Architect Archive
Thread: I'm retiring for a while. Here's why.
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Neilla
Sat Sep 20, 2003 2:21 pm
#1
Hi all,
I've decided to retire from architecture for a while. The reason has relatively little to do with the usually stated economic problems with architecture, and a lot to do with what's fun and what's not fun.
For a while, the novelty of crafting in SWG was enough to keep my interest. Now that the novelty has worn off, I've realized that the things I spend most of my time doing are really pretty idiotic ways to spend your time... so I've decided to stop.
The majority of my time is spent surveying and visiting harvesters. Yes, I could buy resources and stay in business... I'll get to that in a few minutes. Anyway, I just measured what I'd been doing during one harvester run. This was a very short run - slightly over 2 km. I spent: 8 minutes watching my toon run through the countryside. 4 minutes emptying out hoppers and dedeedeing. 8 minuted running back home. Thats 20 minutes, of which 4 minutes was routine and uninteresting, and 16 was a pure waste of time. For a harvester that's located in a slightly more remote location, it could easily be 5 minutes running to Theed. 5 minutes waiting for the shuttle. 15 minutes running to the harvester. 5 minutes servicing the harvester. 15 minutes running back. 5 minutes waiting for the shuttle. 5 minutes running back home. Count it up: That's nearly an hour, of which 5 minutes is boring and 50 minutes is pointless.
But this is nothing compared to surveying for ore, which is absolutely the most tedious thing I have ever seen in a game. One leg of a survey ran like this: Leave Deja Peak. Run 5 minutes to the start of an ore deposit. Run 8 minutes to its center. Discover that its only a 40% concentration. Run another 5 minutes to the end of that ore deposit and the start of the next. Repeate this same exercise for about 2 hours, at the end of which, depending on luck, you may (or may not) find a spot that's worth while to set a harvester down.
There are other ways, of course. I could buy resources and accept lower profits. But why? I made Master Architect 2 months ago. There's nothing new to do, no way of getting better. I've spent the last two months building up my industrial capacity and learning how to run an efficient operation - and I am pretty efficient - but architecture is stagnant and static; what you do one day is exactly like what you do the next, with no adventure. The primary motivation is to make money.
I do that 5 days a week. Its called a job.
Fortunately, there are other things to do in the game, like learn combat and join the GCW. I think I'll do that instead.
I've decided to retire from architecture for a while. The reason has relatively little to do with the usually stated economic problems with architecture, and a lot to do with what's fun and what's not fun.
For a while, the novelty of crafting in SWG was enough to keep my interest. Now that the novelty has worn off, I've realized that the things I spend most of my time doing are really pretty idiotic ways to spend your time... so I've decided to stop.
The majority of my time is spent surveying and visiting harvesters. Yes, I could buy resources and stay in business... I'll get to that in a few minutes. Anyway, I just measured what I'd been doing during one harvester run. This was a very short run - slightly over 2 km. I spent: 8 minutes watching my toon run through the countryside. 4 minutes emptying out hoppers and dedeedeing. 8 minuted running back home. Thats 20 minutes, of which 4 minutes was routine and uninteresting, and 16 was a pure waste of time. For a harvester that's located in a slightly more remote location, it could easily be 5 minutes running to Theed. 5 minutes waiting for the shuttle. 15 minutes running to the harvester. 5 minutes servicing the harvester. 15 minutes running back. 5 minutes waiting for the shuttle. 5 minutes running back home. Count it up: That's nearly an hour, of which 5 minutes is boring and 50 minutes is pointless.
But this is nothing compared to surveying for ore, which is absolutely the most tedious thing I have ever seen in a game. One leg of a survey ran like this: Leave Deja Peak. Run 5 minutes to the start of an ore deposit. Run 8 minutes to its center. Discover that its only a 40% concentration. Run another 5 minutes to the end of that ore deposit and the start of the next. Repeate this same exercise for about 2 hours, at the end of which, depending on luck, you may (or may not) find a spot that's worth while to set a harvester down.
There are other ways, of course. I could buy resources and accept lower profits. But why? I made Master Architect 2 months ago. There's nothing new to do, no way of getting better. I've spent the last two months building up my industrial capacity and learning how to run an efficient operation - and I am pretty efficient - but architecture is stagnant and static; what you do one day is exactly like what you do the next, with no adventure. The primary motivation is to make money.
I do that 5 days a week. Its called a job.
Fortunately, there are other things to do in the game, like learn combat and join the GCW. I think I'll do that instead.
Markis
Sat Sep 20, 2003 9:46 pm
#2
Pretty much sums it up. That is one of the biggest reasons I think we shouldbe allowed 2 characters per galaxy.
ZamOceanjogger
Sat Sep 20, 2003 10:08 pm
#3
You are allowed 2 characters per server... you just gotta unlock that force slot 
Scortch
Sat Sep 20, 2003 10:35 pm
#4
AYe, surveying after a change is a royal pita. I spent 8 hours chasing down a decent ore spot the other day that would allow me to put something besides small harvesters and wasn't too lcose to town or in the water.
Vrix
Sat Sep 20, 2003 10:52 pm
#5
Yeah its always entertaining to find the best concentration of a resource in an area where you can't find a place to put extractorsas there are so **edit** many mountains. I realize these are supposed to be alien enironments but thereshould be more flat spots on each planet. It pisses me off to no end being unable to place a Heavy Extractor because the ground isn't perfectly flat.
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