Slicing post-nerf, please look at the numbers BW

[HanzBlix]

I simply do not understand all the QQ about this nerf.

 

You use the crew skill missions to up you slicing ability with the idea that you are going to make your real profits slicing in the field. If you are breaking even on missions and leveling your skills to slice out on the planets, than it still sounds pretty win.

 

If you slicers think you have it so bad, I spend WAAAAAY more credits than I make back doing my armormech crafting. Probably somewhere in the range of 100k credits so far. Let's be real here, credits aren't exacty hard to come by in this game. Yes things are expensive, but it is pretty easy to get creds through playing.

 

Sorry your easy mode was taken away (free credits for sending out your crew), go do some harvesting in the field with your skill.

[knightnvy]

I simply do not understand all the QQ about this nerf.

 

You use the crew skill missions to up you slicing ability with the idea that you are going to make your real profits slicing in the field. If you are breaking even on missions and leveling your skills to slice out on the planets, than it still sounds pretty win.

 

If you slicers think you have it so bad, I spend WAAAAAY more credits than I make back doing my armormech crafting. Probably somewhere in the range of 100k credits so far. Let's be real here, credits aren't exacty hard to come by in this game. Yes things are expensive, but it is pretty easy to get creds through playing.

 

Sorry your easy mode was taken away (free credits for sending out your crew), go do some harvesting in the field with your skill.

 

How do you expect anyone to buy your stuff?

[Arell]

Just had to throw my support behind this. Slicing, which by definition was a "money" making skill is needed and should be brought back to the way it was...or at least better than what they've done to it now.

 

I've given up a needed "craft" skill for slicing for that sole purpose. I'm sorry if people who chose to not do this complain that I get money for using slicing...tough. They can do the same. That's what having choices is for. You much sacrifice to gain...I thought that's what this game was doing by giving so many choices and making the player make those tough choices.

 

Now I see as some here have posted that this is going to turn to the typical MMO response where the largest whiners get their way.

 

Slicing was already nerfed heavily in beta ^^

 

Once these people complaining about "slicing making so much money" actually put effort into their crafting professions and discover their roughly 900 different prototype/artifact/custom schematics they have access to, will sprout creds out of their butts like tripple rainbows from selling them. ^^

[Kuari]

While they did go a little bit overkill, looks to me you still make good profit when you add in selling the mission items

[UserAdept]

I enjoyed slicing. I have limited play time and as such I would rather spend it playing the game opposed to watching the GTN and crafting. I've been following these threads closely hoping to see a dev response to the over nerf.. Nothing yet.

 

the problem imo was the abuse.. I am not sitting on millions of credits. I did not level numerous alts to slice. With ppl doing that, yeah that's a problem. As many have said.. Post 50 the return on slicing is really not that amazing. makes me wonder if capping the amount of companions on missions per account per server (per mission type..i.e. Only so many slicing missions) would have been a better idea (if even possible)

Edited December 28, 2011 by UserAdept

[strakt]

Don't feed this guy for sanity's sake because he's/she's obviously lying.

 

Right.. seeing as how 340 missions for underworld/treasure hunting/scavenging/etc.. sell for about 4-6k each on my server, and seeing as how I got about 5 of those (all ended up selling), is about 25-30k there. Oh, and cybertech schematics, sell for a good 3-5k EACH, and usually sell within 1d of posting it. Also compared to old numbers, critting a blue lockbox now ends up giving a more stable number of credits than before. Sending out 4 companions and doing lvl 4/5 missions, WILL net you a profit throughout the day.

 

Edit: Oh and I forgot to mention all the slicing lockboxes you find during questing. Add all these up, and you'll get $$.

Edited December 28, 2011 by strakt

[Pansophist]

I just went through another 40 pages of replies only to see Bioware still hasn't responded to this issue.

 

They nerfed slicing because people could max slicing early on. All they had to do was put a level cap in the gathering missions according to your level. Silly children see people getting *gasp* 100k credits at level 20...when 100k is only just over double my repair bill at level 50.

[starbust]

Has the guy on the spread sheet factored in the selling of Mission Discovery into his credits earned per min? When I did this using my 10K affection pets (not even sure if it helps them crit more) In a 8 hour play session spamming 3 pets on certain missions I have received 15 mission dicovery from slicing missions, maybe more as I used 2 underworld ones myself. Those ranged from 340skill epic and blue to 115 blues. I have sold 10 of them in one night still left overs in my bags to post again. The most I got for a 340 was 9999 and the least 4k the 115 dropped to 450 credits and some of the middle ones 2K ish all in all my profits are still up from slicing. Im not dropping the skill just yet... Edited December 28, 2011 by starbust

[Putok]

Now that my biochem is leveled a bit, I'm making far more money that way. Purple low level implants are selling like hotcakes at 10k, and blues for 5k. Selling raw mats from diplomacy and investigation also seems to be more profitable than slicing was pre-nerf.

