[dev1017] Letting Crafters add Comments or Signatures to Their Finished Goods

I was thinking about this since beta, and a recent blog post by Claire Blue prompted me to post about it. http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/rc/diary/entry?e=151556

It would just be a neat little thing to do, and let crafters take a little more pride in their work. This would allow crafters to build a reputation, and give a kind of history to the items. Crafters could compete with each other and see who can get the most +3 endgame gear in circulation, among other things.

It would seem that they already have this system in place. It is just not "active" yet. You could sign your items in FFXI by buying a special Crystal from a guild in FFXI and using it for your synthesis. I am assuming that the crystals for sale in the guilds (By spending Guild Marks) will eventually tie into this somehow. For now, we will just have to wait an see.

good idea, signatures should probably be kept short though, like... 15 characters maybe

Like many things announced pre-launch that got dropped, automatic signature of finished goods you crafted was supposed to be in the game. You wouldn't have that lumber signed, but the sword would have the signature of whoever crafted it. It makes me sad that it's not implemented.

Hmm, YG has a skill, named Inscribe, in the others list under skills, says "Inscribe your finished product."

Maybe SE is just holding out. :(

Would be nice if they did this. I loved seeing items with my signature on them "out in the wild" when I played FFXI.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Alpha_Zeon

Hmm, YG has a skill, named Inscribe, in the others list under skills, says "Inscribe your finished product."

Maybe SE is just holding out. :(

---

If they do add this, please do make it an option under the finished item menu. I never sigged an item in FFXI, but it sounds frustrating to use all those fancy crystals just to have a signed NQ item (or a no signed HQ item when you go use a regular crystal).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Alpha_Zeon

Hmm, YG has a skill, named Inscribe, in the others list under skills, says "Inscribe your finished product."

Maybe SE is just holding out. :(

---

Oh wow, I had no idea. I guess the team considered it, but didn't have time to properly implement the feature, huh?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Shikaree

If they do add this, please do make it an option under the finished item menu. I never sigged an item in FFXI, but it sounds frustrating to use all those fancy crystals just to have a signed NQ item (or a no signed HQ item when you go use a regular crystal).

---

"Inscribe your finished product." sounds to me like it would be at the end of a synth. Would be nice.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by StateAlchemist

It would seem that they already have this system in place. It is just not "active" yet. You could sign your items in FFXI by buying a special Crystal from a guild in FFXI and using it for your synthesis. I am assuming that the crystals for sale in the guilds (By spending Guild Marks) will eventually tie into this somehow. For now, we will just have to wait an see.

---

I am telling you this much, I will never spend a guild mark on a crystal. Whether it tags my item or not.

A NPC in the GS guild mentions signing your syntheses and that it is reserved for yada yada yada.
It's probably coming. Just way down the list.

Signed crafted gear/weapons etc, yes please!

And... the option to set some "Comments" in my bazaar window.
Or... /check window.

I'll put in another vote for being able to make signed gear! That was one of my main motivations for crafting in FFXI.

I can't wait. Crab Bow +3 "Bushido Brown" edition ^^. Unless you can type anything, then it would be the "Junk Punch" edition.

I really like this idea; it's one of the more constructive posts I've seen in this section of the forums. My cookies definitely need their own name/description.

Yeah. I've been dieing to make some Ocelot edition gear. Good advertising for business on HQ items as well. I know I used to hunt down crafters in XI when I kept seeing their name on HQ goods.

+1 to the idea of signing gear but I don't know if I agree with every finished item just automatically having the option.

Seems too easy. 300 guild marks when it will probably NQ is a bit steep...maybe make the signature crystals purchased for a large gil amount... or have every craft have the option to get 'Inscription' ability for 8 or 10k guild marks.

Going the ability purchased via guild marks route means eventually every +1-3 item you see will be signed since it doesn't take all that long to come up w/ the guild points, especially if you've been hoarding them already... kind of takes away from it just a bit where in FFXI you had to purchase the crystals and then hope to get lucky so it was less of a sure thing which in turns made signed HQ gear a bit more rare.

I suppose the difference between this game and XI in terms of implementing signing is that in XI you had to make a decision prior to crafting, and use a special crystal. The same mechanic wouldn't work so well in XIV because you tend to use multiple shards of different types to create end items.

So assuming they made the Inscribe ability as something you could just select from the touch up menu instead of finish... The trouble would be that signed goods would no longer be rare, and you'd probably also need a method of removing the inscriptions (XI had AH listing).

Perhaps Inscribe should consume a guild mark item (as mentioned above the guilds do sell crystals for marks in the same way the XI guilds did, but for the reason listed above, using crystals for signing probably isn't viable).

