



The problem: Many early gems have no attribute requirements until they've leveled up a bit. This fine, but it's not obvious what attributes it will need later.



For example: Dual strike is a green gem so obviously it'll need dexterity. But there's nothing to tell the player that one hour later...



... it'll need strength too.



I fell into this trap once. I'd been playing for over a year and I wanted to try a new character, browsed my stash and thought... " Claw lifesteal is a global effect, so dual claws means double the lifesteal on both claws! I'll use Dual Strike and Whirling Blades, they're green! As I discovered later, Dual Strike is a Dex/Str hybrid, and I didn't plan for any strength so I the build I'd spent a two hours planning/playing simply didn't work due to this oversight. The wiki does help, but it's not fun to keep switching to the wiki while browsing your stash, and it doesn't help players that don't know about the wiki.



It's not just a trap for designing new builds, but it's an irritation existing characters. Every time I see a gem drop, my first thought is not "Wow, a new skill! Can I fit it into my build?" but rather "Wow, a new skill! Let's stop the game and open the wiki to see what attributes it uses to see if I can fit it into my build." which takes some the fun out of finding new skills.







Possible Solution: Low level gems should show sub-15 attribute requirements.



For example, Dual Strike's requirements:

Requires Level 1

Requires Level 2

Requires Level 4

Requires Level 8, 15 Dex

Requires Level 12, 14 Str, 21 Dex

Could instead be something like

Requires Level 1, 4 Str, 6 Dex

Requires Level 2, 6 Str, 9 Dex

Requires Level 4, 8 Str, 12 Dex

Requires Level 8, 11 Str, 15 Dex

Requires Level 12, 14 Str, 21 Dex



There may be better ways to do it, hence the vague thread title. Feel free to suggest other solutions! Here's some points about this solution:



Firstly, this should add clarity without making any gameplay change. All our attributes start at 14 or higher and I don't think there's a way to go lower, so having sub-15 requirements shouldn't change what you can equip. I don't think there are any uniques or other gameplay effects that interact with gem requirements (apart form lowering them), but correct me if I'm wrong on that.



Secondly, adding low-end requirements seems like a simple change to make, with no UI or gameplay code work. However as a programmer myself, I know that game systems can be far, far more complex than they seem to the user. I'm not going to tell GGG what's easy in their code, that's for them to decide.



Finally, I'm hoping that adding adding sub-15 requirements would not confuse new player (or irritate old player), but that is definitely a subjective thing. Maybe it would help new players to see requirements growing before they need to allocate any passives to satisfy them. On the other hand, it seems like the sort of thing GGG must have thought about, and maybe there's good reason for hiding the requirements before they're relevant. But that's all subjective opinion and I've only got mine, share yours!



(EDIT: first post I make, forum eats half of it! Seems it doesn't like lists, let's try again...)

(EDIT 2: Nope, preview's fine but it still gets mangled when I submit it. Let's try adding closing tags on the list elements...)

(EDIT 3: For posterity, that worked: List elements need closing tags.) 'Ello forums! I usually avoid posting on forums, but what with the current beta this seems the best time to make this suggestion I've had for a long time.Many early gems have no attribute requirements until they've leveled up a bit. This fine, but it's not obvious what attributes it will need later.For example: Dual strike is a green gem so obviously it'll need dexterity. But there's nothing to tell the player that one hour later...... it'll need strength too.I fell into this trap once. I'd been playing for over a year and I wanted to try a new character, browsed my stash and thought...As I discovered later, Dual Strike is a Dex/Str hybrid, and I didn't plan for any strength so I the build I'd spent a two hours planning/playing simply didn't work due to this oversight. The wiki does help, but it's not fun to keep switching to the wiki while browsing your stash, and it doesn't help players that don't know about the wiki.It's not just a trap for designing new builds, but it's an irritation existing characters. Every time I see a gem drop, my first thought is not "Wow, a new skill! Can I fit it into my build?" but rather "Wow, a new skill! Let's stop the game and open the wiki to see what attributes it uses to see if I can fit it into my build." which takes some the fun out of finding new skills. Here's the wiki's skills list , most hybrid gems with an initial level requirement of 10 won't show their secondary attribute requirement until they're ready to level up to 2. Earlier skills don't show them until they've gained several levels.Low level gems should show sub-15 attribute requirements.For example, Dual Strike's requirements:Could instead be something likeThere may be better ways to do it, hence the vague thread title. Feel free to suggest other solutions! Here's some points about this solution:Firstly, this should add clarity without making any gameplay change. All our attributes start at 14 or higher and I don't think there's a way to go lower, so having sub-15 requirements shouldn't change what you can equip. I don't think there are any uniques or other gameplay effects that interact with gem requirements (apart form lowering them), but correct me if I'm wrong on that.Secondly, adding low-end requirements seems like a simple change to make, with no UI or gameplay code work. However as a programmer myself, I know that game systems can be far, far more complex than they seem to the user. I'm not going to tell GGG what's easy in their code, that's for them to decide.Finally, I'm hoping that adding adding sub-15 requirements would not confuse new player (or irritate old player), but that is definitely a subjective thing. Maybe it would help new players to see requirements growing before they need to allocate any passives to satisfy them. On the other hand, it seems like the sort of thing GGG must have thought about, and maybe there's good reason for hiding the requirements before they're relevant. But that's all subjective opinion and I've only got mine, share yours!(EDIT: first post I make, forum eats half of it! Seems it doesn't like lists, let's try again...)(EDIT 2: Nope, preview's fine but it still gets mangled when I submit it. Let's try adding closing tags on the list elements...)(EDIT 3: For posterity, that worked: List elements need closing tags.) Last edited by Teg42 on May 31, 2015, 10:22:53 PM