100 gems to remove level 4 embedded gems

[Klepto]

Chips are meant to be permanent additions to your equipment, not hot-swapped constantly. There's no gem cost at low levels so that you can experiment and get to know how chips work.

Then why allow them to upgrade so high? Why allow them to be removed at all after level 3? Why add the merge function so that existing chips can be made better and then artificially limit the pool you can merge from with an arbitrarily high gem cost ($10 to remove a single chip...I can buy an indulgent lunch for that price)?

We want players to be faced with interesting decisions. Do you use a level 4 chips or wait for a level 5? Or even higher? If you make a mistake, you can pay gems to undo it, if its a big deal to you.

That's not interesting, it limits choice more than having no gem cost does. By adding a gem cost to removing a chip, I already know that once I place a chip, it's done. I have no choice here. I don't have the choice to cannibalize existing level 4 or 5 chips on my gear to make a more powerful level 6 chip at the expense of my other gear. I'm simply stuck waiting for other chips to come around that I can use.

I have less interesting decisions directly because of the gem cost than I would have without it. At least without it I would have to weigh the benefit of removing current gems to make stronger ones. Would losing 5 level 4 chips in my gear for a level 5 on a single hero be worth it? Maybe, maybe not, but I can't make that choice because Tynon has told me they don't want me making that choice.

We just made getting chips a lot easier in the last patch, by adding level 3 and 4 chips to Labyrinth rewards. All players now have access to level 4 and even level 5 chips with some patience. The removal cost is there so that you have to plan ahead and decide between immediate upgrades or waiting for more powerful chips.

So why not just be up front and say you're replicating an experiment done for toddlers by scientists many years ago? We all know about delayed gratification. If you're just conducting a psychological experiment I understand but don't say it makes the game more interesting when it fundamentally limits the available choices for any intelligent player.