I liked the Mordant concept for etching in Synergy in XI, although burning an etching into cloth might not be the best idea :)

Perhaps there could be one-time consumables which Inscribe uses that could vary by item type:

Base Material Metal/Bone:

Mordant Etching Fluid and Guild Stencil Set - 300 Guild Marks - Goldsmithing, Blacksmithing, Armorer, Alchemist Guild

Base Material Cloth/Leather:

Guild Approved Cloth Signature Tag - 300 Guild Marks - Weaving, Tanning Guild

Base Material Wood:

Guild Approved Metal Signature Tag - 300 Guild Marks - Carpentry Guild

Food based consumables:

Guild Approved Rice Paper Signature Tag - 300 Guild Marks - Culinarians Guild

Of course there might be cases when a craft can make an item that the signature item is not available from their guild for the main material used in the synth, but that would just encourage ranking up other crafts (a theme which is present throughout the game).

Extending slightly, each type of material could require a different ability to inscribe, which could be bought from the relevant guild.

I could make funny signatures like from Disgaea games ^^. I loved those quotes

Bullet Proof Vest
"Watch out for head shots"

LOL Reika ^^

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rentahamster

It would just be a neat little thing to do, and let crafters take a little more pride in their work. This would allow crafters to build a reputation, and give a kind of history to the items.

---

Agreed. Claire's blog post was very interesting too, thanks for the link.

I would like to see automatic signatures of HQ items and the ability to comment requireing a special guild mark item, such as those proposed by Shaone.

First MMO I played, Asheron's Call, anyone was able to inscribe gear (leaving your signature too). Inscriptions were displayed for anyone to examine, and served all sorts of purposes. I would love to see both signatures and comments included in FFXIV synthesis. As someone commented on her blog, Grand Companies might be involved too.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Reika

I could make funny signatures like from Disgaea games ^^. I loved those quotes

Bullet Proof Vest
"Watch out for head shots"

---

Me too! Which reminds me...

I liked signing items in FFXI but I don't think it should use guild points or at least just minimal guild points.

Awesome idea... +1

Im sure a crafter suceeding in doing an aoelian scimitar +1 or above would really
apreciate if people could let his name on it so he could receive apropriate recognition

- That could only apply to HQ gear

- The feature could ideally be optional so crafters that dont wish to be too much known
and flooded with demands could stay anonymous

i bumped the thread since it was the original idea... very sad that there is no dev reply on this :(

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Shinigami

i bumped the thread since it was the original idea... very sad that there is no dev reply on this :(

---

Bay submits most suggestions to the dev team. He can't reply back until they say something, and going by the pattern of other responses, it would probably be "nice idea but it'll have to wait until after the battle adjustments since those are the highest priority right now sorry". Once the main battle overhauls are in, we should be seeing more attention to the smaller things.

Well, I guess my work here is done... lol

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bayohne

Well, I guess my work here is done... lol

---

lol. Keep on truckin' Bay.

Im satisfied with that red post XD

Putting your name on synths is one of the many thing I can't for the life of me even fathom why the hell they didn't just automatically ported. Like the sorting. And the Targeting. And the Map Markers. And the calls. And the-- I'm gonna cut it right here, this could get long.

Now the adding a personal comment thing? That could be rather entertaining, I love it. I don't know if it was Tanaka's department, but now that the whole team if different, I can actually hope for this to make it. I know the last team would've given us something really cheesy, like the Chocobo, Wyvern and Automaton naming in FFXI, picking the name from a list. What a horrible thing, if you want to stop "bad" things from being "said" in those items or pets, then just use the same kind of control you use for character names or chat. Hell, it's not like you won't be able to track the user, it has it's name on it...

If "space in the item window" is supposed to be a problem, heck, add a "Check" or "Inscription" option when selecting an item that pops a new, independent window dedicated to just reading what our crafter put in there and a new icon (like the EX and whatnot) to know when an item has an inscription/comment/signature. Because it'll make us feel good. It'll make me feel good.

Edit:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Shaone

So assuming they made the Inscribe ability as something you could just select from the touch up menu instead of finish... The trouble would be that signed goods would no longer be rare, and you'd probably also need a method of removing the inscriptions (XI had AH listing).

---

I don't quite understand why putting your signature on your work has to be rare at all. If I want to put my name and/or add "Scabbard sold separately" on every sword I make I should be entitled to. I mean, I just made it! Come on!

If anything, what came to my mind is that they had mentioned before that they don't have "many ways to take gil away from the game". This signature option could be enabled via a buff from the NPC's that provide facilities. It's a silly/fun thing... But I think I'd still throw gil at it from time to time, as long as it doesn't go thinking I am paying for a Dynamis entry, keep it civil, crafters love their coin.

Signed items is a given but I would also like the ability to leave a comment or a message of some sort. I can see myself leaving funny comments(like Disgaea does for it's armor and weapons) on the things I make that people would probably not notice until well after it's bought.

Something like a Sword that has a Fire effect on it having the comment(Caution handle with oven mitts).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lionix

Because it'll make us feel good. It'll make me feel good.

---

Great post!

