Wasn't sure whether to put this here or in a more general category. Don't want to complain (or rant) because for the most part the Developers have done much to improve the game since I went to sleep a few years back. That said, determined I needed some new crafting gear and went on a comp hunt. I guess the joke I made about comps only fall when one doesn't need them is more true than I realized...
One item is all I've tried for so far: Dire Wolf Alpha Ears
First complaint here is that the description makes it sound like they ONLY drop from the Alpha variety. Good thing this isn't true because out of the 7 Alpha's I did kill...not a SINGLE one of them dropped more than either a Dire Wolf Hide or sellable animal parts (skins/bones). Ran into Mani 6 times as well...Except for that attuned skull for some quest I didn't know about; the same went for him - NADA - no trophies, no comps...
Killed 50 Dire wolves (63 including the 7 Alpha's and Mani 6 times):
8 Dire Wolf Hides (junk)
7 Dire Wolf Skull Trophies (a pitiful rate imo)
3 Dire Wolf Alpha Ears
7 Dire Wolf Fangs
7 Broken Animal Bones
4 Damaged Animal Skins
4 Animal Skins
2 Animal Bones
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42 Items in all
I should have kept count of the wolves that didn't drop anything - they were at least equal to those that did drop something. In the old days I'd have been happy to have earned 66 silver (what the animal parts were worth) on such a small short hunt. So yeah, money is easier to get now - BIG WHOOP when there is nothing worth spending it on and there aren't even enough people to hire out any work one might want to get done. Besides, they've got their goals to look after too.
I can understand a need to make trophies difficult otherwise it makes multiclassing too easy (on the flip side it's not unheard of to level out before one gets enough trophies worth using).
What I find unreasonable is the general drop rate - money is too easy for what there is to spend it on, and what people do need is even worse than it was in the old days...at this rate it's gonna be about 200+ dead wolves (where's my emblem for that one, preferably one that shows my prowess against this particular mob and confers a bonus against them - AN IDEA THERE DEV's - Not something that just uses up stack space!!) by the time I get the 12 ears I need - and that is just one of 10 different comps.
I truly feel sorry for the new players - where those techniques can make a real difference but by which time they have possibly acquired them it's time to start hunting for the next tier. With all this hunting - too bad there isn't anything I can do with that 117 million XP I've acquired toward that unreachable lvl 101 (another idea there Dev's? Not just talking about extra levels either - something to spend XP on?)
There...I feel better - I've calmed down a bit.