Objects you'd like to make, but can't due to resources

[*Wiro]

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=11012&start=720

In light of the brief discussion above (regarding curtains), I was wondering what kind of objects (any kind at all) you as a player would like to make but have been unable to because of their material requirement. Please note that for a lot of projects (see olive oil) it's simply intended that not everyone can use it to encourage trade, roleplay value and regional variety. For that reason, feel free to assume that none of the things you post here are likely to get changed. After all the game would be no fun if everyone could simply do everything, with no limitations or challenges to overcome.

Curious to see what you guys come up with.

[SekoETC]

My Finnish character can't make soap because she hasn't found soda. She does have olive oil but hasn't figured out how to use it. They also don't have wheat, so any recipe with wheat is right off.

One of my characters wishes he could make some sort of a large-ish artifact out of gold and rubies or just plain ruby, without requiring emerald. He does have a bit of emerald as well but he thinks the colors clash, so he wouldn't use red and green together.

None of my characters have ever seen sapphire. I would as a player like to work with sapphire, but seeing how rare it is, it's unlikely to run into a trader who has it.

[Marian]

Well, the curtains there would be a good example. I mean, they have modest requirements compared to most furniture as far as resources and effort goes, but I don't have a single character with access to logs. Which is normally fine...they're for rigging ships and other high end stuff and meant to be a challenge. But for something as simple as an RP item for your apartment, wood or even iron or steel for the rod would make it much more accessible.

I can't think of any other furniture with materials especially difficult to get (except those specifically meant to be fancy...the silver candelabra, for instance), the thing holding me back from building furniture has always been the huge resource and time requirement for even the simplest things. (An extremely barebones office with just a desk with a drawer and a chair = 9000 grams of wood, 13.5 days of work inside and probably alone.)

Removing the silver requirement for the armoire would be nice, though. Or if we could just get a 'plain wooden wardrobe' or something similar.

I'll have to do some more thinking and wiki diving, as far as other items go. Kind of got my brain on furniture at the moment. As far as Seko's post goes, I might have something to say about that in a suggestions thread later. Agreed that those with gems ought to have a bigger variety things they can do with them, but as far as this topic goes I'd think they're supposed to be rare.

[*Wiro]

The furniture overhaul should still happen some day, but I'm kind of hoping someone will apply to RD to help me with that. It's really hard to stay motivated without lively discussion.

[Marian]

How much time would you say doing RD stuff took up during an average week? I'm starting a new job soon so I am absolutely not wanting to commit to anything at the moment, but once I get settled into the new schedule it might be something I look into.

[*Wiro]

It's really no different from the suggestions forum, except a lot more concrete discussion (rather than "wouldn't it be cool if" ). The actual implementation stuff takes up very little time, and it's up to the RD members to choose which topics they want to post on. There's two active members Pilot and me, with Greek as our RD chair. Feel free to message me if you have any more questions (that goes for anyone interested in volunteering their free time for this noble cause).

[computaertist]

When I first saw the log requirement, I assumed from that that curtains were meant for high-end societies. When I posted about leather and metal being needed for horses (which I have no idea whether that will be any problem yet; it depends on the amounts and I'm still working on it), I only did so because in the same post they were being claimed as a primitive thing, which didn't add up to me; I never equate metal with primitive because my primitive characters rarely have much if any metal or any easy way to get it, and salt has a general tendency to be pretty far from all of my characters without a motored vehicle except the ones who live right on/beside it which are rare (not counting the characters with solar stills, which aren't primitive). These aren't complaints, just things I notice and assume to be intended, for the challenge and/or trade encouragement.

Now I guess I realize I don't know what's intended and what's not. There have been many things over the years I've wanted and put on one-day wish lists and eventually worked toward or given up on and mostly forgotten. The following whited-text sentence contains a spoiler for those who haven't discovered this is make-able, highlight it if you want to read it: I have a character who would dearly love to make cheesecake and has the cheese and eggs but has never heard of the requisite strawberries. I've already mentioned the curtains, of course. Are repeaters meant to be as difficult as they are? I assumed they were, but now I'm uncertain. They probably are, given how many people consider the radio over-powered.

When some India inspired clothes came out (it seems they have since been renamed; it took a while for me to find one of them just now under the name silk longcoat (at least, I think it's the same thing I remember from all those Cantr years ago...) ) I had several characters who might have liked them, none of whom had near enough motivation to go through the trouble of getting silk because I'd tried to get silk before and it was very difficult for me in those regions. It could be done with the right motivation, but it went on a one-day list and never got full-filled; the physical needs for comfort and the psychological needs for aesthetics were just too much easier to fill in other ways. They'd still like those things if they were gifts or if silk started showing up nearby, though. One-day. And again I assumed this was the intended effect, that they were meant for people in silk-rich areas or else those wealthy enough to get it easily by trade or hiring resource runners.

