Make the forging process text different for every Smithing rank, and maybe for every item Smithed

Silvarien

Hi there,

I thought of an entirely cosmetic suggestion which I think would nevertheless do some good for the game in the form of the smithing process.

In the real world, master smiths know tricks that the common smiths don't. I saw somewhere that some giant Japanese smith family dating back centuries is still cranking out masterwork katanas, which are bought by top-level executives for insane prices and hung on their wall in the corporate war office. I am sorry I don't remember the name, as this is something I saw in like the late 1990s, but I definitely remember the documentary. I know making a katana of that level involves all sorts of stuff to make the weapon perfectly balanced, as well as folding the steel tons of times to make it as hardy as possible. A little apprentice can't do that.

The Japanese smith heir is the Legendary smith, so he knows a lot of stuff that an apprentice or even an average smith doesn't. To reflect this in the game, why not make the TEXT of the apprentice something plain and humble, then the journeyman is a little fancier, until at Legendary the smithing text is REALLY something fancy.

Going a step further, different text for each forgeable item could be written up, with a different body of text for each smithing rank. So, an Apprentice makes a full-plate and gets certain text, Journeyman a bit better, and at Legendary it's smithing voodoo. Then, you go to hand axe, same progression. Etc.

It's not really something that'll use any in-game resources, and it WILL take some time by the staff, but I think it would add to the flavor of smithing quite a bit.

Thank you for reading my idea.

Skye

If you really want something like this, flavour wise, it might be better to write it all up yourself and have them vet it rather than put the load entirely on them. 

Silvarien

Skye said:

If you really want something like this, flavour wise, it might be better to write it all up yourself and have them vet it rather than put the load entirely on them. 

@Skye : If @Tecton or @Sarapis gives me the go-ahead to do so, I'll have it all written up by next Tuesday. Just not much point in putting in the effort if they nix it.

Ellodin

Don't see any harm if someone writes the disgusting number of messages this would require.  Would like it, but I'm biased.

Titonus

I see this like I see the learning system. It might be fun to read once or twice, but how long would it take before you start to gag or just ignore the messages completely?

Shirszae

Titonus said:

I see this like I see the learning system. It might be fun to read once or twice, but how long would it take before you start to gag or just ignore the messages completely?

By that logic, there would be no point in putting any effort in basically any attack or message or whatever because a lot of people end up gagging those as well. The point is the flavour of it, and helping people imagine what's going on and get into the role of their characters in the best way possible.  

Herenicus

Titonus said:

I see this like I see the learning system. It might be fun to read once or twice, but how long would it take before you start to gag or just ignore the messages completely?

And when a non-forging friend drops by to observe what it looks like to work for a living, he or she will be suitably wowed by seeing your fancy scimitar fluff for the first time and you can RP smithbossing to the max.

Titonus

Shirszae said:

Titonus said:

stuff

more stuff

Herenicus said:

Titonus said:

stuff

also more stuff

I suppose those are both valid points. I hadn't taken third party viewing into consideration. More flavor is almost never a bad thing. @Silvarien do you have examples of the changes you would like to see?

Silvarien

Titonus said:

Shirszae said:

Titonus said:

stuff

more stuff

Herenicus said:

Titonus said:

stuff

also more stuff

I suppose those are both valid points. I hadn't taken third party viewing into consideration. More flavor is almost never a bad thing. @Silvarien do you have examples of the changes you would like to see?

@Titonus : not yet, but I know how to go about gathering the info I'll need. The thing I am going for is accuracy. So, for example, from what little I do know about this stuff, an Apprentice would hammer out a longsword nice and simple, at the very least the Legendary smith would fold the steel onto itself a ton of times, which makes it much harder to break and more effective as a weapon. Historically, some steel was better than other steel, Damascus steel was known to be superlative; I'd add a description by which the Legendary smith somehow creates the difference in quality, which doesn't necessarily work in real life but in a fantasy world it would, because we DO only have one type of steel comm. Also I would need to add descriptions of achieving a perfect balance for the weapon, which makes it more effective. On the armor, I imagine you need to properly integrate the underclothing of, say, plate mail with the metal. Nobody is going to put that onto his naked torso, the armor comes with clothing-type stuff that makes the armor not destroy your body. Not exactly the type of thing the Tailor is going to get into; the smith would need to know that too.

To make this accurate and fully descriptive, I would need to do that research and get accurate information. Some of htis stuff, if @Tecton ends up not wanting in there, would be gone but these are examples of the type of stuff I'd be looking to put in there. Not what it would necessarily end up as, but that's some of the stuff I'd be looking to find.