Another "nebulous" idea :) "1000" combines

[Ngreth Thergn]

This is just a random thought on how to maybe make an item that has easy to get drops, but is dificult to make becuase of a huge amount of combines, and the constant chance of failures (even if the trivial is low enough so that anyone can get it to the 5% level for all stages)

Lets work with spider silk as a first example.

for this example we are making a new recipie that may not make sense, but it is for the example.

3 spider silks make a spider silk thread. (this is NOT no fail, but lowish trivial)

9 silk threads + 1 Vial Of Viscous Mana makes an enchanted spider silk thread piece(27 spider silks so far 9combines (9c))

10 enchanted spider silk thread piece makes an enchanted spider silk thread (270 spider silk + 10 VM, 90c)

(removed thought about "longer" threads adding 10 of previos then 10 of that... but got to WAY too much...)

then for a robe:

4 enchanted spider silk thread + robe sleave patern + Vial Of Cloudy Mana(levels here to make diferent levels of robe) = enchated spider slik robe sleave (1080 silk + 40 VM + 1 CM)

8 enchanted spider silk thread + robe body patern + Vial Of Cloudy Mana(levels here to make diferent levels of robe) = enchated spider slik robe body (2160 silk + 80 VM + 1 CM )

8 enchanted spider silk thread + robe skirt patern + Vial Of Cloudy Mana(levels here to make diferent levels of robe) = enchated spider slik robe skirt (2160 silk + 80 VM + 1 CM)

5 enchanted spider silk thread + robe ribon patern + Vial Of Purified Mana
(levels here to make diferent levels of robe) = enchated spider slik robe ribon(1350 silk + 50 VM + 1 PM)

2 enchated spider slikrobe sleaves + enchated spider slik robe body + enchated spider slik robe skirt + enchated spider slik robe ribon = enchanted spider silk robe (7830 silk + 290 VM + 4CM +1PM and 456c)

That is tons of work... so should be rewarded with a decent robe, or even a mana robe like effect (lots of mana in it!) and it took 456 combines to get this far assuming no fails. Just adding one more step in the thread making could get it near the 1000 combines (912) Maybe a bonding step and an infusing step.

A similar idea could be done with "scales" to make scale mail (chain in this game) or even plate.

This is just a thought where maybe the time involved to do such a thing could make it such that the devs consider the effort worth a high level item. And it would require that it be a drop (common drop) in order to make it less botable (somoene has got to collect the parts!)

This could of course be entierly unpopular becasue of the massive amount fo work, and the "fighting over spawns" it could entail. But it is just a thought

[Froni Thunderpaws]

I like the idea especially if it can be tied into skilling up runs. OK I am always stuck whining about pottery so I'll use it for illustration. Instead of making 800 unfired frying pans and then 800 opal steins, and then 500 unfired crucibles and 500 unfired idols and destroying them as I go since most of it is zero value to vendors and tribute masters, I would much rather be making no drop subcombines in a hierarchy like you described - make 10 of ceramic widget 1, combine 10 of those into ceramic widget 2, and then 10 of them into ceramic widget 3 that has nice stats and is useful. All the pieces can be no drop along the way so it can't be exploited for profit and the final items could be a source of pride and accomplishment for the effort instead of feeling virtually wasteful with all the stuff I throw away.

Cool idea!

Meant to add the first combine should be the hard one for skilling up, and then decreasing trivial in order. Making 1000 widgets is already a trial in itself having the final combine be a risky fail and destroy alll the subcombines would be very demotivating.

[cattywumpus]

Ohhh, my poor bank. I'm already overloaded with just the stuff I collect for skilling-up. I guess I'll have to consider another mule........

I think it might be a good idea if the final reward was worth it though. The final cost would be near 100kpp so it better be pretty impressive.

[kiztent]

Velks flashback!

Twitch, twitch.

[Ngreth Thergn]

Velks flashback!

Twitch, twitch.

Why yes, the original idea is from that I am jsut expanding upon it

Ohhh, my poor bank. I'm already overloaded with just the stuff I collect for skilling-up. I guess I'll have to consider another mule........

Heh. Though I think the idea is to work to it in stages, not to collect the 7830 silks first (seeing as that is... 39.15 10 slot packs worth of silk)

[Mainiac]

Have you been hired by Sony or are you just a sadist?

[Cantatus]

I think if the tradeskill UI wasn't in, my hands would pop off in my sleep and hunt you down for proposing this idea.

[Zaephod]

I think if the tradeskill UI wasn't in, my hands would pop off in my sleep and hunt you down for proposing this idea.

OMG.. ROFLMAO!

[Leafrat]

Interesting, but spider silk finally dropped from 30p each to 10p each on Rodcet Nife. I don't really desire to see them go to like 60p

[Ngreth Thergn]

I would more sugest this for a "new zone" and was just an idea, it would probably not be a good idea to use exisitng items, though it would be posible

And I am working for *YOU* not SOE trying tossing around ideas that Maddoc may look at

[Pootle]

Sure sounds good.... If people dont like it they dont have to make the item.

[Trezark]

I love this idea. I think I might have been one of the only people who enjoyed the Velks portion of the shawl quest (though tracking down the wurms that had the glowing bile did start to get old). I mean I've always been a tradeskiller, so collecting tons and tons and tons of the same thing for a skillup run was a familiar concept to me, but in this case it was special because with each silk I collected was moving me closer to a tangible goal and not some arbitrary number I set for myself like "okay, when I get 10 stacks of silks I'll do another run of Wu's."

If possible though, I think it'd be great to go a step further with this and factor skillup into the idea. Since we're dealing with an item that's going to take "1000" combines to create, would it be very unreasonable to make the final product "Always skillup?" In other words, if you attempt the final combine, and you succeeed, and it wasn't trivial, you'll always get a skill point from it. Obviously the code doesn't exist in the game at this point to make this work, but since we're throwing ideas out there...

[Fudapuda]

If you get them to implement such an idea, PLEASE make sure the final combine is no-fail. You'll have people commiting suicide if they fail after 1000 combines for a single item

Fudapuda
Bertox

[Liandra]

sounds like the Patched Gnoll Fur Bundle that uses 64 patchs of gnoll fur,

4 to make a patch.
4 patchs make a quarter.
4 quarters make the cloak.

I like the idea though.

[Jarak_akn]

sounds like the Patched Gnoll Fur Bundle that uses 64 patchs of gnoll fur,

I knew it rang a bell somewhere, just was too lazy to search.

An add on idea, you could make the quest use all that useless vendor trash.
You know those 1000's of (non TS) items that get sold to merchants for 3sp and some coppers at the end of a 4 hour camp ?

You could add a quest that has you hand in that sort of VT loot and each hand in gives you annother starting TS piece. This has the advantage to takin pp out of the economy (not that I am trying despiratly to make this appeal to SoE).

It also has the advantage that you dont need to camp a specific area or mob to do it.

(You would have to be sure not to include any hand in items that are vendor sold (e.g. batwings))

Then follow some crazy multiplying up formular to get the end results, costing you thousands of pieces of vt loot :-) but no time camping xxx mob.

Thoughs (other than that I explained that really badly)

Jarak