How i designed my unique - Skyforth Sorcerer Boots

I think it's fine if the support intentionally wants the item to worthless/low level/hyper niche. It's their money.

What I do not think is fine is if GGG underdesigns items because they feel it would be too overpowered but ultimately the end result is not from the above when the user truly and clearly wants the item to see play in end game builds and maps.

The best example of an item that was clearly intended to be used end-game never quite made it:
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Kongor's_Undying_Rage

An item that was clearly intended for a niche but was grossly underdesigned:
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Maloney's_Nightfall

An item that had a meaningful niche and a select few that absolutely adored it and was still unjustly nerfed to the ground:
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/The_Blood_Dance

The third example is what I think support uniques should strive to be: interesting, not universally powerful and art/lore that fits the item's properties.

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Skyforth schrieb:

These would not be ilvl gated if it wasn't for my request. Why would GGG balance around rarity? They can't. It has to be balanced to be balanced, doesn't matter how many or how little people have it. Why do people keep thinking it's balanced based on rarity? It's NOT. Rarity is 100% fucking irrelevant. Like i said, these boots would have the exact same stats if I set no ilvl restriction.

Take a step and think about what you just said, "Designing a unique for the 1% (or less) is a bit of a waste of a unique design".

Do you really think the 1%, or even the 0.1% or even 0.01% will get these as a drop? No of course not. No one will practically ever get these as a drop. This means the only/main way to acquire these boots are through chancing. ANYONE can chance them. I certainly can't in that regard.

That's blatantly untrue. The only reason it is allowed as many powerful mods as it has is due to its rarity. GGG would not allow Acuity to drop off of Normal Hillock, and they would not have allowed these boots if they costed less than they do.

Also, they're painfully, obviously a chance target. ~No one is going to get them as a drop. Making them ilvl84 to drop is just saying "these don't drop, you must chance them". The actual probability of hitting the chance is where GGG can tune the rarity lever, and they have no problem making it take thousands of chances (and bases or scourings). That cost is what stops it from being usable by the vast majority of players.

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Skyforth schrieb:

2) I've played lowlife characters for a very very long time. Low life is perhaps one of my favourite builds despite how shit they may/are/can be (depending on patch). Lowlife characters were always known as the expensive as fuck, only endgame 1000+ hours played build. Maybe YOU don't have the experience to understand or identify what a lowlife build is defined by. But I do, and those who can relate will see the opportunities from these mods do.

Yeah, well let me tell you about my dick size. I have the character named Lowlife. I've been playing low life builds for four years and got to watch them get turned from something interesting to something boring.

The archetype itself was fine until Shav's showed up and everyone started jerking each other off over how "expensive" the build is, to the point where it became a goal unto itself. A laundry list of powerful items enabled the highest combined damage and defense the game has seen until GGG took a nerf hammer to every part involved (and had to rewrite aura reservations twice).

The modern low life build has little to do with the real trade-off of risk for reward and everything to do with rote min/max and spreadsheet mastery. You don't need 1000+ hours endgame /played to do middle school arithmetic.

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Skyforth schrieb:

3) This is my unique design, not GGG's (for the most part) and definitely not yours. You can design your own unique with your own thoughts and ideologies. Perhaps other players realms of thinking are not aligned with mine, or GGG's or someone else's. Maybe i didn't want "vendor trash". Is that wrong? Of course not. Opinions can't be wrong. And maybe i didn't want a story? Why do i need a story? What is your story? Nvm i don't give a fuck. Once again it's about differing thoughts and opinions.

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pneuma schrieb:

Designing a unique for the 1% (or less) is a bit of a waste ... but it's Skyforth's decision to make.

Like I said? It's my opinion that your choice was a poor one and opinions can't be wrong. Lacking any interesting story just doubles-down on the reality that these boots are a quintessentially boring, rare power item. In MtG terms, win-more.

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If I had known that you were going to throw a fit in public I would have just kept my commentary to myself. I'm glad you supported and I'm glad that you did what you set out to do.

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Nephalim schrieb:

What I do not think is fine is if GGG underdesigns items because they feel it would be too overpowered but ultimately the end result is not from the above when the user truly and clearly wants the item to see play in end game builds and maps.

Well said.

What I'm annoyed about is that 99% of uniques are already trash. Then they just keep moving more and more uniques into the trash list.

We get it GGG! You like uniques to be 'level only' or 'race only use for 1 race then discard'.

But seriously, GGG should at least give more lee-way to the uniques that are strong and are mean't to be strong.

The 1 question GGG needs to ask themselves is this:

When a unique drops, are the players genuinely excited to get the unique?

In 99% of cases, it's a flat no. I feel uniques in general need a complete overhaul. A complete rebalance.

The first step is to actually STOP nerfing the fun/interesting uniques. The thing i feel that is holding this game back is that there is no 'wow' factor on reaching end game. There needs to be more end-game/build defining uniques!!

That's why i think skyforth is at least interesting... and in the right direction of this game.

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pneuma schrieb:

That's blatantly untrue. The only reason it is allowed as many powerful mods as it has is due to its rarity. GGG would not allow Acuity to drop off of Normal Hillock, and they would not have allowed these boots if they costed less than they do.

