Materials NPC in reverse.

Im talking about the guys that will craft some rare mats for you in exchange for some normal mats and some cash.
My idea is this in reverse.
Ill use Lump of charcoal as an example.
To make a lump of charcoal you have to pay 200g + give him 10 wood.
So this Material Breakdown NPC would require you pay him lets say 50g and give him a lump of charcoal to break down and you would get the 10 wood out of it.
If this needs further explaining let me know and I will but this seems like a decent enough explanation.
And if youre only reason for a not signed it because this is gw1 they are working on gw2 please dont bother as this is already been proven wrong many times.
Yes they are working on gw2 but they are expanding the live team for gw1 so updates still happen.

I don't really see the point... you can already use salvage kits on rare materials to get common ones. I guess in the charcoal example salvaging would probably give you less than 10 planks, but I don't think the difference is enough to warrant a new NPC. Common materials are called that for a reason... they're not difficult to get.

/notsigned because it doesn't add anything to the game

Not all rare mats can be salvaged. Charcoal was just one example the npc could break down unsalvagable mats.

How exactly does one take... a roll of parchment and turn it back into a piece of wood.

I mean, doing stuff the other way around (like it is now) general makes sense.

Alright, but... of the materials that don't salvage with kits, though, what exactly do you plan on getting? I guess I could understand getting dust from ectos, shards, onyx gemstones, rubies, sapphires, diamonds, jade and amber... but why? Unless you're getting multiple stacks it really doesn't make sense, as you can easily sell these and buy the dust for less than you'd be losing by destroying the item.

Eyes and fangs are the other two that don't salvage... what are you going to get from those?

But if for some reason it still seems worth it to destroy these things for dust (which can be obtained tons of places... see here) then just disregard my opinion on the matter.

/not signed

There is noreason to spend resources for this.

You can get common mats with out even trying, why would anyone waste a valuable resource and money to break down a rare and expensive mat in to cheap and common ones.

For instace the trader buys charcoal for 70 and 10 wood planks for 40. But then again, might work for steel because the trader buys steel for 60, but iron for 80 and the charcoal for 70. Silk is 15, cloth is 30 and glitter is 80. Parchment is 40 the 5 planks is 20.

On the other hand since this would be a paid for service the over all monetary gain would be minimal and there are faster ways to earn gold.

Fangs would be bones. Eyes not sure but yes you would have to get atleast a stack of the common mat for this. But I myself farm alot for mats when I need them and it takes quite some time to get them it also takes a long time to purchase these from players alot of the time. Im just trying to have a little bit of an easier time to get them so I can play more and farm less.

Actually, there are 3 kinds of materials:
- Raw materials. (AKA crafting materials or normal materials). They can't be crafted nor salvaged, and can be salvaged from items without superior kits.
- Crafted materials (AKA craft-able material or rare materials [craft-able]). Can be crafted and other materials may be salvaged from them. They can be salvaged only with Superior kits.
- Rare materials (AKA rare materials [non craft-able]). The rest. Can be salvaged only with superior kits and cannot be crafted.

What we need here is naming them correctly and maybe even separate them into different traders, not to change rare materials into crafted materials.

The point of an artisan is to get materials cheaper than at the usual rare material trader. Like vials of ink are 400 gold at usual trader, but 20 gold (+plus mats) at the artisan. Which would you prefer to pay from? The artisan.

That what mules are for. I have stacks and stacks of common mats. I just play the game, salvage the whites and "highly salvagable" and sell the rest.

/not signed because the idea of crafting is based on logic and this idea defies logic, and this is why:

You can't make wood out of charcoal... for the OP's example...

This isnt about earning gold.
Logic? this is a game. like fire imps and Tundra giants are logical.
actually that IS what comes out of coal.
I have played the game for over 3 years. I salvage all whites and even some purples. I have 2 storage mules.
Problem is I USE my mats and fairly often. Like I said getting some of the mats takes quite along time and buying them from players are just as bad.
Im just trying to think of a different way to get some of these without having to pay extra at the trader.

LOL - I'd love to see someone get some wood from coal or charcoal. Isn't gonna happen.

So, it seems there is something specific you want to get, and are having a hard/slow time getting it. What material is so hard/slow to get that using a rare material as a base would get you what you want?

