silo sizes

[Thangorodrim Atanatari]

i am very happy with my new plot, however...
just one thing that is bothering me about how it looks, is how big silos are. they take up alot of height thus blocking other things from sight.

i have no idea if anyone agrees with me, in some cases they are nice as 'towers' however on a craft plot with many machines you need so many of them, that it very fast looks "overdone". i would like to start a discussion about perhaps reducing their heights... (not their base footprints, to not change anything about their mechanics)
just perhaps a t6 silo as high as a t2 is now and the rest scaled down linear (this would make the most widely used t4 silos maby as high or even a lil bit smaller then a t2 silo and more in line with the other buildings), i dont know ofcourse but it seems as it would not be hard at all to shrink a static object in height for the devs (so it wouldnt take up much dev time and probably greatly improve overall plot-looks througout istaria)

perhaps the original models (high) could be build as fluf tower-structures for those that like some towers at plot corners or wherever

i realize that this is somthing totally not needed or gaining new players or keeping old ones in istaria, so perhaps would be a total waste of dev time... im just interested in what other people think about this.

[Mensar]

They need to start investigating the possibility of using basements for these structures to reduce the overall footprint as a whole.. I mean.. why would a house that only holds 60 items have to take up half of a good sized plot? Same with silos, although their 2d footprint isn't terrible (well on the even tiers anyway) you could definitely use "basements" to redistribute some of the storage space underground thus reducing the 2d space required for the structure to maintain the same amount of storage.

I've always said they have it backwards in this game.. you have to build a bigger structure AND make it with much higher tier materials (which are, in turn, much harder to build) in order to store more... You should just be able to build a bigger structure in the same tier.. using higher tier materials should give you the option of making it SMALLER and hold the same.. or making it the same size and having it hold more. Skill counts for nothing.

[Drakarr]

The only higher tier materials that are harder when you are as optimal as possible are T6. It takes me just as much effort and time to make a full load of Sandstone as it does to make a load of Obsidian. The whole point of making the stuff that holds more bigger is to take up more room, they don't want you to have huge amount of stroage.

But on topic, yeah I like the idea of shorter silos, tit wold make plots look alot less cluttered and machines, for people who may not know the layout of a large plot, easier to find.

[Takora Drakan]

My god YES! Down with the industry in Istaria! The silos ruin the beautifullest places of istaria because the owners are slapping their plot full of them, I know it is their bussines, but it breaks everytime my heart to see those silo farms.

[Mensar]

The only higher tier materials that are harder when you are as optimal as possible are T6. It takes me just as much effort and time to make a full load of Sandstone as it does to make a load of Obsidian. The whole point of making the stuff that holds more bigger is to take up more room, they don't want you to have huge amount of stroage.

But on topic, yeah I like the idea of shorter silos, tit wold make plots look alot less cluttered and machines, for people who may not know the layout of a large plot, easier to find.

It takes more skill.. hence it's harder. Kinda.. well.. obvious

If they don't want us to have a huge amount of storage they would have nerfed lairs long ago.. my storage lair has 1550 stacks of storage and it's only 120x120. imagine what you could fit in a 240x240.

The point was that it's harder (one thing) and it's bigger (another thing) neither are beneficial compared to the amount of storage.. which is the only good thing. (2 bad, 1 halfway good).

If they at least made it so that thing that took more skill took up less space.. that would make sense. If they made them take less space AND held more.. well, that's a bit too much to hope for, but it WOULD balance out.

Back on topic.. The two dimensional footprint of a silo is all that really needs to stay they same, they can make them flat saucers on the ground that hold the same amount of stuff, the problem will be accessing those when you're on the other side of a building. Some folks (like gnomes) can't see over buildings too well and structured their plots so they could have access to their silos no matter where they are since they can see them.

I think it's more of an asthetic change for silos if you're not talking about the 2-d footprint (which is all that matters on a plot) but for the houses and GH's to have a smaller 2-d footprint is almost a neccessity considering the amount of skill they take to build.

[Thangorodrim Atanatari]

My god YES! Down with the industry in Istaria! The silos ruin the beautifullest places of istaria because the owners are slapping their plot full of them, I know it is their bussines, but it breaks everytime my heart to see those silo farms.

it saddens me i have to... but if i make shops on my plot i like silos around those shops. and when those silos get full i need to make... yes... more silos. i seriously considered no shops and just a few silos at points where they look nice, but then pratical won it from esthetical.

@ mensar:
a good idea to have 'storage cellars' perhaps just a hatch on the floor with the same sized footprint as normal silos?
then we wouldnt have ANY ruin of beautyness...
and the original silos could just be left ingame, for places where it is nice to have a tower

[Aaelefein]

I could not find the old thread, but wasn't there talk at one time about a 'Storage Warehouse'? The idea behind such a thing was to reduce the number of 'Silo Farms' (Guilty here, but it is necessary as a primary crafter).

I can think of several reasons why a Storage Warehouse would be good, especially is they came tiered like silos, with varying styles/footprints for each tier. Structure examples would be (using T2 silos as footprint example): 2x2 (stack 4), 3x3 (stack 9), 1x5, etc...and maybe a bonus +1 stack for T5 and +2 for T6. Of course the amount of items to make such structures would increase commensurate with their stack (silo-equivalent) size.

Reasons it is good:

1) 1 Warehouse vs multiple silos [2 (1x2) to 16 (4x4)]...that has got to have a beneficial affect on lag

2) Aesthetics...a couple nice looking buildings will look much better than walls of silos

3) Guess here, but I would think a single inquiry (Warehouse_Inventory) would be better and put less strain on the servers than multiple inquiries (Silo_Inventory x ??)...and much easier/nicer for players after server maintenance.

