First, let me state that this is just an idea, and is in no way an indication of the direction we're going to go, or a promise of any kind.
That said; let's get down to the idea.
One of the concepts that has been bounced around has been replacing PBD's with a context menu driven system that would allow players to bless one item. That sounds like a great idea on the surface, but there is a problem. What about the existing PBDs that are already out there in the world? Do we remove them from the game? Make them useless? If we let people use them for a 2nd item, then we're pretty much back to square one in that we again have an imbalance in the system, so that's not a great option. Plus, they were a promotional item, and some players would not respond very well to having their promo item taken away or made into a decoration.
Ok, I'm going to use the "I-word" here, but please don't panic until you've read the rest of this post ;-)
What if we gave everyone on Siege one item slot that they could insure or use their Personal Bless Deed on?
Ahhhh! I said insurance and Siege in the same sentence. But, hold on, let me explain... The advantage to this would be that we'd be able to use an existing game system, we'd avoid the issue of making PBD's useless and we'd be getting the same end result as the context menu PBD concept.
So, there are a few ways we might go about this.
1. Allow everyone to insure one item at the full production shard cost, with PBDs allowing people to bypass that cost, thus they keep their usefulness.
2. Allow everyone to insure one item at a reduced production shard cost, with PBDs allowing people to bypass that cost, thus they keep their usefulness.
3. Allow everyone to insure one item for free. This is exactly the same as the context menu PBD, just using an existing system. However, this would make PBDs useless, which is something to consider.
Added:4: Allow everyone to insure one item at the 3X the full production shard cost, with PBDs allowing people to bypass that cost, thus they keep their usefulness.
I know, I know... I said the "I-word", but please, think a bit about this idea and let me know what you think. Also, I'd like to request that this thread be solely about PBDs, as to make the conversation easy to follow.
Again, this is just an idea, so please, no panicking allowed ;-)
Psst: I know there are a lot of you out there who play Siege and read this forum, but don't post all that often. Please, speak up! I want your feedback as well.