The Grind is Broken: Why a Single Full Kit Takes 2+ Hours

[KBR 2046]

A dwarf/orc player needs at least 2h30m of pure grinding for a single full kit, while an Empire player needs 1h50m. I will lay out the data, included below will be the HTML calculator I had claude host, and the excel sheet. Feel free to DM me if you need help using the sheet.
 

For this specific analysis, I used two types of players. These times are for solo runs, it will take longer for groups.

Empire Miner = Koyo, Idunia, Caroust, Norland, and Empire mines. (This run takes 30m solo, speed-running)

Dwarf/Orc Miner = Dwarf and Orc mines. (I am told this run takes 15-20m)

I had intended to include unaffiliated players who would use only wild nodes, but I couldn’t find enough information. If anyone has good yields/routes (time) to share, I will update this post to include them.
I have also not included leather into these calculations, as I am unsure of how feasible it is for the average player to have a barn.

 

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Please note that I have not included leather or arrows in these kits; they make it exponentially worse. Also, these kits are very barebones, as many of these items, like lances, have low durability; therefore, you would likely need at least three for a full, large-scale fight.

Kit Definitions:
Essential = Netherite Armor, Longsword, Crossbow, Pike, Shield
Cav = Iron Armor, Longsword, Javelin, Shortbow, Pike, Lance, Shield, Saddle
Full Kit = Netherite Armor, Iron Armor, Longsword, Crossbow, Longbow, Jav, Pike, Lance, Shield

This is the total amount of time it would take a player to make each of these kits.

 

It is worth noting that because mine cooldowns last six hours, these grind times are spread across days for most players. Can most players be expected to hit three, or even two, cooldowns in a day?
 

Mining Runs Per Kit

 

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Resources:

Gear Calculator -
Here is an HTML version of the gear calculator, it is functional and includes leather and arrows. Play with some numbers, you will quickly see how unreasonably high the costs become, both materially and time-wise.
For example, five base kits with sixteen arrows each. 440 netherite would take ten mining runs alone.

Excel File - Hosted on google sheets, download as .xlsk or just make a copy of the sheet. I am unsure of its functionality as a google sheet, it is intended to be used in excel but it might work fine.
 

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Conclusion

Currently, the state of grinding is broken; what you are rewarded with for this monumental time input is completely lackluster. Assuming the average player is on the server for 10 hours a week, that would be 20% of their playtime grinding (2 hours avg), 10% if they play 20 hours. This is all for a kit that you have a chance of losing in your first fight.

This creates gear-fear, which leads pvp-inclined players to go after easy targets in the midnight hours in order to circumvent this grind. If the grind was lesser, they would be less incentivized to do this, and instead fight other players who want to pvp.

Please also consider that the new war rules state:

As a “roleplayer”, these problems may seem inconsequential to you; however, with no CBs required, it could become your problem too.


 

Spoiler

Credits:
Hugh - Grammar after I fried my brain in the spreadsheets
Areontrade - Resource costs while I was in the airport
Pancakehz - Information about orc mining runs

 

[Asutto 2452]

For the sanity of the players, Admins need to put resource costs back to the Arcas level. It should take 10, maybe 20 minutes to get a set (more if you want full horse, etc). 

Unfortunately, I doubt they'll change gear costs since Admins don't play the game.

[JoshBright 3014]

What KBR does not go into much detail here on is how many DAYS it can take to get a full kit for one person. 

 

Say you have access to a nation mine of 16 irons and 16 netherite. You start on a Monday and only do 1 grinding session per day until the weekend then you do 2 Saturday and 2 Sunday, you wound still need to do an addition mining run on Monday in order to have enough iron. This does not include time for breading and killing cows. So well yes, the total time might take 2-3 hours, it is realistically taking you 5-10 IRL DAYS depending on how much your able to grind. 

[Xarkly 17299]

Great study.

 

Major problem I see staff side is that economy and war economy isn't regulated whatsoever by mods (who handle conflict, raids, war) but by tech (who don't). It was unbelievably frustrating trying to figure out how to rebalance PvP stuff for this map (i.e. lower gear costs = raiding is easier/more accessible/lower stakes) only for the economy plugin to put a complete roadblock on that vision, with no remedy in sight. 

 

We cannot fix any of these problems piecemeal. 

[ScreamingDingo 20568]

hey what do you mean this is why food expiry was a great idea - to add onto grind of running around and clicking blocks.

 

 

btw i have good access but it takes me two days to create single netherrite sword or crossbow to actually make as an rp item and not surge. **** my chud life

[Areon 947]

I think it's absolutely wild that I can hit three x2 modifier Iron mines in a single day and still not have enough iron to make a set of armor.

[Nectorist 12869]

Great post. Combined with the new war costs, it's clear that the general direction for war right now is to make it more grindy, more expensive, and more resource-intensive. I get that some people really love grinding, and that shouldn't be taken away from them, but even on maps like Atlas and Arcas, where the required grinding was minimal, you had an outlet for those people while not making it too demanding for people who just wanted to get the gear they needed before going back to RPing.

 

I've always felt like the plugins/systems on this server should funnel back towards making RP easier and more enjoyable. Adding in extended periods of necessary grinding isn't fun for most people, especially those with limited time during the week who don't want to spend their evenings running around nodes instead of RPing.

[wowj 9747]

but guys the mining being low means you're on the server longer; boosting activity of server playercount!!!

[Two2the 365]

+1 KBR is my goat

[_AzureLexi 766]

From the outside as a non-PvPer the main thing that keeps me from getting into PvP at all is the price of kits. Like why would I, a roleplayer, on a roleplay server, spend over a week grinding for gear when PvP's main purpose is, to my understanding being a faster and more exciting way to handle conflict. I would absolutely carry a PvP kit for when I'm not in the mood for CRP if it took like 10-20 minutes to make a kit.

[Random 1690]

20 minutes ago, wowj said:

but guys the mining being low means you're on the server longer; boosting activity of server playercount!!!

aesopilled

[Pureimp10 5691]

[Random 1690]

Imma be so real though, while I'm not the biggest fan of the grind I'm a big fan of slop low tier bandit personas with nothing other than pvp gear on them having to grind that long again after I have them D40

[Javert 9615]

You'd see a lot more back and forth fights between the Alliance and the Empire if grinding wasn't so atrocious rn. I'd be launching raids like every 2 days or something. Even in the Margrave's War, where I was numerically disadvantaged against Drusco, I still went out to fight them cuz I knew I'd be able to re-grind the gear we lost anyways. Give us a less complicated grinding system

[FadedMoonlight 450]

Hi I am a silly roleplayer who thinks PVP is a bit silly. (especially if its the only thing you care about on this server)

I understand it's necessity in this server due to the large scale conflicts, and I agree with you that the current drops and costs are malarky. 

 

Let's think outside the box for a moment:
What if there was a separate server, a vanilla survival server where parties venture out to gather resources and bring them back into the main server.