Also, they're painfully, obviously a chance target. ~No one is going to get them as a drop. Making them ilvl84 to drop is just saying "these don't drop, you must chance them". The actual probability of hitting the chance is where GGG can tune the rarity lever, and they have no problem making it take thousands of chances (and bases or scourings). That cost is what stops it from being usable by the vast majority of players.

Acuity doesn't drop of normal hillock because it's not an appropriate reward. It's not "doesn't drop off hillock" because it's too rare, or you would have a 1/10000000000000 chance to get off hillock, and 1/80 chance from Uber Atziri. Eitherway rarity is determined after a unique is finished. Using your logic, we could have an infinitely rare unique be infinitely powerful which makes no sense. But of course that's not the case.

I think you and many others think of balance to be somehow related to how often people can get them when it should obviously be segregated. What difference would it make that only 1 person could get it or everyone can get it towards it's balance? If only 1 person had it the item would be balanced but if the everyone had the same item it's suddenly unbalanced and game breaking even though not everyone was using it (e.g in this case life builds, blood magic builds etc etc etc)? Where's the logic in that?

I believe that it's based on appropriateness. X unique is balanced, but is only appropriate for X amount of people. Y unique is.... etc etc. You understand what i'm trying to say?

I wanted it to be for the most part chance only, I mean that's the whole point. Not sure why you're repeating my words. Also wanted to have some sort of potential reward for those who undertake the challenge of completing T15 bosses which is a feat of it's own.

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pneuma schrieb:

Yeah, well let me tell you about my dick size. I have the character named Lowlife. I've been playing low life builds for four years and got to watch them get turned from something interesting to something boring.

The archetype itself was fine until Shav's showed up and everyone started jerking each other off over how "expensive" the build is, to the point where it became a goal unto itself. A laundry list of powerful items enabled the highest combined damage and defense the game has seen until GGG took a nerf hammer to every part involved (and had to rewrite aura reservations twice).

The modern low life build has little to do with the real trade-off of risk for reward and everything to do with rote min/max and spreadsheet mastery. You don't need 1000+ hours endgame /played to do middle school arithmetic.

I only brought up lowlife because that was one of the core ideas (along with CI) behind the unique. I don't care about your lack thereof epeen. I don't think you even understand the era of 1.0 lowlife where myself fyndel and flubby brought it forward with build guides. Shav's didn't mean anything unless there was the gear to support it. And there began the misunderstandings of lowlife in a nutshell. Lowlife, in the post shavs era practically demanded a level 95+ character. Why should the most powerful gear in the game both rare and unique wise not enable the highest damage in game? Once again, where's your logic in it.

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pneuma schrieb:

Like I said? It's my opinion that your choice was a poor one and opinions can't be wrong. Lacking any interesting story just doubles-down on the reality that these boots are a quintessentially boring, rare power item. In MtG terms, win-more.

Absolutely, as i said differing opinions. But just because you can't see the story doesn't mean there isn't one. I literally just told you a story.

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pneuma schrieb:

If I had known that you were going to throw a fit in public I would have just kept my commentary to myself. I'm glad you supported and I'm glad that you did what you set out to do.

Well, just clearing up some misconceptions, had i known you were to take offense I wouldn't replied but this was addressed to others as well who kept saying rarity rarity rarity that's why it's balanced, which from my standpoint i feel like was not the case. It should be on the highest rarity level but even then that's the same as void battery and whatnot but i just made it so it wouldn't drop so easily. There are definitely uniques which are very rare (like Charan's first sword?) but aren't exactly "omg so stronk". There's no logic to your argument.

Tell me how an item that only 1 person owns is balanced but when 1000+ people own it then it's unbalanced in terms of game mechanics. I want to hear your idea.

The "old archetype" as you call it was fine, but why can't you use it now? Yea, shavs route is potentially stronger but you do need to get a shavs.

It's about time this game got an interesting unique. I'm sick and tired of seeing all the crap level 70+ pretender uniques that have been flushed into this game by supporters.

I'd rather they make a powerful unique that maybe gets nerfed later, instead of more junk

The boots are great for pretty much any CI/lowlife build. That's what you wanted, that's what you got. (I guess)
And I'm happy you got what you wanted, even though I think they are in fact too powerful for those builds, but whatever.

What pisses me off so much about these boots though is seeing how other top tier supporters are treated (not me personally, haven't designed my unique yet) compared to what you experienced.
Seriously GGG, how can you allow an item with so many benefits while constantly beating down other supporter's design ideas deeming them too powerful when they would grant a fraction of what we got here. What is the thought process behind this? Is there one? wtf!

TL;DR
it's the fact that GGG apparently arbitrarily decides what uniques are powerful and what aren't thhat pisses me (and maybe others off) It's just not fair. Quite dissapointed honestly. :(

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RagnarokX schrieb:

No idea how these boots made it through balancing and QA.

i dislike the boots. way too powerful....a new legacy item is born...even more legacy shit flying around.

Thank you for creating those! Finally a new, exiting item that is both desirable and rare! We need more goals like this to "work" towards!