Slicing post-nerf, please look at the numbers BW

[ryancwn]

Welcome to the club at that point. Should you have a special skill that makes you money just clicking a button? None of the other professions have that option. Slicing still is able to obtain augments and craft missions, and even go for coin with the rare chance of gaining profit. UNLIKE everyone else though, when you are out questing and see a node, you are getting credits.

 

Like I said, avoid having idle companions going out for coins, and play the market just like every other crafter has to. Or don't, that is another option.

 

The money return from slicing is fixed and capped while the money return for end game crafting is not capped at all. And if you are crafting blue gear at low level, you are doing it wrong. Learn about crafting in MMO first because otherwise, you will lose money on crafting for every MMO. You don't craft gear that can be replacble easily. Exceptional Orange gear is much prefered.

[Arconon]

Welcome to the club at that point. Should you have a special skill that makes you money just clicking a button? None of the other professions have that option. Slicing still is able to obtain augments and craft missions, and even go for coin with the rare chance of gaining profit. UNLIKE everyone else though, when you are out questing and see a node, you are getting credits.

 

Like I said, avoid having idle companions going out for coins, and play the market just like every other crafter has to. Or don't, that is another option.

 

Wrong!

Every gathering mission (if it succeeds) returns sth. such as crafting mats.

Now, the lockbox slicing missions very often return nothing (as in less credits than you spent).

In which way does this mission make sense at all?!?!?!

 

And don't say to lvl up the crew skill because at lvl 400 this isn't valid any longer.

[AilsaH]

The problem is that people like me (Cybertech/Salvaging/Underworld Trading) go through a ton of credits just to gather enough ingredients to make something just to Reverse Engineer it for the chance of a better schematic. It usually takes several creations being Reverse Engineered before you learn the purple schematic. Also, getting the rare purple mat from the Underworld Trading missions is extremely rare.

 

Yes, I can ultimately make something that might fetch a nice sum on the GTN, but will it be enough to cover the cost of making that item? In my experience, no it didn't. And now, like someone else pointed out, people will be more frugal with their credits so my items will be even less likely to sell for the price I would need to make a profit.

 

That is why I thought a better solution would have been to add a vendor trash bonus item to the rich/bountiful gathering missions so that those losses could be offset instead of nerfing slicing into oblivion.

[OklahomaSooner]

I never log into the forum to complain but I can attest to this... I have two chars with slicing >300 and the prof is pretty much useless now. I actually lose money rather than gain it, and yes I agree it was too much before. I was making a killing for very little work - but cutting it to this extreme is pointless.

 

Im not going to drop it yet because I hope it will be fixed... but if it's not fixed by the time I hit 50 then it's gone. Kinda sad really, I was enjoying that prof very much. A 20% hit on the numbers would have been fine and definitely acceptable but now it's nerfed to the point it makes no sense to level it. Lose money and get no materials... ya, that's wise

 

This.

[AilsaH]

Got my mount skills, got max bag space, upgraded ship, lots of stuff in bank.

 

 

I ain't even mad.

 

Why would you be mad? You got your stuff before the nerf.

[ryancwn]

The problem is that people like me (Cybertech/Salvaging/Underworld Trading) go through a ton of credits just to gather enough ingredients to make something just to Reverse Engineer it for the chance of a better schematic. It usually takes several creations being Reverse Engineered before you learn the purple schematic. Also, getting the rare purple mat from the Underworld Trading missions is extremely rare.

 

Yes, I can ultimately make something that might fetch a nice sum on the GTN, but will it be enough to cover the cost of making that item? In my experience, no it didn't. And now, like someone else pointed out, people will be more frugal with their credits so my items will be even less likely to sell for the price I would need to make a profit.

 

That is why I thought a better solution would have been to add a vendor trash bonus item to the rich/bountiful gathering missions so that those losses could be offset instead of nerfing slicing into oblivion.

 

Why are you crafting blue and purple gear? Those should be done when you have 'EXTRA' credit. They are not ESSENTIAL and will be replaced sooner or later.

[Kazro]

What I personally think would be beneficial to the game is this…

 

1) Restore Slicers to their launch settings…

2) Give all Crafters an epic gear set that is on par with pvp/pre-heroic gear (and better than Corellia’s gear commendation gear).

3) Reduce other professions crafting time OR increase the yield a bit.

