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I just explained to my guildies what "ephemeral" means...

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MissEcho

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Reckon you didn't explain it very well. Seems a misconception going around that it takes as much 'fighting' to get the item as it takes to wear it out. Untrue.

As I posted in another thread:

got my Ephemeral Hephaestus the other day at 2k points on my mystic/mage. I wanted to test how 'durable' my shield was in comparison to how soon I could replace it. So the only time I equipped the shield was while doing the void pool. Haven't done overmuch fighting the past couple of days, think it was about 9-10 rounds of the pool, maybe less, but there were some 'aborted' rounds where I had to leave or where I didn't fight for the whole round etc.

However, I now have 2053 points, enough to replace the shield, and my existing shield is 223/223 so all in all I don't think it is too bad as a wear out item, used 27 points of durability of the first shield to obtain the second. If it is 1 durability point lost for every 6 mins 'battling' it took me 162 minutes to earn enough points at the pool to earn the replacement 2 hrs 45 mins approx.

I can now get another shield and put 'aside' until the first one wears out or I get the real thing.
As the 'ephemeral' tags give you 25 hrs of 'battling' then I still have at least 22 hours left before my first one wears out and now I already have the 'replacement' waiting for when it does. I expect to do a few more 'waves' of the void pool each month so should never 'run' out of shield use. If it takes less than three hours to earn the replacement doesn't seem much to do over the course of a week.

Seems to me a pretty good deal given it isn't the 'real one' and that getting the 'real one' may take forever to get given how cora is such a drag to kill. And even then you have to actually 'get a drop' even if they do drop off the lvl 3/4 critters. Having spent a couple of hours killing them (cora and critters) for nothing, at least I can use my Ephemeral Shield and get the benefits of it until the rng decides to play nice.
 

kelmo

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How did your explanation go, Meatbread? I am curious.
 

Madrid

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What's to explain..the durability is on a timer. What more needs to be said? It's laughable and even more laughable is players who are defending this as being okay. All I can do is roll my eyes...however to each his own. Myself and I imagine many others won't be participating.

The ephemeral tag is an horrible idea and the fact that this is a recent introduction to UO is worrisome. This is not a bright idea by any means. Can the Dev that came up with it as this is not the type of 'brain' we need working on UO. Times the points required to get the item by 10,100 or even a 1000 and make it non- POF'able but throw 'Ephemeral' in the garbage.
 

kelmo

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I dunno... seems some players are OK with this. I am of the school of thought that nothing should last forever.
 

Cirno

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Perhaps the ephemeral versions of the artifacts aren't intended for those deriding the idea for them.
Like the cursed artifacts which were similarly treated, perhaps they're meant for those who don't play "hardcore" enough to warrant the investment in the full version.
 
S

Sevin0oo0

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the cursed artifacts which were similarly treated,
(coincidentally, I don't think I've had a cursed item looted). I'm one of the ones OK with this tag, and until someone shows more than speculations, I'm staying with my opinion. Tested in combat, in my regular haunts, is what matters, regardless of tag (legendary, arte, etc), How well does it work and last, how hard is a replacement to acquire? that's what matters, to me
 

Sir_Bolo

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What's to explain..the durability is on a timer. What more needs to be said? It's laughable and even more laughable is players who are defending this as being okay. All I can do is roll my eyes...however to each his own. Myself and I imagine many others won't be participating.

