This, That, and a Few Other Things

[ChunkyMono]

Back when Gems was celebrating it’s 5 year anniversary/birthday, @awryan had a thread asking players to list 5 things we were about the game for which we were thankful. I am thankful that we have a diverse gaming community that is passionate enough to complain, and a support staff that is patient enough to listen to those complaints.

THIS: Bug Reports. While we might not always agree as to what is a bug vs not a bug, with players such as @Mithran working diligently to explain why some things are bugs, the game will continue to improve.

I will do my best to abstain from commenting in Bug Reports, so that his comments get the attention they deserve. Specifically, the Bug/Not a Bug reports on Sacrifice and Infernus.

THAT: The Dev Team. I love them all. They are the ones that created this game that I love, and keep it running. Yeah, there are some things that get me pounding my head against the wall, but by and large, I love matching those little Red and Brown gems and snatching victory out of the jaws of defeat. Or talons. Claws? The artwork on these cards is amazing, and sometimes a little confusing.

What is Queen Xochi doing here? I’m thinking she’s shredding one of the banners from my most recent Orctoberfest bonfire, but it could be she’s generating sparks from scraping against my armor. I don’t know, I lost enough brain cells yesterday. I tend to ramble…

My apologies.

ALSO: And a Few Other Things: @igniteice came up with an awesome use for extra ingots in his thread:

Smelting Ingots into Gold!

[Smelting] Pattern Resource 1 Resource 2 Crafted Item Limit Mythic Smelt Mythic Ingot x10 Treasure Map x100 250,000 Gold 1 Per Week Legendary Smelt Legendary Ingot x10 Treasure Map x50 100,000 Gold 2 Per Week Epic Smelt Epic Ingot x10 Treasure Map x25 25,000 Gold 3 Per Week Ultra-Rare Smelt Ultra-Rare Ingot x10 Treasure Map x10 5,000 Gold 4 Per Week Rare Smelt Rare Ingot x10 Treasure Map x5 1,000 Gold 5 Per Week Common Smelt Common Ingot x10 Treasure Map x1 500 Gold Unlimited …

Like I have previously demonstrated, I tend to ramble. And get distracted by shiny objects. Or Talons/Claws headed in my direction. But his thread got me thinking about other items collecting dust in my inventory, as well as things I need to obtain in large quantities. Other than Gold, of course…

To be clear, I am no end gamer. I require a substantial amount of mythical creatures, and quite a few other things as well. Some of these things I thought up before. Perhaps now is the time to bring them up again. Perhaps not. Concussions have taken their toll. Too many Elveses to butt heads with these days.

Power Orbs

I don’t really need Power Orbs, but other players do. It’s not always about me. One way to help them would be to remove the Chaos Orb as a reward and introduce instead a new reward, the Chaos Token. Perhaps this could be called an Orc’oin.

Then players could visit the new Global Goblin Bank of Zaejin, and access their Minor and Major Orb Banks. After depositing the Minor/Major Orc’oin into the respective Bank slot, an Orb would be dispensed. Every 4th and 8th reward item would be Clan, the 11th would be Ascension, the other 8 an even split of Frustration and Disappointment. In this fashion, players would no longer be held to the will of Rngeesus.

There would also be slot machines available (Goblins are gamblers by nature) where unwanted orbs could be inserted with a chance (for a nominal fee) to become a token of Cedric (or the other Medal components).

Pet Food

Pet Food can be crafted in the Soul Forge, and also obtained from excess quantities of mythic pets. The problem with this is that the quantities are insufficient for the average player. I tried using Green Gems to craft green pet food, and the most obvious outcome I noticed, other than that i still needed more green food, was that I didn’t have enough Green Gems to craft Divine Protector the next time it arrived in the Soul Forge.

And yet, a solution is at hand: Soylent Blue I currently have in my inventory, 1145 Ice Worms, 1014 Giant Crabs, 917 Hammerheads, and 16 “Not my queen” Mabs. I can already Disenchant them for souls. Why not repurpose them in another, perhapes even more humane way, to help sustain my starving Blue Pets Minnow, Dr Sno, and Shrynx; that are stuck at levels 10, 15, and 15 respectively.

Other creature colors could be used to create respective food. For example, Soylent Green could be… Goblins? Soylent Green is Goblins? Who authorized this. I am outraged. Let’s just stick to Soylent Blue. I have enough Green Pet food anyway.

Faction Mythics

I would like to see future mythics tied to faction teams. A horned Rattigar, that could summon others would help. A Harpy that inflicted Stun, so that the enemy Harpy 5% summon didn’t trigger as often. A Setauri that cleansed, a Lapina that disenchants…

idk, I get that it is supposed to be a challenge. Without a chance to summon more troops, that challenge is often too much for me. Seriously, Fourteen level 300 Harpies are crazy hard to defeat. Any Dev who doesn’t think so should try it sometime. Even at level 200 they were a pain.

