Give the Children Shepherds Early

Joshua_Rogers · June 30, 2016, 2:35pm

One thing that’s been bugging me about Rayya’s Children is the lack of logical sustainability, particularly in the desert. Limited wood, no silkweed as a crop, clay and stone are finite resources. You can harvest wild silkweed but that’s very micromanagement intensive. You can trade but you’re dependent upon what traders show up. You can sell food but a desert-based faction routing in bountiful harvests to prosper doesn’t seem right.

So how about early Shepherds? Give them a crop that’s purely usable for sheep feed and a clay-based shepherd’s crook recipe. Put Shepherds before Trappers.

It doesn’t need to be too crazy, but I think they could really benefit from a sustainable source of income.

Tamorr · June 30, 2016, 3:40pm

I have mixed feelings on this one. Mixed as in 50-50.

For me, the shepard would not bring in more income than the trapper. They are about equal.

Yes a cook could turn it into a profit to some extent, but so can a tailor.

The money maker is in clay. Granted those merchants don’t come by as often, however what you can make with clay is way more valuable than anything a shepard or trapper could obtain. The vases are the key thing. Not the first vase, the other 2. Those give quite a pricey return.

I guess the way I play, at least RC, I tend to make lots of income from clay alone. I start out with cloth making. Selling that is decent enough to get started. I do usually spend the first couple days gathering as many silkweed plants as I can; which for me amounts to a small garden at times. Granted I usually have my hearthlings living on plateaus, so usually there are lots of it.

Yes it might be micro a bit, but not nearly as much as military micro. For me it is a comfortable management of the trade. At first it is slow, but once that potter gets to level; the money in a sense comes rolling in. I buy from the mason, and various merchants this way to turn a profit. Clay is something I do buy, although a bit more pricey than stone for some reason… I don’t understand that for RC in the desert. I would have thought that stone and clay would be equal in price, since you can get equal amounts, although more often more clay than stone depending on where digging is. It would take quite a while to dig up the map of clay.

It might be limited on the map, but sure would take a fairly long time to use it all. I don’t see shepard’s helping in anything beyond food production and wool.

So on that note is the reason I am 50-50 on it, since there are some balance to be considered. I like the idea, just unsure of it. Would be nice to have sheep instead of a crop that produces cloth. Or better yet another animal to get thread from just to make RC a little different than just a reverse copy of AC. Silkworms, although that might be something for the dwarves, unsure. maybe even spider silk, although that might be a bit too frightening for some… Maybe an emu, yak, or … I can’t think of the critters names… But yes, if shepard is to be reversed I think maybe they should get a few of their own critters to ranch together in place of the ones we have for AC.

That is my thoughts and reasoning… I know I play a particular way, and don’t expect many to play that way; after all it is the variety of players that go about the game in different ways that makes this game quite a thrill.

Joshua_Rogers · June 30, 2016, 4:26pm

I can understand that; right now clay provides some very nice trade goods (although I’d argue those vases aren’t ‘just clay’ since they require multiple steps as well as ore/ingots; the final item requires 4 bronze ingots, which makes them a very hefty investment). But there’s still that sustainability element and there is the need to constantly micro your silkweed to keep a steady supply of it coming in.

Early Shepherds would help with this and I’m very much okay with something other than sheep (although given that sheep were domesticated in Anatolia and the Zavros Mountains they seem appropriate) along with other more particular animals- perhaps tying in with modifications to water we could get geese (domesticated in Egypt) and so on.

I’m also good with the idea of doing more than just creating a sustainable, self-managing system for the Children to get trade goods; I’ve just been trying to not overreach here. But if the idea is to make more cash off textiles produced by the Children, I’d suggest augmenting it with more crops (dyes, specifically) that would be largely useless save for as additional components for pricey rugs, tapestries, and so on. Incorporate metals, dyes, and textiles for impressive looking clothing (that may not improve things beyond the norm or only are as good as the improved worker’s outfit, maybe with different class-specific variants?) and so on.

But at the most basic, I just think it’d be a good idea for the Children to get Shepherds early, along with a crop that would feed their sheep. It gives them something unique and self-sustaining, which they’re largely lacking.

Reedo · June 30, 2016, 5:09pm

I think the devs will really tackle rayya’s children and the other factions in depth later on, I feel like development is completely focused on ascendary right now.

Tamorr · June 30, 2016, 6:51pm

Well that is why I usually buy some of the materials at base product. The vases do give enough profit to enable to do that; at least the first fancy one does. Haven’t compared the last one profit-wise. I thought it was only a couple bronze for the last one… Don’t remember it being 4. 4 ores maybe.

The market stalls are good for a steady supply of paultry amount of wood though. Too bad those stalls don’t sell clay as well; that would have been nice.

Yeah I know where you are going with it. Makes sense, and yes they are a trade faction. Like the other person mentions it seems focus is off RC at the moment. I am sure they will touch RC eventually, which is the one faction I have played most; hence my town of Sorenia I showed off on the forums here.

And what I meant by having other types of animals was mainly to differentiate the two factions in what animals they pasturize and some other things. The more differences, even if visual would be nice. So even if still a sheep, maybe a different overall look; like some brown sheep I have seen or just in general a critter that is different.

I do hope they do get their own type of thing for cloth, as that seems to be the one thing lacking even in the AC faction. The tailor does have much craftable compared to the wood, clay, and stone. But that can be said of smith, herbalist, and cook as well. Although the cook has a decent amount as well the smith. However the smith doesn’t have too many decor items.

Regardless having something for RC would be nice, as they are lacking a few things setting them apart from the other faction. Like the many outfits they have. Well eventually we will see some light to RC changes and additions. I look forward to it not matter how long it takes.