Initial thought on brewing

Hello all, Here are my Initial thought on brewing.

While I realize that it was a kickstart promise and so had to be put in I think this iteration leaves MUCH to be desired. I find the brewing process being essentially a cooking recipe a HUGE let down. If it has been determined that that is the way it will be then it should have been mad a subset with some special rules.

There has been a still asset in game since NOVIA came online yes pre persistence. While it may be only art at this point it cant be too hard to make it an item.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/r8kqvo5xaxq9bk1/Still.jpg?dl=0


Ideally this should have been a brewing station completely separate from cooking or a special cooking station that was only for brewing. At the very least it should be a deco item that brew crafters can place in the brewery to add to the ambiance. Port could have given one to all the people that get the special brewing from there pledge then sold them on the crafting merchant like the crafting stations And had a Ornate version for sale on the shop as a money maker. This would have gone a long way to satisfy the crafters and given Port something else to sell (CASH). As it is with so few recipes, unclear benefits to the brews, and no small tradable or placeable output brewing is not satisfying in the least. True I can sell/trade/give a cask of my brew to someone and that will carry my makers mark. I can not sell / trade/ or give a tapped bottle of my wine or beer or whisky to someone to show off my stuff. place on the table with my makers mark.

Disappointing is a mild statement to say the least.

Brewing was hyped like it was going to be a major thing but the current implementation is more like a
oh crap we have to get this in here and not a well thought through system. Not having visual assets as part of the system even if only deco is sad. Especially since they had an item that could work already in game.

I could keep going for a long time but I will turn this over to the community to see what you all think.

 

Hm, yeah I was expecting we'd at least get some sort of still that would function as its 'own' crafting bench. I thought that this was likely part of the reason for the many times this has been pushed/delayed was because it was going to be something a bit more....exciting.

I'm curious also how economical the resulting 'brews' will be, considering the rather significant time investment some of them take in the current iteration.

I echo Murphy's thoughts though, a craftable still (table) or even make it buyable from the deco merchant (cash sink) - with a 'fancy' one in the add-on store would have seemed the natural methodology here.

 

I was hoping for a still (because that would be the best thing ever for deco purposes) but I'm not surprised they opted not to create a new asset at this time.

 

So how is it now, then? Just cooking recipes that require ingredients plus a cask?

 

a new skill and a brewing station would have been nice but I don't mind using the cooking station.

currently the cask age where ever you store them be it placed as deco in a chest in inventory or in bank was kinda hoping they would have to be placed but its not a big deal.

the buffs or lack thereof is really what it all comes down to.

if its useful and economic its an interesting system that I look forward to further development if not...

I made one of each on OA will only be able to see the beers Monday I think so time will tell. I am sure others will be getting some done first tho so who knows.

probably some info will be leaked from offline as well if theres a way to fast forward time to see what the whiskey is all about.

 

Yes, I agree. I was really hoping that's what they would do.

 

I don't agree with that.

Aesthetics are a big deal. How are you going to run a brewery at a cooking station?

Hmmm....

 

Clearly, you have never made moonshine in your kitchen. I certainly never have. #LoveYouATF

 

I'm confused because brewing and distilling are completely different.

 

Ah, no special brewing or distilling stations didn't realise that. Was hoping to build a brewery and cask store won't be quite the same with a cooking station. Little disappointed.

Do you make beer to distill into whisky and wine for brandy?

 

So agree with this. Brewing right now is not very well done especially for all the times it was postponed. Feels as if it was just tossed into the game for kickstarter completion. Using the still in that scene would be great. It's already in the game as deco and just need the mechanics for brewing.

 

This is exactly what I was worried about.

So, as you can see, it isn't like this is a surprise. But man... considering there was an entire pledge level designed around brewing beer, with this description:

• Brew Beer! - Unique Beer Brewing Ability adhering to the German beer purity law, Reinheitsgebot. Only you will be able to teach this unique beer formula to others!

well
:/

 

*sigh*

Disappointing.

I helped design a brewing and distilling craft for a MUD a few years back. It’s hard, but not impossible.
The three types of alcohol should be a different process:
Beer is quick, uses mash (grain and hops) and yeast and kegs to age.
Wine is medium, using grapes or honey and yeast and casks to age.
Spirits take a long time, use grains and a still to make and age in barrels.

Very simply put, there are a lot of variations.

I really hope they improve this to be more... interesting and involved.

 

My thoughts are this:
Brewing was another backer/pledge reward that has been walked back a bit it seems. Heraldry was similar and that is now open to the masses and while I understand the super high cost of additional items from the add on store to support the approval process for the additional folks wanting this unique feature of the game, those of us that paid for the heraldry system via our pledges are being double charged in my humble opinion (again this stems from my STRONG dislike of the cost of banners from the add on store - where you are forced to get 1 of 2 different kinds one of which you may not want, or are forced to spend extra in cotos to achieve what you want)

I had saved one of my founder stations unopened in hopes of a brewing station coming. While I would likely share it with the masses it was my choice to do so and this implementation without a proper crafting station somewhat feels less than anticipated or touted via the pledges.

I still love the game and will play and back, but for ep 2, I don't expect to back near as much because of what has been going on with the promises. I get they fully wanted to provide the promises, but again as a consumer I feel like a switch has been made.

EDIT
Oh and don't forget you can spend more money and get 'heraldry' casks. I think this was mentioned ... yay more money

 

Functionality then aesthetics

As long as we can create a variety or two of beer atm in one or two sizes, i'd be happy enough for a while

 

I completely disagree. If you are gonna do something, do it right.

 

Well yes, that's why we need brewing and distilling stations, functionally brewing and fermenting isn't cooking, it's actually closer to alchemy than cooking.

Aesthetics, yes, I can wait for that, a crude, functional mash tun and pot still can be as ugly as it likes initially.

To be honest forget the pledge deadline delay brewing and do it right. If they implement this via a cooking station then I would worry we're set, with little chance of a fundamental brewing crafting line.

 

If this is just a placeholder, with more coming "later," I'd prefer they waited. It does often seem we get placeholders for a long time. Which was fine before release, but with the game "released" new mechanics and tech should be fully fleshed out before being put in. It's not in development anymore, that mentality needs to go away.

That said, I'ma have a five story basement packed with aging whiskey, which makes me very happy.

 

@DarkStarr , @Lord British , @Chris
As I suspected while the comments so far are varied I concur with this one.

While it may not be popular Please consider holding brewing off again and doing it right.

 

Have completed a brewing cycle, taken the ingredients, built the casks, placed and aged the casks, drunk the product - I would say we have a complete, if somewhat simplistic, system. Except its not so simplistic - as they had to develop a container in container system again, develop art for the casks and final product, which all took a couple of release cycles.

The reality is, the development cycle is never complete - things are changed and improved on month to month. Avatars' personal opinions on the polish will differ, but they have given us a brewing system. I mean, we have bathtubs now. That could almost be as effective of a crafting station for brewing/distilling as a brand new art object. (but, yes, I would love to see a 'brewing/distillation' station - but we have one - alchemy station, if we were mixing drinks one to 3 at a time.).

If they take it all back, and now with staff reduction, it probably would never get the love and attention this thread thinks it needs. (yes, the system needs love and attention, but so does fishing...)

The other thoughts, I drunk all 40 of the Brittany Beers and built up to a 1.0 intoxication level, but had no adverse effects happen after consuming all 40. Ok, I have been hosting a Happy Hour weekly for the past 4 years, so maybe my drunken pixel tolerance is mighty...