The ephemeral tag is an horrible idea and the fact that this is a recent introduction to UO is worrisome. This is not a bright idea by any means. Can the Dev that came up with it as this is not the type of 'brain' we need working on UO. Times the points required to get the item by 10,100 or even a 1000 and make it non- POF'able but throw 'Ephemeral' in the garbage.
"ephemeral" - item eventually goes POOF after a fixed amount of time, same for everyone
"non-POFable" - item eventually goes POOF after a variable amount of time, which depends on the character's skillset. E.g. fastest for melee-type characters with high swing speed, slowest for tamers

As far as I can tell, the "ephemeral" tag was introduced in response to a common player complaint about "non-POFable" items: that warriors need to replace them more frequently than other characters.
Maybe the decay timer isn't properly balanced, but the concept makes sense.
 

kRUXCg7

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They should make all items like that even craftables.
Is Communism coming towards us again? :)
All craftables? All scribe's pens, all shields, all fishing poles, all fletching tools, everything? Ok, then let's start with Valorite Runic Hammer charges, normal smithy hammers, barbed runic kits and those runic dovetails. They shall last 25 hours from now on, no matter how often I use them. Don't forget the ever elusive Forged Metal Of Artifacts - and the Shard Transfer Shields, too, of course! Sounds like the next best thing after my idea of reintroducing daily virtue and city loyalty decay (which would be a very nice installment for all craftables, too!)
I know I am exaggerating, but not nearly as much as you, Frarc! :banana: I'd suggest closing this thread.
 

Frarc

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Wow, some people read things not there. Let me explain it a little slooooooooooooooooower... All items that are use to wear and fight with. I ... hope... now.... your brains.... can.... understand.... what... i.... mean.

There are no crafting ephemerall tools from the void pool. :p
 

kRUXCg7

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Did I mention that I exaggerated? Possibly. My point was - apparently I was not good at making that clear: You did not make your point clear. In my humble opinion. You said that they should make "all items" like that. That's what you wrote or what I understood from your few words. That's not very precise and it was my very unfortunate way of pointing that out to you that it could be understood as that you propose this system should be applied to everything and anything in the UO world. Including craftables of any kind, as you proposed. And yet again your answer is nothing short of a personal insult. Shame on you, Frarc. Shame on you.
 

Frarc

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Calling me a communist was not a personal insult then?

I had it with people who read things that not been writen or make extra things up to make them look better.
 

Meatbread

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I told them the items have durability that decays and that they're good for 25 hours of actual combat before they go poof. It's not a super hard concept to explain, nor is it difficult to understand why they didn't feel like grinding to earn temporary items.

I mean maybe if the items were really awesome it might be worth it, but most of them are the usual worthless nonsense. Oh boy a bracelet with 10 HP regen and some other random junk. Oh boy a PVE sword with no leeches.

The devs expanding their current obsession with "decay" over to items is something we ought not to encourage anyway.
 

startle

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(coincidentally, I don't think I've had a cursed item looted). I'm one of the ones OK with this tag, and until someone shows more than speculations, I'm staying with my opinion. Tested in combat, in my regular haunts, is what matters, regardless of tag (legendary, arte, etc), How well does it work and last, how hard is a replacement to acquire? that's what matters, to me
Exactly what she ^^^^ said....
 

Xalan Dementia

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Some people must like being bored with the game, seems they want to farm the newest arties the first week then never have to replace them, thereby making the revamps pointless. Honestly, what is wrong with the weak players these days? They want new items, new fights yet once they receive them, they complain that they have to replace the items after a while. I could understand it if the items were tough to get but seriously the void pool items are just about the easiest to acquire arties since the stealables.
 

Meatbread

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I'd care if the items didn't suck. And these are the NEW AND IMPROVED artifacts. It's frankly frightening that the first batch even got proposed.
 

Xalan Dementia

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and remember that not every addition to the game has to please every person and every play style. So the void pool and the perfectly fine arties dont trip your trigger?, then its not for you, so propose something that you would like for the next revamp and stop trying to have them break things they just added.

As for some people thinking the new arties are junk, imagine if they had added arties that were really good.... we would have just as many players on here crying about how they unbalance the game etc etc. The new arties have uses, they fit into a variety of suits, just because they wont fit into your overpriced suit doesnt mean they are worthless. They wanted to add new arties without making old items obsolete.
 

