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Why Gathering/Refining/Crafting Should Be High Focus

AlizeeAlizee Member
edited August 2020 in General Discussion
After seeing the alpha footage it appears the gathering/refining/crafting will be generic and essentially just have you press a button and wait, I think this is a bad system.

Despite what others have said, it is actually impossible to stop multi-boxing unless you have to type in your irl I.D when creating an account, and even then there are those who will find a way to abuse this. The reason people multi-box is to gain an economic advantage, I know that mouse inputs/ghost mousing will be tracked and banned if abused, along with scripts/etc... However if the main ways to gain resources has little to no APM or doesn't require you to focus on an interface to gain said resources (what it looks like to me in the video), it will not be difficult to manually do this with muti-boxing on several clients, especially if there are "veins" of resources presumable holding a high amount of that resources in an area. (Especially with the family teleport system, you would just walk around till you find a vein, then teleport 5 of your multi-boxed chars to the vein) Judging from the video It would seem you could cut a log, walk around 5-10 seconds and find another tree to cut, this will not be difficult to do on multiple clients (especially with add-ons, which again, you can't actually stop if someone knows what they're doing), the best way to stop multi-boxing abuse, is to make it as difficult as possible for someone who would multi-box for economic gain. I suggest having a UI that requires you to interact with it that either requires high focus or a level of apm that would be very difficult to pull of on two clients by a single person.

Something like for example.



Pressing a button and waiting a few seconds to gain resources, refine, or craft... is the "participation trophy" of gathering, refining, and crafting.

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Comments

  • I dont see why the example you provided should have to be used in gathering of base materials.

    There is nothing about a tree chopping mini-game that sounds fun.

    I feel like refinement of materials should also be free from this kind of unnecessary stuff. Chop the tree, get the wood, turn wood into planks. Just a time sink. You want to make the planks into a refined item? Then yes, I can see how this could be interesting as it would not just require resources, but also skill at doing the interaction to pump out a high number of quality products. But short of finished products this is a bad idea.
  • I dont see why the example you provided should have to be used in gathering of base materials.

    There is nothing about a tree chopping mini-game that sounds fun.

    I feel like refinement of materials should also be free from this kind of unnecessary stuff. Chop the tree, get the wood, turn wood into planks. Just a time sink. You want to make the planks into a refined item? Then yes, I can see how this could be interesting as it would not just require resources, but also skill at doing the interaction to pump out a high number of quality products. But short of finished products this is a bad idea.

    Agree. It's one thing to have these mini games in a single player game (like Fable) when you aren't crafting or gathering very much at all. But I can see it being a pain in the butt when it comes to being implemented in AoC.
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  • I wasn't really a fan of the Fable crafting system, sure it felt more 'involved' but it didn't bring much to the table. And as long as there isn't a node that doesn't ever deplete, which would be cause for someone who can use their second screen just to consistently generate resources, I don't see there being much of an issue. The second account will still need to move around and collect.
  • I agree that it would be more interesting to do a little more than press a button to collect (and would make it less feasible to multibox), it's also a question of scale and repetition.

    I feel like a lot of criticism towards active systems assumes a wow-like economy, where the only real money is made by delivering wagonloads of ore at once. In such a system, you NEED to do the same repetitive boring task 200 times so you can fill your inventory and flood the auction house with 30 stacks of copper ore. I don't know if anyone would call that fun besond the expected reward, which just stinks of bad design. If the economy depends on skinnerboxes, you almost NEED multiboxers to take the liad off of real players.

    If getting resources requires more focus, but is fun in its own right, you can give a lot more to the player than a single worthless blip you need to amass for any meaningful profit. Hunting animals for pelts and other materials does this, raiding does this, pvo does this, fishing seems to go for this, so why not also make other sources of materials both more engaging AND rewarding?

    If pressing E gives me 1 flower, and I can press E 10 times per minute, you could easily make it a small activity where you still get those 10 flowers per minute, but you have to do less gathering spots in total. You chop one tree for 10 wood instead of 10 trees for one wood each.
  • MarcetMarcet Member
    edited August 2020
    I like crafting that is a farming simulator, grab minerals and make ingots, get exp, spam crafting and sell. Thats all I want. Btw im gonna be a cook and I want to be the best at it so yeah im gonna farm the shit of out that profession. I don't care if it's repetitive, click a button and go take a dump.
  • Marcet wrote: »
    I like crafting that is a farming simulator, grab minerals and make ingots, get exp, spam crafting and sell. Thats all I want. Btw im gonna be a cook and I want to be the best at it so yeah im gonna farm the shit of out that profession. I don't care if it's repetitive, click a button and go take a dump.