 

When are we going to start hearing cries to nerf those abilities? Not only do I make far more money than the QQers, but it's also their money that I'm taking.

[Deathmvp]

I know lets nerf all the other Garthering professions also. This way when they successed they have a 50, 50 chance of coming back with 90% of the mission cost and no mats. This way it is balced that they call can lose money even when they succed and have nothing to show for it.

 

As of right now Slicing is the only one that you can lose money by failing and lose money when successing in.

[Niveksix]

What is wrong with you people? Sending your crew out on missions and being guaranteed an amazing return on your investment is completely and totally broken. If they kept it the way it is the economy of this game would be sooo F'd down the road.

 

The thing that destroys good games is 100,000,000 people whining all at the same time.

[gongsfiveku]

What I haven't seen in this thread (I have not read the whole thing) is anyone saying Slicing companion skills definitively lose money in the long run. The complaints are more like, "I lost money three times in a row when slicing--it's useless now!" But in fact that is not an adequate sample size to come to any conclusion.

 

Someone needs to run at least a couple hundred slicing missions at max level, log the results in a spreadsheet, and see what the average profit or loss is. Until we've seen these numbers, we have no idea whether Slicing is useful or not in the long run. I don't have time to run these tests with a wife, job, and three kids, but hopefully someone does, and will.

[Deathmvp]

What is wrong with you people? Sending your crew out on missions and being guaranteed an amazing return on your investment is completely and totally broken. If they kept it the way it is the economy of this game would be sooo F'd down the road.

 

The thing that destroys good games is 100,000,000 people whining all at the same time.

 

Ok then how is this fix it to the curent profit margins but never have us loss money on it unless we fail on the mission. I would rather have misson that can get a 1-10% profit each time vs having one that can be -20%-25% profit.

[DarthGammon]

What I haven't seen in this thread (I have not read the whole thing) is anyone saying Slicing companion skills definitively lose money in the long run. The complaints are more like, "I lost money three times in a row when slicing--it's useless now!" But in fact that is not an adequate sample size to come to any conclusion.

 

Someone needs to run at least a couple hundred slicing missions at max level, log the results in a spreadsheet, and see what the average profit or loss is. Until we've seen these numbers, we have no idea whether Slicing is useful or not in the long run. I don't have time to run these tests with a wife, job, and three kids, but hopefully someone does, and will.

 

We shouldnt be losing money on ANY missions.

[hulduet]

Remember your design goals BW, slicing is a mission skill for non-crafters. It is a way for them to utilize the crew skills to make money or get gear without entering the crafting world.

 

Rofl... where did you pull that out of? Link some proof of that BW actually wrote that, please.

[zaroleq]

What I haven't seen in this thread (I have not read the whole thing) is anyone saying Slicing companion skills definitively lose money in the long run. The complaints are more like, "I lost money three times in a row when slicing--it's useless now!" But in fact that is not an adequate sample size to come to any conclusion.

 

Someone needs to run at least a couple hundred slicing missions at max level, log the results in a spreadsheet, and see what the average profit or loss is. Until we've seen these numbers, we have no idea whether Slicing is useful or not in the long run. I don't have time to run these tests with a wife, job, and three kids, but hopefully someone does, and will.

 

Although it may be true that in the long run it isn't negative, the creds/min isn't even worth sending you companions on a 40min mission.

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0Ag6DSToE8ms5dEY1V05ERUp4OGFPZ1Q4VE1CVk9HaWc&toomany=true#gid=0

 

Take a look at the spread sheet, the best recorded missions give 12 creds/min. It's more profitable to sit and camp a single spawn point then it is to send companions on slicing missions.

[Niveksix]

Ok then how is this fix it to the curent profit margins but never have us loss money on it unless we fail on the mission. I would rather have misson that can get a 1-10% profit each time vs having one that can be -20%-25% profit.

 

 

So would the rest of America. The gathering professions seem more like a gambling system. You have a chance to gain, but most of the time your spending money.

 

If they make it to easy to earn tons of cash credits won't be worth anything and we will all start trading with Stones of Jordan or something.

[DavePete]

There's nothing OP about slicing. What's "OP" is my common sense. You're welcome to come try to give me a lobotomy if you'd like.

