Your View: Professions Plugin

[The Victor Blair Project 36]

My only suggestion. Consolidate. Combine armor-smith, weapon-smith, jeweler, and smelter into smith. I just don't think we'll have enough players to fill all of those positions in each town.

[Telanir 6975]

My only suggestion. Consolidate. Combine armor-smith, weapon-smith, jeweler, and smelter into smith. I just don't think we'll have enough players to fill all of those positions in each town.

 One player can fill all three. :3

[Wizard 125]

I spoke with Telanir today in OOC about the plugin. Naturally, I am a little reluctant to show too much support to a plugin that in essence inhibits role-play. However, I have heard a few parts of it that make me think it is not the same as the past skill and professions plugins. 

 

From Telanir's past and current plugins, I first of all can only expect great things. He has helped the community as a Guide, and now listens more than any other plugin designer to the player base. On that note, let me give my concerns and thoughts.

 

Concerns

• I feel that a professions plugin if not handled carefully could further restrict the player-base and spread us out too thin. 
• It is not necessary, mainly shown by the RP exhibited currently and in Aegis
• It could end up where players are spending more time grinding, than actually role-playing
• There will be too many specifics, instead of a few broad categories

What I am Excited About

 

• A plugin, that if handled correctly, could enhance nations and cities in a positive way. (More jobs/more shops)
• The Magic Plugin, which I hear might be included!
• The way it will enhance fighting (Whether PVP or RP fighting)

[Telanir 6975]

A lot of people actually... just kill mobs, and buy everything else.

 

Lots of players, like me on my thief character, don't have perms, and many don't even have a house. They just rp, and kill the mob that appears sometimes.

 

I also believe this would make people grind, as right now for example, in VaerHaven, I do everything, from building, cooking stone, making tools, making brews, cooking potatoes, lumberjacking, farming, but one thing that I don't do, is kill mobs, because I don't have mobs around the town. On the other hand, I have started to IC train a lot, since I become the leader of a militaristic guild. Will this mean that I will have to leave VaerHaven and search for mobs to be able to use up the points? Because all the rest I do is OOC, all building, and the farming lumberjacking, is just a skill that I would not want better than the minimum required. I am also studying magic on that same character, which means I pass lots of times just writing on a book and looking at things. In the end with all this, IC I'm training in magic and fighting, and OOC'ly I can use the points on everything but that.

 

Well, in all honesty I don't know if I like the fact that most of the server relies on a select few to do stuff. If work spreads between players more equally I think in general more people would be able to rp, it'd be far more fair. As for OOC stuff, well you're going to have to regulate yourself.

 

Maybe I'll introduce a feature where you can toggle when you want to spend proficiency points... but that sort of defeats the current purpose.

As for grinding, I think I've explained why professions wouldn't be a grinding thing.

 

I spoke with Telanir today in OOC about the plugin. Naturally, I am a little reluctant to show too much support to a plugin that in essence inhibits role-play. However, I have heard a few parts of it that make me think it is not the same as the past skill and professions plugins. 

 

From Telanir's past and current plugins, I first of all can only expect great things. He has helped the community as a Guide, and now listens more than any other plugin designer to the player base. On that note, let me give my concerns and thoughts.

 

Concerns

• I feel that a professions plugin if not handled carefully could further restrict the player-base and spread us out too thin. 
• It is not necessary, mainly shown by the RP exhibited currently and in Aegis
• It could end up where players are spending more time grinding, than actually role-playing
• There will be too many specifics, instead of a few broad categories

What I am Excited About

 

• A plugin, that if handled correctly, could enhance nations and cities in a positive way. (More jobs/more shops)
• The Magic Plugin, which I hear might be included!
• The way it will enhance fighting (Whether PVP or RP fighting)

 

Magic plugin is indeed included.

 

As for your concerns, I do actually think that professions branch of Core is necessary. There are a lot of things that I'm going to add that you guys don't realize right now are necessary, but they are. And I think we are suffering because we don't have them.

