Mechanics Idea: Aging for the best

[LadyGoo]

Aging has been suggested by various people in order to nerf/merge unmeargable gap and etc. I suggest using it in a positive way:
- make some items grow quality/characteristics/buffs over time. For instance, wines, armoury, weapons and etc.

Reasoning:
- cute item sinks and industry stimulation;
- adding another value to the game. Right now we've got only the item's quality as the reference of being the best. The age would be interesting one as well;
- looting old settlements would have greater benefit.

[AntiBlitz]

more so, why do items not have durability like the food symbols? not sure if there was ever a specific reason for it, but i think itd be neat to give way to actual metal smiths who could reforge your weapon, or repair armor chinks. It'd create a sort of revolving door for gear and things. It doesnt need to be overdone, but could be a part of the game. I wouldnt want to necessarily create a tedium, but more so something to continue sparking industry. While im on the idea of armor chinks, they could potentially have a sort of wound system where it tells you the severity of the damage to the item and what it is doing to it, which would necessitate the armor smith repairing the item at the risk of lowering qa or something. Its obviously all up for discussion, i mean thats why we are here.

[LadyGoo]

Others and I suggested the same idea, but the devs said no. Think, the problem might be in:
- lack of the item sinks; so, instead of makign completely new item from brand new high q. the material you would just repair it at the lesser expense.
- the hardness of implementing such thing into the game.

[The_Lich_King]

Others and I suggested the same idea, but the devs said no. Think, the problem might be in:
- lack of the item sinks; so, instead of makign completely new item from brand new high q. the material you would just repair it at the lesser expense.
- the hardness of implementing such thing into the game.

I would also like to see some kind of character aging system. Maybe hearth's could steadily gain lp or something as they age because they are getting older, but once they get so old they are susceptible to becoming senile.

[Granger]

Tool wear and repair is related and possibly the better idea when it comes to furthering trade and as an item sink.

[LadyGoo]

I would also like to see some kind of character aging system. Maybe hearth's could steadily gain lp or something as they age because they are getting older, but once they get so old they are susceptible to becoming senile.

Meh, I do not see anything positive about the character aging, except for doing something about 4000k stated characters. It's a tricky subject that might lead to server population decline in case of unthoughtful implementation.

Tool wear and repair is related and possibly the better idea when it comes to furthering trade and as an item sink.

The idea is not only about the item sinks, but adding the new value to the game. Let's say you've got your newbie q 20 wine. In 1 month time, your neighbours can produce q 40 wine. Meanwhile, your q 20 1-month-old wine wouldn't be not so bad in comparison to their fresh q 40 wine.
The another reason for something like this lies on the problem of some items having low-value as the time goes. For instance, you might have had 1 week holiday and produced 40 bronze steeds. By the end of the month you've got higher quality anvil and can make better steeds. So stay efficient you will consume the new steeds and have leftover 20-whatever steeds you didn't use.

[Granger]

Tool wear and repair is related and possibly the better idea when it comes to furthering trade and as an item sink.

The idea is not only about the item sinks, but adding the new value to the game. Let's say you've got your newbie q 20 wine. In 1 month time, your neighbours can produce q 40 wine. Meanwhile, your q 20 1-month-old wine wouldn't be not so bad in comparison to their fresh q 40 wine.
The another reason for something like this lies on the problem of some items having low-value as the time goes. For instance, you might have had 1 week holiday and produced 40 bronze steeds. By the end of the month you've got higher quality anvil and can make better steeds. So stay efficient you will consume the new steeds and have leftover 20-whatever steeds you didn't use.

Which would, given how our two trolls implement mechanics, boil down that wine stored from the beginning of the world would be completely overpowered when drank now.

[LadyGoo]

Which would, given how our two trolls implement mechanics, boil down that wine stored from the beginning of the world would be completely overpowered when drank now.

Well, since you've pointed this out, they might balance the quality+age. Again, ageing affect might decline as the time goes. You may have the best effect if it would age for 2 months, then the effect slows down or stops. So your 2 months-old q20 wine would be comparable to the "fresh" q60 wine. But after 3 months, the q20 wine would be comparable only to the q65 wine and etc. It's just a shame that raiding the old/abandoned settlements doesn't deliver that much of a reward while implementing ageing could make it something feasible and more attractive.

[loftar]

Just to be sure, we are absolutely not strictly against item wear. I've even wanted it from time to time while playing the game myself because my high-q tools would feel more meaningful if I had to ration their use, and it wouldn't be particularly difficult to implement. There's just the question of just how fun decay is, in the end, and I'm just not sure.

As for positive aging of certain things, that could quite possibly be fun, but I'm not exactly sure how I'd like it to work right now. I'm not really seeing how positive aging would provide "cute item sinks", however.

[Granger]

It's just a shame that raiding the old/abandoned settlements doesn't deliver that much of a reward while implementing ageing could make it something feasible and more attractive.

I would describe that more as looting, but yes.

What could help in that regard would be when at least natural objects (trees, crops) would increase in quality - let's say with 1/2 the speed for as when they would be tended and for trees something that keeps them within achiveable limits - but then this would only help for finite worlds.

Would be better if the infinite quality grind could be stopped at some sane level, as then an eternal world would become thinkable.