New combine option

[Taushar]

When I played SWG, tradeskills there were a bit different, not better or worse just different. In SWG, there was a set number of combines for you to skill up, rather than a random skill up. I am not sure if I like this method or not or any other tradeskills idea there. However, there was one thing that I thought was a good idea and want to share it.

When you do a combine in a container in SWG, you had two choices: make the item or combine in a practice mode. If you did practice combine, you got more points towards your next level but you would not get the item. If you wanted the item, you did a regular combine but you got less points.

What if we adapt this idea to EQ? One of the reasons why some high end tradeskill items are rare drop is that the developers don't want to flood the market with high end final combined items. If they give us ability to choose between making the item versus practice combine and on practice combine, this method would eliminate a lot of that. Make the practice twice as likely to skill up and that would make us happy without giving us too much advantage.

Since much of the items would go in to practice mode, assuming there are endless reasons to skill up like the new trophy, they can provide higher drop rates on rare items since most of the drop would be gone after the combines anyways. The plat sink would still be there since we still have to pay for items to combine but now the end results would not be available to sell. This would make skilling up easier but not total easy since RNG is still involved. What are your thoughts on this?

Taushar

[KyrosKrane]

Interesting idea. If the game made it that you always failed, but you got four times your normal chance to skill up... (twice to make up for the always fail, as most people will make stuff close to their skill and succeed a lot, then twice again for the bonus) ... might work.

[Baldary]

Interesting idea. If the game made it that you always failed, but you got four times your normal chance to skill up... (twice to make up for the always fail, as most people will make stuff close to their skill and succeed a lot, then twice again for the bonus) ... might work.

It would have been great to have this feature back when I was doing Solstice Robes to skill up.

Baldary

[Telorea]

I would not want to see a fixed X-combines per silk point - but the alternate suggestion of 2x, 3x or 4x skill up chance would certainly be very nice. Especially when you are skilling up on stuff (like cultural, or unfired pottery stuff) that merchants won't buy and has no tribute value and you have to keep droping or destroying them.

In fact, I would be over-joyed to just get a "just don't give me the product because I am only gonna have to destroy or drop it" button even without any extra skill up chance. I have got to the point where I use summoned 10-slot bags to collect the skill-up products, then destroy each bag when it gets full and summon a new one to save on the clicks required to destroy or drop each item as it gets made.

Alternatively, what would be really great would be if all combines can always return any tools used before any product of the combine, so that you can safely autoinventory your returned tools and then auto-drop the combine-product using the auto-inventory button when your bags get full (rather than having to ensure you make space to put your tools back in your bags each time).

Or even better - make it so that the combines don't actually take your tools from your bags, they just check that you have them on you.

[Ilona]

Alternatively, what would be really great would be if all combines can always return any tools used before any product of the combine

Amen to this!

[Ngreth Thergn]

Or even better - make it so that the combines don't actually take your tools from your bags, they just check that you have them on you.

Want to do this. So do. current code does not allow us to specifically mark something as a tool for this.

[Liwsa]

Once the code to allow for a combine to "check" for a tool(instead of actually moving it from your person to the container for the combine) is coded , it should only be a small matter to create a tool belt (like the key ring) that once you "use" a tool it goes in the tool belt and you never need to carry said tool again much like keys for some of the zones. I have not carried my seb key in years but can still zone into seb every time.

[Aldier]

Once the code to allow for a combine to "check" for a tool(instead of actually moving it from your person to the container for the combine) is coded , it should only be a small matter to create a tool belt (like the key ring) that once you "use" a tool it goes in the tool belt and you never need to carry said tool again much like keys for some of the zones. I have not carried my seb key in years but can still zone into seb every time.

The system is already in place to check if you have the item in your inventory. The tradeskill UI does this. However, I see this causing problems as you still have to learn many recipes, which requires putting all the correct components in the container and succeeding at the combine.

For tools that are unique to 1 or 2 combines (cultural tools) this would make sense, but you would still need to carry around the common tools (file, smithy hammer, planing tool, etc..) I like the idea of a toolbelt like the keyring, just not sure how feasible it is. Not to mention, I think there are some 40-50 tools already in game and new ones coming out every expansion.

