Relaunch!

[Marian]

I think the skills discussion is a bit of a derail, but yeah, for me it's right behind the item overload issue on the list of things that really screw with the balance of the game. More than that, I think it really goes against the spirit of the game. ("Any role you can imagine you can play in this game and the challenge is in playing it consistently and in achieving the goals you set for your characters individually....as long as those goals don't go against that character's randomly assigned attributes, in which case you're just SOL.")

IMO we ought either go back to before we had skills, or else at least make is so that if a character hunts or sews every day for five years straight they might actually get a little better at one of those things, though I prefer the former...grinding is for WoW. (And then of course you avoid all these other realism issues like, how can my farmer still be dragged around like a limp-wristed sissy who weighs no more than a feather when they've been doing backbreaking labor in a field most of their lives, not to mention eating all those carbs? )

But, like I said, derail. (Sorry for adding to it. )

[gejyspa]

Skills do improve with use, Marian. My character started out an awkward farmer, for example, and is now novice, after only a few years. And he will continue to get better.

[Doug R.]

The scale shouldn't be linear. It should take little effort to get to efficient, but considerable to get to expert.

[mojomuppet]

I havent noticed yet if there is a system to it, some get better faster than others it seems. Dervish learned stuff quickly, I have another that cant hunt for crap, is almost 40, and hunts every day. But his fighting improves with a rate I think is fair. Who knows...sure as heck not me.

[Doug R.]

It's linear, with the same points between different levels. Your character that learned quickly was probably very close to the next level already.

[Snickie]

I have never seen a hunting skill improve. Ever.

However, I can testify to the skills-do-go-up-over-time thing.

2 has a really good friend whose tool-making skills were novice, and about a week before the crash, it went up to efficient.
(Get back online!)
3 started out as a novice farmer and efficient cook, and those skills are now at efficient and skillful, respectively.
4 witnessed a townmate's cooking go from awkward to novice, and another's collecting from novice to efficient.
5 was literally there when a townmate's fighting skill went up. It literally went something like this (with names edited):

You see Bob efficiently attack Steve with a brand new feather pillow.
You see Bob skillfully attack Mike with a brand new feather pillow.
You see Bob leaving the central area of Place, entering House.

6's farming went from efficient to skillful.
7's fighting went from skillful to expert within three days of her spawning, and her tailoring went from efficient to skillful also.

Edit: What Doug said also.

[mojomuppet]

I have seen hunting improve, but it was during the mass animal explosion , and my char was swatting and masses of animals everyday. Other than that I have seen one improve one slot. Hunting I think is just hard to improve unless you really really need it.

[Marian]

I have never seen a hunting skill improve. Ever.

They do, actually, and I realize other skills can go up too, but it's so slow it's basically pointless, it's not like you can RP learning or teaching someone a trade because they'll never change enough from where they started to make a difference. I had a character that hunted 20+ animals, every day of her life, until she was in her thirties, and she finally went from awkward to novice, with no noticeable improvement in the damage she was doing. Kind of embarrassing in a town where everything revolved around keeping the animal population down.

I like Doug's idea of making skills take longer to learn at higher levels, with basic efficiency coming faster, because while not everybody might have the dedication or talent to become an expert, lets' be honest...if you do something over and over again for years without getting at least slightly better at it, there is literally something wrong with you. That's right, Cantr game mechanics force you to play a mentally handicapped person. What the hell, Cantr, isn't there enough of that kind of character around as it is?

[Doug R.]

The only skill that is unreasonably slow is fighting. I've gotten my hunting from novice to expert in a high animal area. Most of my older characters have skillful or expert in half their skills. That said, I still don't like the system.

[Keegan Ingrassia]

The only skill that is unreasonably slow is fighting. I've gotten my hunting from novice to expert in a high animal area. Most of my older characters have skillful or expert in half their skills. That said, I still don't like the system.

Lucky. I've a 40+ year old character who has to huddle in a shack out on Fu, because after hunting daily for over 20 years, his skill still hasn't budged from novice.

[Doug R.]

How many animal types are there at his location? There's about 15 at mine.

[Snickie]

Five of my eight characters are skillful hunters and think nothing of needing to improve, even with their generally diverse assortment of animals at their disposal. The other three, who are less-than-average hunters, are either in a place with too few animal types to see much improvement or a place where hunting is illegal.

[Keegan Ingrassia]

How many animal types are there at his location? There's about 15 at mine.

Well, can't really give you an exact count at the moment, but I'd wager a dozen-plus, easily.

He tires to hunt at least 8 different animals a day. Those are the dangerous ones he's trying to get rid of.

[mojomuppet]

How many animal types are there at his location? There's about 15 at mine.

Well, can't really give you an exact count at the moment, but I'd wager a dozen-plus, easily.

He tires to hunt at least 8 different animals a day. Those are the dangerous ones he's trying to get rid of.

I would punch the others just to help improve your hunting skill.

[Snickie]

Use a waster or pillow. Pillows can generate some pretty fun roleplay if somebody else is awake to roleplay flying feathers.