“Perhaps all pleasure is only relief.”
William S. Burroughs
A Demon on my Shoulder
I’ve finally figured out that everyone has the same Artifact Knowledge. The catch-up mechanic in time-to-research has put everyone on an even scale. In general, most players will be even when it comes to filling in the traits on the weapon since those with lower traits will zoom up due to the Knowledge Multiplier. If you have 14 traits and I have 20, your Artifact Power token does a whole lot more in filling in the bar.
That weapon is a constant this entire expansion. There is a demon on my shoulder, constantly whipping me to feed this weapon. It always wants more and is never satisfied. AP is like crack. Is this really a weapon or am I dragging a huge caravan of wagons full of AP tokens across a long endless desert?
If I am up-to-date, then my AP means little; waiting two weeks for the Knowledge Multiplier would be more meaningful but then I’d still be behind of where I would be if I was adding those little ones now. So, I run meaningless Emissary Cache dailies to get 1/4 of a bubble on a very long bar.
It is evil, this weapon design.
That nasty Demon sits there and screams, yanks at my failing hair, jumps up and down screaming and is fine with making me suffer as long as I get one more dirty token to feed that mainline bar which is my weapon progress.
Players were banned this week for exploiting some World Quest to gain Artifact Power. They wanted it bad enough to cheat and formed groups to do so. It is a harsh little Demon.
There is a Promised Land. Where AP will raise your power by a percentage, they call that circle: Paragon. The first step is 5% but like the “come back to the dealer” the next will be only 1%.
Coffee Cakes and Crits 