The Problem:
I have an idea that could very well fix the problem with the overabundance of duped items. First and foremost the main problem is that the high runes were supposed to be next-to-impossible to find, so that only the richest person could ever afford something like Enigma, Chains of Honor, or Heart of the Oak. Well, since runes are being duped out the wazoo, something needs to give, and I know just what to do. Please read this whole post before you start flaming, because this IS a good idea.

The Solution:
First off, all the best runeword items need to be nerfed, and I mean ALL of them. For starters Enigma needs to lose Teleport, Heart of the Oak needs to lose a skill point or two and some resistances, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Runeword items are too easily duped/made and therefore they can't be the best items in the game. That's right, runeword items must be inferior to quite a few Uniques and Rares. Of course, high rune drop percentages must be increased since runes will be less valuable and as a result will stop being duped.

Once the runes and runewords are taken care of, we're going to need a lot more Uniques and Set Items to fill in the gaps, BUT Uniques and Set Items should STILL not be the best items in the game. What SHOULD be the best items in the game? Rares. Before you laugh, hear me out. Rares are randomly generated and, as a result, it's very easy to detect multiple occurrences of the same rare item, i.e. dupes. Rares should be given a much broader range of names and mods to lower the chance of multiple rares having the exact same name/mods. This will make it much easier to detect dupes. Blizzard can very easily detect which rares are disproportionately overabundant and delete all that were attained after the dupes were made. This may result in the very rare occurrence of a non-cheating player losing an item, but that's a sacrifice we should all be willing to make to practically eliminate the duping problem. Of course, Rare item mods will have to have the chance to be better than the best Uniques/Set Items/Runewords, so they'll require some significant boosts, but only in the very high ilvl/clvl items.

What all of this means for you:
Uniques, Set Items, and Runewords will still be really good items, but THE BEST items will be the Rares that by chance happen to have a great combination of mods. Think of how amulets are traded now. The best amulets are Rares/crafted amulets that happen to be the perfect combination of mods that people are looking for. Amulets are the perfect example because they already basically follow the system I'm suggesting. Rare amulets can be better than the best unique amulets, and they aren't affected by the over-duping of runes. Ask anyone in the amulet trading business and they'll tell you that it's a lot more fun to find great amulets and trade them than it is to make and trade Runewords all day.

Please tell me what you think.

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Q u o t e:
The Problem:
I have an idea that could very well fix the problem with the overabundance of duped items. First and foremost the main problem is that the high runes were supposed to be next-to-impossible to find, so that only the richest person could ever afford something like Enigma, Chains of Honor, or Heart of the Oak. Well, since runes are being duped out the wazoo, something needs to give, and I know just what to do. Please read this whole post before you start flaming, because this IS a good idea.

The Solution:
First off, all the best runeword items need to be nerfed, and I mean ALL of them. For starters Enigma needs to lose Teleport, Heart of the Oak needs to lose a skill point or two and some resistances, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Runeword items are too easily duped/made and therefore they can't be the best items in the game. That's right, runeword items must be inferior to quite a few Uniques and Rares. Of course, high rune drop percentages must be increased since runes will be less valuable and as a result will stop being duped.

Once the runes and runewords are taken care of, we're going to need a lot more Uniques and Set Items to fill in the gaps, BUT Uniques and Set Items should STILL not be the best items in the game. What SHOULD be the best items in the game? Rares. Before you laugh, hear me out. Rares are randomly generated and, as a result, it's very easy to detect multiple occurrences of the same rare item, i.e. dupes. Rares should be given a much broader range of names and mods to lower the chance of multiple rares having the exact same name/mods. This will make it much easier to detect dupes. Blizzard can very easily detect which rares are disproportionately overabundant and delete all that were attained after the dupes were made. This may result in the very rare occurrence of a non-cheating player losing an item, but that's a sacrifice we should all be willing to make to practically eliminate the duping problem. Of course, Rare item mods will have to have the chance to be better than the best Uniques/Set Items/Runewords, so they'll require some significant boosts, but only in the very high ilvl/clvl items.

What all of this means for you:
Uniques, Set Items, and Runewords will still be really good items, but THE BEST items will be the Rares that by chance happen to have a great combination of mods. Think of how amulets are traded now. The best amulets are Rares/crafted amulets that happen to be the perfect combination of mods that people are looking for. Amulets are the perfect example because they already basically follow the system I'm suggesting. Rare amulets can be better than the best unique amulets, and they aren't affected by the over-duping of runes. Ask anyone in the amulet trading business and they'll tell you that it's a lot more fun to find great amulets and trade them than it is to make and trade Runewords all day.

