Steel, by wrought iron coins (MATH)

[Machenoid]

Before you murder me and complain about how this will screw things over, i'll make my arguement by using MATHS to explain it. But, in case some people have itchy reflex fingers to scream "NO NO NO NO NO"
It will take the same amount of time to make 1 full bar of steel through this method as would the 56 real-life hour strait-up "hardcore" method.

We know that 1 full bar of steel requires 56 real-life hours. We also know that 100 coins = 1 bar of metal. So, each steel coin can be said to be worth 1/100th the time of 56 hours, or 33.6 minutes. (56*60*60 = gives 201600 seconds/60 = 33.6 minutes * 100 (which is how many coins there are in 1 bar) = 3360 minutes *60 = 56 hours, which proves my maths didn't fail! )

So, how much is 1 steel coin worth, in time? 33 minutes, 36 seconds (33.6 minutes) ... Which for my suggestion is exactly how much time it will take to turn 1 wrought iron coin into 1 steel coin, as the math states. Each coin will, obviously, increases the time needed to turn all the coins inside into steel ones. 2 coins would be 67.2 minutes, 3 coins would be 100.8 minutes, etc. Until you reach 20 coins -- turning these many coins into steel ones takes nearly the entire real-life 12 hour time limit for a fully fueled steel crucible, assuming no one refueled it. (more geek emotes go here)

The downside? 5 times the charcoal use, and using a lone steel crucible five times. Oh, and of course, losing 1 wrought iron bar for every 100 steel produced because 100 coins -> 1 bar -> 99 coins. (and for that 100 steel produced-by-coins, 400 charcoal was "wasted" due to charcoal not having fractional values like metal does)

tl;dr
My intent with this entire suggestion, is to give players a way to make steel without spending 56 hours in a serial, grindy and nerve-wracking progression. The player can spread out his steel making in a non-linear fasion (over many more days then the 2.4 days normally, if he wants to) similar to the "fire-and-forget" dough cooking in the oven. Except instead of dough, it's 20 wrought iron coins, 1 peice of charcoal, and a fully fueled and lit steel crucible that will produce 20 steel coins after 12 hours, the time it takes for a fully fueled steel crucible to burn itself out without refueling.
And of course, give thieves a better chance to steal precious, precious steel... coins.
... Yes, if you want to, you can also convert 100 wrought iron coins (99, and a single) and follow the standard 56-hour way, and then turn those coins into whole steel.

Huge post done. You can murder me for using gratuitous amounts of math, now.

[Ferinex]

...56 hours?

It needs to sit in the crucible for how long?

Why not just go:
(time it takes a bar of wrought to turn to steel in a crucible) * (amount of wrought bar in crucible)

I'm not sure how long a bar takes.

Also, I don't work with metal so I don't really know the process very well.

[theTrav]

I believe the entire point of making steel so hard to craft was to make it rare and therefore valuable.

Your method would de-value it. If you're having trouble obtaining steel then trade for it. I'd probably buy some things off you in steel coin, most people will sell you steel if you bring them enough wrought, wrought if you bring them enough cast, and cast if you bring them enough baked goods.

[Machenoid]

Your method would de-value it.

I used math to demonstrate this is not the case.
After looking through, i neglected to mention the inventory space of the steel crucible.

Normally the process uses all four inventory spaces to produce 2 steel. 2 wrought iron + 2 charcoal = 2 steel.
My suggestion allows, through mathmatics, 1/5th of a wrought iron bar to be turned into 1/5th of a steel bar for 1/5th the time necessary for a full steel bar. That's 20 wrought iron coins for 20 steel coins for slightly under 12 hours -- also just slightly under the steel crucibles' maximum fuel time limit.

[edit - cont. in next post]

[Malicus]

tl;dr
I forgot to consider inventory space. Because 100 coins take 2 inventory spaces instead of 1, attempting to bake 101 or more steel coins would fail since that would exceed the 1 wrought iron bar + 1 charcoal. Thus, the player is limited to 1 steel bar per 56 hours using the wrought iron coin method; losing 28 hours of work due to not producing a second steel bar in the process.
It's ballanced. Twice over. [It's half as efficient as the normal method that uses bars, in every way.]

Uh... explain this. Why would the coins take 2 spaces? You can stack them up to 100 in a space, unless something has changed, which I very much doubt.

I still can't see where you're getting 2s when you were talking about fifths before.

[theTrav]

Your method would de-value it.

I used math to demonstrate this is not the case.

Your method makes it easier for some players to make steel. That will result in more players making steel. That will make steel less rare. Supply increases while demand remains steady, therefore cost must decrease.

[Machenoid]

[continued from previous post]

You can stack them up to 100 in a space

I was under the impression that coins only stacked to 99, not 100... Well, forget all that stuff you quoted, since 100 coins fits in a single space and not the two spaces i thought they did.

Going back to my first post, 1 coin = 33.6 minutes, 100 coins = 3360 minutes = 56 hours. This is for one bar of steel, not two... Perhaps the game could simply keep counting the time it takes, so for 56 hours for 100 coins, it'd be 112 hours for 200 coins?
That way it would take twice as long as the normal method to get 2 bars of steel from wrought iron coins. (by the time the 200 coins finish, if you did it the normal 56 hour way you'd have 4 bars of steel instead of 2)

[Malicus]

They're created in stacks of 99, but you can restack them by picking up one stack and right-clicking the other. I think it asks you for a number then, I don't remember, I haven't messed with coins in a while. But I'm pretty sure doing this is required for making bars out of them, anyway.

[Machenoid]

They're created in stacks of 99

Yeah, that's what confused me.