[Dyllwin]

For tools that are unique to 1 or 2 combines (cultural tools) this would make sense, but you would still need to carry around the common tools (file, smithy hammer, planing tool, etc..)

I would have no problem re-making a file or buying a smithy hammer for those rare times I'm making something not already in my recipe list. This would be a big boon for the folks at the upper end of tradeskilling since they've already made most of the current recipes that interest them

[Liwsa]

Another idea might be to add a tradeskill tool only bank inventory. Add something like either a seperate page like the hot key banks(scroll to a 2nd "set" of bank space that only accepts tradeskill tools), or maybe a space like guild bank that accepts tools for tradeskills only.

There are getting to be too many different tools to keep if you do all the different tradeskills that in a few more expansions the only thing in my bank will be tradeskill tools.

Maybe combine hammers(add smithy hammer and tannan hammer in forge to make one that can be used for each). This would probably be a coding nightmare with all the culturial hammers and needles and such out there.

Just trying to think of some way to lower the limit of tradeskill tools we need to keep.

[Doomspark Deathfire]

You'd think that some high-level tinkering gnome could create tools that could be used for any non-cultural recipe... I suggest:

Geerlock's Omnignostical Smithy Hammer - combines the regular smithy hammer, the tanaan smithing hammer, the velium smithy hammer and the combine smithy hammer.

Geerlock's Omnignostical Fletching Tool - combines the whittling blade, whittling knife, and the planing tool.

Geerlock's Omnignostical Needle - combines the tanaan embroidery needle, the muramite needle, and the sewing needle.

And along with tools, why not:

Geerlock's Collapsed Omnignostical Spell Research Kit - creates a 10-slot spell-research container that can do both the "new" and "old" spell research. Have one kit for each of the 4 classes.

[Maevenniia]

it's not about whether a tinker can create these or not...it's about adding a gazillion recipes to the database...

Not only would all the existing recipes have to work, but SOE would have to add new recipes for all teh smithing combines that used those hammers, to also use the Omni-hammer, and same goes for any omni tool...

It's not just one change, its hundreds....

as for the spell research kit, again, it's not just one change, it's hundreds...it's not just flagging each recipe to work in a new container...as I understand it, every combine in a different container is actually a separate recipe:

ex: Spell: Lightning Storm (level 24 wizard spell)

recipe 1: rune of karana, rune of xegony, combine in lexicon

recipe 2: rune of karana, rune of xegony, combine in sorcerer's lexicon

[Doomspark Deathfire]

it's not about whether a tinker can create these or not...it's about adding a gazillion recipes to the database...

Not only would all the existing recipes have to work, but SOE would have to add new recipes for all teh smithing combines that used those hammers, to also use the Omni-hammer, and same goes for any omni tool...

It's not just one change, its hundreds....

as for the spell research kit, again, it's not just one change, it's hundreds...it's not just flagging each recipe to work in a new container...as I understand it, every combine in a different container is actually a separate recipe:

ex: Spell: Lightning Storm (level 24 wizard spell)

recipe 1: rune of karana, rune of xegony, combine in lexicon

recipe 2: rune of karana, rune of xegony, combine in sorcerer's lexicon

Oh I know it would take time and require adding thousands of recipes to implement fully. But would it be more work than implementing some of the other suggestions on this thread? I don't know.

[Ngreth Thergn]

Oh I know it would take time and require adding thousands of recipes to implement fully. But would it be more work than implementing some of the other suggestions on this thread? I don't know.

yes

becuase it becomes a maintenance issue.

If for some reason I need to change something, now I ahve to find 2 or more recipies instead of one...

I have one tool though I hope to impliment sometimes between patches.

[Taushar]

Wow, talk about threadjacking. Anyways, back to the original suggestion. Would it be possible to have higher skill up rate if we choose not to make the final combine item? As I have stated, SWG has this in tradeskills and I thought it may translate well to EQ.

Taushar