Obsidian

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I am not a fan of the ephemeral tag. I would much prefer to spend my limited game time on items that will last forever if taken care of. I wish the devs would change it so the void pool points were for the full versions of the artifacts and let the ephemeral ones drop from Cora and the level 3-4 mobs. I realize the ephemeral items will last through 25 hours of combat, but the requirement to re-do the Void Pool to keep my suit functional is somethting that deters me from obtaining epemeral items in the first place. This is the same reason I will not use cursed Shame loot in my suit because earning an exact copy to replace the lost item is not realistic.
 

Frarc

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ppl from Sonoma are doing it for fun mainly but not for reward...at least thats what I get from general chat.... sometimes ppl just want to play with a group of player, even unmet. at the end of the day it's a mmorpg!!
Its the same on Drachenfels. I love doing the void pool. And i'm not the only one. It is not just for the items for most people. Just for the fun playing together and the challenge to get as far as possible in the waves. It always starts with small group but when it gets later in the evening more and more people join in . I always have General chat open and i always invite people to the void pool to join us . We also have a 60 guild alliance and if someone looking for somethign to do then we just say hey we at the void pool join us. Usualy starts with 5 people and end up with 15-20. Nobody is forced to come but most of them have a good time. We still had people that"think" they can not do anything there but often they see when we all work together it can be fun and rewardfull for everyone.

I looked at a lot of numbers from the void pool leaderboard in the last weeks. And i can see there have been a lot of fighting. Too me this is one of the best of the dungeon revamps to bring people together. And its not just for tamers or samurais or Mystic. I'm using a 100% pure warrior and i'm the top of the shards ranking. :)
 

claudia-fjp

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I went once for one round, went and looked at the rewards, and never went back. I suppose it's ok if you don't have any crafting resources...
 

Flutter

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I so very much want to post my honest opinion on this, but I wont.

I will say I feel that crafted items should break eventually. Things to keep crafters in business is always a plus in my book. But I came from a time when you could hand a bag with your suit in it to someone at the forge and have them repair it for a tip.
That being said, something you have to grind for shouldn't break so easily. For me, personally, doing the same thing over and over isn't fun. For the rewards of such to be limited in life span is just silly to me.
 

Eärendil

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ppl from Sonoma are doing it for fun mainly but not for reward...at least thats what I get from general chat.... sometimes ppl just want to play with a group of player, even unmet. at the end of the day it's a mmorpg!!
Same here on Drachenfels...

Its the same on Drachenfels. I love doing the void pool. And i'm not the only one. It is not just for the items for most people. Just for the fun playing together and the challenge to get as far as possible in the waves. It always starts with small group but when it gets later in the evening more and more people join in . I always have General chat open and i always invite people to the void pool to join us . We also have a 60 guild alliance and if someone looking for somethign to do then we just say hey we at the void pool join us. Usualy starts with 5 people and end up with 15-20. Nobody is forced to come but most of them have a good time. We still had people that"think" they can not do anything there but often they see when we all work together it can be fun and rewardfull for everyone.

I looked at a lot of numbers from the void pool leaderboard in the last weeks. And i can see there have been a lot of fighting. Too me this is one of the best of the dungeon revamps to bring people together. And its not just for tamers or samurais or Mystic. I'm using a 100% pure warrior and i'm the top of the shards ranking.
Yes, I can witness it!
 
S

Sevin0oo0

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Seems a misconception going around that it takes as much 'fighting' to get the item as it takes to wear it out. Untrue.
I tend to think it's as described in this post (#2),above. I'd hear a lot of nay-sayers, I'd like to hear more from people that can say "I used one, here's my results...".
I'm one of the ones that will fully imbue a weapon for my personal use that may have a starting durability of 60-70. Why? Won't the dang thing just wear out fast? Well, usually, long before that, I've usually found found maybe it could have been made different, Better, more practical in combat, where it counts, and I'll have plans ready for the Next one. Sometimes I wished they'd wear faster so I can start on to that next generation. When Mesanna said you can craft better stuff, hands down, than any 'arte', she threw a hint, use it. Perhaps some of our creations are Artifact level, where do you think they come from?
 

