Please make the Ill-Omen Portens bound to account

[jevvy]

The Ill Omens event is set up so each character can only complete the Ill Omens wrapper quest once during the event. This, effectively, means that you can only acquire one of the portents per character.

but why? I have 8 raid chars. I also have to work.. how am I supposed to complete this on 8 chars??

On top of the normal embers weekly grind and if I can face it (which I can't! due to the dull stupidity of them) missions..................

quite frankly the grind is gettting out of hand now

[gildhur]

To be clear, this event requires you run 3 or 4 instances for 12 days. That's 36-48 instances to acquire 1 item and 1 tracery token (that you probably don't have enough script to use anyway). On my 135 LM I ran the first day's 4 skirmishes in about 2 hours. That would be 72-96 hours of activity for a single item on a single character. I have 4 characters at 140 on one server and a couple more near cap.

This is an order of magnitude above any other similar grind. Each festival gives a BiS teal item in a T2 6-man instance. You might get them as a random drop on your very first run, but if you don't you need only 10 runs to get it via quest and be done.

I'm just opting out at this point. It's not even worth it.

[WeirdJedi]

To be clear, this event requires you run 3 or 4 instances for 12 days. That's 36-48 instances to acquire 1 item and 1 tracery token (that you probably don't have enough script to use anyway). On my 135 LM I ran the first day's 4 skirmishes in about 2 hours. That would be 72-96 hours of activity for a single item on a single character. I have 4 characters at 140 on one server and a couple more near cap

2 hours? I do a skirmish in like 5-10minutes. I run them 8 levels below (level 132 T1) and leave the moment I take down the Harbinger. That's like 10 hours on one character for a months worth of play.

[DoRonRon]

2 hours? I do a skirmish in like 5-10minutes. I run them 8 levels below (level 132 T1) and leave the moment I take down the Harbinger. That's like 10 hours on one character for a months worth of play.

I do them 8 levels below on T3

Doing the Deeds has less appeal now because who knows if the reward has gotten a cap level change or might get one in the future?

Now you and I might do Dannenglor by going up to the hill after getting through the first gate and be done in 3 minutes but others will perhaps be stuck on clearing each and every waypoint and killing every spawn. Or you pug with those who just have to do it the way they have always done it. Others do requiring a deal of full clearing, 'til the Omen spawns ofc.

And if you aren't up to soloing them and choose to 3 or more man for safety, you are falling into the trap of mobs with wipe mechanics for the novices. I quickly stopped bothering on my melee characters when kiting on ranged and casters make it far easier.

The worst of it all is extra busy servers with each event. Trashing the utility of rewards didn't sufficiently cut the numbers because it just meant more time required for getting more than 3 usual chars into the mix. I'm kicking myself for logging out near Nedda on one char yesterday to get "naked" and bridle and offhand un-equipped as per. Can't fix what you don't want to see ofc! I do get to run with all 6 anthems in play for a change though, even when performance screws you up and you find you have fired the ICotC before the sodding Anthem. Building the game ignoring the performance problems is showing either supreme confidence someone is going to fix it or complete indifference to it.

[Feldanor]

They can take a long time depending on your class. But the worst part is SSG seem to have forgotten that this is a game. I'm sorry but I don't know many who find any skirmish particularly fun, especially when forced to do them for items that will be needed for higher tier content. 48 skirmishes is a huge grind even for DPS classes. If you're a tank cc or healer it's even worse. And it's a limited time event. I know the portents will drop in the new instances before the raid drops but surely they'll be a terrible drop chance. And it'll be random not a box most likely.

There still hasn't been a good answer to why these portents won't be bound to account. The original reason of to stop these items being vital in raiding is invalid as we'll be farming them. Other than to make us farm the new pre raid instances, I can't for the life of me see any reason not to make portents bound to account instead of the hugely unpopular bound to character. B2a would make everyone who plays the game happy, and have 0 real impact on the games development.

