Development Cycle Archive
Thread: Crafting Critical Failure Rates
Trystan1969 wrote:
4% critical failures sounds a bit high for someone who is a master. I think that is the biggest problem people see.
I'm a master doctor that crafts each enhancement pack each time I need one. The biggest problem I have with critical failures in both the combine phase and the experimental phase is the fact that I need 2 different components from factory crates. Also, at master level, there should be very little, if any, critical failures. Someone at the top of the profession should know what they're doing to avoid any failures.
Our thoughts exactly. (please see the bottom of Chrysalide's post) 
Thanks for keeping this a positive thread folks. This is a big issue for all correspondents and we're making some real headway.
Jeff,
Not sure what your test cases were butmy Master Tailor has had an abnormally high rate of crit fails of late. Although I haven't kept tally, I would guesstimate that the increase began roughly middle of last week and began with the loss of a +13 Bioengineered component. Responses to the thread I began in the Tailor forum also seem to support that link.
Could you perhaps run some test cases on the Tailor schematics, specifically with high + BE components?
Thanks much!
Aldrak + Issogi'Ka (Aldrak's Better Half)
Glad you guys are looking into this.
To drive the point home - when I'm making weapons I generally make4 or5 OVER the amount I plan on putting on my vendors just because it usually takes me4 or5 tries to get a good experimentation result. As a Master Weaponsmith, that's very frustrating.
Especially when you're working with limited supply of rare resources.
OK, now that I have posted all the variables that I have wondered (and seem to have seem affect) crafting, I'll list my own experiences.
First, my crafting setup. I have level +14.95 weapon/droid/generic tools, a +42.5 crafting station made by an architect, and a droid with a w/d/g crafting station in it that I experimented up as far as I could, and the droid's experimental results are also very high (used some really good materials to make him - not sure if this matters or not, probably not, but that is just how I make my droids).
I do not seem to have more failures with the crafting station in my house than I do with the droid.
The materials used to seem to matter - though, Drashk, the DE corrorspondant, did some large chunks of experimenting, and did not find this to be the case. However, it SEEMS to me - very strongly seems - that the better the materials used, the better the chance of a good experimentation and avoiding a critical failure.
As I noted above in my lists of possible variables, using one of two types of resource seems to matter. Fiberplast vs inert petrochem vs liquid petrochem - all of which can be used in some slots - does seem to play a significant roll. It could be because the liquid petrochem doesn't have any stats like unit toughness and shock resistance - and hence might have a value of zero. This would point back to the previous paragraph.
Also, the quality of the sub components does seem to matter. Once again, Drashk's experiments don't reflect this - but once again, it is just something that I have noticed in the 6 months of making droids. I can't prove it, but it is just the way it seems to me.
I too have noticed the cyclic nature of the critical failures and failed experimentation.
I'm glad you guys are looking into this. Thanks for the effort !!. It was Crit-Failing a PA Hall and and a Large Harvester in a row that frustrated me enough to walk away for 6 weeks, before Archs didn't loose resources. I lost 500K in-game in about 15 minutes....
Personally, I think this is the best path to take for all of the professions: "Crit Fails on final combines do not loose the resources used in the combine." That way, you still have to re-experiment, and go through the process of re-combining, but it's not so catastrophic.
The way I see it is like someone already stated.... Even a critical fail should still keep the resources around to try again... I think this one change alone, across all the artisan professions is a good step. Although I've not played seriously as other artisan professions, so I'm sure some of the issues with the success rates on experimentation are valid as well...
MashRinx
Thunderheart wrote:
Our thoughts exactly. (please see the bottom of Chrysalide's post)
Thanks for keeping this a positive thread folks. This is a big issue for all correspondents and we're making some real headway.
Please reread Chrusalide's post. The bottom of the post says that this is the normal rate, not that it seems high for a Master.
As others have mentioned lag seems to have a strong effect on failure.
Also what effect does material stats, crafting unit rating, etc have on the rates if any.
Another thing that would be good to know is the breakdown on experimentation. What were the rates for each type? What effect, if any, does using more than one experimentation point at a time have?
Prior to dropping Arch I noticed a sharp increase in non- Great successes. That was in Dec after the patch.
Please note that anything less than a Great Success during experiementation is a failure. A moderate success can screw up a Krayt enhanced advanced blaster power handler so badly a customer is livid. Moderate success? How is it a moderate success when 2 experiementation points spent on effectiveness increases the speed by 1.5 seconds and lowers no other stats? Fix that. It would be tollerable if moderate success = a 5% gain instead of the 7% from great successes.
I see frequently streaks of one type of slice (say 20 (yes 20) encumbrance slices in a row). Over time it all balances out and goes 50/50, but frequent occurances of that type of streak represents (to me at least) a statistical aberration. There is much discussion of this on the Smuggler board.
When someone gets 5 crit fails in a row, the tendancy for people to say there is something wrong with the rate, even though over time and many sessions, it is not, its just aberrant.