Quality cap. Does it exist?

[Blackomen]

The main draw of the game for me was the crafting + infinite leveling/skilling. (Mathematically speaking)

However after a LOT of reading on the wiki I came to a understanding that this may not be the case, and that things in the game (According to the wiki) are capped at around q40. Due to capped clay/stone/water quality, despite the fact that player skill levels go to infinity. (With exception of survival)

So basically what I'm asking here, if anyone can confirm if this is correct or completely wrong. The only reason I question this (Due to it being hinted at over and over again on the wiki.) is that several posts give item stats at quality levels well above 40. Such as q160, which mathematically should not be possible, since everything would be capped at the max quality "elements" of water/stone/clay from which everything in the game is dependent on.

Anyway I'm rambling on, so is this correct? Or is the wiki is desperate need of being corrected? I'd like to know if this game will have any purpose in playing after a month or two when I have all craftables at q40 and have nothing else to do. The possibility of unlimited crafting levels is the only reason for me enjoying the game.

[babyhero09]

that is not true there is no cap for items

[TeckXKnight]

However after a LOT of reading on the wiki I came to a understanding that this may not be the case, and that things in the game (According to the wiki) are capped at around q40. Due to capped clay/stone/water quality, despite the fact that player skill levels go to infinity. (With exception of survival)

None of that is true. None of it. Natural resources are soft capping you in everything but they're known to go over q100 each. Getting ahold of top quality materials is a feat but far from impossible. Even without them, it takes virtually nothing to achieve q40+ goods. Survival also isn't a hardcap at 200. Wild surface animals will never require more than 200 but domesticated animals can go over that quality. If you play for more than a few months, you will have domesticated animals that can break this quality. Trolls also require more survival than this potentially ranging close to the thousands. In other words, there is Always room for more survival but for general purposes 200 survival is a good goal cap at the time being.

A more realistic cap is likely closer to ~90 for most goods and materials for now and will rise as we play longer. Given how metal works, you can achieve a theoretical infinite if you acquire enough of it. Thus how Sodom got q190 metal goods last world. Crops also NEVER cap out and can be raised as high as you'd like, allowing you infinitely high string, straw, etc..

What's likely going to limit you is your clay until you develop some trade relations and friends who have access to or can get you q70+ Clay. Water and soil will too in terms of trees but that's not nearly as limited in terms of trading.

Where the hell is the wiki hinting that you'll cap out at q40? That's utter bullshit.

Edit: Hell, on the first week of this world most players had achieved items over q100 and were capable of producing boards and seeds over q40. The issue was there was a farming bug at the time reducing our crops to q0, so we were all slowed down a bit.

[slipper]

Level IV Troll quality cap is ~275 at this moment.

[Sevenless]

I know where you're coming from, a lot of people make reference to the q40 zone. I believe q40 is the point where bonuses achieve a full triple in potency.

But yeah, a lot of those hard caps are from previous worlds (soil quality used to hard cap crops I believe). There's been a lot of changes since then.

[TeckXKnight]

q40 is the x2 mark. q90 is x3.

There are also virtually no hardcaps. Everything is soft capped.

[Blackomen]

Thank you all for the info. I'm very glad to be wrong in this case. Still a few questions remain regarding this, and I'd hope someone could clarify the issues.

1. Every single wild animal gives level 10 materials seemingly regardless of survival level. (Granted my survival is only level 13) But as I increased it from 1 to 10 it raised the animal materials quality. After 10 it had zero effect. So how do you increase meat/bone/hide without using domesticated animals? (I know you can increase it by processing them into the next thing, I'm referring to the base material itself.)

2. One of you mentioned that soil no longer hard caps crops. This is a good example of where the wiki is wrong then. I assume it's based off the random result of -/+5 then? Does soil have any effect on crops then? I still see 90% of all crops being grown on fertile soil. So what is the benefit to it?

3. I have not reached metals yet. As mining requires substantial skills to start on without a cave nearby. (As I understand it.) One of you mentioned that metal quality is infinite with enough of it. How is that possible? Can you refine it to a higher quality without needing better materials?

4. A fundamental limit I'm seeing is wood, as I'd love to specialize in tree growth. As it requires 3 things. Water(capped)-Soil(Capped)-and Clay(Also capped). Does this make this endeavor almost impossible? The ONLY way I see you could beat the cap on this is via the use of plant fibers in the herbalists table. And that would take years to make any notable progress in the trees. Or am I missing something?

5. And last question, I understand there are "worlds" and that these worlds were previous builds that were wiped. How often do the devs wipe the entire server?

I appreciate any answers. This game has immense depth and complexity. And I love that fact. I want a game that takes more than a few weeks to completely understand in and out. But a lot of the basics are even difficult to figure out. (eg. took me 2 hours of web-searching to figure out you have to hold down ctrl+click to get out of the wagon. I thought I was going to starve to death in there.

[TeckXKnight]

1. Get a better skinning tool and higher survival. Read the wiki for more data on quality.
2. Soil has NEVER hard capped crops. It also has Never soft capped it. You just have a random variable attached to it based off of soil quality vs crop quality. Farming soft caps crop quality. You can grow q8000 crops on q10 soil and still see an increase in quality every harvest. If your soil quality is higher than your crop quality, you have a -5/+5, if it's lower than your crop quality -5/+2. At full nature you're getting 3 seeds each so you're getting a +1 average increase in quality.
3. When you refine cast into wrought, during bloom -> cast/wrought you can gamble quality and be full nature to return as much bloom into cast again to repeat. So you can gamble for a percentage increase in your quality constantly to improve the quality of your cast to produce higher quality finery forges, hammers, and anvils, to better increase your cast iron quality into an infinite loop. QUALITY LOOP~!
4. Yes, wood is a huge limiting factor. Most people are willing to sell decent tree pots, soil, and water pretty cheap. Getting plant fibers also isn't hard. Getting q60ish wood isn't hard if you're willing to get to know people and trade. Or conquer.
5. Please read the readme by Jackard.