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The need to ready a crafting tool?!?

Discussion in 'Release 4 Feedback' started by Sunsanvil, Mar 31, 2014.

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  1. Sunsanvil

    Sunsanvil Avatar

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    Being the first time we got to go off into the wild and resource gather, a painfully frustrating design quirk came to light for me: The fact that a harvesting tool needs to be in the main hand.

    It is REALLY REALLY REALLY annoying, time consuming, and carpel tunnel inducing to constantly have to swap a sword with a pickaxe while adventuring. Ditto for animal resources: If I have a skinning and/or butchering knife on my person, just give me the skin/meat. DONT make me (again) swap out the sword and then back again.
     
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  2. Browncoat Jayson

    Browncoat Jayson Legend of the Hearth

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    You actually *don't* have to swap. You can double-click the gathering tool from inventory, or put it on your shortcut bar and simply press the corresponding number key to use it.
     
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  3. Canterbury

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    Yeah, I used the toolbar.
     
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  4. Sunsanvil

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    Did not know that, but its still an extra step which I dont think adds anything to gameplay. I'd rather go strait to double clicking the node and/or animal carcase etc.
     
  5. Browncoat Jayson

    Browncoat Jayson Legend of the Hearth

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    Well, perhaps. But then there is no distinction between looting a fallen foe and skinning an animal, except that you have to have a knife in your inventory to "loot" it? The difference between opening a chest and mining ore is that you have to have a pick? Not sure I like that.
     
  6. TroubleMagnet

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    I found having to switch annoying as well. The other thing I didn't like was the gathering nodes didn't show as interactive objects unless you had the correct tool equipped. They also didn't stand out from any of the other objects in the scene. Reminded me of looking for the clickable pixel in old adventure games and not in a good way.
     
  7. Browncoat Jayson

    Browncoat Jayson Legend of the Hearth

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    I agree that they should show as interactive, regardless of the tool equipped. That is one way to "find" them. However, I'm glad they don't stand out. Most gathering nodes in MMOs are too obvious, as they obviously do not belong in the world. The only thing I didn't like about SotA's is that the mining nodes stood out on the rock, instead of looking like they were veins of metal *in* the rock. I think a flat image with good normal maps could make them appear to be deeper and more natural-looking.
     
  8. SmokerKGB

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    I found the "quick bar" very useful, I just pressed the # key while next to the node and my chr walked over, changed tools, and harvested. Once I seen what the nodes look like, they stood out from everything else.

    It took a little practice to remember what tool was for what #, but just mouse down and the bar comes out to show you. And you can drop the resource on you head, and it goes into you inventory, press esc to close the open boxes.
     
  9. Carlin the Druid Archer

    Carlin the Druid Archer Avatar

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    I think it is fine to have it on the quickbar, double clicking the node isn't very immersive.
     
  10. High Baron O`Sullivan

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    is everything.
    I prefer the realistic format of actually having to hold something to use it.
     
  11. Polaris Penguin

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    Same here and please no, lets not have it stand out like we see in themepark MMO's where the thing sparkles. I'd rather learn to distinguish what a particular looks like as it is in the real world, and even learn what season to harvest particular materials.
     
  12. TroubleMagnet

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    It'd be nice if they can find another way to make it obvious, but at the very least we should get the cursor to change to let us know it's an intractable object, even if we don't have the tool equipped. Relying on it looking different than the rest of the plants/rocks/etc is not always easy or good. Also, people like me with red-green color blindness often have fits with the colors picked for plants you can harvest. Red plants in a field of different shades of green plants is like trying to pick out a specific shade of green from all the rest for me. The sparkles are not a great solution but there IS a real problem they are solving. The alternative is to make sure the nodes are large enough that they don't need sparkles or find some other way to have them stand out. Maybe people can come up with some new ideas.

    I'm not keen on having a bar filled with all the gathering tools. I'd prefer to have a smart menu that will let you select from the appropriate tools for a node that you have in your inventory. Note I AM fine with having you have equip the tool and then remember to re-equip your weapon (including any equip time delays) when done.
     
  13. Polaris Penguin

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    All very good points and I think they'll find a good workable solution, I really like your last option too :).
     
  14. draykor darkale

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    I wouldn't want it to change from what it is now, I slide the tool in the bar and press the right button when I see a node, I don't get the issue at all. Excluding the whole colour blindness thing.
     
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  15. lemonkey

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    I remember in UO some trees gave wood, some were exhausted, and some didn't give wood at all and you didn't know until you tried to harvest. I spent lots of time clicking on trees that's for sure :)


    Etienne Navarre
     
  16. Dorham Isycle

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    When it was described as an ore vein, I pictured lines of colored rock in the rock, something like marble lines
    [​IMG][​IMG]
     
  17. Browncoat Jayson

    Browncoat Jayson Legend of the Hearth

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    That was my hope as well. I believe this can be done with normal maps and a skilled artist. Right now, the ore nodes look more like blisters.
     
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