Architect Archive

How to rework the Architect Profession

I’ve given this a lot of thought. I’ve felt that there has been a very obvious lack of diversity in the Architect skill tree. In fact, this is evident in all skill tress, and the concepts I’m going to bring up here really apply to many other areas as well.

The ideas I’m going to present may represent a complete overhaul to how the game mechanics work. However I think most of these elements are already present in one form or another, so it would involve applying the existing programming in a different way. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

In a long enough timeline, every Master Architect will be a clone of one another. The way skills work right now, any Novice Architect is just as good as any other. We can all make the same thing. We all have the same amount of "skill" at making those items, with the same chance at failure. Yes, I know there are racial modifiers, but that’s basically the only modifiers present. There’s no degree of competence between one novice and another. I’ve been thinking about ways to change that.

Let’s start with the most basic part of being an Architect, the Novice.

Something has always bothered me about the fact that you need 33,000 General Crafting xp in order to become a Novice Architect. I think part of that is the fact that Merchants need merchant xp to become a Novice Merchant. They need xp relevant to their future career. I think it would make more sense to have a general architect xp, which Artisans can get from certain schematics in the Engineering tree. As many of the architect-like schematics in the Artisan tree aren’t completely simple to make, it would add a level of difficulty to the class.

For now though, let’s just make it a bit easier then that. What if Engineering IV contained a group of schematics that, when made, produce the relevant xp for the future class, as opposed to general xp. i.e. Weapons items produce weaponsmith xp, harvestors produce architect xp, armor produces armor xp. I think we should add some designs too, but that will be touched on later. For now though, simply consider that 30k of Architect xp should be need for reaching Novice Architect. How to get there will be made clear soon.

One last comment before moving on. I think, to make this class a more challenging, it should also be required to move up the Domestic Arts to IV as well. Why? Furniture can be a domestic item, and I think a knowledge of "home design" includes a basic idea of furniture and it’s placement. I think that a Master Architect would have those skills. It also adds to the challenge behind Architecture.

So anyway, now you’ve accomplished your goal and have become a Novice Architect. What happens from here?

I’ve never been happy with the starting schematics that you receive as an Novice Architect. There was always something haphazard and thrown together about the whole thing. I don’t really think you have the right schematics for the level of skill. And it should be noted that this is the one part of Architect where I think people "should" be the same. Every novice should have the same potential, the same tools to start with.

This leads me briefly to Furniture schematics. The other schematic paths, Buildings and Installations, all have schematics that require components as well as straight resources. Furniture doesn’t really have that. You just go and you make the couch. There are Metal Fasteners, like with clothing, or dough like in cooking. You just poop, and you have a chair. Furniture needs component parts.

That’s why I think Novice Architect should contain only base components. No Novice should be able to build a house yet. That’s insane. That’s also what the building tree is for. The other thing is I think we need to have more then one experience type then just structure crafting xp. Furniture is not a structure. You should get furniture crafting xp when you make them. I’ll explain why in a bit. Structure xp is the right xp for buildings and installations. For the Construction tree, which is totally whacked right now, there should be Construction xp.

So a quick word on Construction xp and that skill branch. How should you get construction xp? The same way you get combat xp. When you are in combat, you receive xp by using a specific weapon or skill set, and you get combat xp for fighting in the first place. With the architect skill lines, you should earn structure or furniture xp when you craft items used in making those products, and a smaller portion of Construction xp for successfully putting those pieces together. This would mean lowering the xp number a bit, as 99,000 xp for Construction IV would take forever!

So what schematics should a novice have? Good Question! Here’s my answer.

A Novice Architect will need to be able to make all the components that will be used in the future professions. There are plenty available at the moment for installations and buildings, but no components for Furniture. Here’s my listing of what schematics should be available for Novice Architect:

Installations and Building components: Structure Crafting XP

Fluidic Drilling Pump Unit

Harvesting Mechanism

Ore Mining Unit

Manufacturing Unit

Light Ore Mining Unit

Small Structure Storage Module

Structural Module

Light Power Core Unit (40% Furniture/60% Structure xp)

Generator Turbine

Wall Module

Furniture Components : Furniture Crafting xp

Color Modification Module

Light Power Core Unit (40% Furniture/60% Structure xp)

Furniture Frame

Metal Frame Fasteners

Maybe one or two more Furniture items that someone can come up with. Since the other components cover two branches, it makes sense that there are more of them. Also, I would remove the plants from Architect all together. Make them schematics for Domestic Arts. That goes for torches as well.

So you might think, "this sucks, I don’t have anything really cool I can make." Well, yeah, you can look at it that way, though it’s pretty short sighted of you. If you actually MAKE all these items while you’re grinding, then when you do get Install, Buildings or Furniture I you’ll have all the components you’ll need ready to go. All you’ll need are the excess resources. Besides, you’re a Novice. You shouldn’t be making structures yet.

Furniture I should take about 20 to 25k in Furniture xp, mostly because there won’t be as many items to make for this branch at the start. Installations and Building I should start at 50k Structure Crafting. Construction I should start at 10k of Construction xp.

And that’s the easy part. Now it all gets a bit more complicated!

Since I'm at work, I'll leave it here for the moment, feel free to comment and I'll post part two soon ...

Reeco Suav'eh

And how exactly does the Novice Architect make any money when all he or she can make are components? All the other architects can make those same components, so why cut into their profit margins by buying from the Novice Architect?

Don't think of it financially.

Okay, well if you want to, here's what you could do. You make components and sell them to architects with higher skill then you. OR, you sell it to civilianswho want an item from an architect that will need these components.OR, you save the items for yourself, grind through Novice and use them in yourown future items, which will make you money.

Look long term.

Reeco

I still disagree and think your suggestions are a bad idea.

Under your system, as a master architect (which I am now), I can make most of the components that a novice architect can make faster and cheaper using my own factory. There is absolutely no reason for me to buy anything from a novice architect.

Likewise, since I no longer need experience, it actually hurts me to build items for people who bring me the resources/components and just want me to combine them. I make a lot more money building the item from scratch so there is little to no incentive for me to combine components made by others. Not to mention the fact that people who bring components and want me to combine them often get pissy if a critical failure should ever occur.

You're also forgetting about quality. As a master architect, the components I make are going to be higher quality (unless I go cheap on resources) than anything a novice architect can make. The quality seem to affect critical failure chance right now, so if someone brings an inferior component from a novice architect there is a higher chance I will have a critical failure on the final combine.

In the "long term" there will be absolutely no incentive whatsoever to buy anything from a novice architect. Especially as the housing market slows down and higher level architects have more time to make components and such on their own.

I think the more immediate problem for architects right now is the impending housing glut, and what do we do once everyone has large houses and heavy harvesters. There is a finite limit to the demand for our profession that does not exist for other professions. Changing the schematics available at each level as you've proposed just creates more problems and makes the profession harder for newbies.