Why inscriptions are the worst thing that happened to GW.

This is in response of another post, and something I have mentioned on the forums countless times before. (sidenote: was gonna use the official wiki but it's down atm, so had to resort to the unofficial)

This thread isn't a rant on inscriptions, well, actually, yes it is, but it's also meant to be able to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the concept inscription.

To start with: this game was built on the idea that anyone could have an optimal weapon without much trouble and getting one shouldn't prove troublesome. The entire idea is that skin is cosmetic and that cosmetics are the only thing in this game that you should pay for. Thus having cheap max armor that looks meh-ish, and the expensive armors that mostly also look meh-ish but have bragging rights attached to them.
With weapons there is a similar thing. You haveCollectors, Green weapons and Weapon smiths. Between those 3 possibilities, you could find nearly any weapon with nearly any modifier combination on it. There are a couple exceptions, like +10/-2 shields, prenerf things and certain mods on certain attribute lines (Shield of the Forgotten for example). But, you could have all the mods, sometimes the attributes just didn't fit.

Now, the wise thing to have done -from Anet- would have been: include every possible modifier combination in either of the 3 above mentioned forms. There are very little combinations left out, and the only thing that needed a fix was the attributes.
If they had done this, they would have had a game where anyone, regardless of wealth or playstyle, could have any weapon combination they wanted, given they either farmed the collectibles, farmed the materials, or killed the boss enough times over to get the green. Ok, this is not ideal, but it wouldn't give any room for complaints.

What would the result of this choice have been? It would have had as a result that if someone really wanted a skin with a certain modifier combination on it, said person had to start looking for it, and buy it from another player. What would the benefit of this have been? That certain mods would be more desirable, also nicer skins with the more desirable mods would be more expensive. Thus creating a market where rare skins and rare mods would be worth something, and players would have to pay for the cosmetic side of weapons.

Now what do we have? Every single q9 weapon is worth ~5-10k, except for some of the fancy and wanted skins. There is no market for weapons what so ever, except for the fancy skins. If someone wants a perfect axe, all he/she has to do is go until he/she finds a q9 blue/purple/gold axe that has an inscription slot on it, and mod it as desired.

This leaves me with another big issue with inscriptions. Blue and purple weapons now also have to potential of being perfect weapons. Why is this troublesome? Because initially, purple and blue weapons were designed to be imperfect. Ok, I have to admit that they didn't serve any use except for merchant food, but they were the faze some players had to go through. I remember fighting with a blue non-max katana for the first couple of weeks of my play.

My -personal- main problem with inscriptions is that they killed the weapons market completely. In the old days, a crappy skin q9 15^50 sword would still be worth something, because it was a desirable mod on it, nowadays, you'll just have to merch anything that isn't a nice skin.
I know this, I personally exploit one of the games High-end areas on a daily basis to make tons of cash, but "there are better ways to make money" is not an argument for not having a weapons market. There not being a weapons market is a bad thing because it is a potential way for new players to make money. Getting a good weapon is random, but can be very nice (the entire reason people do UWSC/FoWSC/Dungeons).

True, but it makes getting a perfect weapon TOO easy. They are literally given to you from the start. But then again, Anet has resorted to handing everything to the players anyway lately.

I don't want to make profit, I just don't like the idea of every bloody weapon being perfect without even trying.

I know that inscriptions won't be reversed, but I'd like to see some opinions on the matter. I'd also like this not to result in a trollthread or flamewar.

Discuss.

Usability is better than greed.

Max level equipement is cheap but this is bad because that means max level equipement cheap?

I'm sorry, this is one of the better features of guild wars, imo.

This thread touches the heart of GW..well, maybe mine. What's wrong with inscriptions is what's not right with the game. Premise: Adapt to new areas with new skills. Ya, right. So, i need new weapons, inscriptions, runbes, et maybe al. Thousands of Others. Storage: 7 tabns..Say what? I say simplify..somehow, anyhow. Well, I had my rant. I feel better..

Totally pointless, given NF has been out quite a while.

I liked the old system aswell! But the new system is better for most players in general. As slowerpoke said: Usability is better than greed.

