Title: Alchemy Stone Enhancement Interface IMPROVEMENT

Family Name: BlackPray

Region (NA/EU): EU

Suggestion/Comments:

(I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors)

The current Alchemy Stone Enhancement Interface is BAD!

all I want to talk about is the interface only, not the probability of success or anything else

why is it a bad interface?
because it involves a huge and useless waste of time and requires a huge and useless amount of user interaction

below, my idea of how the interface should be changed:

Polishing and Growth are not separate.
in a single interface you have:

-Black Stone
-Alchemy Stone
-Polishing Material

and this is all

with a single click the Polishing Materials and 1 Black Stone are consumed and the Upgrade attempt is made

What if the upgrade fails? Everything remains as it is, exactly like in the Weapon and Armor Enhancement interface
Black Stone, Alchemy Stone and Polishing Materials are still selected in the interface.

it is extremely simple and does NOT lose any function compared to the current interface

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Why the current interface is terrible? ( more in depth XD )

Polishing and Growth are separate! .... WHY???
Is there any reason Polishing and Growth need to be separated? no, none at all.
Does Polishing an Alchemy Stone have other functions than preparing it for Growth? NO
can you do the Growth of the Alchemy Stone if you haven't done the Polishing first? NO

what we must do now when we want to upgrade an Alchemy Stone?

Move mouse and Click Polishing Interface
Move mouse and Click Alchemy Stone
Move mouse and Click Polishing Material
(Max quantity Flagged or here ther is even more Clicks)
Move mouse and Click to confirm Polishing Material
Move mouse and Click "Polishing" Button

Move mouse and Click Growth Interface
Move mouse and click Alchemy Stone
Move mouse and Click "Growth" Button

it fails

Move mouse and Click Polishing Interface
Move mouse and Click Alchemy Stone
Move mouse and Click Polishing Material
(Max quantity Flagged or here ther is even more Clicks)
Move mouse and Click to confirm Polishing Material
Move mouse and Click "Polishing" Button

Move mouse and Click Growth Interface
Move mouse and click Alchemy Stone
Move mouse and Click "Growth" Button

it fails

....and again
....and again
....and again
.... and again.... and again

and... seriously... even when it succeeds, it's just one success
after that you are again into a challenge against the huge amount of failed attempts

leave aside the discussions about the probability of success, but let's talk only about the impact that these have on the use of the interface.
3% chance of success? Okay (.. yes ok... really .... im ok ... orz)

3% chance of success is Okay! but that means we have to do that hell of clicking and clicking again at least 10 20 30 times before succeeding at one single upgrade.
this current system is meant to be used repeatedly.
this current system is meant to fail a lot and therefore be used repeatedly.

the problem here is not the materials consumed.
the problem here is the wasted time, worn wrist tendons and worn mental sanity!

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Instead, with the interface I propose:

Move mouse and Click "NEW Alchemy Stone UPGRADE Interface"
Move mouse and Click Alchemy Stone
Move mouse and Click Polishing Material

Move mouse and Click "Growth/UPGRADE" (whatever you want to call it) Button

it fails? Click "Growth/UPGRADE" again

NO moving the mouse again, no more re-selecting Alchemy Stone and Polishing Material

only Click, Click, Click
for each fail only one new Click!

... even better than this:
having also a "Growth Continuously" button, as per the durability repair interface... THIS would be heaven

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is there anything that is lost from the interface we have now? to me it seems not

now... it would remain to talk about the Polishing at 80% or 150%

so...
- to make the "Growth" it is necessary that the Polishing/EXP of the Stone is at least 80% and at most 150%
- the higher the Polishing/EXP, the higher the chances of success
- if Growth fails, the Stone loses half Polishing/EXP

Does this function have any use? it can be used to save up on Polishing Materials
is it practical? Hell NO

let me explain why:
the success rates are already extremely low, it's a no-brainer choice to do Polishing/EXP at 150% to have the best chance.
the MOST IMPORTANT REASON: to do less than 150%, instead of doing "Click F for Max quantity of Polishing Material" one would need to input the appropriate number of Polishing Material each time.
is there anybody who actually do this?

