For Devs: the commission board

[Livia]

It was suggested I move this from another thread into its own.

There are a lot of issues with the commission board and, personally, I think the issues with the commission board are a large factor in people annoyed with stamina.

I'm on my second playthrough, armed with the knowledge of my first, so I was less stressed by stamina as I knew what to prepare for, but I still encountered constant issues.

The most important fact about the commission board is this is our main source of income. From my understanding, that was the point for this game. As such, the commission board really is key to so much of the game, thus issues here create havoc all around.

The mains issues I have noticed:

1) Commissions seem to be tied to your workshop ranking. The problem here is that this seems to make it tied to the types of commissions you get offered and what ends up happening is many commissions cannot be completed as you have not even unlocked those materials yet. In particular, I start getting a lot of commissions that require access to steel once I reach three stars and even more when I reach four stars, even if I haven't even done the moisture farm yet. Or the endless stream of commissions that need bloodstones before you can make an ore refinery (again, because you need steel).

2) Too many commissions for the same items over and over again, and they are almost all for rarer items like rubber and coarse leather, which are nearly impossible to stack up on very early in the game (especially before you can get over the bridge). Constant commissions for 11 rubber rings is not doable. And once you do get over the bridge and have access to steel....all right, but then every commission is for 800 steel items, so the same issue continues - again, lack of RANGE. Can't gather other resources because I need so much bloody steel. **This risks making the game boring!** You have so many lovely new additions in resources, I'd like to do things besides just mine for iron and manganese ore.

3) Too few commissions. Especially in light of issues 1 and 2, you end up not being able to take your full commission amount. I am currently on 3 commissions for example and one day I could only take ONE because only three were offered and the other two were for steel items before I had access.

4) Simple commission items start to vanish quickly. It makes perfect sense if we can't do every large commission every day when we're starting out - that's not unlike Portia - but if all the commissions are large and use harder to gather resources, you're constantly forced to take the rare item commissions to make money, making it feel like you can never gather enough resources, hence people feeling like stamina is the issue. Stone troughs and fine thread, for example, vanish from the offerings REALLY dang quick.

5) Same issue can happen when commissions start to require you to upgrade items, as they are also hard to access. Not impossible, but especially limited before you can get over the bridge. Fine for some commissions, certainly, but when stacked with all the other problems, adding this additional issue, again, leads to you constantly being resource poor or not being able to do any commissions.

6) It would be nice to see:
a) A wider array of items so you're not using the same resources over and over, especially rarer.lower yield items so early in the game (that or increase the yields).
b) A wider array of citizens listing commissions. I find you get the same 5ish people or so, especially in certain ranges, so you're building relationships with some characters and never others. This was an issue in Portia too - I always took rep/money over who it was for, which is too bad, especially if you want to encourage the social aspect of the game. Krystal is a great example as I'd never interact with her otherwise. 🤣


Works:

1) I love that items do remain on the board for a few days. This allows you to see what's there and work towards them. (But only if there's enough other commissions you CAN do.)

2) That you can take more than one commission! This ROCKS!!!!!! Portia I constantly feel like i don't have much of a job, especially once I am done the missions as then I never do anything builder related either than one commission in the AM. More commissions means I actually feel like a builder. 😉

3) Showing how many of an item I have on hand. *LOVE* THIS!!!!!


I think if you're able to refine the commission board, I think the stamina issue will itself out.

[taylormarian9]

I am actually fairly comfortable with commissions as they are. I did not have a problem with getting commissions that required steel, bloodstone and an intermediate worktable too early because I'm a mediocre player that didn't get to a 3-star workshop until I had finished the Water Tower mission. I have not yet seen a commission that required coarse leather.

If the devs have to tie difficulty of commissions to something, the level of a workshop seems like a good choice. Another option might be to base it on where the player is in the story -- not to start adding commissions that require steel until Rocky has sent the letter that more scrap with iron in it is showing up.

