This thread is about the annoying - to say the least - issue of receiving for classes other than your own, that you cannot use in any way, as a reward at the end of a mission or multiplayer dungeon. The fact caught my eye ever since I started playing the game, but I decided to stay quiet and observe how it affects gameplay as the game goes on. Now, on level 30 and grinding for gear, I have realized that, as assumed from the beginning, this can become quite upsetting...

So may I ask, what's the deal with being rewarded bows, staffs and robes as a warrior? There is no trade system in the game. You cannot transfer gear to your alts. So what's the point? Receiving one out of five items at random can be bad enough, especially when luck can be tough sometimes and you keep getting the same piece of equipment over and over while the ones you need never appear. So why reduce a player's chances even further by adding junk to the draw?

Limiting the number of runs per day and letting players get only one piece of loot per run are all understandable in order to keep the balance in some way and keep players from getting overpowered too quickly. But when you play the same dungeon 5 times per day, 7-8 days in a row and you keep getting parts for the other two classes while the one item you need appears only twice this whole time (and needless to say you never manage to get it), is enough to get anyone annoyed I believe. To make matters worse, this is just a blue item I'm talking about... I don't even want to imagine what's going to happen if epic loot is ever introduced to the game, making the drop rates even lower.

I know well enough that the first reaction will be something like "It's a matter of luck, you're just a bit unlucky, keep trying" etc. Before you blame my luck and RNGsus though, take a moment to think if the system makes any sense at all, given the fact that as stated above, those items are unusable in any way (other than being sold or broken for shards, which does not make things any better to be honest).

The game is in an early stage, items are very few and the "high end" dungeon is quite glitchy. It is clear that the main focus of high end gameplay right now is grinding for epic gear though HoT/Brotherhood and maxing all the little bonuses you can get right and left in order to improve as much as possible. That's why I believe that it's not really worth making early-30 gear so frustratingly hard to obtain, and that of course extends to future content if this kind of policy goes on.

I don't say that getting the best items should be easy. But gearing up should be hard because the dungeons containing top loot are hard to clear, not because the items never drop and players need to grind forever. Clearing a dungeon that is only lengthy, crashes a lot and is so easy that most players go afk during battles, only to get nothing at the end is merely a waste of time.

Well I disagree...

First of all, what I'm talking about, for both myself and a few friends who experience the same trouble with getting the last item(s) they need, is grinding for 7-10 days in a row for a SINGLE item that never appears yet you keep getting the full set of another class instead.

As for the other argument ("The blue equipment in other classes is VERY useful, just to salvage for the reforge crystals") I believe you realize that this is a rather cheap excuse. EVERY blue item that you don't need can be turned into those crystals, so why does a player need to have their chances reduced with junk blues while they could have loot for their class only and salvage what they don't need? Furthermore, if I wanted to grind for crystals, I wouldn't go grinding that annoying desert dungeon, I would be running the much easier, much faster, forest one instead. Every blue items gives the same blue crystals. So, no! Other class items are not useful at all.

I think you didn't really pay attention to what I wrote in the original post.

I don't mind the game being hard. What I don't like is when it simply wastes my time. If the developers want to make it hard for gear to be obtained, they should make the dungeons more challenging. Grinding a dungeon so easy that you can do it while at the same time browsing the web, letting your character kill everything with auto-attacks, is just wasting the players time. If I wanted to test my luck I'd be playing roulette, not an rpg. It's far too time consuming for any kind of excitement you can get from gear that is not even high end. I have a fair experience as a gamer and I am very familiar with the excitement you get from finally getting gear that is worth it, after killing a hard boss or overcoming some great challenge. Even if the challenge is grinding, you need to get the feeling that it's worth it. When you can get blue gear by grinding a glitchy instance that is dull as hell, and you can get epic gear by grinding a solo instance, I wonder if there's any reason to discuss which one you prefer. Of course the latter is harder and takes more days for you to get anything, but believe me, I was much happier when I managed to kill Oliver, than when I got an item from the blue desert set. Plus, in the case of HoT - as well as what happens in most cases when the reward involves grinding for days - you get to choose which reward you want, which is very important. The stats you get still depend on your luck, but it doesn't throw your effort out the window.

Honestly, I see no issue with having some of the best gear in the game currently being difficult and random to get, that's why it's the best gear. The HoT gear is comparable anyway, if you're really having that much trouble getting the piece you need you can just get something from there. Besides you can sell the gear you don't need which is important if you ever intended on putting money into the shard quarry or companion equipment both of which are black holes right now.