Should we have Decay on Tools and Clothing?

[nonsonogiucas]

I read all the time comments like:
"Durability is a bad idea because obtaining item X is very hard"

..and I frown at those post because most of those people probably doesn't realize that a change in the game that is not a mere fix or tweak must be followed with a general re-balance of all related aspects.

It should go without saying that if tools have durability they should also be reasonably easier to replace. Of course preserving an appropriate difficulty curve for the most powerful ones.


I say +1 to items that are in general not eternal because it reflects the fleeting nature of all things Salem.

I am convinced that a lot the paranoia about the game as it is stems from the clashing difference between very hard to obtain stats and gears and the fact that a stupid mistake brings you all the way back to start. If you see a character like a tool, then this tool does break and you can't even repair it.

Regarding this, the devs already stated their intention to make it easier to replace killed characters... Thus introducing a kind of "repair" feature for charactes.
You build it (raise skills and humors), than you use it (going around doing stuff you risk being killed)... and eventually it breaks.
You then repair it (you get another character that you can re-build with less effort).


Also it makes sense that if you kill someone by stabbing him and stomping on him dozens of times his gear will not be in pristine conditions...


Also consider that artisans could ask for money in exchange of expert repairs on precious tools and clothes.

[Greb]

imo a tool should break every 8 or so hours of use given the amount of effort currently required to make one.

I'd like that, would also refreshen trading.

[JeffGV]

What about something like this?
Purity affects the efficency of a tool.
When tools are crafted, they have a certain purity value that depend on various factors (the metal used can be a factor if the same tool can be crafted with different metals).
This purity value is akin to a durability for efficency purposes. As in, it degrades with use - and thus their efficency decrease - down to a certain base value (that may depend on the crafting abilities of the one who made it). Thus making it less efficent, but not breaking it like in other suggestions.
The purity can get replenished by use of other tools (like a sharpening stone). This could reduce the max amount of purity you can get, and may depend on crafting abilities.
The tool could then be smelt to get back some of the materials (whose purity will depend on the current max purity of the item, crafting ability of the one that is smelting the tool and the tools used to do it - making it so that you can't buy good tools just to extract high quality metal from them you wouldn't have access otherwise, else people would rather probably not sell them).

Thus a good crafter would be able to make more efficent tools that are able to last longer and be more efficent, but ultimately degrade to "base" status or something like that (the base value could still be better than the base purity if the crafting skill is high enough, making them nice tools for starters, but crappy items for the more developed people who would rather smelt them before their max purity lowers too much and use the materials for other purposes, or just smelt them when they are crappy and use the metal where purity isn't a factor).

It gives value to good tools, but doesn't make them permanent; It doesn't make old tools useless, but rather less efficent if compared to good ones. People versed in the profession will make them last longer in their more efficent state, but they'll eventually have to craft new ones every now and then if they care about efficency. And it gives a market for partially used items, as partially weared-out high quality tools would basically end up being comparable to good quality ones.

TL;DR: loftar's suggestion, but items just become crappy instead of breaking and they can be smelt.

Albeit, i wouldn't apply that to any tool - wouldn't make much sense with a cauldron, for example. And i don't think it would be suitable for clothing, either.

[Feone]

The purity as durability idea for tools seems like a good idea. It would certainly make metal more useful and a better trading commodity.

I still don't see how the game would improve if clothes had durability though. I just think the current artifice system is crap in its entirety and should be changed. Perhaps in a way that would allow clothing to be more useful as a trading commodity too.

[Cheena]

"I like decay on tools and clothing that causes them to wear out as they are used and disappear, where 'use' for clothing means decay ticks taken only when I'm digging, chopping, being stabbed, etc."

That's what I voted for. Although I'd prefer being able to repair them. Especially clothes. Who cares about tools breaking... but clothes are another concern ^^". That said, I'd see something like "if you don't repair them in time, bye bye".

[Silushun]

I think though, Decay may help just abit. Think of it this way with Decay the trading will be moving around if someone has the tools they don't need to do anything apart from use them, if you smelt bars of iron you have another use to make more tools to sell them on.

Decay will help trade but it may get abit annoying after a while if it breaks in 10 trees or something, it'd have to last lets say about 50-100 logs. so you have a chance of getting money to be able to pay for a new one.

[alloin]

Sorry to be rude, BUT ARE YOU GUYS RETARDED ???

HOW HARD IS IT TO GET A BRANCH & FLINT TO CREATE A NEW FREAKING AXE ???? YOU CALL THAT GRIND ON TOP OF A GRIND???
Do you even play this game ???

- Most of the people are thinking about their own
- How hard the grind is to make an axe.. I'm sorry but if you call making a new tool, GRIND, then GTFO, this is not a game for you !!
- Coming with arguments that some people don't even have a smelter... HOW TEH ***** DO THEY HAVE A SWORD THEN ? (any player getting a sword before a smelter is a moron, unless it's store bought, just buy a new one if it breaks then)

You want new content, you've been whining months for new things, but goddamned if you have to 'grind' to make or use that new content.

Maybe ask your mummies to make your new axe when the durability-system is introduced, it seems like you're used to getting everything what you want get thrown at you on a platter.

[Greb]

Sorry to be rude, BUT ARE YOU GUYS RETARDED ???

HOW HARD IS IT TO GET A BRANCH & FLINT TO CREATE A NEW FREAKING AXE ???? YOU CALL THAT GRIND ON TOP OF A GRIND???
Do you even play this game ???

- Most of the people are thinking about their own
- How hard the grind is to make an axe.. I'm sorry but if you call making a new tool, GRIND, then GTFO, this is not a game for you !!
- Coming with arguments that some people don't even have a smelter... HOW TEH ***** DO THEY HAVE A SWORD THEN ? (any player getting a sword before a smelter is a moron, unless it's store bought, just buy a new one if it breaks then)

You want new content, you've been whining months for new things, but goddamned if you have to 'grind' to make or use that new content.

Maybe ask your mummies to make your new axe when the durability-system is introduced, it seems like you're used to getting everything what you want get thrown at you on a platter.

I agree!

[Bearcub]

Well, after all that said I could agree only with giving wear to tools (the ability to re-smelt it would be the best). But also- purity for such tools won't work well as there're artificies already. It's kinda will be to easy to chop something especially as we have artificies, so towns with decent metal would have the absolute advantage (as well as now they would be able sell those tools without selling rods). Even if it's able to re-smelt then make a new item (e.g. rods are possible to craft only from iron bars, whether re-smelted axe will give you metal-like material).
So, as we're giving the purity to tools (which are made of bars and nails, plugs) then the purity of humus bins drammatically pops up! And it rises the plank for biles even higher, than before july 2013.

[Icon]

Well ***** it, may as well add in toothbrushes and shoelaces too, how bout an ass scratch meter that has to be tended too? Personally I think every 4 days I should have to craft a nail trimmer to trim my characters toenails, then it can decay and I have to make another one because its fun...

How often irl do you have to "repair your axe?". I've been using the same one for over a decade and that ***** still hits like a champ.