I love threads like this... two distinctly different groups beating their heads against a wall.
Neither side of this argument is ever going to agree with the other because you are not playing the same game.
Group "A" - The early to mid-game players. I get it. You don't like the advanced quest to ascend a piece of gear because you are not at a point in the game where min/maxing gear is beneficial to you. You feel
as though your energy would be better spent grinding a new piece of gear (because you can still get a gear upgrade from running Dragon 10), leveling food, grinding silver, etc. Why should you be forced to waste energy on elixirs to ascend a piece of gear that you know you will replace in a week?
Group "B" - These are the veteran players. They've reached the point where the energy spent far outweighs the chance that you will luck up and get an upgrade to the gear you already have collecting dust in your
vault. When you're already wearing gear that is 6*, fully leveled, glyphed, triple speed, crit, or crit damage rolled then your best option is to ascend the pieces you already have.
On the days that this quest comes up… I do it. It's not an issue and it doesn't frustrate me any more than the quest asking me to run 7 campaign missions or defeat 3 campaign bosses (even though I completed the campaign a while back and have ZERO chance of getting anything from these).
On the days it doesn't show up in my advanced quest que... I don't recall ever missing it.
What I do not understand is why Group "B" is acting like the OP (and Group "A") is suggesting that Plarium remove Sand Devil Keep completely? Honestly, did the addition of that single advanced quest somehow make the stars align and suddenly make the game fun for you again? Would any of you really miss the quest if it were removed?