[Elmagor]

I do them 8 levels below on T3

Doing the Deeds has less appeal now because who knows if the reward has gotten a cap level change or might get one in the future?

T3 deed once per char, so people who complete it in previous Ill Omens events spend less time because they doing only T1 runs.

Some skirmishes have mob on 2nd wave, some of them have him on last wave.

[Findulas]

Okay, now I'm really confused. They refuse to bind them to account because they don't want us to be able to have/use all three on a single character like we've done previously, but yet they are going to make them accessible from the new instance cluster coming out, so at some point we are going to be able to have all of them on a single character, yes?

So why not just make the dratted things BoA now like they've always been? Save us players time and grind, and developers time and frustration having to code the things into the new cluster. This maketh no sense whatsoever.

Before I could grind the Omens on three of my characters and pass them around, now I have to do Omens on all seven to get what I want and four of the seven have never done their books, so I have that grind on top of the Omen grind, plus limited time due to work, life, etc, ect, as others have pointed out.

Many, many years ago Coca-Cola changed their decades old recipe to New Coke, the backlash was so severe and they lost so many customers that they had to revert back to the old formula, but some consumers never went back, I was one of those, never looked back. Keep pushing your paying players away SSG, I'm not far from the door as it is.

[Arnenna]

To be clear, this event requires you run 3 or 4 instances for 12 days. That's 36-48 instances to acquire 1 item and 1 tracery token (that you probably don't have enough script to use anyway). On my 135 LM I ran the first day's 4 skirmishes in about 2 hours. That would be 72-96 hours of activity for a single item on a single character. I have 4 characters at 140 on one server and a couple more near cap.

This is an order of magnitude above any other similar grind. Each festival gives a BiS teal item in a T2 6-man instance. You might get them as a random drop on your very first run, but if you don't you need only 10 runs to get it via quest and be done.

I'm just opting out at this point. It's not even worth it.

Yes, they took a previously grindy grind and SSG-ified it into something that isn't funny anymore. They've made it clear they are not changing direction on it either, as they have now decided to tag these items onto purchase of the next content - using the "response to player feedback" tactic. When that wasn't the feedback they got at all.

You're right, it isn't worth it. It will kill off the skirmish event as why bother adding things to a skirmish event next year, when they can bundle them into new content that players have to buy.

I'm grinding one portent on my main, just because she did the T3 deed two years ago and this is a quick and easy grind for her. She'll probably never use it, seeing as raiding is off my radar still for now, but it will be in her bag just in case I get chance to pop into the raid when it arrives.

Players seem to be saying "that's not worth the effort" a lot more this last year than ever before. The game is getting quieter in the circle of friends I normally play with. They are in other games.

[Fadil]

Okay, now I'm really confused. They refuse to bind them to account because they don't want us to be able to have/use all three on a single character like we've done previously, but yet they are going to make them accessible from the new instance cluster coming out, so at some point we are going to be able to have all of them on a single character, yes?

So why not just make the dratted things BoA now like they've always been? Save us players time and grind, and developers time and frustration having to code the things into the new cluster. This maketh no sense whatsoever.

Before I could grind the Omens on three of my characters and pass them around, now I have to do Omens on all seven to get what I want and four of the seven have never done their books, so I have that grind on top of the Omen grind, plus limited time due to work, life, etc, ect, as others have pointed out.

Many, many years ago Coca-Cola changed their decades old recipe to New Coke, the backlash was so severe and they lost so many customers that they had to revert back to the old formula, but some consumers never went back, I was one of those, never looked back. Keep pushing your paying players away SSG, I'm not far from the door as it is.

I dont get your logic. I dont mind doing the event once, on one character, because apparently
unlike some here, I actually enjoy the event.
Usually get 12 kinnies, make a raid and do the skirmishes. Do deeds, get cosmetic pets and...have fun.

