Ecto / Shard nerf ??? o_O

Just been sat in ToA Euro English 1 for about 30 mins now [trying to get a galrath party] and i'm hearing people going on about ecto and shard drops being nerfed?

whats that all about?

I dont see the logic in nerfing one of the main reasons people are at toa, is it a nerf or are they having bad runs?

if it is a nerf, what do u think?

Don't believe unfounded rumors. ALL drops are random. No one ever said you'd definitely get a shard or ecto from going to ToA. You just have a CHANCE of it dropping.

I had a friend pm me the other night...she kept sayin " we got another shard! "
then ten minutes later...same thing...this went on for about an hour. That doesn't even include the nice drops they got....I really think it's a random thing and some runs you are on cloud nine...the next an all time low. On the average I always see one drop per run.

tell me about it,

religous farming of UW for my fow armour tought be that, just seemed like ALOT of people making a fuss over it, thought it was something big

Alright, so my guild do forgemaster runs. This means 3 people clear out about 1/4 of FoW. Usually we get about 2 shards each. In the past 3 days, (i think 5 runs.) we have got 0 shards. What happened to my chance of getting a shard? Guildie also does UW runs and spider runs. He hasn't seen an ecto in 4 days.

I'm in no way complaining though, i fully support an ecto/shard nerf. Hell, if they were removed completely to make FoW armor sacred and then implement rubies/sapphires for some new "FoW armor" i wouldn't mind.

But yeah, this isn't a rumor. I have talked to a lot of people, and nobody are getting shard/ecto drops anymore. (Sure, they may still be dropping, but something was def. nerfed.)

i heard about it and was understandably sceptical, until i went and tried it first hand...

Been talking to some friends about it, one did 10 smite runs across the evening to "test" it, got nothing.

Yeah, maybe it is bad luck- you cant disprove that. I didnt get anything when i went to have a look, but im used to that anyway (can't recall getting an ecto since factions release although admittedly i havent been as much as i usually would have).

There have been dry periods before (over X-mas iirc drops were low) but this does seem to be a shutdown... Have to wait and see how it pans out i guess.

i know in the last update they fixed a "bug" in the FoW/UW enterance in Factions, maybe something happened to the drops ?

Lots of people in my alliance have been saying ecto/shard drops have been nerfed. If its just a rumour, its a pretty big one.

I think you may have just caused the prices of rubies and saphires to shoot up 5k.

It's just psyops designed to give a jolt to the ecto market. Don't pay attention to rumors.

i'm still a little sceptical but

Eight man group got numerous shards last night. Just because one idiot doesn't get one doesn't mean anythng was nerfed. Jesus you people are paranoid or something.

Spider cap run tonight got ecto as well. Yeah, real nerfed.

ive talked to enough people to know this is more than bad luck, be it a bug or nerf somethign is up with drop rates and yet i still keep wasting my money on uw entry for no return, 30-40 runs in the last 4 days not one ecto for myself or my partners. ive had dry runs in the past but this is just ridiculous.....

i had drops like crazy in the fissure and uw.

judging by the recent increase in the price of ecto at the trader, i would not be suprised if anet decreased the amount of ecto dropped. not a bad idea actually, considering ecto was on a steady decrease and most likely would not have been worth much at all a few months from now

ever considered anti-farm could be the reason why?

I havent farmed UW (or anywhere for that matter) for months, i went and did a few smite runs last week and nothing dropped, a guildie of mine did a load aswel he got 1 from about 5 runs i think.

I cant say much about shards but if so many people are seeing ecto dry up, it cant be too far from the truth.

Lets get a few things clear:

- Ecto and Shards are very rare drops
- When and if the drop is random! It has NOTHING to do with who has the favour, time of day, server location, etc... its just random!


- Ecto and Shard prices have been study at appox 5K-6.5K for months, so there is no change in supply or demand... not much anyhow

- There has been no nerf... why would A.net nerf drops which already rarely drop?

- Lastly again drops are random... you could do 40 UW runs and get nothing, or do 3 UW runs and get 10 ectos...

Don't let people talking rubbish and spreading rumors confuse you... there is no nerf, and there most likely there never will be.

End of Line...

I have no idea about ecto drops in UW as I haven't been in there for some time, however, it certainly does appear that something has changed regarding shard drops in FoW. I've done the Forest run with a ranger, spider cave run with a warrior and most of these days it's been 55 monk & SS necro duo runs - Shards used to drop pretty well, but for the last couple of days (after a weeks break)...NOTHING!

In the last 2 days, 5 runs each day, each run killing most of the Shadow and Skeletal army and no shard dropping. Alot of killing and no shards is very odd, compared to before. Even the spiders in the cave aren't dropping shards. Prior to the last small update, I was getting 3-6 per run. Others have said (in ToA) to have experienced the same thing, so I don't believe it is bad luck, randomness, or the anti-farming code.

IMO, there is either a stealth nerf or a bug has been introduced.

There is always a chance there is a bug.

But most likely the cause is people over farming the UW and FoW, thus reducing the drop limit overall.