Bug Report Zorras EPIC bugged or really shitty business model?

[Tor Henrik Hovi]

Since Devs seem to ignore my inputs in the other thread and ignore ingame PM I decided to make a post here to shed some light and get some information. (Poke a stick in Devs eye)

I was doing to EPIC Zorra mission when I suddenly hit a brick wall at "Stage 13 - Hail Lazidol, The Great Sea Beast"
The [Lesser Power Crystal] need to create a [Greater Power Crystal] to be able to get a Lazidol Lure for free every 6 hour, has not dropped for what I can figure out at least two or three years.

This lure is used to Summon Great Sea Beast Lazidol witch you need to get four or five rare loots (100+TT) from to finish the quest.

If it is true this [Lesser Power Crystal] has not dropped for YEARS this is a incredible bad thing in my opinion. The handful of owners can get 4 FREE lures every day, can totally control the market on price and are the ONLY ones able to summon and hunt the Lazidol witch have VERY high MU items dropping!

Is this the way it was intended from the developers?
Is there other Missions giving such huge advantage to other players?
(Empis Wasp Queen?)

Edit: I see there has been a solution. The crystals are now dropping, but you need more of them to create the [Greater Power Crystal].
Nice to see things are turning.

 

[San]

Is this the way it was intended from the developers?

The short answer is no. The long answer is around on these pages, it has been discussed extensively. Please do a search.

 

[Tor Henrik Hovi]

.... Please do a search.

2018 Jan 8

... The Greater Power Crystal was greatly reduced in drop rate quite some time ago, and the Lesser and Weakened Power Crystals put in it's place: Lesser Power Crystal + Weakened Power Crystal can be refined into a Greater Power Crystal.
In 2017 I did ask for some items to be increased, but with the loot 2.0 it could have been affected in some way, although to my knowledge it's still available, but either way I'll follow up with this.
...

2017 December 12th

... Several loot items have had their drop rate increased, including but not limited to: Boffin Upgrade Parts, Lesser Power Crystal, Weakened Power Crystal, and Basic Targeting Chips.
...
Please give MindArk time to make sure that all missions and items are activated and in the loot pool.
...

2016 Mar 14th

... As far as I know, Weaker and Lesser Power Crystals are still able to be looted, however, I'm going to be checking in with MindArk this week for the Weaker and Lesser Power Crystal Drop Rates (which combined make up the 2 parts of the Greater Power Crystal). I'm also going to be following up for the drop rates on Lazidol.
...

Loads of promises, no mention of last drop or how many has dropped. If this is not intentional the handling is exceptionally bad. This is a major unfair treatment of players with a few golden ones left with the honey jar.
I have no quarrel with the owners of the crystals, they play as they like with the cards they are delt, but from the Devs side this is unacceptable (IMO)!

 

[bella]

me and friend made

Since Devs seem to ignore my inputs in the other thread and ignore ingame PM I decided to make a post here to shed some light and get some information. (Poke a stick in Devs eye)

I was doing to EPIC Zorra mission when I suddenly hit a brick wall at "Stage 13 - Hail Lazidol, The Great Sea Beast"
The [Lesser Power Crystal] need to create a [Greater Power Crystal] to be able to get a Lazidol Lure for free every 6 hour, has not dropped for what I can figure out at least two or three years.

This lure is used to Summon Great Sea Beast Lazidol witch you need to get four or five rare loots (100+TT) from to finish the quest.

If it is true this [Lesser Power Crystal] has not dropped for YEARS this is a incredible bad thing in my opinion. The handful of owners can get 4 FREE lures every day, can totally control the market on price and are the ONLY ones able to summon and hunt the Lazidol witch have VERY high MU items dropping!

Is this the way it was intended from the developers?
Is there other Missions giving such huge advantage to other players?
(Empis Wasp Queen?)

Me and friend made Greater Power Crystal over month ago, how about you take gun and start hunting Zyn Doss nobady is controling the market since Lazidol parts are not droping with loot 2.0, and loot on lazidol is like from puny right now low mu oils, and shrapnel. I still wait to see if Kris talked with Mindark about Lazidol parts drop rate

 

[Tor Henrik Hovi]

If it is true this [Lesser Power Crystal] has not dropped for YEARS this is a incredible bad thing in my opinion.

Me and friend made Greater Power Crystal over month ago, how about you take gun and start hunting Zyn Doss

So you looted Lesser Power Crystal recently or made it with an old item?
As for me hunting Zyn.... you dont think I have hunted ALLOT of them?

