Image Designer Archive
Thread: Why is there such a harsh stigma with ID grinding?
Gartorn wrote:
I am just curious why IDs seem so adverse to people grinding their profession. I am a hologrinder and openly admit it. I made the mistake of not doing ID when a large majority of people who are currently masters did it, when with mind buffs and a friend, it could be completed in 48 - 55 minutes depending on lag.
It just amuses me that looking at over 50% of the threads, they are dedicated to suggestions on how they could change ID to make it easier for the "Real" IDs and not the hologrinders. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to keep on pluggin' away at professions. Sure, some may be easier than others, but for people that can sit down and dedicate a lot of time to the game, I don't think they should be shunned for that.
I am sorry if I offended anyone, but I would really like some feedback. If I have a mis-perception of your views let me know, but please try to keep flaming to a minimum, I really am just curious as to why a lot of people in this profession feel as if people don't deserve to hologrind it...
Well, the feedback you ask for is complicated. It has to do with the very reason the Hologrind system is coming to an end.
When you have a Jedi system like our current one, it floods the market with people who seek to expend a lot of resources and then leave. Economically, this artificially stimulates the 'supply/demand' market, and drives up prices, then rapidly deflates them. This is because someone Hologrinding is going to leave the profession rather quickly, therefore you end up sudden decreases in demand that the market can't compensate for. This leaves a lot of people feeling 'cheated' by the system, because they have to pay a lot more suddenly, or they might be stuck with a lot of resources they don't need.
There's a professional pride people take in being good at their particular profession. This is mainly the case with Image Designers. You might be the best Master Image Designer on your server, and command huge prices for your services, merely because you do your job well and are visible. However, someone who hologrinds your profession can undercut you, and devalue your profession, by not charging, or charging far under the effort required to do the skill well.
Plus there's the whole philosophy behind Hologrinding some people find offensive. It's just a massive time sink. SOE wants you to earn a lot of money so you can blow it, and a large amount of your time, so you can unlock their currently buggy Jedi profession. It's insulting to have jump through weeks of hoops just so you can do what you want in the game.
And there are some people that object to the Hologrind merely because it let's too many people become Jedi, and break continuity with the SW saga.
Personally, I have no problem with Hologrinders, as long as they have professional courtesy, and are not insulting. This board in particular was hit hard by people who identified themselves as Hologrinders, and WERE insulting. What you sense is likely residual angry from those people, and a feeling of vindication. No one is mad at normal Hologrinders, but for these many reasons, most aren't sad to see Hologrinding go.
While the time frame to advance ID as per normal is acceptable [or perhaps too long], given the nature of grinding with no resource costs, it quickly becomes Trival to Master. Without "long term" investment benefits [such as what crafting professions get thanks to the cycling resources.
Simple enough reason why we dislike the grind.
I agree with a few of your statements. The fact that hologrinders are in fact hologrindin I feel negates the point you made about them undercutting your prices.
In the current system you note that many people are apt to just master and leave the profession. You also comment on the fact that this thencreates my characters with vast amount ofwasted resources, etc. and that this influences the supply and demand as a whole. This is very true.
The very essence of what you are saying though, insures the longivity of your career choice. I will be done with Image Designer and I will drop it. I will not pretend to be an image designer to any degree. Just as I have mastered all the Artisaon professions minus Armorsmith and Merchant. Therefor I am not so arrogant as to say that I am an Armorsmith. I did it meerly for the badge, the hope that this would unlock.
In response to your comment about people not likeing the whole Hologrind system as a whole, I would have to agree. But unfortunately, this path was really not our choice. This is not the way that I invisioned becoming a Jedi, but I am now over 23 professions and would really like to complete before a lot of my hard work was for naught. I like the new system a lot better, but I do not like the way that I will be loosing a LOT of the time I have invested into the game if I do not unlock before Publish 10.