This chance makes it so that doing it once on your main is enough now. I no longer have to do it 3 times, which
imo is a big improvement.
If the drop rate is decent in future instances (which is imo the most important question now), this feels
like a huge improvement.
I get that people are stuck to how it used to be, but removing grind is good in my book.

The only possible question / problem I see is the drop rate. If its anything like the current drop rate
of class essences, it's a joke.
If they make them more easily available, its a huge improvement over the grind it used to be.

[Feldanor]

I dont get your logic. I dont mind doing the event once, on one character, because apparently
unlike some here, I actually enjoy the event.
Usually get 12 kinnies, make a raid and do the skirmishes. Do deeds, get cosmetic pets and...have fun.

This chance makes it so that doing it once on your main is enough now. I no longer have to do it 3 times, which
imo is a big improvement.
If the drop rate is decent in future instances (which is imo the most important question now), this feels
like a huge improvement.
I get that people are stuck to how it used to be, but removing grind is good in my book.

The only possible question / problem I see is the drop rate. If its anything like the current drop rate
of class essences, it's a joke.
If they make them more easily available, its a huge improvement over the grind it used to be.

How is anything that's happening less of a grind? Yes they'll drop in instances but still be bound to character. You probably won't be able to pick which one you want because, let's be honest, ssg never let us do that. The drop chance is likely to be terrible. The only reliable way to get what you want right now is this event. At least last time you knew that if you do it 3 times, you have them all. The new instances are likely to be gated behind a pay wall and possibly even only dropping in higher tiers. Since ssg refuse to communicate on how they will implement this, people will still grind the portents in this event when possible. The only difference being they have to farm it on every char they want to guarantee at least one portent on, rather than just 3.

[Elmagor]

How is anything that's happening less of a grind? Yes they'll drop in instances but still be bound to character. You probably won't be able to pick which one you want because, let's be honest, ssg never let us do that. The drop chance is likely to be terrible. The only reliable way to get what you want right now is this event. At least last time you knew that if you do it 3 times, you have them all. The new instances are likely to be gated behind a pay wall and possibly even only dropping in higher tiers. Since ssg refuse to communicate on how they will implement this, people will still grind the portents in this event when possible. The only difference being they have to farm it on every char they want to guarantee at least one portent on, rather than just 3.

And depends where they drop... T5 6-man, T3+ raid or T5 3-man

[Neinda]

Here's a suggestion for SSG. Maybe add them to the reward track or maybe even add it to loot boxes.

[Arnenna]

How is anything that's happening less of a grind? Yes they'll drop in instances but still be bound to character. You probably won't be able to pick which one you want because, let's be honest, ssg never let us do that. The drop chance is likely to be terrible. The only reliable way to get what you want right now is this event. At least last time you knew that if you do it 3 times, you have them all. The new instances are likely to be gated behind a pay wall and possibly even only dropping in higher tiers. Since ssg refuse to communicate on how they will implement this, people will still grind the portents in this event when possible. The only difference being they have to farm it on every char they want to guarantee at least one portent on, rather than just 3.

It's less of a grind if players are only interested in getting the item on one, single character. Me for instance, I'm only doing this on my main and really, just for the sake of having it in my bag in case I get a chance to come back to raiding this year. This is a very quick and easy grind for my main. But, if this we're two years back, when I was actively raiding, I'd be needing this grind on five characters now, instead of just three. That's the point being raised by so many players, but some here, just aren't getting it.

[Feldanor]

It's less of a grind if players are only interested in getting the item on one, single character. Me for instance, I'm only doing this on my main and really, just for the sake of having it in my bag in case I get a chance to come back to raiding this year. This is a very quick and easy grind for my main. But, if this we're two years back, when I was actively raiding, I'd be needing this grind on five characters now, instead of just three. That's the point being raised by so many players, but some here, just aren't getting it.

Well yeh if you're only doing one char it's better to a degree. Last time you could do it on 3 chars and get all portents on all chars. Now you can't. And there's really no logic behind the decision.

