Discovery system

[gbrish]

This is a thread to talk about the discovery system.

(EDITED THE OP: the last one was hastily put together and was not focused on what I was really getting at, therefore the OP has been heavily edited)

Frankly I think it is a good idea on paper but in practice it doesn't work well. The biggest problem I have with the discovery system is that it is unintuitive. The system doesn't really allow you to "discover" items that you find lying about you have to harvest them in the wilderness or pick them out of a tanning tub. This is particularly inconvenient for villages because players often specialize in one area or the other and items change hands frequently. If a player happens to find a item in a crate somewhere they might as well throw this shiny new item in the river rather than learn what it is. The discovery system doesn't really take into account these instances. A lone player may be able to discover items fluently but when you are interacting with other players it becomes jarring. Before I edited this paragraph I talked about how the discovery system took the discovery out of the game. This was coming from the viewpoint of someone in a town/village setting as new players discover items by interacting with other players and thus research them and study them in their spare time. However if every new player has to "discover" items by picking them out of a tanning tub or has to run away from town just to find out what a nut is the system suddenly becomes unintuitive.

This could be easily fixed by allowing you to study items in your study inventory. New items should work like curiosities as in you place them in your study for a set amount of time then after the time is up you discover the item and gain lp- this could only be done once. The reason I like this better is now when a player is walking around and comes across a new item he can study it. This is lot more intuitive for villagers because it fits their play-style better.This way is also more social because now you do not have to go out into the woods to discover you can learn by borrowing from other players. You can still discover items when you make them and the timer will help balance things out to keep players from gaining too much lp in the beginning and it helps with the lack of curiosities at low levels.

(Before I edited I mentioned going online, really that doesn't have anything to do with the discovery system, players can research items by asking other players or by reading a book if they implement books in game, I agree that you shouldn't have to resort to online research but this is a game that is still in development and has a steep learning curve so it is inevitable)

[Kaios]

gbrish

[Jackard]

The biggest problem I have with the discovery system is that it is unintuitive.

what

This actually takes out the feeling of discovery in the game because it doesnt allow players to find new items and use them.

what

This is incredibly frustrating as now new players might as well throw this shiny new item in the river rather than learn what it is.

what

in summary,

[LimaZulu]

PSY AYE AYE AYE AYYYYYYYYYE

You're amazing, Jackard.

[gbrish]

What am I missing something? So far you can't discover items by opening a chest or seeing them, instead you have to pick them up out of the wilderness, pluck them from a tree or harvest them yourself. My issue is that you can't pick a item up out of a crate, study it, and then use it.

[Zampfeo]

I think all items should be discoverable by study, but for different reasons. IE: Why should a cook have to skin a bear to learn how to make a big bear banger? That's a waste of a bear. The cook should be able to put it in his study and discover it and it's recipes after an amount of time.

[SeanPan]

It used to be players would find items and wonder what their purpose was, then they would go onto the internet and research, once they have researched the item they could either keep/save it for use or they could throw it away if...

This really shouldn't be so. The game itself should indicate what the new items are for, but that's a separate discussion.

I think all items should be discoverable by study, but for different reasons. IE: Why should a cook have to skin a bear to learn how to make a big bear banger? That's a waste of a bear. The cook should be able to put it in his study and discover it and it's recipes after an amount of time.

This is a bit weird, but understandable. Anyone, just kill the bear, skin it and let him do the butchering at least a little. Study might make sense too, and I like the idea.

[LimaZulu]

I think all items should be discoverable by study, but for different reasons. IE: Why should a cook have to skin a bear to learn how to make a big bear banger? That's a waste of a bear. The cook should be able to put it in his study and discover it and it's recipes after an amount of time.

I like this idea, as it'd make it easier to recover from dying.

Also, it'd make trading for things you can't produce yourself (you need gold but you only have iron and bronze mines) actually feasible.

[gbrish]

OK my last post was way too confusing. Sorry I'm not good at writing and went about it in a very round about way so people didn't understand where I was coming from. I edited the OP to be more clear so give it another shot because I think my idea is pretty good.