Architect Archive
Thread: Tired of critical fails at master.
VP wrote:
1 The architect crafting process is over complex, there's way too many sub components.
2 You should never critical fail at master, NEVER!!!
3 Too many resources needed for the casual gamer.
4 It pisses me off.
I really don't want to throw away all the hard work I've put into it so far (not to mention the money) and I do actually like the profession and want to continue but this is seriously disheartening so is there anything else I can do to make my time as architect easier? Like do you all have any systems for aquiring resources and crafting. Has anyone come up with a way to streamline the process to make it easier to get my little head around?
If you think this is complex.. try Armorsmith or Weaponsmith... they are REALLY complex... Arch is easy.
I am a casual gamer, and i have been MArch for over a year, it takes a lot of time to accumulate resources as a causal gamer. Sometimes you miss spawns. If you are not a power gamer i would suggest:
1) Make a lot of Med BER10's-they are cheap and easy to use. Also you can put in about 8-10k of maint/power in it and it will last through an entire spawn. This means you don't have to waste resources or time keeping your harvs going.
2) Only mine a few resources at a time- Surveying for multiple resources takes a lot of time... just survey for one or two and place a few harvs on it. Only a few items in Arch need any kind of real quality resources(only the stuff for Harvesters really need the quality stuff).
3) MOST IMPORTANTLY, USE SWGCRAFT.COM- This website is vital to any crafter. You can get updates on what resources are spawned, how long they have been spawned and their qualities. I would also recommend downloading Fooman and Jenner's Tool (in the Weaponsmith Forums)(Need XCEL 2000). once you learn how to use it... it saves a ton of time.
As for the Critical fails... it just happens, it sucks but their's nothing i can do about it... i do agree that the experimentation "Good's" happen too often, but i will say that when i craft MAster Chem's i seem to get a lot more fails/"good's" than i do for any other harv.
Hope this is helpful
Circe' Pojia
VP wrote:
It all helps linusboarder, thanks. Critical fails at master is like a sick joke left in by the devs.
I don't think it's a joke, nor do I think critical fails should be abolished. It adds a level of chance to the game. Without a doubt, architect is a joke of a "crafting" profession. Give shipwright, weaponsmith, or amorsmith a try. One critical fail can blow thousands of amazing quality resources. For architects, even if you make a factory with average resources, the results are the same. The hoppers are always 100/100. Sure, it's a bit frustrating if you get a critical fail on a heavy harvestor, but even then you're using above average quality resources. Amazing quality is nothing short of a waste if architects use them. The various levels of success or failure are what adds to the game. If everything was a great or amazing success, think how much less fun (if possible) architect would be? It would also stop people from buying the best equipment, food/drink, and moving into Research cities. As an architect, I use 15.0 tools, 44.5 stations, live in a research center, have all the possible SEA's to max out my assembly and experimentation, and occasionally drink port and eat cake. When I experiment, I use 3 boxes at a time. All this, and I rarely ever (knock wood) experience any fails.
Architect is a very simple profession. Check your brain at the door, and start crafting. Sure, it takes a ton of resources, but that's about it. I can go out, buy 1million units of ore, and 300k of metal and make a ton of walls. This takes no thinking. Make a schematic or three, drop it in a factory, come back the next day. Sure, to make a heavy harvestor, you need to do a few factory runs to get all the necessary components ready. Is that really complex, or is it just time consuming? Try taking on shipwright for a few days. Then, come back and say architect is overly complex. With my shipwright, I can spend 3 or more hours working on a single setup. Using resources of the highest quality, being forced the craft almost everything by hand, and being able to experiment on up to 10 different aspects of the component. That is complex. Making a handful of manufacturing schematics to pump out 50 heavy harvestors is not.
The one point I will readily agree with you on, is that the mass quantity of resources is overwhelming for a casaul gamer. This is true, no doubts there. If your character is purely a crafter, without the ability to rack up millions of credits in combat, it can be hard. It's also much harder if you don't have a guild or group of friends to help you out with harvesting. There's no way a casual gamer will ever be able to compete head-to-head with a hardcore gamer. The time and effort invested directly relates to success. Personally, I think that's how it should be. Perhaps it's not fair, but it's realistic. I spent almost a year building up the reputation my architect has now. He's by far one of the best-known on Starsider. Like many, I started out small, and slowly worked my way up. It wasn't until just before JTL that I was able to make 42+ crafting stations. I simply took my time, sold items here and there, and established a loyal customer base. My gaming time is split between three accounts. I'd call both of my crafters "casual" since most of my time is spent with my combatant. So, it's very possible to be a casual player and still be "successful." You may not be able to compete right away, but with time, persistance, effort, and reliablity you will.
Message Edited by Ty-Kaz on 12-23-2004 05:28 AM
Come to think of it I hardly ever see an architects shop with vendors for everything an architect can supply including artisan stuff so I think that's what I'll do and specialize in a couple of different things till I can go further.