I almost made wooden puppets but wasn't quite motivated enough for the resin with so many other things to do. Don't consider changing that one, though, not for my sake; that character actually could get resin with under a year of travel, they just have too many other things to do. I mention it only for completeness of answer.

Oh! Bronze things, I have two characters who would love to make bronze things but have never heard of tin to smelt the copper with. These are characters who have to travel many years for iron and steel but have comparatively easy access to copper (a little travel, a year or two at most), so bronze would be awesome if it were possible. Given bronze they could get timber and probably make curtains (I'd have to double check all the tools involved in log making to see if they have bronze alternatives). In retrospect, I should have posted about this the first time I learned that bronze was meant to help characters who couldn't get iron easily; I don't remember why I didn't.

I know there have been more things over the years, but they're escaping me now. I'll post again if they come back to me. And again, none of them are complaints, just since you asked...

[Marian]

As for horses, I assume they're meant to present some challenge to get. They're better than cars, after all. And it's still a huge leap from a token amount of leather and steel to the requirements for a motorcycle.

Wiro, I probably will be PMing you after awhile, maybe when I get home tonight.

[computaertist]

Steel? *goes and looks up the requirements*... a thousand grams of leather (3 if you want the saddle bag)? I can't find a steel requirement, just iron for buckles and a bodkin (small enough amounts to be in reach of my characters I think; one of them would have to give up what they were saving in case they needed another lock one day, but they were one of the less interested ones actually thanks to the food, which is fine- food is definitely primitive and they could definitely get it. Losing the least interested one out of the four isn't bad). That leather's going to be a wee bit of a stretch, but I can work with it, probably... One character I was thinking would get right to it might put it on a one-day list if they can't find the salt, but they're busy anyway. (We might be down to two of the original four, here.)

I'm a little worried I'm missing something now, though. String can be made on a simple twiner that's all wood, and thanks especially for the wooden dung-fork. Where does the steel come in?

Edit: Oh, I see, it's the cart. Well, the cart is much less primitive in my mind then just a horse and saddlebag, anyway; that's perfectly fine in my opinion.

It is funny, though, that I'm down to my least primitive interested characters being the ones that can ride horses at all. My most primitive ones can't really afford the expense yet. One day.

[Marian]

I thought steel was mentioned in the announcement, but maybe not.

... a thousand grams of leather

A single day's work worth of leather, yes. Provided you can get two days worth of salt beforehand, which I assume is where the only difficulty would come in for most characters, though still not anywhere near what it takes to put together an engine.

...are most of your characters on Fu? I admit I don't know much about Fu, I probably an underestimating the difficulty. But would you at least say they had a much better chance of getting a horse one day than ever getting a car?

I think we're likely to see a new wave of explorers and settles heading to those primitive islands now too now that we have a portable land vehicle that's ideal for unimproved paths. I'd like to get a character in on that, too bad they all are either tied to their communities or have other plans...

[computaertist]

One of my least primitive interested characters are on Fu; they can afford it If they went to the right town and worked hard enough for it they could have a car, but they'd much rather trade for the salt for a horse.

I don't know the real name of the island where my most primitive characters are. It's the Dom Hofran area. I found the salt on the map of that area, by the way, it's just one of them is being held back by the metal for a while (they don't travel much anyway so they were my least interested character to begin with), and the other will have to go way out of their way for salt. Don't change a thing; it's a good challenge and they need it.

Yes, having portable land vehicles, I almost forgot that! Suddenly I have more modern characters interested, more interested in horses than cars!

[Marian]

Ah yes, I feel for you then...that area blows. I had a character spawn in Dom Hofran once (going back to that discussion in the annoyance thread, now there's a town that didn't believe in handouts for newspawns...), I'd intended for her to go on this epic quest to find a source of rubber. Making a bone knife from scratch and striking out with nothing...it was sort of inspiring. But then I let her die. For reasons. I sort of regret it now, though.

If only she could have imagined this 'horse' thing, it would have been a revelation.

Saddling an elephant would have been even better though....

[computaertist]

Saddling an elephant would have been even better though....

If we could saddle elephants my least interested character would become my most interested character and neither hell nor high water could stop him from getting every bit of everything needed

Oh, and don't feel sorry for me
My most primitive characters are in contest with just a few others for being my very favorites. I like that the layout of that area forces most places to stay primitive.

[LittleSoul]

The furniture overhaul should still happen some day, but I'm kind of hoping someone will apply to RD to help me with that. It's really hard to stay motivated without lively discussion.

I could also volunteer for this if help is still required.

[Slowness_Incarnate]

Just wondering...is it okay to roleplay having say four ear piercings? I wish we could wear multiple pairs like that but I don't think we can?