LotC is deprived of any real economy, since anyone can and will slap a bunch of iron ingots into a crafting bench to make themselves armor, you're left with people making 1 man companies who spend 24/7 chopping trees and mining all day. People who aren't able to play (>9 hours 'an stuff) as frequently should have the same opportunity as the rest of us I think. Two hours a day on LotC right now and you're most likely unable to support yourself. Or so it seems right now.

 

As for the specifics, well it is. But I like to think of it in a broader perspective.

Here's how it could be broad:

A blacksmith is a combination of a few specifics: armorsmithing, weaponsmithing, smelting.

A ranger would probably be working with: archery, leatherworking, fletchery.

 

When people will combine these professions into profession groups, they will get certain bonuses. It would be unnecessary and unfair of course to make people have to only choose one profession and stick with it. I'm trying to make the system as open-ended as possible, tossing everything into blacksmithing seems like I'm taking the choice away from players, not to mention that the specific profession would become rather overpowered.

 

As for grinding, I have worked to design a system alongside Reag where the plugin itself will prevent players from doing that. It will be impossible to grind your way to mastery in one day or one week and spend 40 hours. Proficiency points will quickly cap out after waiting for the player to take action, and when the player does decide to begin grinding, they will only be able to do so for a short while before they are nudged to return to roleplay in case they get too excited.

[Elindor 666]

To address the Wizard's post and Tel's response:

 

As far as actual roleplay when a character meets another, a professions plugin is not going to really be doing anything (except for combat RP as you already adressed but I still stand on the point that combat RP is only a slice of the RP that LOTC is about). Having a profession gives your character a more definitive purpose. Suddenly others need you to do something you have been roleplaying as a skill for months because you are better at it than them. You are valued as a character and gain more meaningful roleplay from your job or hobby, all the while maybe getting a bit of money out of it.

 

The economy does not exist. The only thing that has value is what can be mined, but with the rate that GM shops have had items spawned in, any influence a mining economy will have on the overall economy is like pissing in the ocean. Professions should mean that the GMs can take their spawn-shop supports out of LOTC and actually HAVE an economy. (except for items that cannot be gained without spawning in)

 

When there was a skills plugin the prices of things changed naturally depending on supply and demand. Sometimes the price of bread was stupidly high because it was hard to get (eg. when there was a drought in Aegis). Obviously this is the most extreme example, but prices for many different items would change from one month to the next. This was proof that there WAS an economy when shops were competing a whole lot and some items were difficult to get or demand suddenly became low.

[ski_king3 0]

Okay, first I suppose I have a few questions which you might have answered before (sorry, after a few pages I just started skimming)

• Will skills be based on specific character cards, or the MC account as a whole? I think if it is not based on character cards, it penalizes those of us who like to play multiple characters with different sets of skills.
• Why does the new health system go so high? The only real benefit I see to this is eliminating mob deaths.
• If messages are going to be sent as books, do you have any plans on making them somewhat less expensive? Right now books are rather difficult to come by, and quite expensive.
• How big shall our buddylists be? I somehow managed to get lots of friends that I would like on mine :P

And now, I guess I have some things that I don't want to see or I want to see occur in a certain way, as some of the things I'm hearing are rather troubling.

 

For one, I don't think PVP should be messed with all that much. If we are making combat based professions, just make melee, ranger and magic, and give them minor bonuses to damage. In my opinion, I believe that the quality of weapons and armour should have a small affect, the skill of each character's combat skills should have a small affect, but still, PVP skill and coordination should be by far the most significant force in battles.

 

I have also heard that there are to be certain benefits from skills to benefit the less played races (so every race against humans). This is completely contrary to what adding racial affect by the plugins is for. They are to create balance, not push favor to different groups. If we want to add racial skills and restrictions, make them passive ones that don't affect PVP, or make it so through leveling each race can end up with the same level of skills. But these sorts of restrictions need to be balanced. It's not the staff's job to regulate how many people choose each race, and it most certainly should not affect how the plugins are made.

