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Remember gems? You know, those highly under-powered, easy-to-find sparkly things that made that pleasant PING sound when they dropped? In case you haven't been around for the last two years, gems are making a comeback in Diablo III, but with a major twist. Instead of the old set of five gem grades, Diablo III will feature a jaw-dropping fourteen grades of gems, not to say all the different kinds of gems that will be featured in the game.
Sounds impressive, eh? However, considering that only the first five grades can actually drop in the game, that leaves more than half of them just out of our button-mashing fingertips. A fan over at the official Diablo III forum board decided to do some simple calculations, and, if his math is anything better than his spelling ("monsereus"?), this is what he got:
Quote from Qayin »
it takes 3 gems of each level to create one gem of the next level... that comes to 19,683 level 5 gems of the same type to make just one level 14 Gem, assuming you get all gems of the same type...
The concern that follows is not without merit, I'd say. He came up with a few answers to why we may not have to worry, or solutions to what may be a daunting system (paraphrased:
Simply increasing the grade drop by one tier (from five to six) would decrease the number of required gems by more than half (19,683 to 6,561).
Allow higher-end items to be salvaged for these higher-end gem grades.
Combining gems of different levels could result in a higher-grade gem.
And, of course, there's always the boring way it was done in Diablo II: combining three of the same grade of gem for a higher-grade gem of the same type. However, Bashiok came to the rescue, once more stating how impermanent systems are at the moment, how large the online player base will be (not to account for single player, though), and so forth:
Official Blizzard Quote:
Yeah, that's about right. I mean keep in mind none of this has been proven through actual testing but the current design is that yeah, it's going to take a lot of lower level gems to reach the very highest high end.
The gem-to-gem upgrade intent is not to have these huge gaps where you feel like you're lame unless you have level 14 gems in every slot, but as a long term goal for the hardcore min/maxers and PvPers who are going to be playing for a long time and be able to work toward those goals. It's something you can put a little time into just by upgrading the gems you pick up during normal play, so you're constantly able to keep working toward the goal of crating a level 14 gem.
Also the trading game and millions of people playing for months is going to make them a lot more attainable than they may seem when throwing out numbers like 19,000.
It's possible it may feel crappy or we need to add something to help jump gaps, or, who knows. It's all very unproven at the moment, but we think provides a nice long term goal anyone can work toward just by killing monsters and picking up gems.
So, there you have it: the conundrum of the gems in a nutshell. What do you think could help alleviate the enormous gaps between lootable and unlootable gems? Is the system fine how it is? Other thoughts?
MY LORD THATS ALOT OF GEMS!!!! Well then. Those number are prerty huge and scary *Cowers at the numbers and not at diablo the lord of terror* I think the top tier gems would have to be something extremely awesome in order for me to want to have them.
50,000 gold for highest end gem anyone? Anyone at all?
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I definitly think the # will come down in some way, although not to much .. like the article said, the highest end gems are for months and months down the line ... people striving for them for very long. So a high number is acceptable, probably several thousand, but not as many as initially quoted (well, I hope not).
In the meantime, Im definitly open to the idea there might be other ways to get higher end gems (Lv 6+) if not found by them dropping. Perhaps side quests ? Or maybe combining weapons and/or other items ?
EDIT - in the meantime, perhaps we should all contribute to a list and come up with names for all 14 grades ??
They should just go the Torchlight route and make it 2 gems to a higher grade. That makes it just over 1000, a much more feasible number considering you're going to have 12 or so slots in your end-game gear.
Edit: I did one too many x2's, I think. It might just be 512. Still, that's a lot.
...*day dreams about running into town to transmute 19,000+ times* .... maybe they wont be all that rare to get a hold of. I mean if 1 out of 20 goons turns a good chance of dropping one of the gems, then it shouldn't take more than a few hundred thousand goons to reward a lvl 14 gem lol.
-saintchet
No one is going to be making 19,000+ gems to get a LvL 14 gem because we all are going to TRADE. It's going to be a lot easier to attain in the game because everybody will have gems and trade them away. However I'm guessing a LvL 14 Gem will be worth as much or maybe more than an end game rare item.
Gems do stack. Right now it's 10 but that could go up as we see fit. They have a good chance of being used in other ways aside from simply being socketed, something that would siphon them out of the economy. Maybe crafting. We like them remaining as something you have to visit the Jeweler artisan to combine. We don't want it to be annoying or take a lot of time though. We also don't anticipate someone visiting one with 19,000 gems looking to upgrade all the way to level 14.
They don't have a level requirement so we do intend to see them used as a way to twink new characters, or allow people to buy into gemming up a bit earlier on if they have the gold.
Our current anticipation is that it will take the hardcore players quite a while before they start maxing out their gems, long enough that they won't see level 14 gems in all slots for all of their gear before we throw something new at them.
Use in crafting and twinking seems like it makes sense and is a good way to keep their demand high, even years after release.
I don't know... A level 1 with level 14 gems... I liked the level req. for gems in Diablo 2.
