the vast majority of players who are almost always wanting their power upgrades NOW!)
In other words, you will see basically no reduction in sales from this. I think we can all agree that we’re not selling Journeyman spells anyway. (Yes, I have a level 90 alchemist.) And the market for Experts is not going to be greatly impacted, because the majority of such sales are from players that want an entire set of spells. Those people are not going to want to wait to piecemeal it up one spell at a time. You’ll still get your regular sales.
Tags: research assistants
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Comments (4)
Calain
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I think he is right.
There are only a few spells I did not buy experts for, cause they are useless. I might train them now for free, but I would have never bough them.
And for my twinks I normally buy the experts before I can even learn them so I can scribe them the moment I level.
It might even increase the number of experts sold as some people will see that is is more fun playing with expert spells then with adept or even worse spells.
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Loredena
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I can’t get bothered by it (and yes, my husband and I have all 9 crafters at 90 between us) — I already rarely sell Experts. I currently do not make them ‘on spec’; I make them for my own characters, guildmates on request, and on-demand if someone is auctioning for them. But I’m not about to use a rare and put them up on the broker just to see, unless I somehow have an abundance of rares (and that’s mainly in the tier 4-6 range). Leveling an alchemist/jeweler/sage is fast enough that I’ve never felt a need to burn rares as part of my leveling, unlike my carpenter for instance.
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Eschia
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When people charge hundreds of plat for a spell i usually just research it anyway. I do feel bad for alchemists and sages but it’s the few who price gouge who make people unable to afford upgrades.
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Tock AB
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I’m snugly in the camp of “people will buy Experts anyway”. It’s great that first time players that might be experiencing their first MMO even, and don’t know their way around just yet, can have an easy, slow, sure path to power without worrying about scraping up the coin to just buy the upgrades outright.
Hey, who knows… maybe folks will start buying those Journeyman spells after all, since that’s the quality you can start upgrading from now, right?
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