I sure hope they started dropping again. (But I'm pretty confused about why Devs did not mention this since it has "been discussed extensively", and still think the years lost on them is a horrible wrongdoing)

 

[San]

The answer I meant to be found, because it has been repeated so often, is that planet partner gets to put something in a mob's loot table but MA is in control of the drop rate. Other inhibiting factors like high tt value are being discussed openly for a while. Your OP sounded to me as if you've just discovered there is a problem after so much fruitless grinding and I wanted to point you to the bucks' chant rising there already.

 

[Kris | Cyrene]

Hey Tor Henrik Hovi,

Since Devs seem to ignore my inputs in the other thread and ignore ingame PM I decided to make a post here to shed some light and get some information.

While I'm still trying to gather up all the information, not to mention that we (Planet Cyrene) have only so much control over how the items get out into the world (see the A.R.C. Vendors as an example) and I wanted to make sure I had the time to create a cohesive reply and explain what I can about the processes.

I also checked my in game messages and did not receive any from you, although I did get one from Hagbard Celine though.

I'd like to mention to anyone reading this the best way to provide feedback or get in touch we me the forums are the best place for that.

(Poke a stick in Devs eye)

Ouch

I was doing to EPIC Zorra mission when I suddenly hit a brick wall at "Stage 13 - Hail Lazidol, The Great Sea Beast"
The [Lesser Power Crystal] need to create a [Greater Power Crystal] to be able to get a Lazidol Lure for free every 6 hour, has not dropped for what I can figure out at least two or three years.

This lure is used to Summon Great Sea Beast Lazidol witch you need to get four or five rare loots (100+TT) from to finish the quest.

If it is true this [Lesser Power Crystal] has not dropped for YEARS this is a incredible bad thing in my opinion. The handful of owners can get 4 FREE lures every day, can totally control the market on price and are the ONLY ones able to summon and hunt the Lazidol witch have VERY high MU items dropping!

It's a fine line to adjust this part of the mission now: one the one hand it's certainly old enough to be adjusted and changed from a "key" to a "flag" but on the other hand we don't want to punish any players who previously worked hard to get their Greater Power Crystals.

This is something that we can discuss internally before the next PP VU while seeing about the drop rates for the other 2 crystals.

Is this the way it was intended from the developers?

Clearly not, I'll provide a bit of exposition about this, aka: Storytime.

So, when the Lazidol mission chain first came out several Greater Power Crystals had already dropped and been looted for some amount of time and had no use in the game until this long mission chain. I believe at the time there were only 2 - 3 people who even attempted to hunt Lazidol. At the same time we changed how Greater Power Crystals were looted, instead of them being 1 item, it was split into 2 items to combine into a Greater Power Crystal: the Lesser Power Crystal and Weakened Power Crystal. This was done in a effort to make the more accessible (believe it or not) as it split the 300 PED TT into 2 smaller parts. Don't worry, the irony isn't lost on me.

Now, since this thread was spawned from this thread >>LINK<< I don't think I need to explain that there are times where we push and plead to get loot drops out and in the hands of players here on Cyrene but we're only 1/2 of the equation, and sometimes the drop chances are out of our hands.

Each and every VU there is always a list of items we try to make sure are dropping, often times at the expense of not putting out new items. Sometimes the adjustments we make are enough, sometimes they aren't, sometimes we're thrown for a loop like with loot 2.0 and we've got to adjust again.

I got a report from another player that told me they just managed to create a Greater Power Crystal this year, so it seems they are finally coming out again, although we'll be watching to see the flow rate and if we need to adjust / ask for an adjustment from MA.

Is there other Missions giving such huge advantage to other players?
(Empis Wasp Queen?)

I don't know if you can call players who looted / bought / traded for their items to have an advantage but there is sort of a Greater Power Crystal for the Empis Wasp queen mission but I believe there haven't been any loot issues with this item.

More information about both of these missions can be found on Thanatos Website: Cyrene Secrets:
>>LINK << the page at that link has the details for both Lazidol and the Empis Wasp Queen Missions.

I think that San hits the nail on the head here:

The answer I meant to be found, because it has been repeated so often, is that planet partner gets to put something in a mob's loot table but MA is in control of the drop rate. Other inhibiting factors like high tt value are being discussed openly for a while. Your OP sounded to me as if you've just discovered there is a problem after so much fruitless grinding and I wanted to point you to the bucks' chant rising there already.

