Architect Archive
Thread: Test Center Update and Harvesters
I hate the term nerf, balancing goes both ways and needs to, but lets not get into that 
Yeah it is going to hurt short term, but I am trying not to look at what it will do to me personally in the short term, but what it will be to the game in the long run.
Will architects quit?.... yes.... is that a bad thing...... ( you know the answer )... no it is a good thing as we have too much supply for too little demand now.
In the long run we will have extractors of different capabilities, a wider range on products and prices.
It is all good news to me, if I step out of my personal role at the moment and look at what it does for the game. Fewer people harvesting, harvesters that are a wider range.
All we need now is decay to start to loose the old harvesters and we will have a more stable system.
I may be in the minority but I love the sound of this. I run a mining operation with my wife and my daughter. I currently run 10 heavy minerals and 16 medium minerals. We already visit every harvester once every 48 hours. Can someone explain to me how this change would hurt me?
And I agree with Dayln... this helps Architects in the long run.
Agreed... add some harvester decay into the mix and I think we get hit hard initialy, but then come bouncing back to a sustainable economy after.
Personally I wont miss having less harvesters out in the countryside. Its getting insane navigating around them everywhere you go. What a blight on some otherwise beautifull worlds 
I also miss the days when i could actualy place harvesters without having to go all over the map looking for an empty spot.
I just think the capacities have been "Tweaked" (prefer over nerf?) down too far. You have a very unfriendly game for the casual player if you cant leave a harvester un-checked for more than a day or so. Tweaking the production rates down is probably necessary, as they already stated resources are being harvested atmuch higher volumes than they planned for.
I'm not an architect, but i'm a user of harvestors. I believe that Architects should have a means to better their products, a way for higher level Architects to make premium products for which they can charge premium prices. But this change increases the time sink on the part of the game that's most tedius, most like work. Make the harvestors so some extract faster, make them cheaper to run with expeimentation or use less power. But if I have to do my harvestor runs everyday, I just can't do it.
I don't much look forward to reduced rates on the machines.
I like the idea of something that weeds out the field of those fly by night wannabes who undercut those of us who want to play a crafter.
I don't like the idea that this patch will most certainly hurt the new guy. If you aren't a large operator then you will have a very long hard road to get to master.
If this goes as I think it will then there will be a need to work together like never before.
If any are interested in joining OCP indutries send me an email on Ahazi.
Orome
CEO of OCP
Master Artisan
Master Architect
Its a nerf. Its not balancing and it isnt a reward.
Stop calling it anything else.
If they actually gave us experimentation that allowed us to make harvesters better than they are today then there would be some room to talk about is as a "balancing".
As it stands they are forcing people to use high quality resources to make items that use upwards of 30k in resources and at best you can hope for them to be similar to the ones you can make today.
Do you really believe people will pay 300k for heavy harvesters?
I sure do hope so b/c that is what the resources will cost to make them.
I jus read about this and I think it's a step in the right direction. I'm not so sure such a drastic change is wise, but we don't make the decisions. 
I have yet to see any notes or posts from the devs saying this is an intentional change being tested. For all we know at this point in time, is it could be a coding brainfart 
Even if this goes live, I think it will have a positive effect on the market in the long run. I believe more non archs will stop dabbling if this goes live (due to the more time needed to harvest). People suprise me sometimes so they may actually want to stay thinking the exact same thing I am and that resource prices will raise and it'll be a gold mine (No pun intended )for a few if that does happen.
I think before we can really see the total effect lets find out if its intentional, and if it's the correct change if it was indeed intentional. This will be the perfect way to get duped creds and resources out of the game.
If this goes live will we get our full experimentation points?
We better!
What a negative crew we have here... no one has yet commented on the fact that he was able to *increase* the output rate of his medium harvester? Yes, I understand that with the new restrictions on capacity that means it'll fill up even quicker, but still... there are positive changes here, too, for those willing to perhaps change their routine a bit.
My opinion on the capacity issue? I agree that they went a bit too far. I think doubling the current numbers would make things more workable. I feel for the casual players who can't hit their harvesters every day or two and still get in some fun-time. (However, I have little sympathy for those with 30-40 harvesters to tend... if you decided to play above the limits, you're bringing problems on yourself.)
Glibdud,
I think there would be alot of people happy with the ability to increase the rate of extraction, if it weren't for the fact that the hoppers wont be able to hold it.
I dont want to see production rates go up too much anyway, though product differentiation would be great.
I dont think it is having huge numbers of harvesters that takes up time... It is the number of resources you chose to harvest from at the same time... thereby spreading them out over large distances.
I used to run further operating 10 harvesters than do now operating 20-30. The reason... when i only had 10 i needed to be harvesting all of the material types constantly. With 20+ I can place 10 or more on one material and build up a nice inventory.. then i dont need to visit that maerial type again for at least a couple of weeks.
The run distance multiplied by the frequency you have to so it, and divided by your travel speed, determins how much "Non-Fun" time you are going to have to put in. Now my business is established I want more fun time, so I tend to just drop all my harvesters in 1 or 2 places.
I think SOE wanted to reduce the rate of extraction overall.. and figured they could add some use for experimentation at the same time. I think they would have been better served by introducing some form of harvester certification system. The could have limited the number of harvesters without appearing to reduce each harvesters capabilities.
He means that not anyone could place a harvestor, you have to be certified for the larger ones.
I am thinking aobut this.... dont have an opinion yet.
Since I dont have an opinion yet should I mention Wal Mart?
PosiTec wrote:
I dont want to see production rates go up too much anyway, though product differentiation would be great.
Yes, I'm in favor of the experimentation, but I had in mind much smaller differentiation than they appear to be implementing. A medium harvester at 6kg/hr (from 4)? That has me a little worried about the low-end market, but time will tell.
PosiTec wrote:
I dont think it is having huge numbers of harvesters that takes up time... It is the number of resources you chose to harvest from at the same time... thereby spreading them out over large distances.
I used to run further operating 10 harvesters than do now operating 20-30. The reason... when i only had 10 i needed to be harvesting all of the material types constantly. With 20+ I can place 10 or more on one material and build up a nice inventory.. then i dont need to visit that maerial type again for at least a couple of weeks.
Hey, someone's using their head! Heh... that comment wasn't directed at everyone who uses more than 10 lots, but the ones who occasionally pop up to complain how some change makes it difficult to tend their 40 harvesters. Like you did, sometimes the answer is to be smart and perhaps change the way you do things.