I'm putting in my two cents on this because often it's the really good players who want changes made, and those of us who wander around aimlessly (to use Yan's words) for a while find the game becoming more difficult. I don't want to have to rush to get to a 2-star workshop so that I can do 2 commissions a day, every day, even on weekends.

I applaud the OP for getting a 4-star rating before getting the moisture farm mission, but there are many of us who are still at a 1-star at that point.

[Fluffy_Kitty]

on your bloodstone comment, I think you get those when mining hard stone. (brass tools I think).
I view it this way, the comissions are a way to identify where you're expected to be on the tech tree. are there a lot of commissions looking for steel? time to upgrade.
(this is how I realized it was time to use the refiner for perfect equipment).

Maybe pick a commission free day to focus on upgrading your place (dew collectors, better furnace, etc)
Don't forget to eat some food if you're having stamina issues.

But most of all, have fun :- )

[Raven Claw]

+1 on this topic. The commisions should be tied to what the player can actually make. Like what machines has the player built. There have been times I might have the blueprint for the machine but I can't built it because I don't have access to the materials yet.

For me personally I remember a lot of steel and iron commisions even on my first play through. yea yea I was playing the main story line a bit slower.

This problem gets aspirated when you are prioritizing doing commission work over main story line.

[Frieren]

Owen needs to get over his hides LOL .. just saying ... he doesn't ask for anything but hides on commissions .... it'd be nice if he asked for something different like plants/vegetables or something - since he runs a saloon ... (i know sometimes he has a "personal" commission to get him some plants).

[Precache]

Often times seeing things I couldn't make on the commission board actually got me to go and figure out how to make them. But once I was getting steel from the bus and needed it for the bridge, it seemed like all my commissions wanted steel too. So maybe it would be nice to somehow ease into new materials.

Lol, I really wish there was a way to set my own prices: You want 5 "rare" frying pans, and you want to pay 10% more than outstanding frying pans? no no no no no... no.

Or... so Rocky remember when I NEEDED steel and I HAD to pay you 150 gols for each bit of iron ore? You want iron nails you say?... that'll be 10,000 gols.

[Livia]

Ursprungligen skrivet av taylormarian9:

I'm putting in my two cents on this because often it's the really good players who want changes made, and those of us who wander around aimlessly (to use Yan's words) for a while find the game becoming more difficult. I don't want to have to rush to get to a 2-star workshop so that I can do 2 commissions a day, every day, even on weekends.

I applaud the OP for getting a 4-star rating before getting the moisture farm mission, but there are many of us who are still at a 1-star at that point.

What I am suggesting would not make the game harder, it would make it easier when you are just starting out, which is the point. You clearly played the game very fast. Some of us really like to take our time, hence if you just plug away at your commissions every day, yes, you can build up your rank, but then never have enough materials. I think it should be a combo of your ranking AND areas you've unlocked.

Ursprungligen skrivet av Fluffy_Kitty:

on your bloodstone comment, I think you get those when mining hard stone. (brass tools I think).

Yeah, I know that. But if you're at a higher workshop ranking, there's not enough hard stone and bloodstone yield for daily 1-2 bloodstone commissions, which is the point.

Ursprungligen skrivet av Fluffy_Kitty:

I view it this way, the comissions are a way to identify where you're expected to be on the tech tree. are there a lot of commissions looking for steel? time to upgrade.

I'm fully upgraded - that doesn't do anything for you if you haven't unlocked the area with the resource you need. Which is what I said.

Ursprungligen skrivet av Fluffy_Kitty:

(this is how I realized it was time to use the refiner for perfect equipment).

I do that too, even though it's extra work to do it before you get across the bridge as you can only get rose stone via the ore refinery (which, again, you need steel for - which you can get in small batches from the Breach).

