As someone in the game to build, I feel rocks are a basic resource for the main building blocks of the game. I like the fact that there is a lot of rock being gathered as it allows for more refined and brick varieties to be available for builds. There is an underlying assumption that everyone is using 3x3 AOE tools and that is not correct. They are expensive and even if you are trying to make them yourself, they require fairly rare resources. If every player had stacks of the tools then yes we would be hollowing out planets like we did with bomb mining. My preference would be to balance by making lower tier tools have an AOE affect so all players could be more efficient at gathering. Let players spend more time building and crafting versus some of us being bored mining for hours at a time.
In my opinion adding more items to the existing recipes is not a good idea. I am frustrated with the idea that everything should take longer and require more resources to make. If we need more rock used then maybe the developers can add new items that use rock like when they added LEDās that required gleam. This would definitely be my preference over adding them to existing recipes.
If we need more progression, why canāt we add to the game versus taking what we have and making it more of a grind? Boundless is a Sandbox MMO so there is going to be some grind, but it is also a sandbox so when is enough grind enough?
There have been many comments made about seeds dropping next time.
Hereās one. Finding more is left as a fun activity readers can do at home.
Fixed resource maps not taking into account time limited events, so that spooky seeds from Halloween will no longer show up hot spots on the planets until the Halloween event next begins.
Thatās a good point and means the mill machine is dangerously close to violating the second constraint
Still leaves some room for a solution (with a sufficiently enticing new recipe) but yes I agree itās a much more finicky route to go down than to just nerf the problem directly. This is the direction people are asking for though, so we should explore it regardless.
As a thought experiment, 1) Would it be too large a nerf to dedicated crafters to make it so Teaching foods no longer apply to machine outputs, and 2) Is reducing the EXP generated by this method by 50% enough of a nerf?
My goal is the same as yours, incentivize players to not do this method (which, full disclosure, I use all the time) without making the game even more of a grind-fest for players that arenāt doing this.
This really doesnāt need a nerf. You have to click 30x per machine, x100 machines thatās 3,000 clicks. If you do it 10x per month thatās 30,000 clicks. Ouch.
For anybody who honestly has a problem with rock exp, just donāt use it if if ya donāt like it. There are no actual fun ways to level up quickly in the game, although you can generally gain a level or two per day of casual play (hunting, building and such). Leveling alts would be less fun than licking batteries without rock crafting.
ā¦? Or? there are other uses for rock other then as an exp machine, which in my opinion is not really a problem in the 1st place. There are ways to power level in every game. I really see no reason to suppress that here, furthermore this is more harmful to newer players then it is harmful to the people i think you are trying to target.
Also we donāt need even more āāāā added to existing stuff. the last nerf in that regards is enough.
This is a side effect of mining, not the AoE boon, the AoE boon simply accelerates the rate of mining. the AoE boon doesnāt magically generate more rock per square kilometer mined.
Not all of us, I drop all the rock now days as I rather have the space to carry more ore and gems, so I do not keep having to make trips back just to unload rock.
I do because it is more time effective for me to fill my inv with ore and gems, before heading back, then it is for me to head back each time I am 80% full of rock and only 20% full of the stuff i plan on using.
I donāt want your money, I have very little use for coin, if you want to follow me, I donāt care, as long as you are not picking up my ores and gems, and do not mind the slight risk of death.
Furthermore because of where I mine, the rock I dig up is an ugly color. So I prefer not to build with it anyway. If I was mining in an area where I liked the color. then maybe I would be keeping more of it.
In terms of xp from doing stone crafting with tables. I find that if I go and mine and get some gems I get about a level every 30 minutesā¦ And donāt end up with carpel tunnel from clicking mass craft. And donāt use any xp food. If I get to building I gain a level about every hour by placing blocks and chiseling blocks. So I get more enjoyable levels from just playing. I donāt feel the crafting needs any kind of xp nerf. But more options crafting wise is always good. And I say options Not requirements.
Adding anything to an existing recipe is a bad idea. Making new recipes that use underutilized existing things is a good idea. Like making fertilizer out of earthyams. Or grinding up rocks to make dyes. Or turning growth into sticky blocks so you can walk in walls and ceilings! (wishful thinking I know)
Why do you always have suggestions that nerf the game? Why not come with a suggestion that enhances the game, makes the game more fun?
Besides, I can forge a silver AoE hammer rather easily and go crazy on a T1 world, so I can always get even more rocks in even a shorter time if I want to levelā¦
So no, this would not solve anything at all. Also, it didnāt need solving in the first place
I generally donāt like the idea of nerfs, but welcome all suggestions, even those I dislike. Good conversation is nice while Iām supposed to be working lol
The devs have total freedom to add new things to the game to fix problems. But they have to be careful when suggesting nerfs cuz players often respond emotionally before they consider the wider picture. So Iāll suggest the nerfs and they can hide in the shadows and read the discussion. Iām the bad cop no one asked for!
Ultimately Iām just trying to help the game survive. I believe it needs a nerf but will lead the discussion wherever I think itās productive. I used to balance game economies with 10 million daily players (Facebook games) so itās my professional opinion that this game economy has a leak or two that undermines the gameās chances for success. But I donāt know the devsā overall plan so I could also be wrong. If they are expecting plots to drive revenue, they should make some changes. If they only expect cosmetics to drive revenue things are shaping up well (both GC and outfits).
The reason for this thread (and many of my other threads) is there is an exploit that produces infinite cubits. And while maybe none of the honest players are abusing it, the ppl who do prestige takeovers are using it to make the rest of the player base suffer. Also I donāt believe that most high lvl players arenāt using it because I go into their houses and I see their suspicious room of 100 crafting tables and 4 refineries. It only takes one instance of leveling off rock+pie instead of purchasing cubits for the devs to have lost money to the issue.
The fact that players can use it to power level alts, who go on to impact areas of the in-game economy make it doubly worth looking at in my mind.
Iām fine with push back on changing existing recipes. Iām not here to ruin anyoneās fun. But letās find something else to do with all that rock.
While true, I donāt think these are apples to apples comparisons. The level every 30-60 minutes mining (I seem to notice a level about every hour but I donāt use speed brews) is an effect of 3x3s existing, which is kind of what this whole discussion is about at itās core. Similarly, Iām not too concerned about a builder getting that kind of exp as they are putting in a ton of effort/creativity to build something, and this is limited by blocks available (again going back to the core issue being the existence of 3x3 as a buff).
To everyone talking about the horrible clicking of the rock method, how unfun it is, how rocks take up inventory space that could be used for real materials, I agree! So why is a method that is unfun, physically uncomfortable, and creates perverse incentives while out mining able to generate 10+ levels for an alt in ~15-30 minutes (clicking time), or able to generate another 2-3 levels (again, in about 15-30 minutes) for the max tier miner that was already getting a level every half hour?
Some type of sink for rock would help, but I understand the resistance to adding it to existing recipes. This is maybe the easiest but worst feeling way to go about it. I also understand that rock is needed to eventually make refined and decorative blocks which are foundational in a lot of builds, so the people that are making those things for legitimate use shouldnāt be punished/should be considered when figuring out the impact of a potential change here. Also, as I was typing this out, @a13o made his reply and his comments on cubit generation are spot on.
Hahaha Iām the nosiest of them all. I will hang from the roof and peer in second story windows. Iāve actually met some of my neighbors this way, embarrassing as it is.
But Iām endlessly curious about how ppl build things so I will sometimes spend five minutes following a wall to figure out the chisel pattern. Looks weird, but itās innocent.
