Newbie Thoughts of Atys and Materials

[calanthe]

One thing that has struck me in my few days in Atys is the great detail and depth to the natural world. Gingos hunt down capryni for food, capryni munch on grasses and rub their antlers up against trees to sharpen them, Kipesti kitins munch on certain types of plants, trees blow and bend in winds from a storm. The detail is astounding and I see more that fascinates me every day about this.

Which is why I am perplexed about the way the materials are handled.
I do not mind the glowing green blobs that show up when there is a material on the surface, that is as fine a way as anything else. What bothers me is that the material placement seems so generally haphazard and there is no *visual representation* in the gameworld.

What I mean is this: If I go and prospect and harvest buo fiber, I should be able to see and recognize next time the plant that it comes from. I could see it hundreds of meters away from the first spot and see that plant growing there and know I can harvest buo fiber from it when it is growing in season. I should be able to look at a certain type of rock formation and think that maybe there is a certain type of amber vein that may be present there.
I should be able to see dead leaves on the ground on the isle in middle of the Shining Lake in the Ruins of Silan and try to prospect for them at that spot.

Instead, the placement seems almost random and the searching despite having a lot of tools available to search in different ways seems to bog a lot of people down and turn them off from the harvesting aspect of the game. This is at least my limited experience from hearing the regional chat in the Ruins of Silan. Always questions about where and how do I find this or get that material.

Adding this sort of graphical representation to the game seems a no-brainer sort of enhancement. It would not only make the harvesting a little easier to do, but it would add a tremendous amount of additional detail to the world that is already so rich with it. In addition it would draw people even deeper into the world of Atys and its amazing depth.

Just my two dappers, thank you for reading.

-- Skade, newcomer to the Matis Capitol City on Cho

[sprite]

Turn micro-vegetation up a bit; there are usually "tells" on the ground where you can find mats and it often used to be used a method for finding new spots - these days its generally just accepted that you ask someone where stuff is, or prospect randomly/track the mats.

I agree that it would be nice for some more "realistic" tells but making it more obvious would probably be very crowded in some areas with a huge jumble of all the "tells" for the different mats

[mugendo]

your skils improve a lot as you progress, you will have the skill to search for specific types of mats , and in a much larger arc and range. The materials are in the ground...think oil, water, coal etc....as you become more aware of the environment you will start to understand the 'logic' of the mat locations.
I am sure Every low level digger has felt the same frustration as you, I know I have.
If the searching was removed or made easier I would not be as interested in digging as I am now...besides it is a good excuse for diggers to get together and swap map locations over a beer

[vguerin]

Originally Posted by calanthe

Adding this sort of graphical representation to the game seems a no-brainer sort of enhancement. It would not only make the harvesting a little easier to do, but it would add a tremendous amount of additional detail to the world that is already so rich with it. In addition it would draw people even deeper into the world of Atys and its amazing depth.

A little easier ?

As you get higher in level you will get "Knowledge", each one increases what you are able to distinguish on a foraged source.

Knowledge 1 (Level 50) - Lets you see the type of material in name (wood, fiber, sap etc.) & a representative symbol.
Knowledge 2 (Level 100)- Allows you to see the exact type of material (Moon Resin, Pha Amber etc.) and a corresponding symbol.
Knowledge3 (Level 200) - Allows you to see the material quality, very useful in pulling the best sources in an area.

Placing symbols on the ground would not only make foraging less important, but would create a lagfest of objects. Imagine every material being exposed as you are hunting or trying to maneuver through angry mobs.

http://ryzom.twazz.net/guides/harvest/easy-mats.jpg

Deposit tracking will take you close to where you need to be, the better your skills the more accurate. I am never a fan of easy-mode, but the first thing coming to mind on your idea was the immense possibly of lag induced into the lands by unneeded static objects added to the terrain. Depending on the season/weather, materials will be located in the same area's... part of being a forger/harvester is learning those spots.

[acridiel]

Just keep your eyes open, there are certain aspects to the area that supports a certain type of material. At least on the mainlands I think.
I don´t know about Silan though.
For example, if you want to find Sap in the Prime roots, it´s mostly lokated near Sap-flows and or at locations where Sap collects in puddles on the surface.
Fiber seems mostly to be found in areas where the ground is covered with a sort of "webbing" or well fiberlike moss...
On the surface of Atys from my experience in Matis, Materials can mostly be found where Cratchas abound or nearby them.
Havent got any experiance in other Lands yet.
But I will learn.

CU
Acridiel

[zanthar]

While the OPs thought that it would add more detail to Atys and reality is a good thought. I have to agree with Vguerin in that this would put seriuos lag into the game and also degrade the harvester's role in the game. Just my 2 Dapper

[chessack]

I think conceptually our prospecting finds sources below the surface and brings them up to the top.... it's sort of a magical technique really (just look at the prospecting animation). You're basically summoning seeds, amber, etc, from under the skin of Atys, to the surface, so you can mine it. That explains why there aren't a lot of visual clues to tell you what's around.

C

[calanthe]

Thank you all for the feedback, I did not mean to imply littering the world with more objects, and I can see how it might detract from the experience of prospecting somehow. I can also relate to the magical use to pull materials from the world, my perspective is too limited at this time to recognize how this world is interwoven. I will learn.

Safe journeys all,

[tibber2]

Groupmate 2: Lets go get some Mitexi Bark .
Groupmate 1: okies !
Groupmate 2: Hey look theres a grove of trees , Perfect for bark hunting.
Groupmate 2 Stands practally on top of a tree with hopes of finding bark .
Groupmate 2/prospect fine and lower .
Groupmate 1: "You Target Material Source (Groupmate 2 )
Groupmate 2/Gentle Extraction 30 .
Groupmate 2: /Around Ok ... who wiped their butt on the tree .... Itsd not funny.
Groupmate 1:/Falls off the Island of Silan Laughing .
Groupmate 2: "You Recieve 2 Units of Fine Dung Resin .

Why change it ? We would never ever see this happen again