And if not a Mythic troop, than perhaps just add another new Legendary “Specialist” troop, or even a mercenary. One that could ‘assimilate’ and fight as any race. I had this dream one time…nah, that is for another thread.

Feel free to ignore, comment or add on ideas as y’all see fit.

And if you know what Queen Xochi is doing, please let me know. For the Horde.

[Jonathan]

@ChunkyMono

A horned Rattigar, that could summon others would help. A Harpy that inflicted Stun, so that the enemy Harpy 5% summon didn’t trigger as often. A Setauri that cleansed, a Lapina that disenchants…

Maybe if they were fully medalled?!?! It could upgrade their spell or a trait, or provide an additional ability.

---

Xochi is obviously picking up some sweet, sweet Lava Candy from the Blighted Lands. Duhhhh.

(@Lyya, the ‘Full’ artwork for Xochi on her page from your site seems kind of cut-off at the bottom – is this normal/intended, do you think? Queen Xochi - Troops - Gems of War Database)

[ChunkyMono]

I’ve had a few hours to reflect, and it occurred to me that some players might be opposed to making Faction teams easier. To which I would say, I’m more interested in making Faction Delve teams fun, not easy.

Primal Rift was the 5th faction released, so being lazy, I’d say that was late Dec 2018 or early Jan 2019. And then around Nov 2019, the layout was corrected to the intended, more challenging path.

Stonesong Aerie had the first rooms Harpy summons disabled for a while, allegedly. I never noticed, tbh. The whole faction seemed to summon plenty of reinforcements whenever I fought them, tbh. And I think I’ve used tbh too many times, to be honest. Shout out, Iron Mike. He’s the best. Around.

So, I thought of something else. Anybody, well, most people would probably prefer to fight me over fighting Mike Tyson. Reputation matters. Make Renown matter. Say, every 10k renown points increase a pure faction teams stats by 5% in delves, so at 40k, this weekend’s team would get a 20% boost. Too high?

Those enemy delve teams should tremble in fear at the sight of my troops. This I command. Scratch that. Humbly request. Pretty please, with a cherry on top.

[Jonathan]

@ChunkyMono

Say, every 10k renown points increase a pure faction teams stats by 5% in delves, so at 40k, this weekend’s team would get a 20% boost. Too high?

I really like this line of thinking! I think it fits in thematically with the Underworld achievements, as well. Kind of like, “Oh boy, they must be pretty tough!” And also along the lines of getting used to fighting in the Underworld realm means you’ll be more effective there.

It would also give you something to work towards – if a particular Faction is proving difficult, tackling all of the other ones around it will make you more powerful for when you come back to it. Sense of progress, a way forward. Maybe.

[ChunkyMono]

Obviously, I see it now. Of course, now when I think of her sweet sweet can…

I’ll be reminded me of the old Simpsons episode with the artists who worked exclusively with the form of gummi. “Mr. Mono, what are you doing”. Dramatization, might not have happened. Good looking out, @Jonathan.

And if medals worked properly in Delves…soon.

[Thevc]

That’s a pretty good idea @ChunkyMono. I vaguely recall the devs/company saying that they were working on a means to make pure delves/factions more manageable. But as you pointed out, the direct opposite has been implemented. For example, changing the original layout, unavoidable legendary battles en route to the final room, increased number of minimum fights and the ‘piece de la resistance’: a rewards nerf on gold. Maybe your solution/proposal will remind the devs/company what they vocally proposed to do (more manageable pure factions) because somewhere along the way they appear to have convinced themselves that they proposed the exact opposite.

[ChunkyMono]

I’ve played a lot of different games across a broad spectrum of genres, and most take into account the psychological impact of what a 100 ton mech or a enormous daemon or impenetrable tank would have upon the enemy.

The reputation of some Guilds has me sit up a little straighter in my chair when I face them in PvP, so perhaps different delve opponents would react differently. Legendary troops would be uneffected. Epic troops would have a 2.5% reduction per 10k, Ultra-rare 5% and Rares a 7.5%. Or buff friendly troops in inverse proportions. Or both.

40k renown doesn’t happen overnight. Word spreads, and when the Severed Hand crest is sighted on an invading faction delve team’s battle standard, that delve’s inhabitants ought to be afraid. Or at least, less than optimistic about their chances.

[EliteMasterEric]

@ChunkyMono

What is Queen Xochi doing here?

That’s a fireball.

[Jonathan]

Fireball-shaped candy*.