Shattered Kingdoms

Really, the mangled skin idea is for all practical purposes, the same as saying you fail. No one is going to be like "Oh well, I'll just have lower AC." They are going to junk the crap, and try again.

From what I've seen, I do think the failure chance is pretty high, above what is required. I would say that even a 50% failure rate for a GM scout with mastered skin against a 'difficult' material would be very high. But it seems like the current rate is even higher than that.

Maybe lower the chances a bit for higher levels. Example, make it about as hard, or a little harder than it use to be for a skin of your ability, and add from there to make it harder at the new level for that skin.

Example: If a GM with mastered skin use to succeed 9 out of 10 times, maybe make it 8 out of 10, but make a Master scout succeed only 5 out of 10 times on the same skin. That way there is still some merit to being higher level, but yet the same material can be gained, with a bit more work, at the lower level.

You could follow the same example for herbs as well. A master scout can find the higher herbs, but at a lower rate.

Agreed. I am not suggesting there should be no failure rate, it is just really frustrating to have invested a tremendous amount of time into a GM character, mastering all of the skills, only to have to spend a ton of IRL time, killing and skinning, and killing and skinning, just to get a a few good skins.

I understand this scenario for a lower level character, still working their way through their training in their profession, or one who hasn't taken the time to perfect their art, but high failure rates for GM/mastered is just plain frustrating.

Sorry for the rant, but it is just that - frustrating. I have way too much IRL time of my life wrapped into this character to suddenly have to be this frustrated about something that didn't need changed - it hurt no one that GM scouts didn't fail skinning attempts. This change hasn't affected the final outcome, as Gork said, it simply makes the process take longer and frustrate the players.

Oh, and I also agree that mangled skins are essentially no better than failing. I will still be frustrated with that outcome, junk the flawed result, and try again until I can remember how to use my skinning knife properly once again.

Idea: Allow PCs to combine mangled scraps at a tailor shop.

My question is, was this change to skinning really necessary?

What purpose does it serve?
Why is it a change that improves gameplay?

Dulrik said it was too easy to get mithril skins more or less. With mithril being the best skin it should be harder to get, this also I suppose affects all levels of skinning unfortunately.

Well, I am playing a scout right now and I am really happy about the new changes. I also did think that it was too easy to get the best skins out there. I think the tailors/smiths should be able to forge super/ada, but the chance of it should only be like 1/10.

This change doesn't really affect the amount of skins that will be in the game. I know if someone asks me to get skins for them, I'll simply have to take the extra time to get them. The only thing it will do is cause me frustration in the process, not reduce the number of skins I will take.

Secondly, I can see fewer people being interested in playing scouts due to this - I suppose that might reduce the number of skins that appear, but unlikely.

And if a shortage does start to occur, then I can imagine an increased amount of PK to obtain them from other players. The last thing this game needs is more bogus reasons for meaningless PK.

I thought one of the reasons for the change was to allow younger scouts an opportunity to skin/gather at an earlier point, albeit with an increased rate of failure. Thus the change was actually promoting more skins being obtained since more scouts would have access to them. I am not in favor of it, but I understand the reasoning. However, penalizing elder scouts with a skinning penalty as high as it is does not increase the enjoyment for anyone, does not accomplish the stated goal, and increases player frustration. How is this a good change?

There must be some sliding scale thing because I was easily skinning those flying copper hided things well before I could of before.