Indeed. This is the reasoning behind the idea. Just the small touches that add tremendous value to an item WITHOUT having it to have uber stats, WITHOUT having to be extra rate, WITHOUT having it to be bind on equip, etc etc.

The more player-made content there is, and the more player-player interaction there is, the more that player-driven content emerges from the ether and the less the devs have to toil to make us content to keep us satisfied.


Speaking of little touches that would add value to items...

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...h-Quality-Gear

This would be amazing!

love this idea! and i dont know why its not already apart of the game.. honestly.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rentahamster

Bay submits most suggestions to the dev team. He can't reply back until they say something, and going by the pattern of other responses, it would probably be "nice idea but it'll have to wait until after the battle adjustments since those are the highest priority right now sorry". Once the main battle overhauls are in, we should be seeing more attention to the smaller things.

---

And yet the dev teams wants us to think that the people doing the battle system aren't halting the developement of other things as they're completely different teams?

So which is it SE? since obviously those "other teams" haven't submitted anything in the game yet. You can't have it both ways you know. Either admit that the rest of you are just hanging out in the bar while one guy is coding or submit a massive patch into the game.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Seif

And yet the dev teams wants us to think that the people doing the battle system aren't halting the developement of other things as they're completely different teams?

So which is it SE? since obviously those "other teams" haven't submitted anything in the game yet. You can't have it both ways you know. Either admit that the rest of you are just hanging out in the bar while one guy is coding or submit a massive patch into the game.

---

They're not just sitting around doing nothing. Revamping the battle system is a pretty all-encompassing project that involves nearly everyone.

Besides, those that don't have anything to do with the battle system do stuff like design more quests, or add more NMs, or create new monster models, etc.

There's always something to do.

There was a dev comment about adding inscriptions on the JPN side...not good news :(

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mocchi

こんにちは。銘入りのアイディアはステキですね！

と言うことで、開発チームと話をしてきました。

基 本的に同意見で検討していきたいということです。ただし作成者の銘の追加を行うには、サーバー側へのメモリ負荷をそれなりに増やすことになってしまうた め、現状特にマーケットなどでサーバートラブルによるご迷惑をおかけする機会が多い状況のままでは厳しいという点をご理解いただければと思います。

ちょっと長い目で見ていただく必要がありそうですが、サーバー負荷問題を解決していき、その後の検討とさせていただきます。引き続きアイディア等あれば参考にしたいと思いますのでお知らせください。

---

The dev team likes the idea too, but they feel that it would add to the server memory burden and that it's likely that this would cause a lot of problems for things like the market wards.

They need to look at the issue long term, and will do so after they resolve the server load problems. Please continue to send in ideas, yadda yadda yadda...


Well, I guess that means we won't be seeing custom comments or signatures on our crafted items for a while. I don't really see how it can be such a burden on the servers if a 10year old game like FF11 does it fine. If it's because it has to work with the wards somehow, and that the presence of the wards is keeping cool ideas like this from being implemented, then I say ditch the wards.

Honestly, I still don't understand why there's still so much server lag. Is the code still that unoptimized and is it still doing too many unnecessary server-checks?

Oh well. Here's hoping they sort their stuff out soon.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rentahamster

The dev team likes the idea too, but they feel that it would add to the server memory burden and that it's likely that this would cause a lot of problems for things like the market wards.

---

I must hear this in an official statement from our reps. This is the most ridiculous thing I've heard in so long I almost cried a tear of blood. Feels like that stupid "PS2 Limitations, we can't add more inventory, gais" issue. Then suddenly Mog Satchel for 10 bucks and Locker for free! Oh hey, and more inventory! It so happens we could add up to 80, PS2 probably got an update or something.

I don't want to be that guy, but it truly feels like if these few strings of texts can't be added because it would stress the server's memory out, then time "invested" here feels like time wasted. I mean, what can be implement then? Text is as basic and and light as it gets. I am into programming, but I am no expert yet, so until my classes advance further, I won't knock you off, but when you suggest something that you've seen in other games (talking MMOs here) and receive a "It's too deep, you wouldn't understand" hipster sounding answer you really start doubting. All things considered, it's probably not as bad as "OMFG your idea is GREAT, we'll get on it as soon as possible (ETA 3 years from now)", though. I like honesty and hard facts, probably why the latter doesn't float with me.

Please, please, do NOT add the ability to name/comment crafted items, or if you do PLEASE allow some way for us to clear/change the comments. There is nothing worse than searching for gear only to find the only ones for sale have some comment that a 12 year old thought was funny, so you can either not get the item or choose to have an item with comments that really break the feel of the game.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by thedevilsjester

Please, please, do NOT add the ability to name/comment crafted items, or if you do PLEASE allow some way for us to clear/change the comments. There is nothing worse than searching for gear only to find the only ones for sale have some comment that a 12 year old thought was funny, so you can either not get the item or choose to have an item with comments that really break the feel of the game.

---

I don't know if or how they would do it here but on 11 if you put it on the Auction House the signature was lost.