Pain is exactly the right word, the fact is that when working in a game becomes suffering I think there is a problem.
It’s correct that to achieve something in a game you need work, effort, skill.
But when the system is not fair, like when you add RNG in the Wong place, the work becomes suffering.
Used in this way RNG creates alienation between the work and its result, the gamer does not know at what point in the process he is at because in reality he is in a loop from which he will exit based on the result of the RNG.
I understand that you are intrigued by perfect builds but in my opinion being op is not a good goal, trivializing the game can be fun at first but then it quickly becomes boring.
Perfect builds should be difficult to obtain but not ridiculously so, and in the end they must be strong but they must not revitalize the game.
If you want to continue playing the game you can do other builds.
If you don’t want it then don’t play, the game doesn’t have to be immortal.
The problem is that the game in an attempt to last longer diminished the quality of the experience.
People keep playing Elden Ring because it’s full of content and ways to relive the experience, not because they’re struggling for the perfect build.
That’s exactly what I would like, for example, if to sublimate a weapon you would need to do a specific challenge using that weapon which would be much more fun.
Not relly, it’s much more deterministic but I don’t remove the RNG entirely, in the right quantities and in the right places RNG leads to variety.
And the game also needs to give something to those who play a lot.
In the gem system that I propose, the large gems have the role of being difficult to obtain all of them (as is already the case now).
I also have this opinion, the question of the identity of the item is a perspective that many players have, but which I really don’t agree with because if you like an item you basically keep it as it is so even if you have the possibility of changing it you don’t do it, but I know that many people don’t agree.