In-game crafting simulator request

[Mayoyama]

Hello!

I'm wanting to ask the devs if they would please consider implementing a system in game that would allow players to experiment or practice crafting rotations without fear of spending millions onto to watch a synth fail.

I'm eager to start helping my fc out by crafting the lv60 2 star crafts but I am paranoid that I will mess it up by either finishing it early or failing the synth by being a few points of progress short. If there was some sort of simulator where I could select a recipe and test out a rotation without actually using any materials I could make sure that any information I get from the internet will actually work (been stung before badly with a 4m synth failing because of bad information from a website)

So ultimately, what I would like is the ability to use abilities to test out rotations without the risk of losing a LOT of money on expensive materials. Of course finishing the synth will not yield anything either, apart from the comforting assurance that what I did will work on a real recipe

[Espritduo]

I would kill for some kind of way in-game to test synths. So many ways they could incorporate this into the actual game and economy too. They could make an actual Crafting Simulator furnishing for the house. Could be a nice level 60 3-star recipe for the crafter who has it all. You would insert Grade 1-4 Crafting Prisms (bought from the housing vendors for about the same as a Clear Prism or something) and the requisite amount of shards/crystals/clusters and it would let you run a test synth for a recipe of that tier. Grade 1 Crafting Prisms would be level 60, Grade 2 would be 1-star, Grade 3 would be 2-star, and Grade 4 would be 3-star.

Or make the next tier of crafting benches come with this functionality. Forgemaster's Bench - 3-star recipe, uses red scrips to make, gives Blacksmiths level 60 and below a bonus to either CP, Craftsmanship or Control (your choice) and lets you test any blacksmith recipe using the requisite crystals and Crafting Prisms.

Or make new beast tribe recipes that work this way - Gnath gives you the parts like the Ixali quests did and you craft whatever Gnathy thing they want made. You can keep requesting more parts to make more things much the same way you can keep getting parts from the Ixali quest NPC's if you fail the synth or lose the mats.

Lots of different ways to go about it.

[Satyagrahi]

I'm sorry to be that guy who is a naysayer, but I have mixed feelings about this. I might be fine with it if the scope was limited, but I think that the skill required to be a top-tier crafter, includes management of risk. Building up enough of a Gil pool to be able to shrug off the loss of a few million Gil is part of a crafter's skillset. It's not just the skill of doing the actual synth that makes a good crafter, it's also having a mind for running your own personal crafting business. I'm not sure it's a good thing to make crafting easier, but they do certainly need to improve gathering favors, which they most surely will. The reason 2-stars are so pricy at the moment, is because of the cost of favor mats, as you probably know.

Part of the crafting experience is also learning from other crafters. If you don't follow mythrie or ash on yourube, you need to. Watching them is better than an in-game simulator--they show you EXACTLY what to do with new crafting content, shortly after it is released. Anyone can follow their vids.

But yes, I hear you--that first synth or two is VERY nerve-racking! That is always the case. In order to help crafters like yourself wanting to dive into top-tier crafting, maybe instead of a simulator, they could offer a buff, purchased once per week through scrips or something, that gives you a 5-minute period where reclaim has a 100% chance of returning your materials to your inventory. That way, there is no risk, but instead of being a simulation, you actually get to KEEP your successful synth and feel awesome Soon you will be wondering what you were even worried about.

[Dererk]

I for one would like something to practice doing collectibles I can't get my head around how to do it due to not fully understanding how the abilities work and the short timed node spawn didn't help.

and why can't we have the spawn times in the log once we found them.

Oh ya in talking about gathering by the way.

[Satyagrahi]

This is off-topic but I suggest the following rotation for most blue/red scrip gathers:

Discerning Eye > Impulsive Appraisal
Discerning Eye (Single Mind instead if DE is up) > Impulsive Appraisal
Discerning Eye (Single Mind instead if DE is up) > Methodical Appraisal
Collect 2-4 items (depending on DE procs)

Remember to be at the node with full 600GP, and collect it's glove on before it pops. You can only use the rotation above once you have hit the ??? once on the slot to reveal the item (make sure you have enough gathering to reveal it in one hit), then, you click the item one time to be able to use the rotation above.

Also, a very good thing to have for gathering is an echo macro showing node times! That will help with your issue of the log not showing times. I don't want to hijack this thread and keep it going off-topic like this, but I can post mine once I am home from work.