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Why are some of you limiting yourselves, I don't know. Why not think outside the box a bit? Why not think of like, combining a level 7 Gem and a unique item to create a .. say.. level 12 gem. A level 9 gem with a legendary item to create a level 13 gem, and/or a legendary item and a level 12 gem to create a level 14 gem? Why not bring back set items, and give us the opportunity/option of trading in a full set + like..a level 10 Gem to create a level 14 gem? The possible combinations are large in number, I just suggested a few.
You've never had a Snickers sandwich? LOL, fucking newb.
Do you actually think obtaining Legendary items, or a level 10-13 Gem is gonna be an easy task? That's like saying obtaining a Zod and Ber runes is simple and takes little time. If the drop rate of a level 10 Gem (drop rate being said for the sake of argument, since as I understand, they don't drop) is about 0.000013 %, and that of a Legendary item being about 0.0008%, that'd amount to 0.000000014 % chance that you're gonna obtain a level 14 Gem by seeking that route. It'd just be a route you can choose to take. Stop patronizing me, boy.
You've never had a sneaker sandwich? LOL. Fucking newb. YOU SHOULD TRY LIVING IN A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY, MAYBE THEN YOU CAN HAVE AN AWESOME SHOE SANDWICH. Nike goes better with turkey than Adidas does, btw.
I'm just tossing ideas. Some cub recipes weren't all that logical, imo, yet were implemented regardless. I was just tossing a random idea, stop making it sound like I wrote it up on the white board, thought about it for eons, and came up with a wondrous solution. Do that again and I'll fucking Hartigan you. YOU BEING JUNIOR ROARK..PUNK.
Staying up so late everyday is fucking with my head..
Actually one more dropped tier would equal 2/3 less gems needed, not half as many.
Erp, I was thinking "more than half," but I got caught up getting ready for work and forgot to read back over it before I posted. Thanks for pointing that out
What I would like to know is how OP you will become with a lvl 1 char using as many tier 14 gems as possible, and how that affects PvP. Because there is no way that anyone will ever sell or trade a gem of that strength, they will use the unsocket feature whenever they don't want the gear the gems are in. It is not really a concept I like.
My solution is level scaling, 100% per level.
So a gem that gives 2-4 damage in level 1 (a tier 1 gem) will give a level 99 character 198-296 damage. That is not a massive boost in level 99, but if each tier also improves the gem by 10%, then it would give 4.6-9.2 in level 1, and 455.4-680.8 in level 99. Still not a huge boost in D2 terms, but remember that in D3 you can socket any item, not just normal gear. So how much is the final boost for one of these gems in each slot for a 99?
There are 9 slots. (left + right hand, boots, pants, helm, shoulder, glove, body, belt)
9 x 455.4 = 4 098.6
9 x 680.8 = 6 127.2
That is an average of about 5000 damage per hit, only from gem enhancing. Not bad imo. And because of the 10% tier scaling, progressing up the tiers is worth less each time you do it, so the difference between having a tier 14 gem (20k gems) and a tier 12 gem (2k gems) is only 20% of 140%, or 1/7 of the max power. Getting from 12 to 14 becomes an achievement that can be compared to character level 97 to 99. Not necessary, but awesome to do. You shouldn't feel like you have to get a tier 14 gem to be perfect, just as little as you should feel that you need level 99.
It is just a suggestion, but I do want some kind of scaling. Low level PvP is sort of fun and I don't want gems messing that up. Another solution is obviously to add level restrictions, but apparently Blizzard wants these gems for twinking. I'm ok with that, as long as it is balanced twinking.
Did they say that gems won't have level requirements? I feel like I read that, but I can't find anything on that aspect of gems, now. Maybe it will just be like II when you had to be a certain level for different grades of gems. I do really like your idea, though, if we wanted to go with something completely different. That route also would encourage leveling, instead of just giving up at, say, 80-85.
LOL@The " I don't want to grind for anything in the game". Good luck finding the runes to make an Enigma in DII, then. Good luck playing the game, actually. Epic lulz @ that cat.
Did they say that gems won't have level requirements?
Yes. Bashiok made two posts.
"They don't have a level requirement so we do intend to see them used as a way to twink new characters, or allow people to buy into gemming up a bit earlier on if they have the gold. "
Ah, good. I knew when I said that I thought they did in that post that I wasn't pulling it out of my ass This will certainly make LLD more interesting. More viable.
Remember gems? You know, those highly under-powered, easy-to-find sparkly things that made that pleasant PING sound when they dropped? In case you haven't been around for the last two years, gems are making a comeback in Diablo III, but with a major twist. Instead of the old set of five gem grades, Diablo III will feature a jaw-dropping fourteen grades of gems, not to say all the different kinds of gems that will be featured in the game.