 

And that's about it. I'll check back here soon to look for a response. Sorry if I got a little ranty on that last one, but my points are most certainly valid. Good job with the plugin Telanir, I am excited.

 

EDIT: Oh and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

[Agent Miller 26]

Ah, I'm not really updated on the most recent incoming Minecraft versions.

 

Stained glass would be nice to have glassmakers work on.

As for the carpets, will give tailors some nice business as well.

To clarify, there is no stained glass in Vanilla MC without using MC 2.0 which was an amazing april fools joke by the mojang team. So there's still only glass, glass panes and glass bottles in MC at this time.

[XkynarethX 109]

From experience, I've found most of these plugins restrictive. I remember searching for a blacksmith just so I could get a simple sword or a piece of armor. Sure, it is realistic and in ways it does enhance roleplay, but it gets tedious after a while. If the classes added perks but didn't stop players from doing most things on their own, I would like to see such a plugin be implemented, but without too many classes. 

My main concern is wasting time via grinding and searching for people instead of roleplaying. I am sure I don't speak only for myself when I say that the state of RP on the server is just fine without the professions. 

[Jistuma 1996]

From experience, I've found most of these plugins restrictive. I remember searching for a blacksmith just so I could get a simple sword or a piece of armor. Sure, it is realistic and in ways it does enhance roleplay, but it gets tedious after a while. If the classes added perks but didn't stop players from doing most things on their own, I would like to see such a plugin be implemented, but without too many classes. 

My main concern is wasting time via grinding and searching for people instead of roleplaying. I am sure I don't speak only for myself when I say that the state of RP on the server is just fine without the professions. 

Or you could read the idea and the DEV blog and see that everything you fear is not happening...

[Kardel 1054]

The professions plugin. . .well, last professions plugin was a disaster for me. I had just joined the server and not being able to craft or smelt or mine successfully really got on my nerves, and after 1 week, I had enough of it, and took a long break from LotC. What I'm trying to say is that you should not put restriction on crafting basic items, as it just proves annoying and un-necessary. On the other hand, I do agree that some of these professions do need restrictions, such as smithing, magic, alchemy, and so on. Then there is also the issue of avoiding rp to get a higher level in a profession, something that I noticed happening in the beginning of Asulon, and something that I attempted myself. This is both a good and bad idea, as everything has its pros and cons, in this case this having more pros, if what the DEV blog sates is true.

[MasterKitty 5]

Since looks like you're going to encourage more PvP fights (Which I support, being the way you're making it), I have to ask, what about siege weapons? Is there going to be a use for them? If yes, is there going to be a profession (Thinker?) that will be able to construct them?

[Aedan The Bard 350]

All I ask is that this doesn't become like the old skill system regarding the limit of points you could use / distribute. That was quite unrealistic and annoying because, well, you never stop learning. I agree with adding some sort of... friction to players who want to know how to do everything, so it is not that easy, but allows it to happen.

[Stag 3229]

A quote from my status earlier today slightly modified;

 

"You know what I would love to see? Keys to locked doors that are hold-able and craft-able by a smith in the pro-plugin as well as lockpicking working on a system much like the mining system where the user can lockpick without a modreq and a cooldown on the lock be placed. The user must find someone to craft the picks and depending on their expertise with lockpicking in the pro-plugin their chances of entering would increase/decrease. Picks can break and different kinds of locks can be added all crafted by a locksmith."

[Stag 3229]

​One apologizes for the double post but there is a question I still have.

 

 

I was wondering if there were any plans for an acrobat profession. I know my main character is an acrobat by trade and it would be nice to have a sense of solidity to that.

[Aetosion 2062]

Siege engineer that can make non-GM fired siege weapons / ballistas? :D