Please tell me what you think.

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I don't thing the idea is perfect but it is a thought in the right direction... I don't think rares should be the best for every item type ... maybe just some ... RW's don't all need to be nerf'd but some should ...

Hate to say it:
This wil not fixe duping or stop item shops.
Why ? :

1*Shops wil always sell the best items.
items that every 1 wants.
So if you nerf enigma for example they will start duping forti of CoH.
if you nerf CoH and forti they start duping spirit...
2*If you increase drop rate for high runes.
This wil only effects the prices in the shop, they will get cheaper....

Oh Btw not all shops work with Dupes!
They use bot networks , or a factury full of chinese ppl.

play classic? no runewords, crap uniques, rares dominate but you can still make mf chars with cheap gear....

and also the game itself is harder to finish solo

How about...

Making higher runes easier to find?

Weekly Ruststorms?

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Q u o t e:
Hate to say it:
This wil not fixe duping or stop item shops.
Why ? :

1*Shops wil always sell the best items.
items that every 1 wants.
So if you nerf enigma for example they will start duping forti of CoH.
if you nerf CoH and forti they start duping spirit...
2*If you increase drop rate for high runes.
This wil only effects the prices in the shop, they will get cheaper....

Oh Btw not all shops work with Dupes!
They use bot networks , or a factury full of chinese ppl.

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I don't have a problem with shops that sell legit items, I have problems with duped items.

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Q u o t e:
play classic? no runewords, crap uniques, rares dominate but you can still make mf chars with cheap gear....

and also the game itself is harder to finish solo

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The expansion isn't a lost cause. It makes no sense to simply give up on it when it can be fixed.

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Q u o t e:
How about...

Making higher runes easier to find?

Weekly Ruststorms?

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In my thread I suggested increasing the drop rate of high runes to offset the fact that dupes will be less prevalent.

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Q u o t e:

The expansion isn't a lost cause. It makes no sense to simply give up on it when it can be fixed.

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but there are people who like it the way it is... as anyone knows you only hear people complain when they think something is wrong... not many people will go out of their way to write on the forums "hey blizz i am happy with how things are" but those people are out there.... why make the expansion more like classic when classic already exists with its own ladder and own community?

just seems stupid to me

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Q u o t e:

In my thread I suggested increasing the drop rate of high runes to offset the fact that dupes will be less prevalent.

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Actually I meant my suggestions as an "And", But still, increasing the drop rate only might help too.

Duped rares exist.

End thread.

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Q u o t e:
Duped rares exist.

End thread.

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This is very true, and is the reason why your idea would probably not work the way you intend it to. Armageddon Fletch and the like are massively duped rares; any determined "duper" could just obtain one of these extremely powerful rares, and dupe them just as much as any HR. Then, the most powerful items would be even easier to obtain because they are massively available and do not require more than one item to make.

You could dupe entire character setups consisting of these powerful rares, for example. Then, you could sell these / trade these for whatever price you want. The more you dupe, the richer you become. However, the items also become cheaper and easier to obtain until they become just as common, if not more common, than HR's are today.

One thing that really needs to happen is the return of life leech in PvP.

Melee outside of Chargadins has been relatively useless in PvP since .10 because of this.

Casters also need to be toned down a whole lot, even in .09 casters were ridiculously more powerful than melee, and .10 made it even worse.

Buff synergies for Martial Arts Assassins, Zealot Paladins, and other melee classes to make them more competitive.

Hell I wouldn't mind seeing 75% DR come back...I really miss the days of mannered Zealot duel games...

Also, WTB Cow level being good again. Baal sucks.

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Q u o t e:
How about...

Making higher runes easier to find?

Weekly Ruststorms?

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I would also reduce the drop rate of socketted "shells" to the point that they are the raretty. Not too much but enough to make them the Saught after item. They take up more space for 1 and the RW would take the shells item ID and poof if it was duped. I think this is not the solution but the best idea i have hear IMO.

Although HR's in uniques is not a problem IMO having RW's available easilly to everyone is no good. The powerful 1.10 RW's should not be common (in ladder anyway) so to raise the drop rate of HR's should be offset but reduction of shells..

possibly make all runes availalbe in hellforge and keep the drop rate the way it is and still reduce the shells drop rate

does this game really need 'fixing'?
lots of REALLY good items are easier to get now.. isnt that a good thing? O_O