Bone is VERY easy to get, as lots of things will salvage into it, and undead drop it all the time.
Cloth is dropped occassionally, but salvages from a large number of armor drops.
Chitin is a very common drop from lots of monsters, and can be salvaged as well.
Feathers are a common drop from Tengu, and a possible drop from Griffons, plus it can be salvaged from scalps and wings of various monsters.
Iron is a drop from some monsters, but an easy salvage from a LOT of weapons and armor drops.
Glittering Dust is a fairly common drop from various monsters, and a very common salvage from lots of items.
Plant Fiber is a drop from any plant creature, although somewhat rare, but does salvage from seeds, etc. that are also dropped by those creatures.
Scales drop a lot from several monsters and can be salvaged from a fairly large number of drops.
Tanned Hides are a common drop from various monsters, and can be salvaged easily from many armors.
Wood Planks are a somewhat rare drop, but a very easy item to salvage from bows and certain types of hammers/axes/staves.


The only one I didn't cover is Granite. Granite, however, is not hard to get. Elementals drop it, and lots of items will salvage into it as well.

Taking a 'rare' material and paying an NPC to turn it into a common material is illogical (yes, even a fantasy game uses logic). What 'rare' material is so easy to get, and not worth using/selling that you would want to turn it into a common one? As already mentioned, just sell the 'rare' material and then use the money to buy the common material.

I'm curious to know what material caused you to come up with this idea though.

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Charcoal



as you can see from my ss AND wiki you DO get wood from charcoal.
Iron dust and bones really. but any of them.
Just because they drop for 1 person or salvage for 1 person easily doesnt mean they do for everyone.
I can farm for an hour and come up with 50 bones. this includes salvaging items as well. Some people dont have the best of luck and I am one of them.
Rare mats however seem to come a little easier to me for some reason. And as ive stated buying from players is a pain and the mat trader is a thief.
As for what rare mats I would be willing to do this with?
Ecto would be a great sorce they are one of the easiest rare mats to get even easier than the common ones.

[Prices based off of the time of this post]

So you're going to take a lump of charcoal, currently going for 160g each, and take it to a material diffuser to make 10 planks of wood for a price of 50g (for a total cost of 210g) when you can just buy 10 planks of wood from the material trader for 100g? And even if you just had stacks of charcoal sitting around and you needed wood, couldn't you have sold that lump of charcoal for 60g, and saved 10g from the diffusion price and just bought 10 planks of wood instead?

And that's not even considering that charcoal is consistently one of the cheapest rare materials.

Where are you farming charcoal, or any rare material for that matter, where they drop with such abundance in comparison to regular materials that you'd want to turn them into cheaper materials at twice the cost o.0? I can see your point about the materials not dropping or salvaging for one person versus another, but in my experience I get common materials a lot more than I get rare materials.

I have to say I don't really see the point. Forgetting the idea of salvaging or not, it's rather easy to find people willing to sell common materials for reasonable prices (3K or so for a stack of most of them, probably the only exception being feathers) and for the effort it would take to get enough rare materials to diffuse them into usable quantities of common materials, you could very, very easily acquire that much gold. Or, for that matter, the amount it would cost to buy a stack of the common materials outright from the trader.

No offense, but then you're farming in the wrong places, at least for the dust and bones.

For dust I would suggest the Hidden City of Ahdashim, groups of Chilling Wisps in the Norn regions of EotN, or even the Vaettir farms (as all of these groups commonly drop dust directly (typically in chunks of ~34 for djinns and wisps) and their drops can salvage into ~5 piles per item (ethereal garments yield much, much more). All of these areas can be soloed, though 600-smite teams are probably faster.

Bones can found pretty easily, too. There's plenty of undead in Kryta to farm, though I prefer the old dead sword farms (Fahranur and the Destroy the Ungrateful Slaves quest in the Shattered Ravines). Like the dust in the places I mentioned above, bones in these runs tend to fall in large chunks (mid 30s from my experience); a decent run for me seems to average in the range of 120-150, plus there's tons of salvage armor drops in these runs that can yield other materials, too. Heck, even the raptor farms can be productive here as saurian bones salvage into ~5 bones apiece (plus I seem to recall having them fall directly, too, but it's been a while and the wiki doesn't mention it...)

I could go on, but I'm probably veering a bit too far off the original topic so I'll wrap up by suggesting you check some of the farming threads on here if you're interested or (if you're really feeling saucy) pm me in game and I'll be glad to help.

