Link: https://old.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/1tgkzbo/what_was_the_problem_with_extracting_research/

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/guildwars2 by /u/SchtumZ on 2026-05-18 12:22:14+00:00.

Edit: Most of the comments so far are aligned with the general message:
"Research notes were designed to be a material sink on the economy to help it better balance the value of the materials. Stat swap salvaging reduced demand for using such methods that acted as material sinks, and so was removed."

I agree!

So I'd like to shift the discussion more towards 'With hindsight after the change, was the removal of gaining research notes through stat swapping ascendeds and salvaging them a significant enough impact on the materials that it warrants the method still being removed from the game?'

If yes, then it stands to reason it shouldn't be considered being brought back.
If no, then it poses the question to Anet whether they are willing to bring it back... But only if it wasn't significantly (Statistically significant) impacting the GW2 material economy.

_ [Original post below]

The title is pretty self explanatory, but let me explain what I mean.

I'd like to understand *why* this change was ever needed.

Stat swapping ascended gear and salvaging for research notes was rarely if ever the most efficient form of getting research notes; however, it was...:

• Time efficient

• Gave more value to ascended gear than selling at a vendor for pitiful amounts of money.

• Enabled raid/fractal enjoyers and anywhere else that drops Ascended gear to actually be happy about getting a lucky drop of an ascended piece. (This is somewhat mitigated by the fact we can still gain magnetite from these pieces, it's something... But I miss my notes).

• Gave us another use for our spirit shards, it was by far no means free considering how useful they can be at times.

Sure we now have the peer reviewed research option, but just because that exists doesn't give a good reason in my view for removing a functionality that was in my opinion, not a broken or economy defining function.

Now we've got the 50k (+2.5k for gift of research) research notes price tag on Stella Radians, and I wonder why it was ever necessary to remove this function?

I might post something similar on the forums as it's more likely Anet see it, but I know they do at times look here and who knows... Maybe they will revert the change someday... Maybe it's just copium.