 

This should at least be a temporary fix to balance things out, bring all gathering professions into line (hopefully), give crafters something to made for the end game but doesn’t overextend and gives people with cash something to buy.

 

If this requires moving some numbers around on pvp and heroic gear, then i say its well worth it. Rather then punishing professions that make money, make sure all professions profitable.

[pryt]

Btw., I will start a Skill 300 purple Slicing Mission now.

 

 

~~~~~

Hidden in the Jungle - 1h 54m 40s - Cost: Cr 2570

 

The ornate golden locker you found hides the encryption key to a data cache on Onderon. Send your companion to locate it.

 

Wealthy yield: Level 42 - 48 Augments and Class 5 Lockboxes.

~~~~

 

I will let you know the results and yields. Mako will need only 1h 30m for it to finish, thanks to her efficiency.

 

 

So, mission finished ...

 

I got: a green 'Jeweled Medium Credit Box' and an 'Advanced Shield Augment 20', purple, +24 Shield Rating. The lockbox yielded 1617 credits. Will see if anyone is interested in that Augment.

 

Well, didn't expect much, but at least 2 Augments could have been in, or 2 blue lockboxes, or at least another mission / cybertech schematic. Seriously, it was an almost 2h mission which was only reduced by Mako's mission efficiency.

 

 

As a small comparison, a 300 skill purple Underworld Mission yielded 1 gift and a small amount of every Underworld Metal / Luxury Fabric (blue and purple each).

Edited December 28, 2011 by pryt

[Lexster]

The money return from slicing is fixed and capped while the money return for end game crafting is not capped at all. And if you are crafting blue gear at low level, you are doing it wrong. Learn about crafting in MMO first because otherwise, you will lose money on crafting for every MMO. You don't craft gear that can be replacble easily. Exceptional Orange gear is much prefered.

 

Again, you are overlooking the value of running from node to node and increasing your wallet. Nobody else has this option. People can claim that augs and such suck and dont sell, but really its the same for most crafted goods period. Comm merchants sell the equivalent to what crafters make, excepting the purple items. They are cheaper, more efficient to use when leveling.

 

Other crafters have to send out for mats to make greens, then RE until they get the recipe(and there are many REs per item), then they have to go back out for more mats plus blue mats, RE again, then go out for mats, blues, and the rare purple mats. By the time all that is gathered, people have moved on to new gear. Even endgame, the best mats dont come from other crewskills, they come from raided materials.

 

When you have people in game that use one skill out of many that allows them to max cargo holds, mounts, skills, backpack slots, etc, what do you expect to happen.

[pSyToR]

Slicing is a total joke after the nerf. Lockboxes are yeilding less money then it costs to send companion to a missing. Each mission takes anywhere from 25 to 30+ minutes at highest and pre-highest slicing level. What is the point of this profession now?

 

Oh, and by the way thanks for telling us in advance, that you going to nerf slicing Bioware, I really enjoyed leveling a profession to 382 that I am about to dump. Good job.

 

You're joking right ??? Please tell me you were...

 

Since when an MMO dev team would tell you

 

"Ohhhh yeah guys by the way we heard from blabbering people that Slicing was making too much credits... So we'll just nerf... At least we told you..."

 

I would just imagine the reaction.........

[KalenDarkmoon]

Again, you are overlooking the value of running from node to node and increasing your wallet. Nobody else has this option. People can claim that augs and such suck and dont sell, but really its the same for most crafted goods period. Comm merchants sell the equivalent to what crafters make, excepting the purple items. They are cheaper, more efficient to use when leveling.

 

Other crafters have to send out for mats to make greens, then RE until they get the recipe(and there are many REs per item), then they have to go back out for more mats plus blue mats, RE again, then go out for mats, blues, and the rare purple mats. By the time all that is gathered, people have moved on to new gear. Even endgame, the best mats dont come from other crewskills, they come from raided materials.

 

When you have people in game that use one skill out of many that allows them to max cargo holds, mounts, skills, backpack slots, etc, what do you expect to happen.

 

Uhm, excuse me here but I see a fatal flaw to your argument. You too as can any other gather/harvester go out and harvest their nodes (metals/crystals/etc) for money. You just sell the resources to a vendor and voila you also have credits from harvesting your nodes. So lets nerf the other companion gathering skills as well so that you only get useless trash that are worth a similar amount of credits as the now nerfed lockboxes.

[Mikuro]

Just sent two companions out on the 41-48 missions, the Rich ones. I have 400 slicing.

