Regarding repairs from an old survival vet

[Doc Hussey]

Since pretty much every thread regarding the change has devolved into a pissing match, how about honest feedback?

The repair system was a broken mess prior to todays patch. Whichever side of the aisle you were on, you can't argue that. It was too simplistic to the point that it didn't need to be in the game at all, which bred this whole division in the first place. Either you thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread because "hur dur, make wood tool, repair scarlet pick!" or you hated that mindset because it didn't make any sense or you just hated the idea of durability to begin with.

Regardless, this is a game that is listed, per the store page, as as a survival game. Don't believe me? Look at the store page yourself. "Trapped deep underground will your survival skills be up to the task?" Survival tends to mean that there will be resource scarcity in some aspects. Without resource scarcity, there is really no "survival" to the game. Tool degradation is just one of many ways that a game can provide resource scarcity in an otherwise unlimited world.

I am firmly on the side of repair and degrade. It makes you consider the uses of an item vs how hard it is to obtain or repair. Even Minecraft, the oft cited "best game of all time" uses a degradation system to make players explore further and collect materials.

Pretty much every thread I've read since the update has boiled down into a couple main complaints:

1. It costs too much to fix my (tool/armor)- Good point, this is the first iteration and I actually agree that the repair costs are a bit too high. Industry standard is roughly half materials to fix an item. Item takes 20 bars to make, make it 10 to repair it from completely broken and scale it back as it wears. Half broke? 5 bars. Got duplicates or item you don't want? Scrap it down to half materials too. That's pretty fair, would you agree?
   
2. I'm afraid to mine or fight because I don't have the materials to fix my (tool/armor)- Fair thought, but how are you using the item? Are you taking that scarlet pick and going ham in the clay biome? Wouldn't a copper or tin pick one-shot those walls just as handily? Or using wood to bash out dirt? If you've got a big truck and a small car, okay? Which are you going to drive to work every day? The 12 MPG truck or the 40 MPG car?
   
3. I'm running out of (resource) to reapir my (tool/armor)- You can scrap crap now. You know how you get a bunch of copper gear from slimes and maggots? Free copper baby. Tin? Same deal, kill stuff, get drops, scrap drops. In fact, you don't need to hunt for ores if you really don't want to. Kill stuff. Or mine for ores. Or get the shop keepers and buy ores. You've got more freedom and ways to get resources than you did yesterday, believe it or not.
   
   But that's just my 2 cents. I think the change is welcome, even after starting a new char and world. It's a bit overkill right now, but with time comes balance. I can't wait to see what people think if they decide to actually allow you to starve to death.

[Silverbird]

Repair table is a detriment to gameplay as is implemented.

There's an argument that it shouldn't be in the game at all, since scarcity of resources adds a reason to use lower tiered ores when applicable.

However, as is implemented repairing gear is basically free, since you just craft a wood tool, destroy it, and get to repair anything to max durability.

Games like minecraft require you to burn through tools and discard them when they break because it adds to the game cycle and encourages hoarding more resources and playing the game further.
Games like cryofall expand on this by adding an entire skill around repairs (which is a bit of a stretch for an entire skill; in core keeper repair %age could scale off of crafting skill and/or have it's own perk).
Dismantling could simply be removed from the game entirely and repair materials could spawn as a rare chest-only item, encouraging people to explore further.

As is you just carry around a repair bench alongside your stack of wood and get infinite durability for the low cost of 1 inventory slot. This is too easy of a game exploit and I hope it gets changed asap--not only is it free, but it only takes 1 inventory slot for infinite durability on-the-go.

[grymwynd]

I personally love the repair table. It is one of the reasons I chose to buy this game. Perhaps it could be turned on or off in options then every bodies happy.

[Frankie]

It might just be a placeholder, cause it is kinda weird :)

[trekwiz]

I hope it stays; the mechanic you're asking for is absolutely obnoxious in Minecraft and similar games. Tool durability where it isn't easily dealt with is not an even slightly fun mechanic.

[Zechnophobe]

It's a bad system to be sure. If they want durability, have durability. If they don't want it, don't have it. The way it works now you just occasionally plop down your repair table, repair, and keep going. There's basically nothing to it.

It feels like they are trying to go the Valheim route of pushing you to go on limited duration sorties, but in Valheim a lot of different mechanics do that, not just one.

[Silverbird]

Originally posted by trekwiz:

I hope it stays; the mechanic you're asking for is absolutely obnoxious in Minecraft and similar games. Tool durability where it isn't easily dealt with is not an even slightly fun mechanic.

Almost all games in this genre have 'non-easily dealt with' tool durability, so having a game that leaves that out makes it feel like it's missing something. (minecraft, terraria, starbound, cryofall). The only exception is stardew valley, which doesn't have tool durability at all; if durability isn't intended to be a barrier in this game, then just remove it and be like stardew valley where durability doesn't exist.

[Lazy Dog Daddy]

Think it needs a balance patch more than a total rework ...

Higher tier needing more scraps , yielding more
Lower tier yielding less scraps , requiring less to repair

Then add more uses for wood to make sure you cant spawn craft wood item to rack up scraps infinitely !

[trekwiz]

Originally posted by Silverbird:

Originally posted by trekwiz:

I hope it stays; the mechanic you're asking for is absolutely obnoxious in Minecraft and similar games. Tool durability where it isn't easily dealt with is not an even slightly fun mechanic.

Almost all games in this genre have 'non-easily dealt with' tool durability, so having a game that leaves that out makes it feel like it's missing something. (minecraft, terraria, starbound, cryofall). The only exception is stardew valley, which doesn't have tool durability at all; if durability isn't intended to be a barrier in this game, then just remove it and be like stardew valley where durability doesn't exist.

I definitely prefer when durability is not present. It's distracting in a negative way; it takes me out of the fun action.

But if it has to be present, I prefer it as-implemented, because the impact is so minor. It adds a small layer of complexity without making it tedious. The mechanic you're asking for is purely tedium.

[SlothPaladin]

I HATE it when you can't repair a broken tool in real life and in games, having to make some spare parts to repair is fine, there is a slight cost, but nothing is worse then having to toss tons of unusable broken tools or take 3 pickaxes out on a mining expedition. The current system gives you good reason to make the best tools you can so they last as long as possible, and you can scrap your old tier tools into parts to fix the new tools, it's good, repairing tools should not be a mechanic that makes players suffer for the hell of it.

I would be fine with them removing durability all together, almost no games need it.

[Shiya64]

I like it the way it is.

[Poltergeist]

Leave it the way it is, but maybe make higher tier items harder to repair in the long run.

[Cj]

Personally think the way to implement a good change would be to have the items max durability decrease everytime it's repaired for example 300 max durability drops to 275-250 etc.

[Picotrain]

I'm not a fan of having to repair tools and gear in games anyway, but if you're going to have such a system, at least make it less tedious. Core Keeper does
this well.

[Megan]

Originally posted by Lazy Dog Daddy:

Higher tier needing more scraps , yielding more
Lower tier yielding less scraps , requiring less to repair

I consider durability an outdated mechanic, much like Tetris inventory, but I wouldn't object to this.

[dred]

I agree, why bother to have durability if you can repair it so easy. I never even thought of bringing a repair table along with me.\

I was shocked that any wood equipment can turn into spare parts, I thought that spare parts would actually be hard to get limiting how easy it is to repair tools.