Ursprungligen skrivet av Fluffy_Kitty:

Maybe pick a commission free day to focus on upgrading your place (dew collectors, better furnace, etc)

I know how to play the game - LONG time Portia player. I do commissions first thing, then go out gathering. Again, EVERYTHING I have is fully upgraded, that is not the issue in question. LACK OF ACCESS to resources is.

Ursprungligen skrivet av Fluffy_Kitty:

Don't forget to eat some food if you're having stamina issues.

The food in this game is terrible for helping with stamina, which was the thread I originally made these comments on, and someone said I should make a fresh post. As I said in my post - stamina isn't really an issue IF the board reflects where you are actually at in the game and not only giving you commissions with materials that are LOCKED for the player or in extremely small supply before you can get across the bridge (thus such numbers on such commissions shouldn't be happening before you have access to all the coarse leather you could want...)

Ursprungligen skrivet av Raven Claw:

+1 on this topic. The commisions should be tied to what the player can actually make. Like what machines has the player built. There have been times I might have the blueprint for the machine but I can't built it because I don't have access to the materials yet.

For me personally I remember a lot of steel and iron commisions even on my first play through. yea yea I was playing the main story line a bit slower.

That is the only way I play.

None of this is an issue with lacking a machine, it's lacking the materials in general. I can't do an iron spear because I have no iron bar, not because I haven't upgraded the processor yet to make iron rods. If you play slow, you will have a high workshop ranking and then everything needs steel, long before you've even completed the Geegler Station mission, hence iron is locked and not available to you (you can get a few bars from the Breach sometimes, but not enough for commissions, just enough to upgrade your machines and tools).

Ursprungligen skrivet av KarmicRequiem:

Owen needs to get over his hides LOL .. just saying ... he doesn't ask for anything but hides on commissions .... it'd be nice if he asked for something different like plants/vegetables or something - since he runs a saloon ... (i know sometimes he has a "personal" commission to get him some plants).

RIGHT!? And Hugo with bloodstone cores and bloodstone saws, and also Amirah with her bloodstone cores.

Ursprungligen skrivet av Precache:

Often times seeing things I couldn't make on the commission board actually got me to go and figure out how to make them.

It's not an effort to figure it out, but it forces players to have to play faster than they may choose, otherwise you're broke. This was rarely an issue in Portia, but even if I couldn't take a commission (though I think this was only an issue early on in the game development, pretty sure not anymore) or I could only take a very low commission, whatever, there were several other ways to make a lot of money. Hell, commissions were useless for money compared to fishing. If commissions are the only way to make actual money, then the board needs to work without shoving players into speeding up their game play. Portia was great because everything was on my timeline, and I enjoy playing slow, building up my land, my house, my relationships, etc. Nice and relaxing. I don't want to rush through the game - what's the point in that?

Ursprungligen skrivet av Precache:

But once I was getting steel from the bus and needed it for the bridge, it seemed like all my commissions wanted steel too. So maybe it would be nice to somehow ease into new materials.

If your workshop rank is high enough, you get a lot of steel required commissions even before that, hence the issue.

[Poptart]

I like the idea behind the commission board not giving you things you can't make or at least can't unlock through purchasing the blueprint for it. My first play through I had a commission for a lantern that I didn't realize ( because I didn't look in advance ) that I couldn't make. I had the blueprint for it, but as of yet had no access to Twine. ( no access across the bridge, and no available way to grow it as the seeds weren't being sold for it yet ).

[peter.huebner]

Picking up on the mention of food in relation to stamina here. I have to pay i.e. 47 gold at the saloon to get a food item that gives me 15, or thereabouts, stamina. That's a joke, frankly. Not worth the expenditure. 15 sta == 5 hits with the pickaxe and what will you mine, what CAN you mine, that is worth more than 47 gold that you invested in 5 hits?
Pointless.
I completely ignore food under the circumstances. I just husband my stamina carefully.
In Portia you could get around this by placing furniture items around the house, and equipping things like the satchel, boosting stamina considerably, as well as using food items dropped in the dungeons...