KLOMP

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Went looking for a thread on this topic to necro and chose this one for the Uus Corp. Seven months after the last post here and I've never seen anyone wearing ephemeral items or talking about them in-game. Last time someone discussed them on this forum looked like it was back in November when some newb wanted to know what it meant.

I do encourage such a plan. Items should (in my opinion) wear out. really believe this is a step back in the right direction. Thumbs up, Devs!
Thumbs up on your total failure of an idea, devs.
 

Madrid

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Went looking for a thread on this topic to necro and chose this one for the Uus Corp. Seven months after the last post here and I've never seen anyone wearing ephemeral items or talking about them in-game. Last time someone discussed them on this forum looked like it was back in November when some newb wanted to know what it meant.



Thumbs up on your total failure of an idea, devs.
Agreed KLOMP.

I would never buy or use and Ephemeral item in UO.

Ephemeral was a terrible idea and waste of Devs resources.

What do you want to bet that if you went to the void pool on every shard on every facet it would be empty this very minute?

It's a shame really all because of one stinking tag ..."Ephemeral".

I would probably visit the Void Pool from time to time if Ephemeral was removed.
 
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Uvtha

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That being said, something you have to grind for shouldn't break so easily. For me, personally, doing the same thing over and over isn't fun. For the rewards of such to be limited in life span is just silly to me.
I always saw it as a helper for people who DIDN'T want to grind endless hours to get the real thing. It's at least an option. Not something that can be said for any other set of artifact type items in the game.
 

Mitzlplik_LS

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Since its a grind why not just grind out Covetous level 3 and get the real ones? I don`t know how many Heph shields,sandals and wings I got outa there.

I personally hate the mentality of todays pixel hunters. Tis why I dropped my LS place and moved back to Siege. I never saw a problem with a bad ass drop that was otherwise clean,but was tagged cursed. So what,ya can do everything else,just not insure. Ya got 15 minutes to get back to your body. Laziness. I never saw a problem with the Ephemeral tag either. At first when guildies told me about it I was like: Thats stupid! But than after realizing how long 25 hours of actual battle is...... Please. Their not bad,its just UO has gone down a dark road when catering to the screams and rants of todays playerbase no matter how absurd some of them are.

%90 of it boils down to laziness IMO.

I only want to do this once,than never have to do it again! Than I want to complain that nothing changes in UO.
 

kelmo

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And in a few weeks time something else more important than 81 will be going on... *chuckles*
 

GalenKnighthawke

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And in a few weeks time something else more important than 81 will be going on... *chuckles*
I am uncertain as to why my objection to thread necromancy in the midst of dealing with major game changes deserved even mild ridicule.

-Galen's player
 

Zosimus

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I am uncertain as to why my objection to thread necromancy in the midst of dealing with major game changes deserved even mild ridicule.

-Galen's player

This thread was brought back up to prove a point since of pub 81 being announced and on TC. They are just comparing bad ideas. If you think this was a non important issue then why reply to it at all and let it die eventually as all threads do.


Plus I agree with Kelmo. Something else will occur after this and then something else after that. Eventually devs will add some new new shinies and all this will be forgotten. I'm under and over it.
 

GalenKnighthawke

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This thread was brought back up to prove a point since of pub 81 being announced and on TC. They are just comparing bad ideas. If you think this was a non important issue then why reply to it at all and let it die eventually as all threads do.


Plus I agree with Kelmo. Something else will occur after this and then something else after that. Eventually devs will add some new new shinies and all this will be forgotten. I'm under and over it.
Your point would make sense if I was the one who resurrected the thread.

I wasn't, however.

