Hi,
I am a veteran D2 player with around 5000+ hours that still occasionally plays PlugY D2 to this day.
After the recent announcement of Ladder items moving to Non-Ladder realms, we should consider having the Annihilus Charm be exclusive to SP/Ladder only.
Hear me out.
My points are mainly Economy focused.
Playing through D2R Alpha, Closed and Open Beta has been a good time and I am impressed with what the developers have achieved thus far. I look forward to the release day, however, the blue post below is a bit concerning,
Since we haven’t received any more details, the above raises more questions than it answers.
- Will the event trigger globally for all players?
- Will it be limited to Regions? or are there still unique server instances a la D2?
- Have all duping methods been eliminated? Or will we see SoJs inflate the market again?
Originally, the 75-120 SoJ range to trigger the DClone event was a method for Blizzard to create an SoJ sink to combat the heavily inflated market due to duping. With D2R supposedly eliminating common duplication methods, the aforementioned range would have to be reduced, sort of, if that’s actually the case.
The “…values can change in the future.” line does not give too much confidence that duping methods have been fixed and they will likely be rampant at launch.
So this leaves us with several scenarios, all of which are based off of assumptions (at this point) and whose solutions are for the Anni becoming a SP/Ladder only item. Namely,
Scenario 1:
- DClone event is global and affects all players
- Duping is still present in game
- 75-120 SoJ range is kept
This is actually the worse case scenario. Having 200K+ players active in game will immediately result in the Anni losing all value when everybody encounters the Dclone event (excluding some players that aren’t leveled/geared enough). SoJs obviously also lose value. There will be a frequent Uber diablo events and Annis will rain like candy.
Solution:
Move Anni to Ladder only. The reset of the economy at a 3 month cadence will at least put a dent into the initial wave of duped SoJs. The community has enough time to organize Dclone events, especially with popular streamers organizing the walks. While you can cheaply gear a capable Paladin, the ramp up time before people can kill Dclone will also play a major role in mitigating the amount of Annis on the market.
Lastly, the Anni is also thematic with the idea of Ladder – it grants 5-10% Experienced gained, giving players an additional incentive to hunt for it.
Scenario 2:
- DClone event is global and affects all players
- Duping/Botting is non-existent
- 75-120 SoJ range is kept
While the 75-120 SoJ range sounds aggressive in a world with no dupes, there will be enough communities and popular Twitch streamers that can organize walk events. SoJ value remains as is, however, with enough organized walks at a 200K+ player base, the Anni charm will eventually lose most of its value – especially after even the least dedicated player will eventually be geared/leveled enough to kill Dclone.
Solution:
Same as in Scenario 1. But without the dupes. It will incentivize people to hop on ladder and build a capable character in order to kill Dclone and indirectly participating to the Ladder economy – ensuring a timed influx of players there, or at least around when community timed walk events are planned. This will mitigate the amount of Annis that flood the market as players cannot simply log back in 6 months later for a quick Uber Diablo kill.
As player numbers will dwindle in the future, the SoJ range can be reduced ensuring that the Anni remains hard to find, but not impossible.
Scenario 3:
- DClone event is global and affects all players
- Duping/Botting is non-existent
- SoJ range is reduced
Anni’s will drop too frequently and lose value even faster. Hard pass.
Solution:
Definitely Ladder. Same points as before. It will also reduce the reliance on large communities and make it possible for smaller Ladder clans to organize walk events.
Scenario 4:
- DClone event is server IP range specific
- Duping/Botting is non-existent
- 75-120 SoJ range is kept
Sounds like Diablo 2, but without the dupes. Might be a bit aggressive but it will allow the Anni to retain its high value, however it will substantially become rarer as less players play the game. This was already the case in D2, where over the years with the market losing on duped SoJs and players, the frequency of new Anni’s dropped appropriately.
Solution:
Ladder realms have a significantly lower SoJ requirement to spawn Dclone. Anni remains non-ladder.
Lastly, Scenario 5:
- DClone event is server IP range specific
- Duping/Botting is non-existent
- Soj range is reduced
Again, similar to Diablo 2. Fairly balanced all around.
Solution:
Ladder realms have a slightly lower SoJ requirement to spawn Dclone. Anni remains non-ladder.
There are a dozen more permutations/scenarios to include, especially with duping being a thing, but you get the point. Not all of the scenarios above push the Anni to Ladder Only, but there should be some incentive to roll a character on that realm.
The Anni charm is a staple item that is universal to any build and class and should be reserved for the end-game in D2. It’s the perfect candidate to incentivize Ladder play while simultaneously preserving its value on Non-Ladder, even if found on both realms.
I am genuinely curious how you guys would like to see the Anni handled, or which scenario and solution makes the most sense.
.02
