Architect Archive

Well, of course, I'm going to have to partially disagree. :-p

Some of those items certainly belong. If we are looking at a first cut of the five most "critical" issues, they should be the profession breaking ones. Bugs. Not wishlist improvements. For that reason, I think #3 needs to drop right off there and come up when more of the skill tree is fixed.

I also agree that it's not your job to fix the entire game or the whole community. You were appointed specificaly to speak for and stand up for the architect profession. So problems specific to us *should* be your primary concern. They didn't make you a dev for the whole game, but a mouthpiece for our profession, which is badly in need of dev lovin'.

Numbers one and four are fine, and urgently in need of attention, so they should stay on the first top five list. (How did you arrive at five, by the way? Was that dev ordered, or just a number you picked? We've had lots of top *ten* lists before with easily that many critical bugs to address.)

Number two is a problem and a bug, but the harvesters at least work, collect resources, charge maintenance, and consume power at *some* rate. I'd like it to be fixed and consistent, but again, I dont' think it's a game breaker or deserving of top five status.

Number five is just out the window. I've seen it discussed, but I've also seen devs answer it. Not saying that wouldn't be nice, but that is *beyond* wish list in definition. They'd have to recode a serious part of the crafting code for that to happen. I seriously doubt such an effort will be undertaken when they can't keep half the servers up for 24 hours straight. I think that is miles from the top five and a waste of real estate in a list that the devs might actually read for a change. This might be a real chance for architects to be heard on the prioritization of fixes, and we shouldn't squander our opportunty.

So, I think 3 and 5 need to be replaced at a minimum, and possibly nuber two pushed back a couple weeks.

Lot allotments for architects (and other crafters) should be on there, IMO, as one of the switches. I have access to a couple of accounts, but I know for the single account architects, deals with others for accounts don't always come avaialable and the lot limit is crippling at the high end to productivity.

A comprehensive list of broken schematics and dysfunctional items should be included as one of these five. A quick search will turn up threads where we've posted them before. Curved couches are bugged, large beds are bugged for placement, no light fixures give light except torches, the list goes on and on. This is costing us money and ticking off customers. These should be fixed.

Factories still have massive bugs popping up with the input and output hoppers. Got another one of our architects last night and cost tens of thousands of resources. I think factories need a serious in-house test session by SOE devs on a production server using real materials they harvest themselves to build it, load it and try to operate it.

There's three suggestions that I think are more critical than some of what you have on the current list.

#1 Houses, furniture,factories, and harvestersneed to decay. This is so much important than anything else on the list. It would solve the construction branch being uterly pointless, because expermentation would allow strucures to decay slower. Small houses should decay in a month, med and big houses 2 months, pa halls 6months to a year. Something around there otherwise in 2 months there will be no need for architects.

#2 Permisons for houses/harvesters/vendors/factories needs to be fixed

#3 Sliders on harvesters

#4 Critical Failures shouldn't happen on items that take of 1,000 resouces. Or atleast happen .01% of the time. Critical Failures should be for components.

#5 Colors and custom products. I know asking to being able to design a house is asking way to much. Because it would A. take awhile to develop this and B. would cause lag to load up all these different stuctures. BUT, at the very least we should be able to do simple custom things like colors. It would be so easy to instead have a white generic house to have it tan. Obviously there would be color limitations like on other crafted items so there are now houses with pink roofs and purple siding.

#5 B. Kind goes with the same thing with colors, but make furnuture do something. I cant even put my desk lamp on my friken desk!

Other notes: Have a skill tree for some type of crafter to be able to have more lots. Since not just architects need this, maybe make a skill branch after surveyor or gain an extra 2 plots with master artisian. Since we can only have so many plots as a whole on the server, take away plots from the fighters. They only need 6 to have a large house, if they need more then they would be a crafter and could earn more.

NOTE FOR ZARCATH - I am glad you finally have begun to list the problems you plan on giving to the devs, but I sugest that next time instead of listing 5 detailed problems, list 10 or more semi-detailed problems and have the rest of us discuss and vote on what ones we think are the most important. Eitherway good job so far, keep it up for all our fellow architects.

I agree that players should just be able to buy the same deed and place it over their house and the counter would go up another 100 decay points or what have you. I do not think the customers should have to toally redo their houses, but just have a reason to go back to us archetects and buy another house and keep our professions and economy going.

I like the idea of fixing the houses Here is what I was thinking

each 25% damge on small houses you would need to use 5 structure modules

each 25% damage on a med house you would need to use a 2 walls

each 25% damage on large house you would need to use 4 walls

each 25% damage on a PA hall you would need to use 6 walls

At 50% make it so it needs 1.5 more than at 25% and at 75% it would take 2 times as much. So everyone would want to get their stuff fixed when it starts to go bad instead of waiting.

The only problem I have with this is that houses right now are not a high priority to people since there is very limited demand. If they implement it so that they have more advantages to having a house then go for it.

Your Idea of a decay counter is fine. But it should be diminishing returns. This could be done 2 ways.

