Meursault wrote on Aug 15
th, 2016 at 9:12am:
But that's at cap. A new player has to collect and decon far longer, and that's where the potential problem is. I haven't looked at the recipes yet, but unless they laid them out so lower level characters can get really good stuff with a far lower number of essences and without high level collectibles, the design is a fail, just another boost for the players who need it least and widening the gap between them and new players.
How long do you have to play at levels 1 to 10 to decon enough to make the basics like UWA, feather falling, stat +4, ghost touch, heavy fort, etc? I don't mean top tier, holy instead of holy burst is fine, but can a new casual player cover the bases at, say, 3/4 power in 6 months?
The committed will grind for the last 1/4, the new will give up and leave if it looks like an investment of a year or more to even come close, so it has to be steep gain curve at the start and diminishing returns only much later to be a success, did they manage that?
The early XP curve is easier than the old one, is my understanding. But I don't have to actually level through it so I can't say for sure. New players don't do lama, so I doubt anyone will know until it is live.
I agree with you that the system should be backloaded, for the most part. Make it easier for new crafters to get in and be able to make bound, non-insightful 1-10 and even 1-20 gear relatively quickly. Heck, even make 20-30 bound, regular gear not too bad to read. Put the pain on being able to craft the 20-30, unbound, insightful gear. It's my understanding that a lot of the heavy collectibles and PED costs also come in those areas.
Thing is, for new players, deconstruction can be a PITA. Poor inventory space, small bags, may not be guilded. Boats are best access to crafting, so if you don't have one that has a crafting state room, that could be a barrier too.