It's an on going process, and something that we not only take very seriously but one we are always on the look out to try and solve.

I hope that this answers some of your questions/comments about this item in particular, I'll do my best to answer any more follow up questions as I can.

Regards,
Kris

 

[Tor Henrik Hovi]

Hi Kris, TY for answering. (and to be fair, my InGamePM was to Lilmc)

I understand MA are responsible for the droprates, but IMO you need to keep more pressure on them.

I am puzzled that you can not give a clear answer to if a Lesser Crystal has dropped or not, but refer to a player managing to create a Greater Power Crystal this year (I already asked if it was with a new drop)
A clear answer with X amounts of Lesser Crystal drops the last three years would be greatly appreciated.

I still think giving just a few players the advantage of access to a VERY attractive mob (we are talking 1k+PEDs MU per item) is a bad business model. But if the Crystals needed are at least dropping it can be somewhat understandable.

Regards,
Ted

 

[Kris | Cyrene]

Hello Ted,

Hi Kris, TY for answering. (and to be fair, my InGamePM was to Lilmc)

I'm glad to be able to answer any questions as I am able to.

I understand MA are responsible for the droprates, but IMO you need to keep more pressure on them.

A rough estimate is that it's about 20%+ of the things I discuss with MA.

I am puzzled that you can not give a clear answer to if a Lesser Crystal has dropped or not, but refer to a player managing to create a Greater Power Crystal this year (I already asked if it was with a new drop)
A clear answer with X amounts of Lesser Crystal drops the last three years would be greatly appreciated.

The short answer is that I don't have a complete picture of the entirety of the loot. I do plan to manually go through the reports for the last 60 or so weeks though and see what's what.

I still think giving just a few players the advantage of access to a VERY attractive mob (we are talking 1k+PEDs MU per item) is a bad business model. But if the Crystals needed are at least dropping it can be somewhat understandable.

It's something that we're looking at currently and are already discussing internally as something we can adjust before the next PP VU if the drops are still an issue by then.

Cheers,
Kris

 

[tBANNA]

hey guys,

would be really nice to push up a bit the importance of those 3 missions: the Zora (weapon), the ARC (vendor weapons) and the refurbished FAP.

I m saying this in the light of some facts that are mentioned here also on other posts and I don't want to repeat them, are well known , but in my opinion since other planets tend to drag attractive mission into game in order to rise the number of player base those 2 missions are pretty precious and have a great potential to be top missions in game.

I believe are few grinders , old cyrene citizens, faithful players who love and believe in this planet, who have a bitter taste for not being able to loot any ARC gun ( reason known ) or a lesser/greater crystal in the past ( lack of luck or...idk) and who now sit and wait, for a change that seems to be far away from them.

it has to be a solution to improve those missions, and if I can do something about I m into, and I m sure others can be part of the help solution ( but idk how we can help, probably we cant ^^)

cheers
tBANNA

 

[Tor Henrik Hovi]

Just as a FYI this is what Entropia tracker has to say about Power Crystal drops (No Lesser Power Crystal there ever), but as we all know they tend to miss a bit of information, especially from Cyrene:

Greater Power Crystal xxx redbaron xxx Thu, 08 Feb 2018 15:53:24
Weakened Power Crystal apallo sincros neverweave Sun, 04 Feb 2018 09:50:34
Weakened Power Crystal MICKEY MIKE VIGNERON Mon, 22 Jan 2018 16:55:11
Weakened Power Crystal mofo mo mangler Sun, 26 Nov 2017 12:54:12
Weakened Power Crystal My Nikki Insanity Mon, 08 May 2017 20:56:55
Weakened Power Crystal Penethol Junkman Bloodsteel Thu, 29 Sep 2016 22:34:56
Weakened Power Crystal Jock JB Bond Thu, 07 Apr 2016 05:07:49

 

[Justine]

Hey Tor Henrik Hovi,


I got a report from another player that told me they just managed to create a Greater Power Crystal this year, so it seems they are finally coming out again, although we'll be watching to see the flow rate and if we need to adjust / ask for an adjustment from MA.

You are right, 1 player made a greater power crystal this year.
But, as i know, he looted or bought the weakened crystal (like we saw since many years) and he bought the lesser power crystal. So the problem is still there. Weakened still drop, lesser crystal still not drop.

