Steel fuel cycle is too short

[shubla]

As both a village member and a hermit, I have to agree that a 24 hr. timer would be workable, as I am able to get in game daily, but only after I get off work in the wee hours of the morning, being a father, working a ten hour shift and attending classes in the morning does not leave time to log on multiple times a day to be checking fuel levels. And unlike some folks I cannot log in at work system administrators blacklisted the sit. (grumbles)

Your system adminstrator blacklisted HnH?

[Ukhata]

As both a village member and a hermit, I have to agree that a 24 hr. timer would be workable, as I am able to get in game daily, but only after I get off work in the wee hours of the morning, being a father, working a ten hour shift and attending classes in the morning does not leave time to log on multiple times a day to be checking fuel levels. And unlike some folks I cannot log in at work system administrators blacklisted the sit. (grumbles)

Your system adminstrator blacklisted HnH?

this is why i AM the administrator

[jorb]

i always hated the steel timer, even though i have pretty much always been in a group with people in multiple timezones or flexible schedules, i don't feel like something that requires you to log in to the game and do something at intervals less than 24 hours is a good or healthy mechanic.

I could perhaps be tempted to agree with this, but then the question materializes: What makes steel a challenge? I could agree that timing isn't the most fun, but what works better?

[barra]

I could perhaps be tempted to agree with this, but then the question materializes: What makes steel a challenge? I could agree that timing isn't the most fun, but what works better?

Make it more like lure fishing. Challenging because of many of hidden mechanics, rather than transparently simple and challenging because it's inconvenient.

edit: Trying to elaborate, isn't steelmaking about managing airflow and temperature and carbon content of fuel and so on? So good steel should probably involve constantly adjusting the process to balance several different influences. Right now it's just about keeping a bot in front of a smelter next to a pile of finely-cut branches or coal.

[sabinati]

i always hated the steel timer, even though i have pretty much always been in a group with people in multiple timezones or flexible schedules, i don't feel like something that requires you to log in to the game and do something at intervals less than 24 hours is a good or healthy mechanic.

I could perhaps be tempted to agree with this, but then the question materializes: What makes steel a challenge? I could agree that timing isn't the most fun, but what works better?

infrastructure? length of time? idk

[Kaios]

So good steel should probably involve constantly adjusting the process to balance several different influences. Right now it's just about keeping a bot in front of a smelter next to a pile of finely-cut branches or coal.

I don't see how that would be any less of a time issue though if it requires constant maintenance

[barra]

I don't see how that would be any less of a time issue though if it requires constant maintenance

I imagine a couple of hours of adjusting the smelter's levels very 5/10 minutes is roughly as annoying as 56 hours of 12 hour refuels. I'll write up a detailed suggestion later.

[shubla]

One way might be.
To make it short but labor intensive job.
First you would have to heat up your crucible.
This would take ~2 hours and lot of coal.
You would have to add more coal every 30 minutes or so.
Then when your crucible would be heated, you toss in some coal and wrought iron. And start bumping the bellows.
This would consume lot of stamina. You should bump bellows enough for crucible to be in perfect temperature. And not overheat. There would be somekind of display thing to show you how much you have to pump bellows.
It would take perhaps 5-15 minutes of bumping bellows and sometimes adding more coal to make one/few steel.
It would take lot of coal, and lot of work. But wouldnt last more than few hours.

Another way would just be to add easy way to travel to trading hubs/trade between pro players and casual hermits.
So they could just buy some steel-

[Drevar]

My suggestion would be to add an optional active component, similar to the spit roaster. Either let it sit and do the 12-hour refuel dance, or accelerate the process by actively pumping bellows which will in turn burn the fuel much faster.

[borka]

I could perhaps be tempted to agree with this, but then the question materializes: What makes steel a challenge? I could agree that timing isn't the most fun, but what works better?

Not playing at all - because the steel fuel times change had been called for often enough ... really ... some pps are working for their living (and paying you)

btw. that was a main thing i expected to change with hafen ...