Unlimited Gathering Tool Update is a nice surprise!

[Thelgar.7214]

I have 10 sets of infinite tools. This is worth it just to swap out the slow animations now that the novelty has worn off. Getting a free industry buff for my axe and buying a speed buff for my sickle makes a one-character, daily, berry run in Frostgorge painless. :)

[Vyrulisse.1246]

> @"artemis.6781" said:

> > @"WeedyZeGreedy.8635" said:

> > Why do the glyphs have to be locked behind a rng wall? Did you not learn your lesson with mounts skins?

>

> You get one free.

 

Still doesn't answer why they felt the need to double down on this skeevy practice as it is.

[Astralporing.1957]

> @"Cragga the Eighty Third.6015" said:

> I did notice a little nerf in the UM gathering sickle. It used to be that for the wood and iron, you got something like 1-5 UM with each stroke (therefore, 3-15 for each wood or metal node.) But for each plant you harvested, you would get a larger amount (apparently to compensate for there only being one plant instead of three chunks of ore/logs.) For gathering plants, you used to get something like 5-12 UM, now it is down to 1-5.

Are you sure? From what i see, the numbers themselves are the same. What changed (and not recently, but at least a month or two ago) was to make multiharvest plant nodes (like the one in guildhall) give UM only once, not per each "swing" like before (that's with the original UM tools animation on sickle, which does multiple swings at one go. haven't tried to change the animation yet). Which is weird, because the metal and wood nodes _weren't_ changed like that.

Additionally, leather and cloth nodes in guildhall do not give UM anymore (which happened at the same time as the previously mentioned change).

 

> @"Inculpatus cedo.9234" said:

> I have to say, I'm a bit confused about 'character level and location'. Is it determined by level OR location? Or is it kind of RNG between the two? Does a L80 character always acquire T5 and T6 no matter the map? If so, what difference does location have? What about a L20 character in a L80 map? Always T1 or T2? What about Guild Hall synthesizers or WvW synthesizers?

Guild hall synthetizers are weird. So far i've got a number of t5 leather, but also a few rugged ones (from the same node). I'm using the glyph on sickle, so i am talking about plant nodes, if that is relevant (might not be, as the metal and wood nodes also give random tier drops). Might move the glyph around later to see if there's a difference.

[YuckaMountain.3786]

Thank you so much for this change! :sunglasses:

[Adzekul.3104]

I am happy with this change, but I admit I am suspicious about future glyph options and the costs thereof. We have already seen "the regular price" of the freebie glyph item jump from 125 to 1000 gems. This looks disturbing, even if the 125 was an error.

 

I guess for me it depends upon how we get future glyphs (like volatile magic for example) and how much they are going to cost, either in terms of gems or collection-time (like the recent Episode 2 back item). If the only way to get the volatile glyph will be via paying 2700/3000 gems for a full permanent set, then this is just greedy. If the volatile set is not going to be available (i.e. to modify the price of T6 mats upwards) then this is also not desirable (although, I would be silly to think that T6 mats should stay at current market values).

 

I guess I am hoping for some insight from the design team as to Anet's intentions.

[Ardenwolfe.8590]

> @"maestro.5613" said:

> How about ascended gathering tools with more than one slot for glyphs? That would be super cool!

 

Ooh. Awesome idea!

[Super Hayes.6890]

Okay, Mine-r-tron looks amazing with a 50% speed boost! THANK YOU FOR THIS!!!

[Cragga the Eighty Third.60]

> @"Astralporing.1957" said:

> > @"Cragga the Eighty Third.6015" said:

> > I did notice a little nerf in the UM gathering sickle. It used to be that for the wood and iron, you got something like 1-5 UM with each stroke (therefore, 3-15 for each wood or metal node.) But for each plant you harvested, you would get a larger amount (apparently to compensate for there only being one plant instead of three chunks of ore/logs.) For gathering plants, you used to get something like 5-12 UM, now it is down to 1-5.

> Are you sure? From what i see, the numbers themselves are the same. What changed (and not recently, but at least a month or two ago) was to make multiharvest plant nodes (like the one in guildhall) give UM only once, not per each "swing" like before (that's with the original UM tools animation on sickle, which does multiple swings at one go. haven't tried to change the animation yet). Which is weird, because the metal and wood nodes _weren't_ changed like that.

> Additionally, leather and cloth nodes in guildhall do not give UM anymore (which happened at the same time as the previously mentioned change).

 

No, not sure any more, because I just noticed when harvesting from LS3 nodes like winterberries and orchids, you still get a big ol' chunk of UM, and so I guess maybe that's what I was thinking of and just assumed that was all plants. (My main with the UM tools doesn't usually spend a lot of time picking vegetables.)

 

[Psientist.6437]

The update is an improvement. As a product line, unlimited use tools, tool animations, and upgrade buffs were an arbitrary mess that forced players to choose between appearance and function. I am willing to accept that some of that mess occurred as product line growing pains. Some of that mess though resulted from an insincere and undignified retail strategy that motivated players to repurchase functions to get the newest function. That retail strategy was close enough to being a cash grab. Until the unlimited use function is separated from the animation, the product line will still employ insincere and undignified retail strategy. I understand that the original pricing strategy makes it challenging and risky to separate all the tool options and that transitioning in steps reduces risk. I just hope all tool features are separated in the future.

 

Imo, The unlimited use function could always be linked to a single tool, not made account bound. A high priced account wide tool could also be offered.

[Kunzaito.8169]

I like the changes overall, but noticed a couple of overlooked things:

 

1. They didn't add (or I can't find) a section for them in the actual wardrobe, where you can see all the possible skins and preview them. You can only see the skins you've unlocked in the wardrobe tab of the Hero panel. (Weirdly enough they do have sections for something called "Small Bundle" and "Large Bundle" which duplicate a couple of weapons and a purple box; seems like a bug)

 

2. My Frostbitten tools say "Skin Unlocked" on the tool, but I cannot select that skin for any tools.

[Tanner Blackfeather.6509]

> @"Kunzaito.8169" said:

> 2. My Frostbitten tools say "Skin Unlocked" on the tool, but I cannot select that skin for any tools.

 

Do they actually have a unique skin? My vendor-bought Volatile tools show the same, because they just use the standard tool skin.

[Kunzaito.8169]

> Do they actually have a unique skin? My vendor-bought Volatile tools show the same, because they just use the standard tool skin.

 

There is a small puff of ice animation when you use them, I assumed that was part of the "skin" the way that other animation styles for unlimited tools are.