 

Completely agree with your post. I began to notice a steep increase in cost of living as I approached level 30 that "milking" slicing didn't seem to make up for. I turned to selling cybertech gear on the GTN to pad my wallet. I'm already at 400 slicing and I don't see it being the cash cow low-level players seem to think it is. It simply does not sustain the player at higher levels....well, now it REALLY does not.

 

An earlier post made a point of saying that slicing ranks should be opened up to the player only if their character is actually at that level range or higher. This seems to make the most sense:

 

1) It stops the low levels players from maxing it out early on (which is where the "OP" seems to be derriving from).

Level 15: "Wow, I just made 2k off that mission?! I'm rich"

Level 30: "Wow, I just made 2k off that mission... Damn, 5 more missions (IF I get all greens) until I can afford a skill"

 

2) It allows the slicing cash flow to be distributed at the intended level ranges

 

Ultimately, slicing actually seems to be the inferior money making solution at high levels. It certainly does not appear to be the means to a financial end. All that said, I'd like to hear from a 400 slicer that actually made it to 50 before this patch hit. How did slicing cash flow compare to repair bills, skills, bank\inventory slots, mounts, gear, etc?

[Damon_Mott]

Except slicing doesn't craft things...

 

No, but it yeilds Augments, something no other crew skill can do. Augments are used in upper tier PvP and Raid raid modifiable armor.

 

Slicing was never designed to be a free credit making skill. It is a gathering profession, so gather augments as intended.

[Pansophist]

What I haven't seen in this thread (I have not read the whole thing) is anyone saying Slicing companion skills definitively lose money in the long run. The complaints are more like, "I lost money three times in a row when slicing--it's useless now!" But in fact that is not an adequate sample size to come to any conclusion.

 

Someone needs to run at least a couple hundred slicing missions at max level, log the results in a spreadsheet, and see what the average profit or loss is. Until we've seen these numbers, we have no idea whether Slicing is useful or not in the long run. I don't have time to run these tests with a wife, job, and three kids, but hopefully someone does, and will.

 

I ran them all yesterday, ended up with a positive gain of 3000 credits after about 7 hours. Granted, I have max affection on 2 of my companions, so my chance to crit was higher. Those without the chance to crit might end up posting a net loss.

[Pansophist]

No, but it yeilds Augments, something no other crew skill can do. Augments are used in upper tier PvP and Raid raid modifiable armor.

 

Slicing was never designed to be a free credit making skill. It is a gathering profession, so gather augments as intended.

 

Yes, the augment argument. ....Again, and it still doesn't work.

[hulduet]

What is wrong with you people? Sending your crew out on missions and being guaranteed an amazing return on your investment is completely and totally broken.

 

Yeah, because the other way around is so much better. Send your companion away at a COST + DURATION.

 

I don't know who at BW thought it was a good design to attach a cost to the duration. Like the duration isn't bad enough.

 

As for slicing, just remove it and be done with it.

[angrydurf]

Slicing is profitable on nodes not missions just like every other gathering profession. Missions are for a shot at the big selling Items (Missions, and Cybertech designs) and will lose you money just like you lose money on every other gathering skill mission but get a chance at rare resources.

 

If you want money from cybertech go out and farm nodes. You'll make lots of cash. If you want to make money off missions use mission skills. Those will net you profitable resources for the GTN on success.

 

Also note that the set up of slicing missions being always profitable pretty much made it an open invitation for credit farmers to exploit. Removing that is a good thing.

Edited December 28, 2011 by angrydurf

[gongsfiveku]

We shouldnt be losing money on ANY missions.

 

Losing money on a few missions is nothing if it's making money in the long run.

[braf]

All that said, I'd like to hear from a 400 slicer that actually made it to 50 before this patch hit. How did slicing cash flow compare to repair bills, skills, bank\inventory slots, mounts, gear, etc?

 

I qualify to answer this, I guess. While I leveled I bought a ton of stupid flavor items, a second cargo bay, full rank 5 ship upgrades. I still had a ridiculous amount of credits when I hit 50, paid for all my skills, my friend's speeder and speeder training.. spent about half of what I had, really. Now I'm almost back to where I was when I reached 50, even after the nerf, because I stopped sending companions out to farm and started doing it myself.

 

It's still awfully easy to make credits hand over fist, but people need to stop trying to use the missions and go strictly gathering. There are plenty of places filled with faction-friendly NPCs (or no NPCs) that spawn a lot of slicing nodes.. this includes Ilum, which I know has been mentioned before.