Let's be serious about metal returns

[Peter]

The way all smelters currently work is to have a % chance return for smelting any particular ore. This might work when you get a 50% return, but for the precious metals like gold and silver, it's pretty absurd to only have a 1/400 chance of return.

Instead, these rare metals should simply produce smaller "bars" and in addition the hard coding work should be taken to make smelters actually produce fractional metal from each piece of ore.

By smaller bars, I mean that a piece of gold ore might produce a gold ingot that can be made into only a handful of coins.

Let me stress that I certainly don't have any reasonable access to gold, but I just don't see anyone wasting hours mining gold for a 97% chance that a full load of ore won't produce anything.

So, Fractional bars, even invisible ones inside of smelters, and perhaps precious metals aren't normally made into bars, but smaller ingots.

[kaka]

I have to agree. I'm not very fond of the randomness of the current system.
(Not that this wouldn't be random, of course, but it would be more evenly distributed.)

On a side note; gold panning, or whatever the hell it's called, would be really cool. :P

[g1real]

Let me stress that I certainly don't have any reasonable access to gold, but I just don't see anyone wasting hours mining gold for a 97% chance that a full load of ore won't produce anything.

Nice percentage, too bad you're wrong.

From 1:300-400 chance based, you have 8.33%-6.25% chance to get a gold bar per load.

Let's not exclude the possibility of getting more then one per load.

[theTrav]

I tend to prefer randomness with fairly low standard deviation as well.

Roll more dice with lower values, that's what I say!

[Gaiadin]

I agree. Not only for the ultra rare metals but for all metals in general. With full Industry I have seen 2-3 full loads of iron in a row turn to 25 stones which is seriously disheartening when you consider that iron mines are exhaustible and very nearly impossible to find after a new grid has been out for more than a few days with everyone who is capable of doing so, out hunting them right away.

Overall, metal is a non-renewable resource, and considering that, its return rate seems a bit too low. By increasing the yield from each load, you will effectively be plumping the market so that even people who aren't fortunate enough to find an iron mine may still afford to trade regularly with those who are.

[sabinati]

Let me stress that I certainly don't have any reasonable access to gold, but I just don't see anyone wasting hours mining gold for a 97% chance that a full load of ore won't produce anything.

Nice percentage, too bad you're wrong.

From 1:300-400 chance based, you have 8.33%-6.25% chance to get a gold bar per load.

Let's not exclude the possibility of getting more then one per load.

you both fail math

1:300 = 0.33% chance to get a bar
1:400 = 0.25% chance to get a bar

[Potjeh]

I believe they were talking about the chance per smelter, not per lump of ore.

[sabinati]

it doesn't matter if there are 25 pieces of ore or 25,000, the odds are still the same

[Potjeh]

Uhm, the odds of getting one bar out of 25 lumps of ore are better than the odds of getting one bar out of one lump of ore.

[sabinati]

the odds per lump of ore are the same. changing the amount of ore smelted just gives you another 1:300-400 chance. if you have a 1:25 chance and you do it 25 times it does not equal a 25:25 chance.