Lack of precision makes regular tasks unnecessarily tedious

[vatas]

Wanted to put 23 sticks into a kiln. had to pile them first and then take out 23 (custom client feature btw) and then Ctrl+Shift them into the Kiln. Except I had 3 pieces of crap-quality coal with me for some reason. They lowered the fuel quality by almost 40 points.

This is also a perennial issue with crafting in general. (And all the times that ropes on belts end up ruining Potter's Wheels - seriously, belt inventory seems to be actively prioritized, at least by a recent report by a villager who had it happen.)

[serVar161]

"Newbie mistake." Yes, we've all been there when a random item in your inventory, unnoticed, gets used in crafting or building, ruining it. Or maybe it was a necessary item.
And you have to either keep a close eye on it or not leave any "unnecessary" items in your inventory - only what's needed for the job.

What's your suggestion? How can this be changed, made better?

[Audiosmurf]

The simple baseline friction of fueling kilns and stuff, and the opportunity to "do it wrong" is a thing that I actually really like, the manual fiddliness I think represents something like a microcosm of this game and its appeal for me personally.

[vatas]

What's your suggestion? How can this be changed, made better?

I tapped to the idea of "just point out the root cause/core problem."

Admittedly, this is a good question. Perhaps Jorbtar should address viewtopic.php?f=48&t=80406 first. Any kind of "precision mode" would probably be much better if it's built on top of something like that.

[serVar161]

Sorting will certainly help, but it'll still happen. I collected leaves from the Tree of Life and used them to cook food in a fire. "Oh, really? No way!"

I never thought about it; it really does seem like part of the game, but one possible option is that it's a tried-and-true system from other games: the crafting and building window. Where you insert the necessary materials yourself.
Same with fuel—you put fuel in slots and can take out more if needed (except for the one that's already burning).

[Hasta]

What's your suggestion? How can this be changed, made better?

Concerning this particular issue - put a "fuel container" (separate inventory of 4-6-12 slots) to each object that requires fuel to run. You stock the fuel container and press button "load fuel", it goes into the object until the object is filled or the container is empty. Until the button is pressed, fuel can be taken out of said container.

[serVar161]

What's your suggestion? How can this be changed, made better?

Concerning this particular issue - put a "fuel container" (separate inventory of 4-6-12 slots) to each object that requires fuel to run. You stock the fuel container and press button "load fuel", it goes into the object until the object is filled or the container is empty. Until the button is pressed, fuel can be taken out of said container.

That's an option. You can even do without a loading button—just fuel cells from which you can remove fuel if you haven't lit a fire yet.
Right now, if you throw fuel somewhere, that's it—all you have to do is light it and wait for it to burn. And that's weird.