I was surprised to see that nobody has really discussed this. At gamescom, Jay Wilson was asked whether or not the order of gem placement would alter the effects or add effects of the gems. Jay's response was that it was a very interesting idea and that he would discuss it with the development team.
I think that it is a great idea. It would help bring back rune words even though runes are out of the game. I do not want them to be as major and game changing as rune words but some slight changes and alterations would be nice. It is kind of hard right now to speculate on what extra effects could be added since we don't know what gems will be doing what in the first place but some bonus would be fun and add more customization.
If they do implement that, I believe it should be something like:
4-socket shield
1st gem = 100% of its stats
2nd gem = 90% of its stats
3rd gem = 80% of its stats
4th gem = 70% of its stats
or something on those lines. I never liked runewords to begin with, so I'm not looking forward to some weird combinations of gems giving the items uber stats.
That's an interesting idea. Change the "potency" of the effects depending on what order. The only problem I have with it is that it seems punishing rather than rewarding. I would prefer:
1st gem = 125% of its stats
2nd gem = 110% of its stats
3rd gem = 100% of its stats
4th gem = 100% of its stats
It ends up being the same but feels more rewarding for making the choices than punishing for not choosing one first. I would still like extra effects though. Nothing major like Enigma but just add one effect like life steal or % increase to crit.
So rewarding the player for adding and then removing and then adding a different gem. I don't really get the point of that. It doesn't really get players to think or change how they would do something. Just adding and removing gems constantly, and possibly switching to gems that they do not even want to use.
I think that it is a great idea. It would help bring back rune words even though runes are out of the game. I do not want them to be as major and game changing as rune words but some slight changes and alterations would be nice. It is kind of hard right now to speculate on what extra effects could be added since we don't know what gems will be doing what in the first place but some bonus would be fun and add more customization.
4-socket shield
1st gem = 100% of its stats
2nd gem = 90% of its stats
3rd gem = 80% of its stats
4th gem = 70% of its stats
or something on those lines. I never liked runewords to begin with, so I'm not looking forward to some weird combinations of gems giving the items uber stats.
1st gem = 125% of its stats
2nd gem = 110% of its stats
3rd gem = 100% of its stats
4th gem = 100% of its stats
It ends up being the same but feels more rewarding for making the choices than punishing for not choosing one first. I would still like extra effects though. Nothing major like Enigma but just add one effect like life steal or % increase to crit.
By the way, the dragon knows his shit.