And therefore inscriptions is a good thing because now you can mod your weapons which makes things more equal amongst players. Rich and poor can now afford to buy some nice weapons, not just the rich players.

If people want riches, they have elite tomes, they have ectos, rubies and sapphires. Why do you explicitly want to try make a profit on weapons that should be on an equal basis for all?

It would have been better if the inscription system had been introduced at the very start of GW imo.

he isnt saying that poor people dont deserve max weapons, hes saying that they dont deserve max weapons with good skins, which kind of makes sense. I would agree with him if there was more variety in the skins offered by collectors and crafters, rather them all crafting the same skin. so people who couldnt afford non collector or crafter weapons would have a variety of skins to chose from, just one that is not as large as if they actually got weapons as a drop

I somewhat agree with you, but, you have failed to make any argument for why this is a problem. So what if there's no market for weapons - why would you need one? To make gold? There are lots and lots of ways to make gold by playing the game instead of sitting around Kamadan trying to sell stuff.

Also, another aspect of this is that, this shows up more now because the game is relatively stagnant. If new campaigns and/or expansions were still coming out regularly, there would always be new skins, etc., to be the latest desired item. Part of the reason why most weapons are cheap these days is because most people already have them.

What exactly constitutes a "good skin", though? Everyone has different taste, after all. Some of my favorite weapon skins are common as dirt, and yet I think they look a lot better than a lot of the rare/desired ones. And I can easily afford those rare/desired skins.

More variety in what is offered by crafters/collectors would be nice, though.

Overall, I don't really get the argument against inscriptions. Okay, so people can mod weapons as they wish instead of having to farm with the hopes that maybe, just maybe, they'll get a drop that will actually be useful, or shell out tons of money. So what? There's still plenty of skins that you can only find uninscribable (or are far, far more common that way).

With the introduction of heroes Anet knew the old system wouldn't work, imagine no inscr and having to pimp out your heroes? I remember when NF first launch Strength and Honor was expensive and kinda rare, inscr didn't kill Guildwars weapon value, it's all the different farming runs we have today.

Time is mainly what's killed the value of most items, not inscriptions.

Problem is with the old system if you were lucky and got the 'perfect' drop, you made it rich instantly. Which pre-disposes that those people (like me) who've never ever even got a 'good' drop would never be 'rich' simply because we're not that lucky.

All the OP has to do is take a deep breath.. and exhale cos inscriptions are basically here to stay.. I just wish there was a max weapon in GW2... cos I fear it's going to be like every other MMO out there, where there is no one weapon that's 'max'..

Collector/crafter weapons are just as easy to get as inscriptions. Problem?

So what's the problem? Obviously there's still fancy and wanted skins, thereby in your definition separating the rich and the poor. Just make your money on the nice skins. And if you can't find them then do you deserve them in the first place, because you haven't tried hard enough?

GW isn't about grind, getting to level 20 is just a tutorial mostly (except perhaps in proph); getting proper weapons shouldn't be difficult either.

Powertrading max modded weapons is sad.

I really wish cool looking weapons were really expensive because I farm so much gold when I speed clear doa and other people don't and I want to stand out and show how big my e-peen is.

I'll ignore the benefits of....
Better customization
More Utility
Decreased storage needs
better adaptability
Less Grind
etc

You have a problem with GW, not the systems inherent to the game. The devs released inscriptions for precisely the reason you hate them; no player would be left behind. Gw is an egalitarian based loot system. Skins can be considered elite but not stats. You probably would be happier playing WOW where a drop can equal to winning the lottery. Sadly, people like you always fail to consider these games are just electrons floating in a processor and have no real value beyond entertainment.

I realize this, don't worry, I don't take the game too seriously, you all just seem not to grasp the fact that perfect weapons are available. You keep bashing on about "now every player can have his perfect weapon" but they already could, thus inscriptions were actually unnecessary. They also made nearly every green weapon redundant, except for hero use.

@melissa, I'm not even gonna get started on you, I asked not to start a flame war, yet all you did was comment on me personally, but you said nothing constructive to the thread. Shows once again the person YOU are. Nothing but a big troll who loves attention with retarded threads..