 

[Tor Henrik Hovi]

A clear answer with X amounts of Lesser Crystal drops the last three years would be greatly appreciated.

Tuesday at 11:39 AM

I do plan to manually go through the reports for the last 60 or so weeks though and see what's what.

Still counting?

 

[Kris | Cyrene]

Hey Tor Henrik Hovi,

Still counting?

The short answer is yes, and also reporting my findings to MA / talking with them about these drops in conjunction with the Lazidol/Wasp Queen drops.

Although I believe that there is a correlation between both of these issues, (those issues being the lazidol/wasp queen and the crystal drop rates), in fact they might have the same problem with the same solution - which is still being finalized.

When there is something concrete to share I will do so A.S.A.P.

Cheers,
Kris

 

[Kris | Cyrene]

P.S. - Not to derail the thread, but tBANNA, you could you elaborate more on this part:

would be really nice to push up a bit the importance of those 3 missions: and the refurbished FAP.

I was under the impression that mission was working correctly, or you're referring to the stage 2 part of that mission which has not yet been released?

 

[tBANNA]

P.S. - Not to derail the thread, but tBANNA, you could you elaborate more on this part:



I was under the impression that mission was working correctly, or you're referring to the stage 2 part of that mission which has not yet been released?

yeah I m referring to stage 2 the sequel for those missions

in 2 words would be something:

1. Zora - we need the Greater Crystal (either reward or refined from lesser + weakened) need a fix
2. A.R.C. Faction Vendor - we need the component to refine the item for Ecotron guns stage 1, 2, and 3 if possible need a fix
3. Refurbished H.E.A.R.T. VI - we need the sequel here aswell and in my opinion now till things are hot and ppl are interested ( game is changing so fast that Cyrene seems to be always 4-5 steps behind) need an release

 

[sokolade]

game is changing so fast that Cyrene seems to be always 4-5 steps behind

I agree on this, its either that you guys are super understaffed, or not on the same horse MA is on!

 

[San]

... not on the same horse MA is on!

I'm not sure that's automatically a bad thing without critical reflection. These unobtainium issues are a problem but how does this justify a generic accusation of being behind the curve? What does it even mean? I'm very much for planet partners setting their own goals and directions, otherwise what's the point of having them in the first place. Entropia wants to be a platform, not a monolithic game. There is some friction because MA needs to keep certain controls centralized. I find it interesting to watch how the PPs explore their wriggle room.

 

[sokolade]

I'm not sure that's automatically a bad thing without critical reflection. These unobtainium issues are a problem but how does this justify a generic accusation of being behind the curve? What does it even mean? I'm very much for planet partners setting their own goals and directions, otherwise what's the point of having them in the first place. Entropia wants to be a platform, not a monolithic game. There is some friction because MA needs to keep certain controls centralized. I find it interesting to watch how the PPs explore their wriggle room.

Pooooooffff, you blew my mind

But if seriously then u totally misfired there. Different planets different game etc, however game system is the same throughout the entire universe and PPs are in direct competition with each other. Any new stuff released on one planet steals players from other planets at least temporary. And current meta of the game is different on Caly than it is on Cyrene for better or worse.
Lets just look at the Monria update today. Ofc its not PP but they are not that far from it are they? They pushed a decent update today which is nothing to wooo about but what is important is that they have gotten mining strongboxes in their SOOTO added today. I think Cyrene doesnt even have SOOTO. And why is that important? I hope you dont need me to explain.

Also why are you attacking me but not tBanna?

 

[Neo Jr XL]

...how does this justify a generic accusation of being behind the curve?..

I'm sorry for non-formatted reply, but here we go:
1) all epic mission reward weapons went 'behind curve' pre loot 2.0 long time ago and before the current crystal debacle. Local loot after 2.0 is still a mystery to me how to play it on Cyrene.
2) so long thought new crafting bps have been superseded by airmatrixes.., and the answer seems to add more bps that consume non existent after loot 2.0 cyrene drops. Just wonder how many items were crafted from new bps...
3) shops, booths...
4) loot 2.0 impact not followed up..low drop of local loot which restricts local activity and i assume returns to PP, but who cares...
5) small, but visual....disciple armor..very far 'behind the curve'..., even Toulan got one....ppl keep asking what you get on Cyrene for graduation, but we are waiting for Big Bang, sorry release from Beta...
6) won't mention ARC badges....
7) i can carry on...but let's spawn some more Big Birds as that seems to be the answer 'to be ahead of curve'