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Almost feels like the wording is intentionally convoluted.
Why not just word it like that?:
-76% to all elemental resistances
Your maximum elemental resistances are equal to your highest maximum elemental resistance instead
That's impossible for multiple reasons, the most fundamental of which is that you can't have a modifier both affect the value of a stat and depend on that stat's value.
If something cares about which maximum resistance is highest, it fundamentally can't be evaluated until after the values of maximum resistances are calculated, and if it affects the value of maximum resistances, it has to apply before then.
What about adding "maximum" in the beggining?
"Maximum Elemental Resistances are limited by your highest Maximum Elemental Resistance". Current wording sounds like it limits your actual (uncapped) resistances, not maximum. Was it omited due to fitting the mod in one string? If yes, not worth it imo.
"Maximum" would make no sense there. Maximum resistances are not limited by maximum resistances, they are maximum resistances.
Normally, each resistance is limited by the matching maximum resistance - fire resistance is limited by maximum fire resistance, cold resistance is limited by maximum cold resistance, etc.
This item makes it so all elemental resistances are limited by the highest of your maximum elemental resistances, instead of the normal behaviour where each is limited by it's own maximum. So your (non maximum) elemental resistances are limited by the highest maximum elemental resistance, which is what the item says.
How does any of that matter to not wording the item to be confusing as shit.
How an item works mechanically has no relevance to how a description is read and interepretted. All this is saying is you intentionally made it confusing because hows its coded is confusing so screw UX design.
There are significant differences between the mechanic proposed above and what the item does. The actual values of maximum resistances matter for several game mechanics, so setting those to be equal to a value is not the same thing as making resistances be limited by a different maximum.
It is impossible to for the item to work in a way matching the wording proposed above, for the reason that I already explained in the previous post.
Therefore the item uses wording that actually reflects what it does, rather than describing a different thing that it doesn't and can't do.
How an item works mechanically has no relevance to how a description is read and interepretted
Having the item's description be different to what it actually does would be more confusing, not less. How the item works mechanically affects what the description can be, because the description has to accurately describe how the item works, not lie to the player.
Damn thats worded terribly. Just say "all maximum elemental resists are equal to your highest maximum elemental resist" or something
That would not be the same mechanic. This does not change the values of maximum resistance, which is important for interactions with other game mechanics.
What they said actually makes a lot of sense. If you go in PoB and change the affixes of an item in the editor it changes the function of an item. The game literally reads the affixes of an item to know what it does, it’s not just for our edification.
EDIT: I see I’m getting some downvotes. Our person says it’s one way and the devs have stated this. If anyone has evidence to the contrary with dev confirmation just let me know. My original statement was not made with 100% certainty!
EDIT2: to clarify, I’m assuming PoB reads the affixes to derive the function of an item and the game does to. This may be wrong. /u/Mark_GGG has been in the thread so maybe he can confirm whether the game works this way or not.
I'm not 100% sure what you're saying even with your clarification, but I think you're off-base with regards to how the game works.
Stat descriptions have no effect on functionality. I could whip up a script to go through and edit every stat description in the game to say "You are likely to be eaten by a grue", and the the game would still work the same way, but it would be much harder to play, due to having no idea what anything actually does. (EDIT: I didn't do that - much faster to edit the code that loads the description files to just use that string instead of the ones read in from the files)
Stats have implementations in the game's code that determine what that stat's value does, and have descriptions in external files that associate text strings with stats based on which stats they are and which values they have. The code can't change functionality based on the description strings for multiple reasons (they're only on the client, other languages would break everything).
Descriptions can technically be any text, but in order for the game to be remotely playable we need to enforce that the description for a stat actaully describes what that stat mechanically does. If a stat is implemented as adding to critical strike multiplier, but described as reducing evasion rating, that's a bug, and needs to be fixed.
So the description text doesn't and can't affect the mechanical function of the stats*, but the function of the stats does affect their descriptions, because we have to pick descriptions that accurately describe that function. This new stat on this item item does a specific thing, so the description needs to reflect the specific thing it does - and the proposed description above does not match that. It describes a different (and impossible, as noted above) mechanic which the item doesn't do. Thus it isn't an appropriate description.
*directly, at least - when coming up with potential new mechanics to implement, how horribly complicated the descriptions for them would be can be a consideration, and may result in ideas being changed or replaced with versions that can have easier to understand descriptions.
I get that the intended description is incorrect for how it functions, but that doesn't change how the item is worded now is needlessly confusing.
At a glance, you can not tell what it does so the description fails at its job of well being a description.
If how im assuming the item works is.
Fire resistance maximum is 85. With this gem now all elemental are maximum 85 but solely for the sake of your actual resistance to damage. Another item/mechanic that say relied on on "Maximum Lightning Res" would not see the 85 and instead see the 75 (Or whatever your natural maximum was).
If that's how it works then it would more accurate to specificy that its only for the damage calculation function of resistance and still use regular wording.
Without this thread reading that description there's 0 way in hell I could have ever actually figured out what this gem did by reading that description. Mainly because for as much as the mentality behind PoE is "Wordings mean consistent things" nothing ever talks about your resistance to damage cap as being "limited". So seeing "Is limited by" means basically nothing. So in the end a longer more specific description is far more useful than an obtuse one that's up to interpretation or requires you to actually go look up how it functions.
nothing ever talks about your resistance to damage cap as being "limited". So seeing "Is limited by" means basically nothing.
This is a valid point, and after discussion with one of the designers we're changing this to use the word "capped" rather than "limited", as that is a much closer match to existing terminology in the game (uncapped resistance & overcapped resistance).
So why can't you do multiple lines then instead of cramming everything into one? with bullet points and left/right aligned?
Multi-line descriptions are harder and more confusing for players to read than single-line. They are thus avoided unless necessary. Allignment isn't something I can mess with at the description level.
Hey Mark, can you clarify if you're changing the definition of "missing fire resistance" on Replica Nebulis as part of this change? As it stands, the help text says it means "missing resistance is the resistance you have below the maximum", but if the maximum is unchanged, you could get negative increased damage numbers when using this jewel.
"the maximum" in this case means the maximum which is capping that resistance, which as of 3.17 may not be the one with the matching name.
If cold resistance is capped by maximum fire resistance, then that's the maximum that is used for working out overcapped & missing resistance.