The very basic phylosophy of GW (at least in theory) is to have less grind as possible, and enjoy the game (lvl stops at 20, expensive armor/weapon is just good looking).

Inscriptions enbody this perfectly.

If there's a minority of players that done everything in this game, got bored of SC'ing or title hunting, and now find the only interesting thing to do trading and collect weapons there's nothing wrong with it: but do not start moan about inscriptions cause weapon rarity is screwed and blabla walloftext.
The very large majority of players (i know doesn't mean so much, but) has nothing against those mods. Tbh, not everyone have so much money to trash saying "Well, i'd prefer no inscr, so every nearly decent non-collector/reward | insert weapon here | worth money and nobody can have same stats (and sometimes skin) spending just a little".

Now, i'm not a great trader/collector at all, but inscription are just good for their use: give to player base (which keep game alive afterall) the way to do not have to spend/chase mod they're looking for. If you dislike it for any reason, chanta and tyria drops are still there.

I don't have anythnig against collectors at all, but complaining seems so pointless after all the years inscr are around.

i also liked the old system.
made everything more unique.
my gl and i used to people watch in town and make up stories about people based on their armor (ooh bloodstained boots, i'll bet they leave groups once they make a ton of minions and let them tear their unsuspecting party apart!)

Well the old system remains and perfectly modded non-inscribable weapons are still worth a lot. So you don't have to miss it anymore, it's still there.

I disagree completely with the OP. Getting a perfect weapon should be as easy as it is now. Getting a perfect weapon of any skin should be even easier than it is now. Every single person should be able to get whatever skin they want modded the way they want it. People should be playing the game with the equipment they want, not spending time farming to be able to save up money for the equipment they want. Whatever makes that achievable is what should be done to the game. Inscriptions helped take the game huge leaps in that direction.

Meh I totaly agree with Bright, weapons should be unique and you should use what you find/buy.
The no player left behind thing is old, when you want something go work for it.

So if I understand you correctly, the design goal in GW is to make max weapons with the desired mods available to everyone, and have only cosmetic enhancements be costly. And with the introduction of inscriptions, only rare skinned weapons are expensive anymore. Are you saying ANet met their design goals perfectly by introducing inscriptions? What are you complaining about?

Ajax

Inscribable items are much cheaper than nice old school items. Getting a Q9 Insc. Fellblade as a drop for example isn't exactly easy, but getting a Q9 15^50 is way harder. If you want to complain about getting max weapons being too easy then complain about /bonus.

Rich and poor players should be able to get the weapon modifications, but what should set players apart is knowing which they should have for their build or playstyle. That's a bit of an opinion though.

Before Factions my weapons were all cruddy in both skin and specs. Weapons really weren't fun or useful, but now they are and I don't see that as bad.

^werd

weapon markets exist and your luck of the draw is what req you get from your respective victory chest weapon drop and are still relatively expensive to the casual player.... there is no reason other than greed to have weapons to be expensive and exclusive based on their modifiers.....on their skin yes... that doesn't effect the effectiveness of your character...

The only difference now is that now a degree of skill and cooperation is required to get a weapon worth selling instead of mindless farming...which is why all other non victory chest drops aren't worth poo...

Ultimate point being... weapon markets exist, there are still some hard to get skins still worth many 100s of K... value is just not as luck based as you would like.

I can't relate to "this sucks because it makes my items worth less in kamadan" arguments. Trading in this game is haphazard at best, and outright scamming at worst, and I can't find a way to feel sympathy for game players who feel that their item should be worth 10k instead of 5k.

I know that a lot of players expect a loot-drop system to be a play-it-by-default "lottery" where any given npc, when reduced to 0 hp, has the chance to make you immediately and vastly rich. The loot-drop system doesn't seem to have been created with this goal in mind. It isn't there for you to play and hope that the dice rolls drop a golden ticket to a life of luxury in your lap.

I'm glad inscriptions exist. Grinding up a Tormented weapon that would ONLY be available as +15%/50 or +5e/50 = no thank you.

The only thing I feel they did wrong with inscriptions is not implementing a trader, or at least putting inscriptions on the rune trader.