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  • HiddenDaggerInnHiddenDaggerInn Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    hmm no, no thank you to mini games during gathering. Let me get the stuff I need and get out of there and sell it or make it kk thx.
  • Sandman wrote: »
    hmm no, no thank you to mini games during gathering. Let me get the stuff I need and get out of there and sell it or make it kk thx.

    You won't be able to both gather and process materials, so if you decide to gather, you gather.
  • XenotorXenotor Member, Alpha Two
    I have to Quote Jahlon here: "Mini games in gathering are fun for the first 10.000 times you do them."
    So no thank you.
    If someone wants to pay intrepid another 15$ for a small economic gain or a to get banned then let them do it.
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  • Counterpoint: Without a minigame, gathering is never fun. And why spend time on something that's never fun?
  • BotBot Member
    edited August 2020
    I really, really don't see quick time event mechanics ever being desirable for anyone regardless of the benefits. I agree with the sentiment of trying to make it so you can't just script it and it's not mundane. I think a good solution could be having a mini-game like a lock cracking mechanic similar to other games, but unique for each material possibly. An example could be if it's a tree you have to cut you have to use your mouse to cut a specific spot so it's rng similar to a captcha with a short cd if you mess up. Just make it very simple, rng, and increase the yield per this method to compensate. Will overall take up less time for people who actually are playing the game when they do it. I think you could just reuse the process for other stuff too like for mining it'd be pulling a pickaxe down at a specific spot. For gathering it could be putting a hand down on a specific spot. This would make the development aspect of it simple since they can just create one mechanic and reuse it with varying art to make it more customized. Just the overall key is for it to be incredibly simple to do, seamless in transition from action key to initiate>mini-game>receiving mats, and fast.
    Xenotor wrote: »
    If someone wants to pay intrepid another 15$ for a small economic gain or a to get banned then let them do it.

    The issue with that is it's not just them paying another $15 oh well it's their money spent, it's about how it impacts the game for those of us that play legitimately.
  • SongcallerSongcaller Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    We had quick time events in combat at one point. Thankfully IS listened to the Community and removed the quick time events in combat. We do not want to backtrack and force quick time events in crafting, only for 99% of the player base to turn around and tell IS to remove the quick time events in crafting.

    No quick time events please.
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  • Doesn't have to be a quick time event, just something a bit kore interesting than E
  • NagashNagash Member, Leader of Men, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    What about a system like FFXIV?
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    The dead do not squabble as this land’s rulers do. The dead have no desires, petty jealousies or ambitions. A world of the dead is a world at peace
  • https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Harvest

    It seems what you're speaking of is already in the game.
  • Nagash wrote: »
    What about a system like FFXIV?

    FF14's system is deep, but honestly super dry. A bunch of lists and numbers and chances. Good for optimising, but both unintuitive and unimmersive.
  • SoggyBandaidSoggyBandaid Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    One possible point of concern for me consists of the 3 artisan trees (gathering, refining, crafting). I love crafting in pretty much any mmo or single player rpg I get my hands on, but the system can make a big difference. IMO most games allow for a single character to focus on gathering/processing/crafting for a completed item set. Ex: I harvest, refine, and smith metal for my fighter, or harvest, refine, weave cloth for my mage. AoC is taking a different approach, and regardless of mini games, I think that means the profession system (gathering, refining, crafting) need to be high focus.

    To highlight, players seem worried about which trade offs will be made in gathering/crafting between convenience and fun and whether multiboxing will give economic advantage, but I don't know if I've read a single comment in any thread about refinement. Refinement seems to have so little player interest no one is even addressing it, but it will be crucial (probably) to the overall item creation process (and therefore economy) in AoC.

    In summary, I worry that regardless of mini-games, almost all players will main a gatherer to have access to raw material, almost none will make a refiner because it's an underwhelming step in the item creation process, and almost all players interested in crafting (myself included) will do so with an alt character since it will be mechanically more beneficial to leave the crafter at home base.
  • I'm fine with gathering being a simple point and click to get it over and on to the next material but I would hope processing and crafting require some real effort and really make you feel like you're making something.
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  • KesarakkKesarakk Member, Braver of Worlds, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Beekeeper wrote: »
    Counterpoint: Without a minigame, gathering is never fun. And why spend time on something that's never fun?

