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Crafter's Roundtable: Crafting and Climates

    • 1785 posts
    March 8, 2019 11:05 AM PST

    Yup, it's time for another Crafter's Roundtable, where we ask all of you for your thoughts on something that will be important for Pantheon!   For those who haven't seen these before, Crafter's Roundtable threads are something that the stafff at Pantheon Crafters puts together on a regular basis.  We ask questions that are intended to get the community talking, and help VR see what we'd like for crafting in Pantheon.  Just like always, to help get discussion started, we ask some of the Pantheon Crafters staff to contribute their thoughts to start us off. Take a look at what we said, and then tell us your own thoughts in a reply.

    Here's the Question:

    We know that the weather and climate is going to matter in Pantheon. If you're in a very hot or very cold area, like a desert or a snowy mountain peak, there will be an acclimation system that governs how well your character is able to operate in that environment. How do you see crafting working with the acclimation system and with weather/climate effects in general?


    Here's what our staff writers at the Pantheon Crafters website had to say. Take a look, and then let us know what you think:

    Autherial said:

    In all honesty I don't think the climate system will impact crafting at all, that would make the crafting system too complex. All-tho perhaps later after maybe a year or so they could begin to implement little features tied to the climate.


    Khaleesi said:

    AH - Climates! I can't WAIT to see how these will interact with the crafting and mechanics of the game. This is supposed to be brief, so I'll try to make sections short.

    We can take breaks from the forage, loom, and oven to relax on the beach, ride through the fog, or even hike in the snowy mountains!

    On the contrary @Autherial, the climate system is a challenge. What better means to face that challenge than by going into it prepared?

    In the frigid climate:

    - We may need campfires to keep us warm. I'll bet a woodworker will be able to help us, and maybe have a market for some of the scrap produced from other projects.

    - We certainly will need warm cloths. I might just want a pair of orc-skin boots to keep my feet dry. I think climates will be an outfitter's specialty! - especially cold.

    Scorching climate:

    - tricky.

    - maybe a stonemason can create plate-like mineral containing shielding to help us traverse the sands.

    Toxic climate:

    - My bet is on the alchemist. I would sure like to know a good one.

    - We will need some excellent hearty elixir to pass through, and to cure the disease that we come into contact with.

    Pressure

    - If anybody understands pressure, it must be the blacksmith. Heat and pressure are key in her field.

    - will be need metal suits that look like some old divers would wear?

    Anaerobic

    - This seems medical and to me, but I don't know if a strong drink will do the trick.

    - I think this will need strong magic, maybe from a talented scribe who can teach us to use no air at all.

    Wind shear

    - This will require some intestinal fortitude. LOL, i'm out of ideas for this one.

    - Well, if I can't fight the wind with a strong drink, maybe a pot of chili will be enough to fight wind with wind ... so to speak ;)

    And apart from climates, there will also be smaller areas of climate like effect (I forget the name) and there will be mana aura climates! So many possibilities!!!


    Trasak said:

    I can see two ways the climate system could affect crafting in Pantheon:

    - Adverse climates could make concentration difficult and therefore make it harder to succeed at crafting mini-games. The answer to this will be in getting crafting gear that is also intended to help offset climates or find other ways to acclimate yourself to them. This will specifically be important for crafting workstations out in the wild that allow for unique recipes.

    - Crafting outcomes affected by local climate or limited to specific climate conditions. This would add yet again another layer of complexity to the crafting system. Hides could tan faster in a desert then in a jungle. Frost wine is easier to make in the wintery mountains. Certain metals may require very high ambient temperature to even work the metal. Mithril forged weapons made on a full moon will have a bonus to kill Lycans. There are lots of possible options based on the climates and the complexity of the crafting system. This kind of complexity would be much easier to add if the basic assembly recipe results were more a summation of the ingredients then their own specific stats.


    Nephele said:

    So, admittedly, when I started thinking about this question, my thoughts went straight to all the situational gear that players are going to need/want to deal with climates, and how crafters could make all of that stuff. I'm all for situational gear in that regard, and climates add a new dimension to situational gear. Let us make cold-weather gear, hot-weather gear, wet-weather gear, gnomish rebreathers for those underwater adventures - yes, please!

    But, I will confess that Khaleesi's response got me started thinking about how crafting itself could actually function in an extreme climate - and this isn't something I had really thought about before. Just as adventurers have to operate in these conditions, shouldn't crafters as well? We can't always be safe and snug in the relative comfort of our temperate crafting area after all. Plus, I'm a firm advocate for getting crafters out into the world - so maybe the solution here is special crafting areas. Want to use the ancient dwarven forge at the Khadassa summit? You can, but I hope you're ready for the wind chill and the raging blizzard. Want to make a bow from a limb of Atropos wood, the legendary wood? There's only one place with the right conditions to shape that wood properly, and that's in the heart of the Clouded Forest (a place I just made up that's very hot and wet). And so on.

    I could probably sit here all day and come up with dozens of different ideas for special crafting areas in places with extreme or unusual climates - but let me instead just say: Yes, let's have those. Make me get up and get out of my normal crafting area and go out into the world and brave these conditions to craft those amazing items. Don't get me wrong, I should still have to somehow get my hands on the recipe, and on the resources needed - none of that should be easy either. But then to make the thing? That should be an adventure too.


    Now it's time to hear all of your thoughts. How should the Crafting sphere intersect with the Climate system in Pantheon?


    This post was edited by Nephele at March 8, 2019 11:07 AM PST
    • 46 posts
    March 8, 2019 1:18 PM PST

    I'm looking forward to seeing the crafting system (as well as I the game in general). However I'm getting concerned that with all the different environments and atmospheres, and needing a full set of specialized gear for each area, that inventory management is going to be horrible, with either not enought space and/or too much stuff. Has anyone seen this addressed already?