 

Each mission was 2045 credits to run.

 

What i got back in return?

 

1489

1888

 

Total Cost to run: 4090

Total Return (Green boxes): 3377

 

Total Loss: 713

 

I just lost 713 credits for... what? Why have a skill at 400 slicing when the sole purpose of it is to make credits, yet when I send them out for lockboxes to get those credits I lose vastly in the long run? At least the other gathering professions get back mats that have a use in some way or form, now I'm just blowing my credits on thin air.

[ryancwn]

Again, you are overlooking the value of running from node to node and increasing your wallet. Nobody else has this option. People can claim that augs and such suck and dont sell, but really its the same for most crafted goods period. Comm merchants sell the equivalent to what crafters make, excepting the purple items. They are cheaper, more efficient to use when leveling.

 

Other crafters have to send out for mats to make greens, then RE until they get the recipe(and there are many REs per item), then they have to go back out for more mats plus blue mats, RE again, then go out for mats, blues, and the rare purple mats. By the time all that is gathered, people have moved on to new gear. Even endgame, the best mats dont come from other crewskills, they come from raided materials.

 

When you have people in game that use one skill out of many that allows them to max cargo holds, mounts, skills, backpack slots, etc, what do you expect to happen.

 

I'm not overlooking because I have several crafting alt and I know how crafting works.

 

I have crafting alt on live and I leveled my crafting skill in beta have no problem with money at all. You don't send your companion every time it comes back and you don't RE everything. About the crafting stuff. It is true for every MMO that crafting blue or purple gear around LAUNCH is not worthy because nobody buy them and they simply move on. You craft them only if you are lucky with RE roll and able to craft it while leveling the skill. You don't aim to craft them from the get go. Thats just stupid and waste of money.

[DvP_]

You're joking right ??? Please tell me you were...

 

Since when an MMO dev team would tell you

 

"Ohhhh yeah guys by the way we heard from blabbering people that Slicing was making too much credits... So we'll just nerf... At least we told you..."

 

I would just imagine the reaction.........

 

I'd love any reaction I could get out of the BW dev team. Their lack of communication on a number of subjects is a little disturbing.

 

As far as the nerf goes; I would have completely understood "bringing it in line with other professions". What they made was a knee jerk reaction to everyone complaining about that one guildy who flaunted their credit counts in guild chat. I can't imagine BW keeping these numbers as is for very long.

Edited December 28, 2011 by DvP_

[pSyToR]

It was beyond ridiculous, you have to admit.

Now it's brought down to where you have to sell the extra missions and stuff that you get to make profit, just like other profs. When you factor in the extras, you'll still make money it looks like, just not brainlessly like before.

 

Yeah but did you consider this ???

 

Most of the slicers that were in guilds were sharing those schems/mission with others...

 

Now I guess Guildies will pass second and everything will go on GTN

[Onager]

I kept slicing because it was at 400, and I still like it for mucking around the countryside. However, I won't be sending companions on slicing missions until they fix it. It shouldn't be a black hole into which Credits disappear. The current implementation of Slicing missions just tells me that BioWare simply didn't test this change to see if the magnitude of it made any sense. You should, around 75% to 80% of the time, make some kind of negligible gain from a lockbox when you send your companion.

 

They can downgrade the amount in the lockbox if you get another item along with it, but to pay more to get a lockbox than is in the lockbox, especially once you're at 400 skill, makes absolutely no logical sense from the players' standpoint, zero, and that can't possibly be working as intended.

 

If the idea was to bring Slicing in line with the other gathering/mission crew skills, you lose money to get other forms of material compensation. You don't just lose money to lose money. That can't be the intent behind this nerf. I'm cool with a nerf if it doesn't make lockbox missions useless. But in their current state, I'm going to be doing a lot of Treasure Hunting until they deem it OP and nerf it, too. *knock on my mother-in-law's head*

Edited December 28, 2011 by Onager

[Pansophist]

I'd love any reaction I could get out of the BW dev team. Their lack of communication on a number of subjects is a little disturbing.

 

As far as the nerf goes; I would have completely understood "bringing it in line with other professions". What they made was a knee jerk reaction to everyone complaining about that one guildy who flaunted their credit counts in guild chat. I can't imagine BW keeping these numbers as is for very long.

 

Yeah, I funded my guild's mounts, professions, and repairs. We had a couple slicers to fund everything, the rest were useful (ahem, useful) crafting abilities.