Rather I suggested that there were more-fundamental changes to the game currently at issue that superseded in importance, to a considerable degree, the issue of ephemeral items from the void pool, and by implication I suggested that resurrecting the thread is more hurtful than helpful.

For this, a moderator mocked me, and you sided with the poster with more power, when you could just as easily have said nothing at all.

Oh well.

-Galen's player
 

Basara

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Just a silly observation....

Ephemeral stuff from Despise will last forever worn by a non-combat character. So, get despise points, look for regen and skill stuff for your mules (especially your carpenters, alchemists and scribes), and crank their mana regen to the max (and pile on the +magery or +music skill points on the carpenter). I'm not sure how Bardic skill use or Tamers are affected, but the descriptions seemed to be such that actions/settings one normally associates with weapon/spell combat were what causes time to tick off.
 
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kelmo

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Works well on Siege too. We even wear cursed stuff. It is how we roll.
 

Zosimus

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Your point would make sense if I was the one who resurrected the thread.

I wasn't, however.

Rather I suggested that there were more-fundamental changes to the game currently at issue that superseded in importance, to a considerable degree, the issue of ephemeral items from the void pool, and by implication I suggested that resurrecting the thread is more hurtful than helpful.

For this, a moderator mocked me, and you sided with the poster with more power, when you could just as easily have said nothing at all.

Oh well.

-Galen's player


Troll paste needed?

I did not say you did bring this thread back to life. As usual you failed again on some issue with me.

Second I made a statement to your silly issue with it.


You are more e-hurt that a mod supposedly mocked you. I really hate to see you pain angel if this upsets you.

For your information I was a Managing Editor for Stratics GW2 until recently when I was offered an opportunity with another site. I out ranked a mod. I didnt side with kelmo because he has more power than me at this time since I am a regular poster again. I agreed with him because he was right.


Troll me more and you still wont win.
 

Picus of Napa

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Worst part of the void was that you can't loot the monsters or so it seems the few times I've done it. I could see some trade off for getting the empemeral if you also stood a chance at looting some random items but that doesn't seem to be the case. I don't know if it ever was the case but when I tried working a few levels it's clearly not.

Funny how the same fanboys who thought this was a good idea are the same ones blowing the current trumpet.
 

Petra Fyde

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The void pool monsters carry no loot, so there's no need to try to loot them. If you want loot fight Cora's army in level 3
Also the ephemeral arties aren't the only thing Vela has in her inventory. Some people collect void pool points to spend on the craft items.
 

KLOMP

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There's more important things going on now than Ephemeral items.

-Galen's player
Also you know what man, there are like 400 threads on the debacle which is Publish 81 and I've been one of the loudest critics. We're still allowed to post in threads about other things in the meantime.

Anyway, on topic, you know what I hate? This cycle of conversation:

Player: "Hey devs, the incentives and rewards for New System X aren't very meaningful. At this rate it will lay abandoned and pointless in a few months, wasting all the effort that went into it."

Fanboy: "Why you greedy philistine! I don't do things for loot! I do things for the camaraderie and sheer fun of it! Man I am so morally superior to your greedy loot-driven self! Thank you devs for this system which I am sure everyone will use forever!"

*Months pass, New System X remains unchanged, becomes abandoned and pointless*

Player: "Hey devs, the loot for New System Z is junk. At this rate it will lay abandoned and pointless in a few months, wasting all the effort that went into it."

Fanboy: "Why you greedy swine! I don't do things for items! I do things for the gameplay and teamwork! Man I am so much better than your greedy loot-driven self! Thank you devs for this system which I am sure everyone will use forever!"

*Months pass, New System Z remains unchanged, becomes abandoned and pointless*
What was that one boss they added that no one ever did? The one that only dropped that weird epiphany armor that nobody wanted? I can't remember the name. Someone tell me and a couple weeks from now I'll bump some thread about how we were all scum for expecting it to have loot we cared about. I'm not going off on a necro frenzy, but I think it would be amusing now and then.
 
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