How on earth does one invoke an area of intense heat at a foe's location? Oh that's right, Magic.

The idea is interesting enough but I don't think it would see much use, and therefore probably not worth the time spent implementing it.

Charcoal is the blackish residue consisting of impure carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood, sugar, bone char.

Can you revert a Chemical Process or are you using Magic?

Let's move on from this objection, since it's not really an objection. If you don't like it, use another, more justified reason.

All other posts will be deleted.

First off. the NPC would craft alot more than 10 wood for a coal for example.
It would need to be a decent amount.
Second its not that easy finding mats from players at a reasonable price.
I have stood in Kamadan and LA trying to buy a stack of bones for an hour and nothing.
And to the person telling me im farming in wrong place.
I DO farm in hidden city and other places that have my mats. Its not about farming in wrong place its about people not being lucky enough to get the drops they need.

If you try to buy bones, you are wasting time. You'll get TONS of them by killing some skeletons.

Almost anything that's hard to tell what is made out of will contain glittering dust.
Many bows, staves and shields can be salvaged to get wood.

Most things that are grey-colored can be salvaged to get iron or steel. (Titan armors are an excelent source of steel)

All ground, rock or stone elementals drop generous amounts of some granite slabs.

Tengu, griffons and harpies are the best source for feathers.

All bugs, insects and spiders will spit chitin like if they were made out of it.

Plants drop a lot of wood and plant fibers.

Dragons, skales and gargoyles will drop many scales.

And if you want cloth or hide, look for kournan souldiers. After killing some (hundreds) of them you should have 250 of each.

But since we have traders, it's always easier to buy the materials when we need them, and sell them when we don't (and have the storage filled).

I know where to farm for the stuff. Thats not the problem. I said this already but Ill say it again. Not everyone gets TONS like you seem to think. I can farm for an hour and come up with 50 bones. infact I was farming for about an hour today and got a total of 34.
I can can Ecto easier than bones.
Same with dust. I farm hidden city for an hour and I get 20-40.
Keg farming gives me a little bit more dust but not much.

I find it quite hard to believe that drops are consistently that poor for any particular player for any length of time, especially if collector items and white/blue/purple items are being salvaged. These farms are common because they are profitable... if not for the items themselves at least the gold that is dropped directly and the gold obtained from the merchant after the run is completed. Certainly if the materials aren't dropping directly there's still enough gold obtained that can be used to buy directly from the traders (bones are at 2.5k a stack currently, which isn't much).

Then, as far as ecto is concerned (regardless of the area it comes from), for every enemy that drops one there are probably a dozen or more that drop some dark remains, phantom residues, demonic remains, demonic fangs, etc. that all salvage into dust. Plus, the items drops that come from these same mobs that drop ecto are often caster wands/offhands/staffs that salvage into dust and iron.

So far there's still been nothing to sufficiently convince me this is necessary

One run of undead farming outside of Bergen Hotsprings will get me anywhere from 150-300 Bones, 50-100 Tanned Hides, 100-200 Glittering Dust, 15-20 Decayed Orr Emblems, and that doesn't include Granite, Cloth, or Iron that I can get there as well. Takes me about 30-45 minutes for the run I do, which includes a Vanquish of The Cursed Lands.

I really can't see how someone who knows where to farm, and knows how to farm can say ANY common material is harder to get than a rare material.

Half the things in GW isnt necessary.
Im glad you can get that much. I cant.
I do a run through the same area and continue on into the next zone.
Even vanquished it without realizing I was that close to doing so and still only get 34 bones. The most I have gotten in a single hour is 50.
However in that same hour I can get 5-6 ectos or shards which is more than the bones due to the "rarity" and prices.

...but in those cases it's sterile and we like the taste?

On topic: It seems, then, that a solution is already at hand...

What, then, is so difficult about taking those ectos and shards, selling them, and then using the proceeds to purchase the common materials you're after? A single ecto provides enough money to buy 2 stacks of bones from the trader (or even more if you look for a player selling them) and still turn a profit.

And if that's still not acceptable, well... the poll results that go along with this should be some sort of signal as to how well this argument is working.

I tend to not use trader as I don't care to pay more than i have to and players are a pain in the ass to buy from most of the time.
And yes I know the poll didnt go well but still doesn't mean that I can't like the idea.

But on that note this is obviously not a liked suggestion so can we just close it? No point in beating the horse.

Happy to oblige.