(let's take for the example case that one unit of Polishing Material provides 1% of Polishing/EXP)

-- Doing Polishing/EXP at 150%
---------------------
0% - start
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX - 150% - fill max Polishing/EXP --> Polishing Material Cost: 150
XXXXXXXX -- 75% - it fails and drops to 75%
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX - 150% - re-fill the missing 75% to get to max Polishing/EXP --> Polishing Material Cost: 75
XXXXXXXX -- 75% - it fails and drops to 75%
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX - 150% --> Polishing Material Cost: 75
XXXXXXXX -- 75% - it fails and drops to 75%
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX - 150% --> Polishing Material Cost: 75

and again and again, 75 Polishing Material Cost every time and you get max possible upgrade chance
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-- Doing Polishing/EXP at 80%
---------------------
0% - start
XXXXXXXX - 80% - fill 80% Polishing/EXP --> Polishing Material Cost: 80
XXXX -- 40% - it fails and drops to 40%
XXXXXXXX - 80% - re-fill the missing 40% to get to 80% Polishing/EXP --> Polishing Material Cost: 40
XXXX -- 40% - it fails and drops to 40%
XXXXXXXX - 80% --> Polishing Material Cost: 40
XXXX -- 40% - it fails and drops to 40%
XXXXXXXX - 80% --> Polishing Material Cost: 40

and again and again, 40 Polishing Material Cost every time

meaning: saving up on half the materials we get more or less double the attempts, thougt this also means more black stone consuption...
and i dont even want to think about how abysmally low the success rate would drop to.

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Therefore:
using less than 150% Polishing/EXP... ironically enough,
if this new interface is implemented and it is also given the option to select at wich % you want the Polishing/EXP of the stone to be filled,
then, somebody may choose to do it, sacrificing more black stone to save up on materials.. this, only on low quality Alchemy stone at most of course XD

sure as hell i don't think there is anyone who is doing this now, it is already tiring enough using F every time for max Materials or flagged Max Quantity

asaide this, the only other "thing" about this feature is:
looking at the consumption of material, in fact, the only consequence is that:
the first time you Polish a 0% Exp Alchemy Stone it costs twice as much as all subsequent Polishes

so, is kind of a useless feature,
in my opinion it could easily be removed.

anyway the cost of the Alchemy Stone does not come from this feature,
the cost of the Alchemy Stones comes from the abysmally low success rate of the upgrades and the punishment of the total destruction of the high quality stones... damn it... the pain in my soul...

so, to not make the new interface too complicated,
just remove this 80/150% feature, remove the cost of the first Polishing.
make it cost, for every attempt, the quantity of Polishing Material that now is required to fill 75% Polishing/EXP
(about this "tiny tiny bit of change to materials consumed", it is actually perfectly doable to replicate the actual Material consuption into the new interface, is just a matter of effort, it seamed to me that giving up that "Double cost the first time you Polish a 0% Exp Alchemy Stone" would make easyer to implement the new interface)

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in conclusion (of all)
@Devs
please, please, please change this interface

you know what? I have the stones, I have many Polishing Materials... but I absolutely don't have the will to start making upgrades.
just the thought of going on click select re-click and re-click again again again again again again again and again... make me sick

and I think that many others feel the same way

this modification does not change the success rates,
it does not change the amount of materials consumed (a tiny tiny bit, up to you)
but it would make a world of difference to the Alchemy Stones

I think that with this new interface, its simplicity and the huge amount of time saved are more than enough to bring the gameplay related to the Alchemy Stones back to life again... if it has ever been...

@Devs
Please change this interface

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p.s.
I also propose that we take everyone responsible for developing the current interface, tie them to chairs with PCs with BDO, unlimited starting Alchemy Stones, unlimited Polishing Materials, and leave them there until they create a Shining.
using the current interface! how many days do you think they will stay tied?

im joking XD ... Really Devs it's a joke XD

but a sincere answer to this would be appreciated:
Given unlimited starting Alchemy Stones, unlimited Polishing Materials, and assuming no good or bad luck, how many hours spents only interacting with the current interface whould it takes to obtain a Yellow Shining Alchemy Stone?