[Neinda]

Well yeh if you're only doing one char it's better to a degree. Last time you could do it on 3 chars and get all portents on all chars. Now you can't. And there's really no logic behind the decision.

This change places the item behind a paywall and separates out the casual players from those who raid. If you are casual and not raiding at a level above T1 the item will add no value to your game play. This item does nothing for a casual player. If you raid, the item will more than likely be mandatory to be included in raids.

This change makes sense as it is consistent with the direction the game has been going for some time now. This time SSG approached it in a less controversial fashion. As pointed out above, they twisted it into a player requested idea rather than SSG forcing it on the player base. Be careful what you wish for lol.

[Elmagor]

This change places the item behind a paywall and separates out the casual players from those who raid. If you are casual and not raiding at a level above T1 the item will add no value to your game play. This item does nothing for a casual player. If you raid, the item will more than likely be mandatory to be included in raids.

This change makes sense as it is consistent with the direction the game has been going for some time now.

2 years ago raid focused kins kick members who don't get portents.

[Neinda]

2 years ago raid focused kins kick members who don't get portents.

Yes, and now with the new system ("requested" by the player base "sort of"), players will have to pay for content to get the item they need to be part of a raid group. Great marketing idea from SSG if you think about it.

[Findulas]

I dont get your logic. I dont mind doing the event once, on one character, because apparently
unlike some here, I actually enjoy the event.
Usually get 12 kinnies, make a raid and do the skirmishes. Do deeds, get cosmetic pets and...have fun.

This chance makes it so that doing it once on your main is enough now. I no longer have to do it 3 times, which
imo is a big improvement.
If the drop rate is decent in future instances (which is imo the most important question now), this feels
like a huge improvement.
I get that people are stuck to how it used to be, but removing grind is good in my book.

The only possible question / problem I see is the drop rate. If its anything like the current drop rate
of class essences, it's a joke.
If they make them more easily available, its a huge improvement over the grind it used to be.

You do realize that some of us raid on more than one character? Yes, if you run just a main you only have to do it once, so not too bad. However if you run, say six, then you have to do it six times. Before if you ran six you only had to run it three times to get the portents. My logic is that they don't want us to have all of them, yet we'll be able to get them at a later date, so in fact we will be able to have all. Why not just let it be as it was and make people happy? You know, us paying customers.

[Fadil]

How is anything that's happening less of a grind? Yes they'll drop in instances but still be bound to character. You probably won't be able to pick which one you want because, let's be honest, ssg never let us do that. The drop chance is likely to be terrible.

Maybe, we'll see.
As it is I only have to do Ill Omen on one character, instead of on three, hence its less of a grind now.

The new instances are likely to be gated behind a pay wall

This is a silly argument that one person makes and then gets repeated a lot...
The new raid, which makes the portents needed/ interesting, is behind that same paywall.
Dont want to play the new content, you wont need the portent.
I mean: win/ win.

[Fadil]

You do realize that some of us raid on more than one character?

Yes, as it happens I raid on three characters. Amazing how well that goes without portents.:P
Seriously you're all making a big deal about a change which might be a change for the better.
Which all depends on how often the portents will drop in content we're all gonna do anyway.
If the drop rate sucks, you have a point, if its ok, I think its a change for the better.

[DoRonRon]

The fact they feel the adjustment to portents are required, with the up coming new raid it might tell us that they will be a requirement. And an encouragement to participate, fear of missing out.

I'm mostly thinking about the School final boss special move mechanics on T7+ and how with the lack of essence slots of a soloer any char can mitigate that hit sufficiently to survive. Which portent is going be best? Perhaps with a slower fight the mechanic to avoid it would be easier to implement. Leaving me with Hobson's choice; test or get the portent. Maybe get the portent then go test...

[Arnenna]

This change places the item behind a paywall and separates out the casual players from those who raid. If you are casual and not raiding at a level above T1 the item will add no value to your game play. This item does nothing for a casual player. If you raid, the item will more than likely be mandatory to be included in raids.

