With every passing week, I grow more frustrated, lose more interest, and have less hope with the cauldron. It would be so much more enticing if we actually got the recipe effects we wanted rather than a random stream of recipe effects we don't want or need, not to mention the random "Fails." I thought my chances would improve by investing in the recipe effects I really wanted... not seeing that. Experiences range (using weekly 5 goblets) from all 5 succeeding @ 52% success rate (recipe levels below 10) to failing 3 @ 82.5% success rate (recipe levels 15+). Plus the more recipes we gain, the less the chance % of recipes getting triggered? This doesn't make sense, results & duration are way too small, and random to make this a mandatory part of the game. IMO: It doesn't seem worth it for players who cannot login every few hours to make use of any recipe effect. Also, players without hundreds of thousands of spell fragments are out of luck boosting their critical effect chances above 5-10%.
I've no problem with random ingredients being unavailable every week, I do have an issue with getting random recipe effects I don't want (especially those that are under 10% chance to trigger). It's been a challenge to find combinations that actually boost rather than detract from the desired outcome. I'd like to have ingredients/recipes more clearly designated; like only provide coins and supplies; only standard goods; only sentient goods; only ascended goods; only military boosts; only Mana, Divine seeds, and Unurium. Getting unwanted recipe effects and random Fails are huge reasons I'm not liking the Cauldron.
I had hoped to see the Cauldron as a mechanism to GREATLY bolster (like a minimum of 200%) the effects or productions we really need rather than a huge gamble and sink-hole for resources that takes months to build up and get any reasonable benefit that last more than a few hours. It's taking weeks longer than I had hoped to get recipe durations or benefits to any level I'd consider rewarding... still not there, been playing Cauldron since it came out in Beta, and I've got some recipes @ level 35+. IMO: this was introduced to live worlds way too early with the current mechanisms in place. There's a lot more than could have been done to make the Cauldron more palatable and easier for players to use. If this is meant to be a complex long-term adjunct to game-play, that needed to be made clear at the start (transparency with intentions & instructions please). That also means late-game players may not see the long-term benefits before they reach the end. Also, earlier chapter players may just quit playing the Cauldron due to low chance of rewards, unwanted triggered recipes, lack of spell fragments, and lack of clear in-game instructions. Basically, it feels like players have been set up to be frustrated and fail with the Cauldron.