4) Much easier to store/sort things...1 warehouse does all Metals, another for stone, etc...then...one click and a crafter has all his metals available, or 5 and he has everything available.

5) Fun...not only are there new structures to build, but they aren't silos!!

Anyways...thought this would be applicable to this thread; and as much as I hate silo farms, they are a necessary evil for any serious crafter. More so for confectioners...at least they have something that has a stack of four...though I've got 16 Storehouses and could use another 10.

[Thangorodrim Atanatari]

Thats a marvelous idea!
ofcourse i would prefer this much more then the reduced size, perhaps
even worth rebuilding/replanning my plot.

1) 1 Warehouse vs multiple silos [2 (1x2) to 16 (4x4)]...that has got to have a beneficial affect on lag

for sure!

2) Aesthetics...a couple nice looking buildings will look much better than walls of silos

i agree, even better then a 'pathway' of hatches

3) Guess here, but I would think a single inquiry (Warehouse_Inventory) would be better and put less strain on the servers than multiple inquiries (Silo_Inventory x ??)...and much easier/nicer for players after server maintenance.

i am not sure about this.. if a crafter would normally open say 3 or 4 silos to craft a specific metal type, just these 4 stacks would be inquired from the server, when you have all in 1 storehouse and open this it would perhaps

[Drakarr]

It takes more skill.. hence it's harder. Kinda.. well.. obvious

If they don't want us to have a huge amount of storage they would have nerfed lairs long ago.. my storage lair has 1550 stacks of storage and it's only 120x120. imagine what you could fit in a 240x240.

Um, no..it isn't obvious. If it takes me 1/2 hour -45 min to gather a full load of t1 materials, and the same to gather t4 materials. It is exactly the same in difficulty. The only time it's harder, unless of course you don't have the skills, is T6 because it is a long way from any shop, and you can't get to 2:1 on processing so it takes a bit longer. This should be ..well..obvious.

As to them not wanting us to have more storage. Were you around when they HUGELY reduced the size of vaults?

As a player, I just happen to disagree that you NEED more stack space. Now I realize that voice no longer counts as just a player, so I'll say that as a developer I don't think you NEED more stack space either. The "footprint" size of most characters is big enough as it is. There are other reasons that I feel number of stacks should be limited to, but I can quickly see those as derailing your topic, so I won't open those debates.

I know this quote was from another thread but it is relavent tothe subject.

[Thangorodrim Atanatari]

I know this quote was from another thread but it is relavent tothe subject.

ehm, the subject i wanted to discuss in this thread is the height of the silo-model, how big they are, and how they look... not storage space, as clearly stated in the first post.

[Mensar]

Um, no..it isn't obvious. If it takes me 1/2 hour -45 min to gather a full load of t1 materials, and the same to gather t4 materials. It is exactly the same in difficulty. The only time it's harder, unless of course you don't have the skills, is T6 because it is a long way from any shop, and you can't get to 2:1 on processing so it takes a bit longer. This should be ..well..obvious.

You can gather T4.. so.. you're more skilled?

Someone that can make and place T4 can only do so if they're more skilled.. hence, it's harder. This has nothing whatsoever to do with resource placement or your real-life ability to gather.. I have 4 toons that are T4 gatherers that I run at the same time that can can put the hurting on the entire granite field at the same time and/or gather to the point of extinction, just about any type of resource out there..

So I'm not saying your ability to actually click and click is what "skill" is related to. Because, no offense, this game doesn't require "skill" per say. It's about the IN GAME skill (as in the SKILL required to harvest, make and place or create) at different tiers.

Now that, hopefully, I've beaten that horse until it's a red stain you better understand what I'm talking about when I say that a higher skill is required to build at T4 vs T1.

Forgive my frustration if it came out there.

Now, it's harder to build, yet it's also bigger.. which means you can fit less into the same area. Looking at structures like the grandhall (worst possible case scenario) it takes thousands upon thousands of resources, takes up an ungodly amount of space.. and although it's HUGE it only holds a small amount of stacksize..

I'm just saying that the silos, as a whole, need to be smaller as they get to higher tiers instead of bigger.. it only makes more sense that someone more skilled, working with higher tiers of materials should be able to condense the size of the materials and even, to some degree, involve some magic or magic properties into the structure (like dragons can get the ability to bend space).

That would make silos smaller or allow them to be built smaller.

And, been around since beta so yea i was probably here.. doesn't mean I was paying attention to what people had in their vaults.

[Shian]

Actually, T4 is FAR more difficult than T1 or T2. For starters, there is no obsidian that is near a public area. So you're dependent on your disk alone. And the nearest portal is pretty far. It takes a considerable amount of time to gather T4 material whereas T2 or T1 is a hop away from a portal. The closer you are to a portal, the closer you are to a silo.

I am not as worried about silo sizes as I am with the trees. Talk about not seeing anything on a plot. Put trees around the edges

[Mensar]

Trees are insane.. wish there was a "TOGGLE TREES ON/OFF" selection in the graphics menu.

[Soraii]

>_> I just have a bat file that deletes that model each time I log in

Soraii the Treeless

[Mensar]

>_> I just have a bat file that deletes that model each time I log in

Soraii the Treeless

It doesn't re-download it when you run the patcher?

[Soraii]

I only run the patcher to patch, to start the game I use the bat file and go directly into the game

Soraii

[velveeta]

Actually, T4 is FAR more difficult than T1 or T2. For starters, there is no obsidian that is near a public area.

not sure if i am misunderstanding you, shi - but there is a complete workstation area in the middle of the obsid field in char........
if this is not what you meant, then i apologise for the misinterpretation of your post!

[awdz]

i took it to mean no public silos to use while crafting - makes loading up slower.