The Science System

The science system has been overlooked for too long. With each new implimentation of new content, it seems that the science system continues to degrade. several content patches over the past few years have slowly made the specializations less worthwhile or obsolete. One of the most disappointing is the original release plan.

"RELEASE PLAN
The Science System will be released in a couple of batches. The first release will bring full production chains, tutorial quests and help windows. Depending on your test feedback on our official test server, the first release might also include the Geologist’s Skill Tree. More skill trees (explorer, home island, military) will be implemented later."

http://forum.thesettlersonline.net/threads/18112

While it only took a couple of months to implement the explorer's skills from the introduction of the science system and the geologist's skills, it has been years, and we have not seen new content concerning the military and home island.

Some examples of the science system being overlooked, obsolete, and less worthwhile are rather apparent; however, I am sure I can not name them all or list them all. The explorer skill, Sophisticated Pillager, will not work with fairy-tale adventures, mini adventures, co-op adventures, or scenarios.

Streetwise Negotiator is obsolete when compared to the other skills available.

The game mode has shifted with regards to iron production with the implementation of pvp as well as the adventure loot not dropping weapons. All build-able mines except the iron mine can have fast mines. I am not pointing towards either addressing if iron mines should be fast or not; my point is these skills were made for a specific point of the game. While it is impossible to consider the future because it has not been written, the future can consider the past.

Science should be the future. For example, I heard "rumors" that the developers do not like us using recruit armies to take the blows that protect the more expensive units. The reason most of us use them is due to them being more efficient to produce. That would change if we had skills for the military or the island that would make those units more appealing.

I love the science system, it really gives us an opportunity to have different goals for our islands and the means to do it. I look towards the test server and see the science system is not being considered right now, but I would like to see more skill trees in the future and not see it go to ruin or to cookie cutter specs due to the ever changing game.

I agree with this, would love to see an expansion of the science system. At the same time, any expansion would have to be accompanied by some method of speeding up production or lowering the cost of books and tomes for people have used the current system extensively. The time it would take to do all possible skillups with an expansion of the system would be prohibitive and would need to be adjusted. This is something I would strongly encourage the developers to look at.

Please, please, please let the bookmaker queue and reduce the time to make books and add books as loot to advs (like co-ops - would make co-ops worth doing).

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Originally Posted by Chants

Please, please, please let the bookmaker queue and reduce the time to make books and add books as loot to advs (like co-ops - would make co-ops worth doing).

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yes please. I know the argument was you can't queue it because you need to have different books made first. I am sure there is a way around that or have more tabs, etc. At least let me queue the manuscripts

personally if that's the argument they're going with i'd just say fine - let me que 10 of the manu's for example... then i can que 2 of the tomes... and so forth.. not rocket science :)

I'm fine just queuing manuscripts. Though a move to top/next in line arrow is generally needed for queues anyway.

If the argument was that people can't queue it because you need to have different books made first, the epic woodyard works under the same principles. If one does not have the wood, you can not make planks. The line stalls and there can finally be human interaction with it. This should be the same with the bookbinder. I don't think anyone would like it to be completely automatic producing manuscripts into tomes and tomes into a codex; the user should have to decide on a base level of the books they want, ex: manuscripts, tomes, or codex. With the epic woodyard, one can easily switch from one production to the next in just a few seconds. It may be to the fact that the woodyard is more recent, and adds to the out of date situation we have today.

the resources - as with other queues - should be 'taken' when queued. - this is what happens w/ barracks, ph, rph ... and so forth... and if you cancel the future queue - then you should get them back. i agree i dont want to automatically create tomes from manu, codex from tomes... i want to queue up 10 manu.... then when thats complete 2 tomes... and so forth...or 20 manu - cause i need 9 PER 1st level PER geo... that for me is like 45 manu.... one by one..

I'm starting to upgrade 6 scouts, each with 4 additional tomes and 4 codex. Since I'm at max cost for everything, that works out to 80 manuscripts to make 16 tomes to make 4 codex for each scout. If I don't miss a single cycle in a (soon to be) level 6 bookbinder, it will take 300 days. Yeah, I can throw a few buffs at it to speed it up, but the time needed is ludicrous because of the max cost of 5 manuscripts per tome, 3 tomes per codex. I guess it's good to have something to work towards, but now I sorta wish I didn't sit down and figure out how long it was going to take. If any new features get implemented, maybe I can get them done before I die of old age. Maybe.

For speeding up the process, eliminating max cost would be the biggest improvement that can be made. Implementing the other features we were teased with years ago would be totally awesome, but only after the max cost part of the system is eliminated. If max cost went away I wouldn't mind not having the ability to queue up books cause I wouldn't need 5768987654 books per scout anymore.

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Originally Posted by Perwyn

I'm starting to upgrade 6 scouts, each with 4 additional tomes and 4 codex. Since I'm at max cost for everything, that works out to 80 manuscripts to make 16 tomes to make 4 codex for each scout. If I don't miss a single cycle in a (soon to be) level 6 bookbinder, it will take 300 days. Yeah, I can throw a few buffs at it to speed it up, but the time needed is ludicrous because of the max cost of 5 manuscripts per tome, 3 tomes per codex. I guess it's good to have something to work towards, but now I sorta wish I didn't sit down and figure out how long it was going to take. If any new features get implemented, maybe I can get them done before I die of old age. Maybe.

For speeding up the process, eliminating max cost would be the biggest improvement that can be made. Implementing the other features we were teased with years ago would be totally awesome, but only after the max cost part of the system is eliminated. If max cost went away I wouldn't mind not having the ability to queue up books cause I wouldn't need 5768987654 books per scout anymore.

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I would even be happy with the ability to build multiple bookmakers. Not sure why it's allowed to have umpteen weaponsmiths of each type but only one bookmaker.

It would seem to me that the only reason to limit bookmakers to one while other production buildings are not likewise limited could be to force the people who have mastered every other aspect of 'player wealth' to ritually log in and queue up that next book each day(ish).

Since I'm not part of that subset of players I could be missing something obvious, of course.