Only 18 tries? ;P I agree though, the improvement rate is messed up and if
anyone is thinking of starting the skill with hopes of high profits and
useful items, they are in for a bit of a disappointment, lol. Cams give a
decent profit but don't expect them to give back all or even part of the
plat you put into the skill. The spyglass is actually a fairly 'good'
item, but for a NON-MAGIC class. An unlimted charges magic item is just
fun to have, even if the efect isn't that great.
The problem with tinkering is that if you want to merchant your items to
PCs, there is a very, very limited market for every item.
Bottom line tinkering is more of an 'adds flavor' skill than anything else.
Myself and a few others on this list I know took up this skill because we
simply got sick of monster killing, had a chunk of plat sitting in the bank
and said 'hey, since nobody else has tried this skill let's see if we can
figure it out.' Well, as we've found out, the skill isn't worth it
profit-wise, and that as you said Verant doesn't care or even know anything
about the skill for that matter. In any case, its still fun to work on now
and again and search for the missing item/books, but yep it does get old
after awhile, too.
-Luke
At 08:41 AM 10/4/99 -0700, you wrote:
>From: Zach Heaven <zheaven@...>
>
>Well so I am level 31, I bumped my INT down to 151 and my WIS up to 105 to
>attempt tinkering. I set out with the intent of 16 flameless lanters
(32pp).
>bought 16 waters, 16 gnomish spirits (combined to make firewater), 16
lanterns,
>and 16 metal twines. I also grabbed some bolts and grease to make cams.
I sit
>down, and start tinkering.
>
>These are my results:
>8 successful Flameless Lanterns
>8 failed lanterns
>2 failed cams
>0 raise in skill
>
>So, I quit. No more tinkering for me. If they are going to be so bold as to
>never allow a SINGLE point of skill to raise after 50pp spent and 18 attempts
>at mediochre (useless) items, then to hell with this skill.
>
>What are we all getting hyped over anyway? Every other trade skill I have
>tried went up after a few attempts/failures when I was doing items of an
>acceptable skill level. If you spend 32pp doing bakery, you're close to
>master! With smithing, I got into my 40's after about 10pp. But
nooooo... we
>start at an even 50 so it's up to us to dump 1000's of pp into it to raise it
>from 50 to 70ish. What a bunch of crap. The ONLY profitable and worthwhile
>trade skill is Jewelcraft, which is limited to Enchanters.
>
>Another thing is, the items we make are pointless. Cams are the only
plausable
>item we can currently construct that might make tinkering worth it.
>Unfortunately BOWS aren't that great, and due to their limited usability cams
>are not a viable means of living. Especially when you factor in failure
rates
>and the amount of money you need to dump into it to get your skill high
enough
>to make cams reliably. A spyglass? A collapsable fishing pole? And to
think
>of all the time and effort we have spent TRYING to figure it out.
>
>Here's your hint: Verant doesn't care about tinkering and it's doubtful they
>ever will.
>
>How often do you hear someone walk around screaming "HEY! SELLING large
jars!
>only 1pp!! gimme a tell!" The same addage carries over to tinkering.
>
>Good luck at finding something guys.
>
>-Kryogen Katspaw
>31st Gnome Wizard, Bertoxxulous
>
>=====
>
>>
>