Gems?

[Deleted]

So I'm curious as to what you guys think about the new socket system with the introduction of the epic gems. I've heard different opinions and ideas on the subject but only from my small group of friends/guildies so I wanna know if you guys/gals agree or not.

I personally understand the appeal of the new system yet hate it at the same time. As someone who loves to min max and tries to aim for decent percentile rankings the idea that two people in the exact same ilvl can have such a difference in power level due to nothing other than luck really gets to me. Some people try to go a bit too far and compare 0 gems to 16 which obviously will cause a ridiculous difference, but more realistically comparing say my gear to our shamans where I have 1 socket and they have 8 the difference is pretty noticeable. With the epic gems 7 sockets is equivalent to 525 secondary stats which is a pretty insane amount depending on how valuable your top secondary stat can be depending on your class. Also the idea of finally getting that BiS item to drop on the 8th kill of a boss, only to see it is neither warforged or socketed so its still really sub-par.

Some ideas I've heard is either capping the amount of gems you can have in your gear, or allowing you to add a socket into your gear via a weekly quest or some farmable resource, I wouldn't mind having to farm something like mythic dungeons each week to socket a piece of gear (similar to how upgrades and valor used to work) but other's seem to be against it.

So what do you guys think?

[Deleted]

I don't care about ranks, but we're approaching a point where a gem slot is a difficulty level worth of upgrade for certain slots/specs.
I kinda like it, keeps you coming back for more. Epic gems were super unnecessary this time around, but whatever.

This will majorly fuck up the ranking systems, especially the 'you ranked x percentile in your ilvl range' xD

[Jondar]

I dislike it because there's less options to customize my character. But at the same time, with the spec-ping pong it means I save more gold on gems since there's less sockets.

[Deztru]

The epic gems will be ridiculously expensive for +25 stat compared to the rare ones.

That is if they go live as they are on the ptr.

[Mormolyce]

I want to know how this person managed to get 7 sockets. Is he the only Mail wearer in your raid group or something?

The epic gems will be ridiculously expensive for +25 stat compared to the rare ones.

That is if they go live as they are on the ptr.

I hope so. So many JC daily mats in my bags.

THINK OF THE MARGINS *DROOL*

[Deleted]

I like the idea of rolling a socket on gear, However they need a system to see it on tier gear BEFORE you roll the token. Will make things nicer

[Deleted]

As someone who loves to min max and tries to aim for decent percentile rankings the idea that two people in the exact same ilvl can have such a difference in power level due to nothing other than luck really gets to me.

Sockets and warforged upgrades make such a large difference and, especially with sockets not even being taken into account with item level, there is a huge slice of luck involved in your damage potential. For example I have no sockets at all, but am one of the few in my guild to have a warforged weapon so it's not all bad. But it's all down to luck.

Now, from Blizzard's point of view, they may argue that ranks and percentiles are an external feature of the game that isn't created or even endorsed by them.

[tuesday the paladin]

I don't care about ranks, but we're approaching a point where a gem slot is a difficulty level worth of upgrade for certain slots/specs.
I kinda like it, keeps you coming back for more. Epic gems were super unnecessary this time around, but whatever.

This will majorly fuck up the ranking systems, especially the 'you ranked x percentile in your ilvl range' xD

I think blizzard is adding epic gems to keep warforged and socket provide similar performance boosts. 6 extra ilvl is better at ilvl 725 than it is at ilvl690, while a socket is always a static 50 stat gain.

[Jellospally]

I want to know how this person managed to get 7 sockets. Is he the only Mail wearer in your raid group or something?

I have 9 and im not the only plate wearer. It just happens based on drops and who has the worse item.

And ya... I can't wait I have 7500 Taladite crystals on my 4 JCs its gonna be fun hopefully.

[Bluesftw]

rng on rng on rng is just bad game design

[theburned]

So I'm curious as to what you guys think about the new socket system with the introduction of the epic gems. I've heard different opinions and ideas on the subject but only from my small group of friends/guildies so I wanna know if you guys/gals agree or not.