 

I agree it was overpowered and needed a nerf..but this was a little much.

[curzen]

dropped slicing. watching a movie, sending three companions on UT missions. It's up to 71 already.

I'm glad I jumped on the slicing band wagon when there still was money to be made.

 

I'd admittedly be mad if I only knew now that there's some players with mad money stashes and I couldn't semi afk my way to such riches the same way they did.

[Echriado]

This thread brings up a good topic for discussion. The slicing profession should not even exist in the game anymore. Reasons? Here we go.

 

 

It provides only credits and schematics for cybernetics/mission discoveries. Now that the credits have been nerfed, there really is no need for this profession. Reasons? Here we go.

 

 

I am 400/400 on slicing, through my leveling up process, I have gotten 4 Hotrigged speeder schematics and EVERY SINGLE epic schematic for grade 5 ship upgrades. To be frank, this is too high of a drop rate. On my server, these schematics sell for 10k AT MOST. This is a bad model for economy as the makers can turn around and sell these items for 50K+. Slicers truly only made money off of the mission discoveries and getting these credit boxes, which now have been nerfed.

 

My suggestion: Remove slicing from the game and add the rewards to treasure hunting/diplomacy because realistically, slicing shouldn't be in the game to begin with because of it's mechanics.

[Lexster]

Uhm, excuse me here but I see a fatal flaw to your argument. You too as can any other gather/harvester go out and harvest their nodes (metals/crystals/etc) for money. You just sell the resources to a vendor and voila you also have credits from harvesting your nodes. So lets nerf the other companion gathering skills as well so that you only get useless trash that are worth a similar amount of credits as the now nerfed lockboxes.

 

Because vendoring resources proves profitable? We are talking about obtaining very small amounts of materials vs hundreds of credits. When clicking a node for a material, the average yield is 2-3 materials. When sending a companion out, the average yield is 8-10. For the amount of time it takes them, and the little return, that in itself is a loss. Then to say you could vendor it for money? Even on the GTN, materials are selling for 15-22ish credits a unit on my server.

 

For a player that has no desire to either craft or gather materials to sell to others, slicing is still the most profitable choice. They can forgo sending companions out on missions and click nodes in game for extra money as they run across them. Should a person wish to play around with making/selling, then they can start to look into augments and mission quests.

[CHunterX]

I never used Slicing, so my opinion on whether or not is was over-nerfed isn't truly valid, but from the sound of it, it was. Now, this didn't directly affect me, but it does set a scary precedent as one of the first major balance changes; instead of bringing other crafting professions up to par, they simply nerfed the only good one down to oblivion.

 

I'm worried about Sage/Sorcerer and BH now, instead of buffing the Knight/Warrior classes, they'll probably nerf opposing classes to oblivion to compensate. I don't have a Sage/Sorc, but I'm hesitant of playing my BH and instead focusing on an "average" class. Their stance on how they are going to implement balance changes has been shown, and its most likely going to be heavy nerfs instead of buffs.

[Iamaborat]

A lot of people are mentioning losses. I am literally not seeing any. I'm not getting AS MUCH credits, but I'm not losing any. Do people even know what they're doing? Choose the right missions. It's not that hard.

[aClue]

I'm REALLY hoping VioletZero is a troll at this point. I refuse to believe that one person can still be this monumentally stupid and still be allowed by society and the government to procreate.

[Arconon]

I never used Slicing, so my opinion on whether or not is was over-nerfed isn't truly valid, but from the sound of it, it was. Now, this didn't directly affect me, but it does set a scary precedent as one of the first major balance changes; instead of bringing other crafting professions up to par, they simply nerfed the only good one down to oblivion.

 

I'm worried about Sage/Sorcerer and BH now, instead of buffing the Knight/Warrior classes, they'll probably nerf opposing classes to oblivion to compensate. I don't have a Sage/Sorc, but I'm hesitant of playing my BH and instead focusing on an "average" class. Their stance on how they are going to implement balance changes has been shown, and its most likely going to be heavy nerfs instead of buffs.

 

Good point.

When a game tends to be more frustrating than fun, I usually stop p(l)aying.

I've always recommended this game to friends, today I thought about cancelling my subscription for the first time. Not that anyone cares but for me personally that's not a good sign..................

[Clayburn]

My question is: Should I still send my guys out to slice in my downtime? If I'm throwing money away, then what'st he point?