    • 1785 posts
    March 8, 2019 1:28 PM PST

    It's never been addressed directly that I recall, but in one of the streams somewhere, I think we saw a version of the character window that had a separate tab for acclimation and climate-specific gear sets.  That could be me misremembering, but I think a lot of the problem you're concerned about can be addressed through something similar to that.  Essentially, you'd be able to build/save a gear set for specific climates, and then presumably when entering those climates you could tell the game to put you in that gear set.

    It would be great if the developers could tell us more about it though.  Maybe we'll get that in a newsletter or roundtable coming up :)

    • 168 posts
    March 9, 2019 8:04 AM PST

    I might take this in a different direction somewhat akin to the ESO crafting model. Maybe crafting gear/weapons w/i certain climates or atmospheres give a bonus Resist to any gear made there. Maybe the only place to craft extra potent air breathing flasks for underwater zones is in a super oxygenated atmosphere area. Perhaps a Scribe/Scrivner has to go to specific atmospheres to create a rune tattoo for your body that imbues you with a certain resistance to these negative atmospheres, the higher the level of tattoo rune the longer it lasts-like a short term buff.

    Its very hard to answer this with the minimal trickle of crafting info released to date.

    • 41 posts
    March 9, 2019 4:37 PM PST

    I think the climate system in crafting would be a good tool to help with another aspect the devs are consentrating on of keeping items unique.  Crafters of different races, classes, or race class combos could have an affinity for the different climates. So tailors of different races can still make the same lether boots, tunic or whatever but maybe the item made by the Skar would be more beneficial in i disease environment whereas the Archai may be make gear better suited for cold.

     

    • 124 posts
    March 11, 2019 6:11 AM PDT

    Situational gear is obviously the more common focus one would think off, and was ofcourse one of my first thoughts.

    My 2nd thoughts however, were more interesting to me. Climates don't only affect weather, a working climate is one too. I can see a scribe sitting next to a woodworker not being able to focus due to the noise it makes. The same thing for the same scribe sitting in the market place being surrounded by merchants. So for crafting i think there should be an additional climate based on sound.

    Another climate for crafters could also be introduced. If a scribe sits in the smith's workshop, how likely will it be that his papers catch fire? Same for a woodworker next to a smith, how likely will it be that he ends up with a scorched chair? So local hazards could play part for succes or failure depending on the combination.

    This type also allows for a beneficial view ofcourse. 2 or 3 smith's working side by side can reduce their fuel consumption due to sustained heat. Or if we are on the topic of a Smith's, lets bring actual climates into play. As some may know, the best swords are made using fire and ice (Conan anyone?) so looking for a forge placed on snowy peaks could result into additional stats if done right. Sure you will need the situational gear mentioned earlier and maybe fuel that keeps hot enough in that climate, but it will result into even better weapons. The same ofcourse could be done by bringing a bucket of ice to the local forge, but mehh.

    So yeah, i can definitely see climates having an affect on crafting, crafting quality, fuel consumption, situational gear and maybe even more. Maybe even having different, crafting specific climates.

    • 2419 posts
    March 11, 2019 10:08 AM PDT

    Nephele said:

    Here's the Question:

    We know that the weather and climate is going to matter in Pantheon. If you're in a very hot or very cold area, like a desert or a snowy mountain peak, there will be an acclimation system that governs how well your character is able to operate in that environment. How do you see crafting working with the acclimation system and with weather/climate effects in general?

    Now it's time to hear all of your thoughts. How should the Crafting sphere intersect with the Climate system in Pantheon?

    Yes, the crafting spheres should be very much integrated into the climate system provided that interaction makes sense.

    The creation of situational clothing/armor to offse the frigid temperatures of the high mountains or far northern reaches makes perfect sense.  You can then include magical/alchemical aspects when just clothing would not provide a viable solution.  Need to breath underwater?  Magic/Alchemy to the rescue (though if we had Tinkering in Pantheon a tinkered aqualung would be awesome). Need to ward off the heat of the lavafields? A combination of some clothing and alchemy would suffice.

    I'm a big proponent of the interweaving of different disciplines into as many aspects of gameplay as possible.

    • 53 posts
    March 11, 2019 10:12 AM PDT

    I think it is fairly obvious Crafters should be part of making items that are boons to dealing with particluar climates.. A tailor might add a warming layer of cloth to Plate Armour for cold- or maybe even a large tabard to cover the armour in the sun to mitigate some heat effects. A cook might make a stew that gives you 10 minutes of cold resist or to heat you up.. a Blacksmith might make horseshoes for mounts to deal with certain climates or they could make ice climbing/mountaineering equipment.. There are a lot of little things that would add up.

    As for crafting itself- I don't think the climates should be a "hard" influence for *Most* of it.. I am absolutely all for subtle bits such as it taking a Blacksmith more time to forge items in a freezing climate, a hot sunny climate may make tanning hides faster.. Tailors may work slower in the cold, or might have a slightly higher chance to fail in the rain.. Meat/Veggies will spoil faster in hot climates.. Blacksmiths might become exhausted or consume a larger amount of water during crafting times in hot climates.. There are a lot of little aspects that would make it interesting and a little more immersive.

    Now I do believe that there should be *some* items that require a certain climate to make- And I think it would add a little adventure and value to the items. Chilled drinks are made in an icey climate, lightning imbued weapons might only be made in a certain location during a storm, you can really get into the weeds with things here.. 

    As far as collecting the resources/material for crafting.. Hot desert climate may not have a lot of plant life unless it's by an oasis, in a cold climate you need tools to break through ice to go fishing or dig up snow to find a sappling, it might be easier to mine ore right after it rains or there might be more abundance of nodes to be found after a rain..

    Anyway.. Just my Two Coppers.