    Some players, myself included in other games, actually enjoy the mundane task of gathering or even processing materials. It is a type of task that is calming if not soothing. For players like us, we love to turn on our favorite song or playlist and hit the road searching for our next ore to mine or tree to cut. There is no need to add a mini game to a system that is mundane. I don’t want to complicate a simple system just because it isn’t flashy enough for some players. There is a level of enjoyment in every system of a game and sadly there is zero ways to make each one a 10/10 on the enjoyment level for every single person. If you don’t like to gather materials because it isn’t visually stimulating enough, hire a player who likes doing it for you.
  • kesarakk wrote: »
    Some players, myself included in other games, actually enjoy the mundane task of gathering or even processing materials. It is a type of task that is calming if not soothing. For players like us, we love to turn on our favorite song or playlist and hit the road searching for our next ore to mine or tree to cut. There is no need to add a mini game to a system that is mundane. I don’t want to complicate a simple system just because it isn’t flashy enough for some players. There is a level of enjoyment in every system of a game and sadly there is zero ways to make each one a 10/10 on the enjoyment level for every single person. If you don’t like to gather materials because it isn’t visually stimulating enough, hire a player who likes doing it for you.

    I totally get that mindset, just putting on music and doing stuff that by itself isn't all that interesting. I do it all the time for punching trees in minecraft. I zen out and take down half a forest.

    But, at the same time, something like "E" just feels so damn unsatisfying. The whole aligning yourself for the prompt to show up, like a car doing parallel parking, feels like bad design. Or doing a back-and-forth dance because you're too far away, now you're too close, now you're too far again, now it works, nope was turned too far left, it's just too much. Some real deep frustrations coming up here, lol.

    I would never want to take away the simplicity, the ability to just zone out and go for gathering, I just think other games did it better.
  • No just no thank you ... I don’t like tedious things ... albeit I do like mmos that have fishing where there is a bobber and you click it etc ... but a mini game out of chopping a tree ... I am not sure about ... but sometimes I get surprised
  • KesarakkKesarakk Member, Braver of Worlds, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Beekeeper wrote: »

    I totally get that mindset, just putting on music and doing stuff that by itself isn't all that interesting. I do it all the time for punching trees in minecraft. I zen out and take down half a forest.

    But, at the same time, something like "E" just feels so damn unsatisfying. The whole aligning yourself for the prompt to show up, like a car doing parallel parking, feels like bad design. Or doing a back-and-forth dance because you're too far away, now you're too close, now you're too far again, now it works, nope was turned too far left, it's just too much. Some real deep frustrations coming up here, lol.

    I would never want to take away the simplicity, the ability to just zone out and go for gathering, I just think other games did it better.

    That part I do agree with you on. I would prefer something like Ark where you have to have the tool equipped in your hand to gather. Maybe a small change like that would turn more people onto the gathering process. You can't accidentally gather a material if you don't have that tool equipped and it adds a small element of risk v.s. reward because you no longer have your main weapon in your hand in case someone jumps you.
  • VarkunVarkun Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Well here is something to consider while you are out gathering in the wilds there is the risk that you will be killed for the resources you are gathering. I know personally I would not like to be concentrating on some gathering process while greedy eyes are waiting for just the right time to jump me and steal my stuff. Keep it simple so I can be aware of what is going on around me.

    Processing/crafting will lend themselves to some sort of mini game/process that can be concentrated on as both of these will take place in freeholds and or towns/cities. Freeholds I don't think you can be attacked thus are safe and towns/cities there will be guards other players who would be quite the deterrent to someone attacking you.

    IS said several months ago in a live stream that gathering was going to be kept simple as they realised that many people use or view gathering as more of a relaxing time to not fully concentrate.
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    Never write a check with your mouth you can't cash with your ass!.
  • I am in full support to the crafting community, I get it. But, for people requesting mini games for simple tasks, like gathering, I have to decline.

    Most gatherers (hopefully) will not be crafters. Most gatherers are just wanting to make a quick easy buck while adventuring, something to supplement their income. Add a mini game, you will alienate those peeps who don't want to play that style, and less gatherables will be collected.

    Keep your mini games in your pants. 😜
  • Hurf DerfmanHurf Derfman Member
    edited August 2020
    Farming ends up being a farming sim minigame that's cool. Having to also play a mini game to loot crops less so. (Would be cool to get seeds from wild herbs to plant in personal plots tbqh)

    I can't help but wonder if animal husbandry will be just a mount breeding system or will you be able to breed beasts of burden and livestock for consumption?
    Cow = meat, milk, leather. Goats = milk meat. Sheep= wool, meat ect.

    A minigame to catch a horse or a griffin would be fine. Breeding them eh... Not so much.

    Gathering is basically Easter egg hunting. Don't need any meta games added to that. Especially in a pvp setting.

    Enchanting will have a risk of destroying an item. Slap a wonky quick time event in the mix things would get toxic real fast.

    I would rather be able to acquire better tools and crafting stations for enhanced effects over wondering if I didn't get the proc cause I didn't minigame hard enough.
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