The best compromise would be if a handful of NF/EotN skins were not inscribable. Then you'd have the stupid rare skins that you need luck to get good stats on, but still plenty of options for the average guy to put desired stats on something cool looking.

Go play Prophecies or just stop playing. Then the problem is fixed. I know it sounds mean but for real man....

The thing with compromises is that you only need to compromise if it is actually about something worthwhile. The only argument I see against Inscriptions is that some people can't feel a false sense of superiority through carrying a rare skin and/or the fact they don't earn as much gold as they could.

I cannot speak for anyone else, but that sounds like pretty lame reasons to me. Especially considering that GW never was intended to be a WoW/EQ-esque grindfest. Narrowing down the amount of options to get a decent weapon just seems to be a desperate attempt to create an artificial timesink, either through grinding the weapon itself or getting enough gold to buy it.

I believe everything should be inscriptable..(is that a word?)..The whole... I am better that you look what I have mentality is pathetic imo. If those are the types of things ppl value ig or in rl i feel sry for them....as they are missing out on what really matters.

Interesting. I find it refreshing that a person can get max weapons with the right mods without having to kill the same boss 10,000 times. In Diablo 2 I never once had a Windforce drop for me in years of play. In Guild Wars I can get a 15^50 20/20 +30 bow fairly cheap and quick. It is one of the things I love about the game.

Now, as to rare weapon skins, they do exists. If that is what you are after then you still have to farm something a lot. Take the FoW, you have to farm a lot to get an Obsidian Edge or a Crystalline Sword. The Crystalline being exactly what the original poster is complaining about! The Crystalline does not have a changeable inscription slot from chest drops in FoW.

My thoughts are that the OP can farm all he wants for exactly what he is looking for. Go farm for Crystalline Swords or Obsidian Edges or any of a number of other rare items.

if inscriptions did not exist, max weapons would not be worth as much. if there were no inscribable weapons, every single weapon drop had a chance of having a perfect inherent inscription, effectively doubling the amount available. it is because of inscribable weapons that non insc weapons are so expensive atm. and again i belive that crafters or collectors should offer a variety of skins so that people who did not feel like farming or trading could have a selection to choose one, albeit not one as large as the weapons available through trading or farming.

if inscriptions belonged in guild wars, they would have been implemented from the start. adding them halfway through the campaigns only served to muddle the weapon upgrading system, and causing the price of perfect non insc weapons to skyrocket.

Ironically, you're agreeing and disagreeing with me at the same time. That, or I'm misinterpreting you.

Uninscr weapons are kind of worthless. With few exceptions, like q7/q8's everything boils down to merch-80k depending on mods and skin. Like 99% is merchfood. It used to be different though, and getting a q9 15^50 weapon wasn't hard or expensive at all, it might have cost you 10-50k tops, because there would be q9 15^50 items dropping every day and entering the market every day. Thus getting your perfect weapon with the skin you wanted -albeit not being one of the high-end skins- wouldn't cost you nearly as much as everyone is pretending it to have been (weird sentence). So money really isn't that big an issue tbh. And paying for the skin is after all what they did intentionally..

Though not being constructive at all, I actually only play factions and proph except for doing DoA and dungeons on rare occasions, but I'm not there for the gold drops.. The only reason I will be doing stuff in NF again soon will be because of my ssin getting GWAMM and me having to grind through the most aweful storyline ever for the umpteenth time.. Now it'll just be in HM..

???

If aesthetics (and not functionality) comprised the market, there would be no rare mods; any mod that could be found should have a corresponding collector/green/weaponsmith.

I agree with you about the blues and purples. However, this can be fixed within the inscription system. Just make it so that perfect inscriptions cannot be placed on blues and purples.

All inscriptions really did was level out your drop luck. Instead of having a roughly 1/20 chance of big bucks and a 19/20 chance of garbage when a desirable skin dropped, you now have a 100% shot of making decent but not obscene cash.

What ruined weapons was ANet's choice to pander to the masses and make every skin that was once rare and desirable drop every five minutes. That pattern started in Nightfall and got worse in EotN.

This captures my thoughts exactly.

I play guild wars so I don't have to grind for the best gear.

I'm sure most of us can relate with this.