This game ultimately feels demotivating to me

[Coglin]

All the augments I've seen trigger attunement. Is there a way to do an augment without attuning an item?

I realize you can buy crafted gear from players, but as far as I can tell, it has to be non-augmented and non-transmuted, so to me, that's just buying a base item that will need a lot of work done to it to get the mods you want.

I expect finding an item with mods for your build for sale from a player would be rare.

And dropped gear isn't non-augmented and non-transmuted? You will not ask a friend or pay someone to make a 6 modded item that is non-augmented and non-transmuted but you feel a drop one serves you better?

Can you explain the logic to that please?

Let's see:

- I don't like dailies in any game: to me, they seem like a cheap attempt to get players to play, and ultimately result in players feeling like they have to do them. I'd rather a game stood on its organic gameplay.
- NPC work orders are, well, NPC driven. They don't seem to make much money, though I've done them just to get industry experience. The best ones I've done rely on crafting, which drags you into the whole NPC favor nightmare.
- Player work orders are very nice, and I've filled quite a few and gotten good money that way (though it's not as reliable as skinning). And even if I don't have what folks are looking for, it's good to get an idea of what's valuable to players (so I know what to bank up or look for).
- A vendor stall would be cool, but the Serbule vendor area is lag hell, and I avoid it as much as I can. (The casino area doesn't seem to be used much, though it's not as bad.)

Whether you like dailies or not is not particularly relevant. It simply supports my point that you chose to use selling to NPCs as your access to money.

"NPC" work orders generally pay very well. I am a little unclear how you determine they do not.

I barely get any lag in Serbule. maybe a little while moving. Sounds to me like a bad excuse to justify your not using it and thus trying to disingenuously stick to your position of claiming the only way to make money is by selling to NPCs.

You do not have to like all the options or any of them for that matter. The point is that it was originally claimed that THE ONLY option was favor with and sells to NPCs which we clearly have determined is not the case.

Again, what I dislike most about PG's game mechanics is the favor trap: I wouldn't mind spending money on training so much if I could just buy it outright, but having to raise favor with NPCs just for the privilege of buying something isn't fun for me. I've burned out doing that, and have taken a break from playing.

Would be nice if you could distill your training into books to sell at vendors, and thus bypass NPCs entirely for others.

Enjoy your break, but otherwise I agree that earning favor can be tedious and annoying at times. i do not agree about the perspective with books.