I personally understand the appeal of the new system yet hate it at the same time. As someone who loves to min max and tries to aim for decent percentile rankings the idea that two people in the exact same ilvl can have such a difference in power level due to nothing other than luck really gets to me. Some people try to go a bit too far and compare 0 gems to 16 which obviously will cause a ridiculous difference, but more realistically comparing say my gear to our shamans where I have 1 socket and they have 8 the difference is pretty noticeable. With the epic gems 7 sockets is equivalent to 525 secondary stats which is a pretty insane amount depending on how valuable your top secondary stat can be depending on your class. Also the idea of finally getting that BiS item to drop on the 8th kill of a boss, only to see it is neither warforged or socketed so its still really sub-par.

The epic gem is just so that a socket slot won't be vastly inferior to it's other option, which is warforged. Thus it should not be any difference compared to what it has been the rest of this expansion, so I don't see why you are suddenly crying for a change that is quite old at this point.

and waiting for an item to drop only to see it being inferior, isn't that a positive effect? The item you've wanted all along is actually worse than what you got already.
Though while I can see this being very situational, downing a later boss first time only to see some piece of shit item drop is annoying, but also if you have 2 chances of getting an item and the wf or socket item which is superior to the other item with nothing on it, I would consider that good game design (wheter or not socket/wf is good game design in the first place is a different question though.)

[overdose]

The epic gem is just so that a socket slot won't be vastly inferior to it's other option, which is warforged. Thus it should not be any difference compared to what it has been the rest of this expansion, so I don't see why you are suddenly crying for a change that is quite old at this point.

Actually, outside of weapons and maybe trinkets, gem slot>warforged. This will in turn make warforged vastly inferior to its other option.

[Illiterate]

I hate the wod gem/enchant system. It was much better before.

[theburned]

Actually, outside of weapons and maybe trinkets, gem slot>warforged. This will in turn make warforged vastly inferior to its other option.

have you even done any math on this? while for weapons and trinkets wf will be by far superior, and for expensive pieces wf and socket will be roughly equal, for any 1250 value items like rings/bracers/cloak/neck (which wf is quite good due to extra amounts of bonus armor/spirit) gems will be better, meaning that for some of your pieces sockets are better and for some wf is better, which is good. For the 1750 items socket is in a slight lead, expecting a ilvl buff somewhere in the expansion too, this should move weapons/trinkets wf further ahead, and move them more into the same.

- - - Updated - - -

I hate the wod gem/enchant system. It was much better before.

you mean the one where you could never really have a meaning full choice like choosing crit vs spirit on cloak, both of which were practically useless for some healers, and having to enchant almost every single piece, gem system is not even compareable to the old gem system, and should be compared to wf and/or enchanting. The old system is gone.

[Dole4011]

I see gems (and wf and tertiary stats) as perks. Cool when I get them, but not worried when I don't. I main a healer, generally, so I'm not as competitive as I am when I dps, so maybe that's why it doesn't bother me as much. But generally speaking, if other people doing well is going to make you feel bad, maybe the problem isn't the system.

[Thelxi]

Not a fan. Yet another layer of timesink RNG plastered on top.

[overdose]

have you even done any math on this? while for weapons and trinkets wf will be by far superior, and for expensive pieces wf and socket will be roughly equal, for any 1250 value items like rings/bracers/cloak/neck (which wf is quite good due to extra amounts of bonus armor/spirit) gems will be better, meaning that for some of your pieces sockets are better and for some wf is better, which is good. For the 1750 items socket is in a slight lead, expecting a ilvl buff somewhere in the expansion too, this should move weapons/trinkets wf further ahead, and move them more into the same.

You just asked me if I have done any math on this and literally repeated what I said in much more words. Also, I highly doubt they're going to increase the wf ilvl difference.

[Deleted]

I feel like im the only one who wants the return of gear with loads of gem slots. I love the idea of gemming/enchanting and reforging gear, whereas I hate the system of random chances at amazing gear after anywhere from 1-1000 kills of a boss

[FuxieDK]

Gems matter so little, nowadays, since so little gear have sockets.

JC is probably the profession that was hit the hardest, when Blizzard decided to ruin all professions..

[Deleted]

Gems matter so little, nowadays, since so little gear have sockets.

JC is probably the profession that was hit the hardest, when Blizzard decided to ruin all professions..

Gem matter much more because so few items of gear have sockets. The difference between having no sockets and half a dozen is huge. JC remains one of the few professions that has a very stable income if you choose to use it that way; I really don't know why you think otherwise.