Salem

So open beta is about to start in about a month and what really worries me about this game is that, as a player, you are still very reliant on a wiki to find out which food gives which stats and which inspirationals give which skills. I dunno if that is intentional but i think its a very bad idea if you want to retain any of the new players. When hovering over the inspirational or food in the craft menu it NEEDS to tell you what it gives. If you want to make it more "discovery-like" make the description available only after you craft that item for the first time.

I played salem in the beginning of the beta and i was really annoyed that i had to either make an inspirational to know what it gives or check on wiki. I was hoping it would be added until now, especially after the big UI patch and i was somewhat puzzled to why it wasn't after i tried it this week.

What are your thoughts? And sorry if this was already suggested and discussed. I gave it a search and i didn't find anything. In my mind this is a really big issue with the player friendliness of the game and it brings nothing to the table by not being there.

I agree. Craftable inspirationals and foods should have their stats listed on their crafting tooltip, and buildings should have materials listed too.

Ass_Kraken wrote:I agree. Craftable inspirationals and foods should have their stats listed on their crafting tooltip, and buildings should have materials listed too.

The problem is that this, at least for food and inspirationals cannot be known at the tooltip level: due to purity these values depend on the multiplier. As for the base values, the custom clients (at least Ender's) show these in the tooltips.

Agreed that the buildings don't list it yet, and that it's a HUGE waste of blackbile trying to plant a windmill just to get to know the stuffs required.

DonnEssime wrote:

Ass_Kraken wrote:I agree. Craftable inspirationals and foods should have their stats listed on their crafting tooltip, and buildings should have materials listed too.

The problem is that this, at least for food and inspirationals cannot be known at the tooltip level: due to purity these values depend on the multiplier. As for the base values, the custom clients (at least Ender's) show these in the tooltips.

Agreed that the buildings don't list it yet, and that it's a HUGE waste of blackbile trying to plant a windmill just to get to know the stuffs required.

Fairly certain that's what the wiki is for.

Still a nice touch when the devs get time to fill in little gaps like this.

While I disagree with the appraisal of this as a "serious problem", it would no doubt be a nice thing to have. It is, however, associated with certain technical difficulties if we want to avoid maintaining the actual values and the tooltips separately, which we do. Such duplication of work is the kind of thing that would make progress grind to a halt entirely.

DonnEssime wrote:

Ass_Kraken wrote:I agree. Craftable inspirationals and foods should have their stats listed on their crafting tooltip, and buildings should have materials listed too.

The problem is that this, at least for food and inspirationals cannot be known at the tooltip level: due to purity these values depend on the multiplier. As for the base values, the custom clients (at least Ender's) show these in the tooltips.

Agreed that the buildings don't list it yet, and that it's a HUGE waste of blackbile trying to plant a windmill just to get to know the stuffs required.

I meant more just base values, purity itself is usually pretty easy to figure out. I want to know if so and so is a blood food or a phlegm food before I get the mats and not have to go to the wiki.

If calculating purity into the numbers is complicated its enough to have base values. This is an issue for beginners. Folks that play regularly probably know all the skill inspirationals give. Once purity comes into play you probably know the numbers anyway.

Loftar, you disagree that it is a serious problem. Its not a serious problem with the game but it is for new players. The game is quite complex with its systems of studying and glutony and even if you understand the basics, it is still hard to level up certain skills if you dont know which inspirationals to use. Checking the wiki all the time is not fun, its not gameplay, it breaks the pace of the game. I bet it repels new players like the plague.

I would strongly suggest you fix this before the open beta begins, when most of the new players will try the game.

Why is this so hard to do BTW. i am curious. You already have tooltips, just add more text. Or am i missing something?

When it comes to foods, I'm of the opinion that it won't help at all or even make the game more confusing if done wrong. If done right, it doesn't add much. How do you classify foods, though? Some foods are nearly useless other than as filler if they're strong in one element or one of the best foods for black bile (for example) if strong in a different element. Some foods are strictly filler (have horrible gluttony stats, but have above average heal values). Other foods have no one strength or weakness but are still useful for getting a big chunk of gluttony in and then finishing off with "specialty" foods that focus on one or two humors to get a point where you want it. The fact is that it is a complex system and I can't think of a single thing that you can add to a tool tip to make it easier across the board. (I can certainly think of some things to add, but then I can think of more than one example of where it wouldn't apply.)

As far as Inspriationals, it is simple enough to add "gives Cloak & Dagger, Law & Lore, Natural Philosophy" to the menu tool tips. You might even make a case you could add base values to the menu tool tips.

MagicManICT wrote:How do you classify foods, though?

By the base stats (I'm not saying look at the base stats and then classify them in the tooltip, just post the damn base stats in the tooltip)

When you have food and inspirationals in the inventory and you hover with your mouse over them you can see what it gives. those numbers could be in the tooltip when you try to craft. As simple as that. Base values.