I've made this mockup: https://i.imgur.com/LDHFiJQ.png
It is about replacing text "Alternate quality" with swirly icon (like in influenced item) and also about moving quality text to separate line (like implicit on regular item). I think it is a bit more readable this way. Also swirly icons are already implemented in game, so it may (or may not) be easy to implement for a gem.
This gem seems to be some kind of exception. I didn't know there exists place in poe where "less" keyword is added.
GGG would need to fix this exception by separating it into two separate mods. 49% less from base gem and 20% less from quality would be equal to one mod "59,2% less duration". This is very similar result to current value of 59% less.
This isn't an exception at all - the quality is not a separate stat - the gem only has one less modifier, and quality on the gem changes the value of that modifier.
The solution of forcing quality to be a separate stat might work for this quality, but would not work for several of the others.
Good idea but with problems. Look at Less Duration support: quality is additive with baseline effect. In this case if you write quality bonus separately according to POE wording rules both bonuses will multiply with each other:
20/20 now: 59% less duration
20/20 after: 54,1% less duration (49% less and 10% less)
This is one of the big reasons why the standard view needs to stay the same (and is one of the less bad ones compared to some cases of alternate quality - it's worse when quality is subtracting some of the value of the stat). Particularly since having to add so many new qualities there are a bunch of cases where quality isn't (and in many cases can't be) a separate stat, the quality just changes the value of a stat the gem already has. This is why, as noted in the recent FAQ post, the stats from quality will only be separated in-game while holding alt.
The proposed display here is broadly similar to what we've already got working locally when holding alt, but not exactly - it has to handle some extra cases, and is also intended to solve a different problem at the same time. There are still some edge cases to work out with the system, and there are some extra issues for more nicely handling more/less stats like the afformentioned less duration case when one modifier is split into two parts to view the quality modifications separately before it'll be finished.
Is there a way to display (or maybe highlight) the bonus that the quality on the gem gives without messing up the syntax? The lack of visual clarity regarding the quality bonus was an issue before, but it seems kinda exacerbated with the release of up to 900 gem variants with different quality bonuses.
This is a thing we are working on (and have been in some capacity since we decided on doing alternate quality gems this patch). In order to avoid confusion and not make the default view of gems be walls of sometimes uneceessary and duplciate text, it will only be shown while holding alt.
GGG Comments in this Thread:
[MarkGGG - link, old] - *This isn't an exception at all - the quality _is not a separate stat...*
[Mark_GGG - link, old] - This is one of the big reasons why the standard view needs to stay...
[Mark_GGG - link, old] - This is a thing we are working on (and have been in some capacity...
[Mark_GGG - link, old] - Looks like the bot needs to learn to handle formatting in the quoted section...
[Mark_GGG - link, old] - > Does that mean the alt/advanced view for the quality will work on normal...
[Mark_GGG - link, old] - Because that would be much harder to do and be less informative.
Looks like the bot needs to learn to handle formatting in the quoted section of posts a little better :P
Does that mean the alt/advanced view for the quality will work on normal gems to display what quality does as well?
I don't really see why it wouldn't, but every single comment by a dev so far has specifically referenced the alternate ones, so some clarification there would be awesome.
Gemcutter Prisms are interesting because unlike most currency there's no in-game way to tell what they're supposed to do before using them...
I mean, that's technically the case with all quality currency, but at least the others, once you use one you'll always know what it does (quantity for maps, phys damage for weapons, etc). For skill gems there's 300+ different versions already for what the GCP does, with no in-game way to find out that information.
Does that mean the alt/advanced view for the quality will work on normal gems to display what quality does as well?
Yes. This was already a planned feature for exactly that reason, but was pushed forward in priority once we settled on doing the Alternate Quality mechanic.
Why not just make the text for the quality affix a different color and in cases where its a direct numerical buff just change that color too?
Because that would be much harder to do and be less informative that what we're already working on.
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