1. If you let your house get down to 80, you could only repair it back up to 95. You let it get down to 80 and repair it again, it would only get back up to 90. And on and on until you couldn't repair it very much anymore. You could never repair it as good as it was brand new.

2. Have it cost more and more to get back up to pristene condition. At first, it would only cost a few credits to get the house fully repaired. (from the home owners perspective, I think that the cost would be in resources for an architect) After a month it would cost around a thousand credits to get a house back all the way. Eventually, you would just be better off buying a new house than paying to repair it.

On both of these, the decay clocks would take longer for well engineered houses.

I think that if you bought a new house that was the same style as your old one, you should be able to just drop it in on top of your old one so none of your furniture needs to be moved at all. Basically it would just restart whichever clock is in place.

Quick notes before I go to bed -

The issues are not in any particular order. The Devs will give all the issues equal attention (to my knowledge anyway), do not take their posted order as an indication as to how important the issue is.

Also, yes, the Devs specifically requested only 5 issues a week. I could ask you for 10, but I would think that by the time the next week rolled around the thread would be lost and forgotten.

I am starting a new thread to handle the issue of Decay.

-Mits

Alright, I've read all the posts on this thread and let me tell you there a lot of viable ideas here. Zarcath, let me congratulate you on a job well done. All of the issues you've addressed are at the top of most architects list of things needing fixing. Here is my input on the topics:

1) Power core and harvesting mechanism - no input seeing as I don't use factories or know any who do, personally.

2) Maintenance status - This happens to me all the time. I've taken screenshots that prove I've paid maintenane on my harvesters and ones that show the same harvester on fire and needing over 2K credits in repairs. This is something that definately needs to be addressed. I know that the DEVs know about this (I've personally sent about 30 bug reports on this one alone.)

3) Reclaiming Maintenance and Power - Definately will be a HUGE plus.

4) Permissions - Glad this is up here. We have 4 nearly full-time crafters not including me and we all share a "Crafter's Hall". Currently we use a vendor inside the hall to transfer items between people that are not online at the same time. I light off a ton of fireworks when this is fixed.

5) Critical Failure - ABSOLUTELY LOVE this idea Zarcath!!!!!! I've been wondering what the point is to the Construction Skill Tree. I know of no architect how actually uses specific ores to make houses just to increase its stats by 20%. Can anyone show me side-by-side proof of what this skill tree provides? I could see if you increase thedecay resistance (or whatever the most prevalent experiment is) by 30% that it would affect the amount of maintenance one is required to pay on the structure per given period. (i.e. you'll have to do more repairs on something made of balsa wood compared to something made of oak).

I've seen plenty of suggestion on how to correct our uncertain future with regards to structures not decaying and many are quite good. I have a couple of suggestions to try and help our situation:1) have all structures decay at a base rate as someone had stated previously but if maintenace is not payed, the rate of decay increases rapidly (i.e. a small house lasts for 12 days but if you don't pay maintenance it will decay in 2 days) 2) Natural disasters (also mentioned previously) 3) make it impossible to reclaim the deed. Making structures unmovable once placed will create more of a demand for structures since they can only be destroyed. I hurts us too but might help us more than it hurts us.

I'm sure I'll come up with others but the time being that's it.

Good job to all!

Major Mansutyybacu

I like your list except 4 and 5 should be 1 & 2 IMO. Now the question is when if ever will they be fixed?

I have to admit I am becoming more than a little frustrated over these 2 bugs since they have not seemed to be doing anything about them. Nerfing professions seems to be more important.

Great job, Chief!

Regarding the Decay issue, I have a suggestion...

If houses had a very slow moving durability rating, perhaps something large that decayed with maintenance...

Small houses could have 5500 durability, decaying at (I think it's) 8 per hour, just like their maintenance cost. And architects could have within the Construction Line schematics for Harvester Reconstruction Kit, Small House Renovation Kit, etc.

These items can only be made by architects, and perhaps can only be used by architects (or are used better). They would *not* have the ability to destroy a home (as my armor repair tool destroyed my Mirabi chest piece last night), but only to 'refill' that durability value.

Woah, that's a suggestion for both the Construction line and for the durability issue. Eventually, adding experimentation to structures allowing them to increase the max durability (or reduce maintenance costs) would be useful also, making one house different from the next.

Glug Bugalug'lug
Architect of Peace
Theed.Naboo.Lowca

Good issues that affect as all. Thank you! Big Plus on the harvester one =D

I tried to check all the other profs before making my list to make sure there were no overlaps. Glad you're putting in some overarching issues.

__Alichai__

Zarcath: I only have one thing to say to you...

THANK YOU!!!!!

/big hugs

Regarding the different maintenance cost observations... do attacked structures take "damage". Yesterday a friend of mine observed a mob attacking a harvester. Perhaps this is what is causing maintenance to be consumed at a higher rate.

Experimentation should allow you to do 3 things. First decrease the rate it deacys with durability. Second decrease the rate it consumes power(if it uses power) 3rd, let us slightly increase its spec rate with efficiency.

Thats 3 reasons why people would want to experiement, and it makes sense to me.