Right now, the payout provides great incentive for players, new and old, to get involved. Before the introduction of the particles, mini-weakenings were being ignored for the most part. In my opinion, we shouldn't base how anything works on the fact that various constructs aren't being defended. I imagine that it would be harder to gain particles, as construct defense improves.

Makes sense, but all it takes is for me, Sojiro, Alianna, Krellan and someone else to go play vs. 2-person Glomdoring and no amount of effort is gonna prevent us from pulling millions of gold into the economy. Mini-weakenings occur often enough for this to happen frequently, and it's not like you can't get a good haul even when there's resistance.

Where exactly do you come up with these numbers? Half of 8 gloms (I even counted the relative novice Harbinger that was only playing songs to heal people) would be 4 serens. There were more than 4 serens.

Moving on. One serious flaw of this system currently is the fact that you can focus negatively on your own constructs and still produce particles. When there is no opposition... what's to keep anybody from taking each of their own constructs down to 5% and collecting all the particles with no downside?

EDIT: And as I look at the log. It was Baerin, Aubry, Celina, Daedalion, Silferras, and myself (Synl had been picked off before the main battle) vs. Eamon, Liam, Nejii, Myndaen, Sojiro, Luxi, Ehona, and Kinson

The same thing that keeps people from doing anything else that's an obvious abuse of the system. Not wanting to get shrubbed! Though it wouldn't hurt to make it so you can't focus negatively on your own construct. And can't bombard your own construct.

Pentu Hyrtakos Athine Celina Daedalion Baerin Synl Urazial Zhaneel Silferras Aubry sort-of-Thoros, Sojiro Myndaen Nejii Eamon Liam Kinson. 12 to 6. I didn't see Luxi and I'm not even gonna count Ehona because I think he just sat there and had epilepsy attacks from maelstrom over and over again before some Gloom eventually decided to pick him off while running away from the rest of us (I forget whom.) Anyway, the numbers aren't that important, it was just going to show how silly Pentu's claim was.

Can't you focus positively on your construct?

You currently can't - I don't see a problem with keeping it this way. If you could, it would be free gold that you'd earn in your nexus world. No conflict.

Actually, as I look at it, there was an error in implementation of design insofar that you aren't supposed to be able to sell particles directly. You should only be able to purchase spheres from the particles (which in turn you can sell for gold). Oops!

...

Well, there goes my opportunity to have ever enjoyed a decent reward from raiding.

There's a difference between a "decent" award and outrageous award.

I had thought that if your construct had been weakened in a mini-weakening by people focusing negatively, that you could focus positively in order to get it back up to strength but apparently that's not working?

You can definitely focus positively during a major weakening if your construct is damaged.

Is there some special way to purchase the spheres or is it actually a bug? We haven't been able to buy them.

I tested it on a Celest construct and issued. I was told by the Oneiroi that it was intended for you to only be able to focus negatively during a mini-weakening. This seems a little.. unfair, considering that people can sit there and damage your construct, but you're powerless to replenish its power.

I'd like to see focusing positively or negatively something that can be done during any type of weakening.

You should be able to buy spheres just like buying any other gnome commodities. Note you have to store your particles in the storage holds.

That was a single one, thought I'd heard rumours of ships buying at 700 earlier in the week. I'll point to the case of the ship buying particles at a mere 34, and the other ships that I have general locations for were all in the 200's range. The only one that was still buying at 600 was one that is fairly hard to get to, and so hasn't had so many particles thrown at it. Even if particles continue to be sellable directly, I see no problem with the current system. The more particles we through at the ships, the lower the prices will get and the less monies will be made for the same number of particles. If all of a sudden the particle count drops, prices will rise. Plus there's also the reward for going to gnome ships that are farther away/harder to get to that I like . I hope it stays in a similar vein for spheres.

So there's a few million extra gold floating around now... seems like we need a new gold sink urgently.

You can only focus positively during a major weakening.

You cannot. Even after Morgfyre said you could recently, you couldn't. I've bugged it three times. whenever you try, you get the message you do not have enough glacerial dust stored in your aetherhold.

Yeah, I tried just now.

If I tried to buy the ship's max stock, 6 in this case, I get a message that the ship doesn't have much in stock. Anything from 1-5, then, tells me I don't have enough dust.

Yep, same here. Definitely not working.