This change makes sense as it is consistent with the direction the game has been going for some time now. This time SSG approached it in a less controversial fashion. As pointed out above, they twisted it into a player requested idea rather than SSG forcing it on the player base. Be careful what you wish for lol.

On the contrary, there are a lot of players that want to step up a little from where they are and get more into raiding. These items are powerful, hence the backlash about them, so they will also help casual players who are struggling a little in Delvings, maybe just enough to step up to those T7s where the gear is. They may not be interested in buying new content for an instance cluster for the sake of a raid, but if a portent makes their Delving runs that little bit more productive, then ka-ching, watch out for that carrot. They bought content recently where the only level cap content suitable for them is Delvings. If they are finding the productive side of those a tad too difficult, the portent could make all the difference. Even players that just raid may want to hold off on buying the newer content until the raid drops (many do), but now they will need to buy it as soon as it arrives, pre-raid.

[Elmagor]

On the contrary, there are a lot of players that want to step up a little from where they are and get more into raiding. These items are powerful, hence the backlash about them, so they will also help casual players who are struggling a little in Delvings, maybe just enough to step up to those T7s where the gear is. They may not be interested in buying new content for an instance cluster for the sake of a raid, but if a portent makes their Delving runs that little bit more productive, then ka-ching, watch out for that carrot. They bought content recently where the only level cap content suitable for them is Delvings. If they are finding the productive side of those a tad too difficult, the portent could make all the difference. Even players that just raid may want to hold off on buying the newer content until the raid drops (many do), but now they will need to buy it as soon as it arrives, pre-raid.

Hard to believe what +dps items for such short period of time and such big CD can help player complete T7 delving. Delving have too much mobs. If they can't complete T7, better chances what they need change build, get better gear from other sources or play duo.

[Findulas]

Yes, as it happens I raid on three characters. Amazing how well that goes without portents.:P
Seriously you're all making a big deal about a change which might be a change for the better.
Which all depends on how often the portents will drop in content we're all gonna do anyway.
If the drop rate sucks, you have a point, if its ok, I think its a change for the better.

And I raid just fine on six without the portents as well but they sure make it easier, yet you are still missing the point. Grind three, pass those around (bound to account as they were in the past), or grind six now, and later on grind six more times to get all. How is increasing the grind to get items that you'd like to have a change for the better? We're going to be able to get all of them at some point anyways, all I'm asking is to decrease the grind that we're going to have to do, make them account bound, grind decreased, many players happy. Simple direct logic that you seem to keep missing.

And this as well, so you're a good raider, as am I, but this is a good point as well from this person, some are not so good, a little help goes a long ways, so they are going to have to grind as well as buy the content ahead of time when they may or may not be able to.

Arnenna
Defender of the Great Apes
Join Date
Nov 2012
Posts
15,488

On the contrary, there are a lot of players that want to step up a little from where they are and get more into raiding. These items are powerful, hence the backlash about them, so they will also help casual players who are struggling a little in Delvings, maybe just enough to step up to those T7s where the gear is. They may not be interested in buying new content for an instance cluster for the sake of a raid, but if a portent makes their Delving runs that little bit more productive, then ka-ching, watch out for that carrot. They bought content recently where the only level cap content suitable for them is Delvings. If they are finding the productive side of those a tad too difficult, the portent could make all the difference. Even players that just raid may want to hold off on buying the newer content until the raid drops (many do), but now they will need to buy it as soon as it arrives, pre-raid.


Not to mention the fact that this is a limited time event, with work and real life I'll barely be able to grind three, which is all that I needed in the past, and I'm quite sure there are plenty of others out there that would like the portents but are time limited as well.

[Ulrek]

2 hours? I do a skirmish in like 5-10minutes. I run them 8 levels below (level 132 T1) and leave the moment I take down the Harbinger. That's like 10 hours on one character for a month's worth of play.

Thanks for reminding me that it can be run below level. That makes it very fast... especially on a DPS class.