[Where Winds Meet] Implement crafting for golden shells

https://preview.redd.it/xj122t36m7vg1.jpg?width=8000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0bf24c8db1931e1f0205cbfd84674d20a4f161ca https://preview.redd.it/ne3y5rx6m7vg1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=c9b03a6c19417c407f4099063ac075f1ee46cf50 **EDIT:** Adding this, my second reply at the top since some replies are taking my post out of context. I see a lot of people coming in all guns blazing, saying I’m using fake numbers or that we’re a year behind CN so we just need to be patient. First of all, the player numbers were just a reference to what I’m feeling in-game. Friends are not playing anymore, including people who have spent thousands, and guilds are dissolving due to the loss of players, and that’s the reality from my side. I’ve spent a lot myself, so I obviously do not want to see the game fail, hence the post. And regarding the “just wait” argument, I’ll leave it with one simple question: if all the items on my list were implemented today, would anyone actually say no, we should wait? If not, then why not remind the devs what we want and why it matters? We’re not CN players, we have our own needs. Compared to the CN counterpart, if you’ve spent a considerable amount of money and played both versions, you’ll know exactly why Global players are effectively paying more for a much lesser version, and we’re not even asking for everything to be perfect right away. Quick example: if you f\*\*ked up a weapon reforge on CN, you can still sell it on the trade market and then buy one you like. On Global, you’re stuck with a weapon you don’t like but have spent thousands on. Anyway, appreciate all the discussion. . . This will probably get downvoted and isn’t the most popular take, but I’m hoping the devs might see this. Slightly longer post, I apologize. I play on both Global and CN, with 110k and 35k elegance score respectively, so this is coming from someone who genuinely enjoys the game, though mostly the CN version. That said, I can’t ignore that I’m increasingly worried about the future of the Global version. From what I’ve seen, it has dropped from 200k+ players to around 20k+ in just a few months, and it still seems to be losing players steadily. In my opinion, the issue isn’t just one thing, but a combination of systems, progression, cosmetics, and gacha fashion. Overall, Global feels like a significantly reduced version of CN. Progression is much more time gated, and that has a noticeable impact on player retention. A lot of people on my friend list have already quit, and I don't blame them. Character building in particular can feel frustrating. You might have 4 RCMD on a perfect weapon, but then you’re stuck waiting a week or relying on RNG to drop that last shell just to finish the attunement. That kind of pacing really kills momentum. And honestly, if things continue to be stripped down on Global, I can only see more players leaving. Cosmetics are another area that feels off. From the start, a 2580 outfit was changed into a half gacha format on Global, which already felt like a test of monetisation. Since then, it seems like Global is mostly recycling outfits from CN and following CN’s schedule, even the less popular ones. For example, the Zheng E Snowy River outfit (which was largely critized on CN and only has five items including the avatar, latest gacha on CN has 11 items not counting the victory cutscene, same cost: two cores) was still brought over regardless. This gives the impression that Global may never really catch up in terms of cosmetics, even though many outfits are tied to area bosses. The only exception so far has been Mirrored Hearts, which didn’t follow the CN schedule. The progression gap is also very noticeable. On CN, after the equipment level was raised to 105, I was able to get full yellow RCMD across all affixes on all slots within a week, with extra gear to fine tune stats like higher precision or crit. On Global, I currently have 20+ items just sitting in my inventory waiting for golden shells before I can even start attuning, and this will be repeated again and again until we're level 100. The difference in pacing is huge, especially since CN allows crafting golden shells from purple shells at a 3 to 1 ratio. On top of that, there are a lot of non translation related quality of life features on CN that make the game feel much more complete and enjoyable. CN can craft golden shells CN has 30 crafts pity for legendary bow same for the thumb ring CN can re-adjust the adjusted affix once a week per equipment CN has pity on attuning paths, you get to choose which one you want if you failed to get what you want 6 times and you can also select the ones from the history CN has custom stickers in chats, Global had that but obviously lacked moderators so they decided to just remove it totally, it is a lot more fun with stickers CN can customize profile background music Global doesn't even have BG music CN can customize flute sound with your own uploads, some people used custom music to alert them the exact moment when you can deflect cancel which is quite useful for beginners and raids when competing for highest contribution, and yes, you can disable other's music and VFX. CN has trade market, Global may have later it but have already missed out a lot of the older outfits because once you used it in your inventory you cannot sell it anymore CN has four main currencies, one region each, 5 including trade market's, when you're out of one of them, you can convert other to the ones you need, more flexibility when you are out CN has the ability to wear two capes, and two hair accessories ( recently added ) CN has 23 character idle animations, with 3 behind paywall, Global has 5 CN has almost all VFX for mystic skills and martial arts CN has 78 character poses for your scenarios CN has lighting options everywhere in your wardrobe even with a very dark scenario you can see your clothes clearly CN has 21 animated motion inscriptions for your scenarios, global has 1 CN has the feature to rotate different scenarios you have created CN has at least 3x the items across all exchange shops And