Sockets and Extreme RNG (Suggestion for Blizz)

Community General Discussion
1

RNG. RNG is one of the biggest issues players have with the game right now. We like and accept some RNG because its what MMOs are all about, but it has only been in recent expansions that the RNG has become a bit too extreme for many players tastes, and i’m sure many many players would agree with me.

That being said, let me explain a problem that feels really bad as a player, and hopefully the devs will see or hear about this thread and talk amongst themselves to address the issue.

Problem: Sockets

Besides the titanforge issue that makes gearing a lottery in the first place, the layers of RNG when an item drops makes it even worse (sockets, tierery stats, but particularly the sockets) Sockets on items are sometimes worth 10-30 item levels in relative power ALONE.

I would like to propose a solution that I think would address some of the extreme RNG relating to gearing and the feeling of getting upgrades, instead of constantly getting let down and feeling bad because of the socket issue.

Proposed Solution: Create a Residium Vendor that will socket our gear for a large amount of Residium (maybe 15-20k per socket).

What will this do? This will allow people more flexibility and choice in their gearing. A prime example would be:

I get a new belt from Heroic Eternal Palace that RNG forges a socket. The belt is of course ilvl 430 with a socket. It has great stats for my class. I’m happy and I use the belt.

Two weeks later I do my +10 mythic dungeon for the week and on the following Tuesday i get a 440 belt with similar stats, its an upgrade (ilvl wise), but it doesn’t have a socket. I sim the belt and it is not an upgrade, BUT since I have the vendor that will socket my gear, I know that once I save up enough residium I can socket that piece and it will truly be an upgrade for me. I will then replace my 430 belt with the 440 one that I socketed.

We will still have the RNG lottery of gear dropping from raids, pvp, M+, and weekly chests, but now we will have the ability to reduce a part of the RNG, and a BIG part of the disappointment that seems to happen every week in regards to gearing.

Sockets on gear once again represent 10-30 item levels in relative power, and if you, Blizzard provided us a way to gain those sockets with a vendor or another way, it would make A LOT of players HAPPY.

Please consider this!

2 Likes
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One problem: Not a lot of people run M+ for…reasons.

I’d be ok if JP/VP was used for this idea, though.

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Its not just from m+, its from any source that drops gear. It feels bad to get an ilvl upgrade item and not equip it because your old item has a socket and its better than the item with the upgrade ilvl.

2 Likes
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Then I wish TR was more farmable for this to happen. Like you can spam Heroics for the 445 Targetted gear and Sockets for more time but less effort compared to M+, or converting gold/war resources/marks of honor to TR, or however needed to fix non-M+ TR generation. Because non-M+ TR generation sucks.

  1. Because it takes too many Manapearls to even create 430 gear, let alone the amount needed for your idea.

  2. M+ is too difficult for me so I counted that out.

  3. Emissaries containing purple/epic azerite, the only qualifier for TR, are few and far between, usually being gold, War Resources or AP.

To me, TR is too hard to obtain in bulk needed for the idea you presented to work.

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Too much TR spent, yeah.

Manapearls can sometimes be like that for me too.

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The reason you get so much residium from m+ is because the fact that it IS harder than a regular mythic or other content. They could add more sources for residium other than just scrapping azerite gear, but they certainly shouldn’t make other sources comparable to doing high level m+ dungeons. Its part of the incentive to do high level m+ dungeons.

1 Like
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Truth be told, I’d rather do those other methods than run high level M+ dungeons.

Ran M0 Op Mechagon and had two one-wipe disbands. No thanks.

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I would like to suggest that the solution to sockets/tf and RNG generally is to give me personally a 100% chance to proc them.

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Truth be told, that sounds nice even if it was just for you specifically.

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I don’t like the idea because I disagree with titan forging as a base principle. If the only TF that could happen was getting a socket or not, I would be open to this idea as a way to mitigate the feeling of not getting a socket TF. Sure this reduces the impact of one of the 3 possible TF areas currently in the game (Ilvl/tertiary stat/socket) but I would rather just see the entire TF system die horribly in a garbage disposal.

1 Like
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Blizzard is not going to scrap their whole titanforge system in the middle of an expansion. The point is to add a vendor maybe in 8.3 that would give us the ability to control some of the RNG / reduce some of it in the form of sockets.

I dislike the Titanforge system just as much as the next guy, but blizzard’s stance is that its here at least for this expansion. Just give us a way to 1) reduce the RNG, 2) gain more power through a currency system for 1 aspect of the RNG.

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20k TR is still too much.

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I said this in a different post but I’ll reiterate it here as well.

Instead of currency option, give guaranteed items a different way and a way that makes sense or at least used to. Behind more difficult content.

If I run a +10, I’m guaranteed a 430 drop. Now, instead of just giving more drop options to ‘potentially’ war/titan/socket by upping the Key level. Make those higher key levels guarantee those things.

This way two things happen, I can target higher ilvl/socketed gear by running a 12,15,17,20 but I still have RNG around the item that drops.

So if I run a +20, it drops a 450-455 whatever belt with a socket. If I run a +12, I get a 435 bracer. This makes difficult content rewarding again or at least more rewarding than dropping 5 items that you potentially don’t need. You are more likely to get an upgrade if you know it will ilvl boost or socket depending on the difficulty.

1 Like
15

While that is nice for the small amounts of people doing that content, like the OP’s idea, it’s not practical.

There has to be a casual, deterministic means of doing so as well.

1 Like
16

If you aren’t going to enter mythic raids or high level bgs or high level keys, why do you need higher ilvl or sockets to complete content?

Why should people be able to do lower/easier content and get the same gear?

1 Like
17

Justice/Valor/Emblems used to do that.

The ideas presented here are not bad, they serve their intended audience. But it’s not practical for people like me.

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On a total side note; there should be an achievement for killing a boss 100+ times that unlocks all the mogs, toys, and mounts. If you’re determined enough to kill a boss that much, you deserve it - you’ve earned it. At that point you aren’t having any fun playing the game, and if you’re like me, the end of Legion was just a bad time. There was a lot of other content that I wish I had done but had to choose between things. It really left a bad taste in my mouth, and I never got that mount.

19

They could always bring back player crafted augments.

Tailors can craft socket augments for cloth…
Leather workers for leather and chain…
Blacksmiths for plate…
Jewelcrafters for rings…

You limit what items can use augments and go from there.

This would also bring back a sense that most professions actually matter, instead of the few that are actually helpful.

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no there doesn’t lol to get top end game gear you should have to do challenging content

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Oh, so I should just send thousands of one-wipe disbands at content to get gear? Got it.

I.E, no. That mentality makes sense in other games, but not WoW. It was one reason Wildstar died and WOD sucked.