Sounds impressive, eh? However, considering that only the first five grades can actually drop in the game, that leaves more than half of them just out of our button-mashing fingertips. A fan over at the official Diablo III forum board decided to do some simple calculations, and, if his math is anything better than his spelling ("monsereus"?), this is what he got:
The concern that follows is not without merit, I'd say. He came up with a few answers to why we may not have to worry, or solutions to what may be a daunting system (paraphrased:
Official Blizzard Quote:
Yeah, that's about right. I mean keep in mind none of this has been proven through actual testing but the current design is that yeah, it's going to take a lot of lower level gems to reach the very highest high end.
The gem-to-gem upgrade intent is not to have these huge gaps where you feel like you're lame unless you have level 14 gems in every slot, but as a long term goal for the hardcore min/maxers and PvPers who are going to be playing for a long time and be able to work toward those goals. It's something you can put a little time into just by upgrading the gems you pick up during normal play, so you're constantly able to keep working toward the goal of crating a level 14 gem.
Also the trading game and millions of people playing for months is going to make them a lot more attainable than they may seem when throwing out numbers like 19,000.
It's possible it may feel crappy or we need to add something to help jump gaps, or, who knows. It's all very unproven at the moment, but we think provides a nice long term goal anyone can work toward just by killing monsters and picking up gems.
So, there you have it: the conundrum of the gems in a nutshell. What do you think could help alleviate the enormous gaps between lootable and unlootable gems? Is the system fine how it is? Other thoughts?
50,000 gold for highest end gem anyone? Anyone at all?
If you want to arrange it
This world you can change it
If we could somehow make this
Christmas thing last
By helping a neighbor
Or even a stranger
And to know who needs help
You need only just ask
In the meantime, Im definitly open to the idea there might be other ways to get higher end gems (Lv 6+) if not found by them dropping. Perhaps side quests ? Or maybe combining weapons and/or other items ?
EDIT - in the meantime, perhaps we should all contribute to a list and come up with names for all 14 grades ??
Still coming up with the grades will be a handful.
Cracked ruby
Less cracked ruby
Even less cracked ruby
Finally ok ruby
A little more than ok ruby
normal ruby
Above average ruby
..... and so on and so forth.
I guess it will be easy in the end. 7 grades right there and they are clearly different and not confusing at all.
lol that's what I was thinking.
Ruby chip.
Ruby Fragment.
Ruby Shard
Ruby Portion
Ruby Chunk
Ruby Half
Ruby Tuesday
Ruby Weapon
Chipped Ruby
Flawed Ruby
Ruby
Flawless Ruby
Perfect Ruby
SOJ RUBY
Edit: I did one too many x2's, I think. It might just be 512. Still, that's a lot.
-saintchet
Official Blizzard Quote:
Gems do stack. Right now it's 10 but that could go up as we see fit. They have a good chance of being used in other ways aside from simply being socketed, something that would siphon them out of the economy. Maybe crafting. We like them remaining as something you have to visit the Jeweler artisan to combine. We don't want it to be annoying or take a lot of time though. We also don't anticipate someone visiting one with 19,000 gems looking to upgrade all the way to level 14.
They don't have a level requirement so we do intend to see them used as a way to twink new characters, or allow people to buy into gemming up a bit earlier on if they have the gold.
Our current anticipation is that it will take the hardcore players quite a while before they start maxing out their gems, long enough that they won't see level 14 gems in all slots for all of their gear before we throw something new at them.
Use in crafting and twinking seems like it makes sense and is a good way to keep their demand high, even years after release.
Rise and rise again, until lambs become lions
Do you actually think obtaining Legendary items, or a level 10-13 Gem is gonna be an easy task? That's like saying obtaining a Zod and Ber runes is simple and takes little time. If the drop rate of a level 10 Gem (drop rate being said for the sake of argument, since as I understand, they don't drop) is about 0.000013 %, and that of a Legendary item being about 0.0008%, that'd amount to 0.000000014 % chance that you're gonna obtain a level 14 Gem by seeking that route. It'd just be a route you can choose to take. Stop patronizing me, boy.
Rise and rise again, until lambs become lions
I'm just tossing ideas. Some cub recipes weren't all that logical, imo, yet were implemented regardless. I was just tossing a random idea, stop making it sound like I wrote it up on the white board, thought about it for eons, and came up with a wondrous solution. Do that again and I'll fucking Hartigan you. YOU BEING JUNIOR ROARK..PUNK.
Staying up so late everyday is fucking with my head..
Rise and rise again, until lambs become lions
Rise and rise again, until lambs become lions
Rise and rise again, until lambs become lions
Erp, I was thinking "more than half," but I got caught up getting ready for work and forgot to read back over it before I posted. Thanks for pointing that out
Did they say that gems won't have level requirements? I feel like I read that, but I can't find anything on that aspect of gems, now. Maybe it will just be like II when you had to be a certain level for different grades of gems. I do really like your idea, though, if we wanted to go with something completely different. That route also would encourage leveling, instead of just giving up at, say, 80-85.
LOLOL
You may have the wrong game series, then.
Rise and rise again, until lambs become lions
Ah, good. I knew when I said that I thought they did in that post that I wasn't pulling it out of my ass This will certainly make LLD more interesting. More viable.