Alas, the linking cost goes hand in hand with the increased link bonus.

But the problem with that is, player who have already linked them have a huge advantage over ones who haven't (Mine are all linked, except red gourd... cause....)

But what of the equipment nerf? It seems the "30%" is used as an answer to BOTH the nerf AND the increased cost a lot of times. But fact of the matter is, it can only really counteract ONE of the two, either one is fine, but not both.

Furthermore, the problem with equipment nerf is not necessarily the nerf in and of itself--if it's the same for everyone, a global nerf is kind of whatever--I can beat ALL the PvE content, so it's just PvP and if everyone is nerfed in PvP, there is no difference. The problem with the nerf is that some of the best tier ones got nerfed while lower tier ones DIDN'T. And this changes what tool is the best tool. And due to the bonus stat/refinement disaster, switching tool is a huge hurdle. Regardless of if the stat is on there from old tools or the refine essence, you can't carry the good stat with the tool. Which means in all likelihood, you have to pick a tool with lower base stat but better bonus stat or one with higher base stat but lower refine stat. Ain't that just peachy?