[Nekotee]

I follow satyagrahi

There is no need for this kind of tool (that is available on internet already)
Plus... Crafting is about failling farming doing it again and again
Crying whining and cursing the whole world !

The fun is to find some rotation that work for you and that you can share (eventually)

I dont want the craft to be easier than how it is
(I speak about the crafting... Not the mâts farming that is insane...)

[Espritduo]

I'm sorry to be that guy who is a naysayer, but I have mixed feelings about this.....

Almost all "top-tier" crafters use crafting simulators online to min/max their rotations and figure out the most optimal setups/stats well before they ever touch an actual recipe. Or they do what you suggest and simply see what other people do and go with that. I just wish there was a convenient, in-game equivalent for this. Even those of us who do not use online simulators still almost certainly do some sort of half-assed testing on lower level recipes to make sure we aren't just jumping into a whole new tier with no idea how things are going to go. I use Astral Oil for all of my 2-star testing needs, and it is both mildly resource intensive and not completely accurate for what happens in two-star synths, but it's the best I've got.Also, I have to constantly re-adjust my rotations as I get better and better stats, so it's not just a thing new crafters do once before they do their first big boy synth, it's a refinement you constantly do and redo throughout the crafting process - a refining process that is greatly hindered by the costly, high-risk nature of two-star crafting.

And not sure how a simulator makes crafting too easy anyways. It makes the process of figuring rotations out more enjoyable and accessible, but the work is the exact same whether you pointlessly spend millions doing it or not. That's like saying an in-game parser is bad because it would make it too easy for DPS to reach optimal output. And we certainly don't want too many good DPS running around, do we!?

[Sida]

You know, what you should be asking is a two star recipe that happens to have inexpensive (and possibly npc sold) ingredients and useless outcome. The game itself, after all, is just sort of crafting simulator itself, in certain sort of view. But I have to agree with others, I don't quite think there should be such a thing. Crafting offers gradual learning curve and getting to the end you should be ready to take risks. Because they sort of are integral part of the crafting process.

Also agree with the other post, would be good to have some untimed node for collectable gathering, even if the item in itself would be worthless. Crafting and gathering in itself offer a gradual learning curve with time to make mistakes, read tool tips and refine choise of skills. When the timed gathering nodes come around, everything you have learned of gathering that far still applies. The collectable interface is dropped out of the blue, with strict timer, new mechanics, and hour's waiting time if you make a miss. That's not a learning curve, that's a steep wall.

[Satyagrahi]

I agree with Sida: the game itself is already a simulator.

To the OP: it is very true--most of those at the forefront of patch-current synthing use online simulators, or watch online videos of their fellow crafters. I haven't used online simulators--usually I just see what the pioneers were doing once things are a little bit established after a patch. I think if you are talking about making it easier for everyone to become a top-tier pioneer, then I don't know if an in-game simulator is actually a good thing. It might ruin the intricate and amazing crafting system, which is fun largely because of the challenge and risk and developing your skills and gear, rather than anyone being able to make anything.

We've all had those times where we want to beat our head against the wall when we NQ a synth three times in a row that was a 96% chance of HQ....been there...you absolutely will have failures and you absolutely will lose a few mil here and there along the way, but you push through it and find amazing profits through diversifying and through sheer determination. Anyway not trying to lecture--I know you know all this. My point is that when artisan gear came around, I was in a similar situation--afraid to take the plunge. But I studied, worked at it, built my capital, figured out that I could fail every third synth and still walk away with 600k in like 10 minutes of synthing, etc etc. I learned so much and made a couple hundred million in profits just from sheer determination and learning how to manage risk. I do not think an in-game crafting sim will solve anything, when people can easily find them online.

But....just because I won't use it does not mean it should not be a thing. I would concede that. My point is more that I agree with the other post that said the cost issue right now is not the complexity of the synth, but the cost of gathers.

Next, people are going to want a materia meld simulator or dungeon simulator or raid simulator. After all, it would make a failed meld or a raid less risky.

Anyway, I don't want to be a downer--what I really want to do is encourage you to watch some YouTube vids and take the plunge! You'll be nervous, but you'll learn something. Every loss is just an education. Soon you will be cranking out the synths like a pro and feeling like it was silly to think it was hard.

[Nomad-phx]

There's already a tool to do this, if I could copy and paste it I would but its some weird calculator where you input your rotation and it tells you(theoretically) what your end result will be