many more.....etc But honestly, one of the most useful features is CN’s encyclepodia. It tells you exactly which encounters you haven’t done, which antiques you’re missing, which cats still need petting, and even pinpoints their locations on the map. Because of all these Qol features, CN feels much more focused on actual gameplay, learning boss mechanics, ( later raid bosses are seriously no joke ) improving rotations, and competing for top raid performance. On Global, by comparison, it sometimes feels like we’re playing an earlier or incomplete version of the game. One example that really stood out to me was the recent Heng Blade release. Instead of getting either the initial version or the latest (both of which make it strong), Global received the middle version, which is the weakest state. It’s hard to understand the reasoning behind that decision. At this point, you might ask why I’m still playing Global at all. The answer is simple, I’m based in Europe. Even using NetEase’s accelerator, I’m getting 150+ms ping on CN, which makes it very difficult to react quickly to some boss mechanics, not to mention PVP is next to impossible. So realistically, Global is my only viable option. This isn’t meant to be a rant, just honest feedback from someone who wants the game to succeed. Simply speeding up regional content releases isn’t enough on its own. What Global really needs is more of the quality of life systems that make CN enjoyable in the long run. It’s not going to help if the devs are just drip-feeding content to Global players. I’m not expecting Global to fully match CN anytime soon, that’s obviously unrealistic, but moving in that direction quicker would make a big difference. And let’s be real, NetEase is a huge company, so speeding things up on localisation and Qol should definitely be possible. And personally, I see true endgame as how your character and scenarios look, so a lot of these features really matter to me 😄 Finally, if I have to guess according to CN's schedule, the two pictures I've attached will be in the next special Gacha coming to Global very soon. . . . . . **EDITED Figured I'd add my replies below for easier reading.** First of all, thank you for all your replies. Different voices are good and appreciated, so the devs can see what we as players really want. I’d like to combine some of my replies into this post. A lot of replies mentioned that CN is one year older than Global, so we shouldn’t expect everything instantly and should just be patient. But that actually supports my point. Global was released a year after CN, so why aren’t we getting the “one year later” version of the game? It’s a gacha game, so naturally they will drip feed content, but QoL functions should be implemented as a priority. Some items on my list were indeed added recently, and that’s exactly the point of my post. I hope the devs can see this and implement more of them soon. I fully agree that Global is moving faster than CN did at launch, there’s no denying that. CN was definitely rougher in the beginning. But Global launched almost a year later, so if I’m still expected to play what feels like an earlier version of the game, then who’s really being unfair here? And if you look at the list of items I mentioned, most of them aren’t complex or deeply tied into the core systems. They are mostly UI changes or features that are already implemented. I’m not asking for everything to be added immediately, but take VFX as an example, releasing one per month when they are already made feels more like pacing for spending rather than improving the game experience. There’s always someone defending the developers, which I understand, but just ask yourselves one question, would you like to see the items I listed implemented now? I think most players would say yes. Please don’t forget, NetEase is a gigantic company, they have the resources to move things faster. Also, CN gets hotfixes all the time, not limited to fixed schedules. I’m not even asking for that level of support on Global. Player count may be irrelevant for some of you, but it is declining rapidly, and it’s easy to feel in-game. For BG and flute music, regarding copyright issues, CN already has AI screening in place. If something is offensive or copyrighted, you simply can’t use it. For gacha draws, it’s a lot easier to get draw currency on CN because the non-sellable ones are easier to obtain. They are given out through many activities, and over time you could easily have 3–4 cores. These are unsellable on the trade market since no real money was involved, but having gacha fashion early already makes the experience much better for F2P players. Inner Ways catch-up is also non-existent on CN, but they gave us, on both CN and Global, many free converts each season. That’s essentially how you catch up, along with running different activities to earn boxes. To be fair, on both versions, within a month from scratch, you can reach at least T5 for all 4 Inner Ways quite easily. As for wearing two capes, later on there are many one-sided capes, like the Mirrored Hearts one for example. On CN, being able to wear two (as long as they don’t overlap) is just a nice option that adds more flexibility to your costume, and I personally really like that feature. Regarding the CN player base, yes, it is also declining, but it still feels very active. While playing, I constantly see notices of new boats being built almost every day, I’m not exaggerating. It’s also very easy to find groups for things like Boss talents. So even though it’s declining, it still feels “lively”, and players there tend to be more patient when learning new bosses. The main point of my post is simple. If more people keep leaving, the game will become less fun, and fewer resources may be put into it, which is something I really don’t want to see. I’ve already invested a lot of time and money into the Global version, so naturally I want it to do well. Also want to add, their real ID checks are mostly for government control. Game devs don’t really care who pays as long as the bill gets paid. Each country has its own system, and generally people trust first and verify later on our side of the world.