Discovery
The Discovery system is a game mechanic which complements the Learning Points/Curiosity System, as well as the Crafting System. Each item that can be crafted or collected in the game can be 'discovered'. There are many elements of the discovery system which must be taken into account
- Every discovered item gives you a small sum of LP, usually 50-100
- Every item has this discovery bonus (every type of berry, stone, foragable, pie, etc.)
- Discovering an item allows you to use that item or type of item in crafting.
- Do note however, that you can only discover items which you create. You cannot discover an item from picking it up off the ground, grabbing it from a cupboard, or any method that does not involve you creating the item yourself.
- The exception to this is the Material Account and another player teaching item. Players can teach items to other players by grabbing the item on a cursor and right clicking another player with it, then selecting "Teach." This will not consume the item.
Discoveries have two purposes:
- The first, primary purpose is to provide a small, steady stream of learning points for new characters. Without this stream of LP, a new player cannot gain the basic starting skills such as Foraging, Hunting, and Fishing without studying curiosities, which leaves the player with almost nothing to do for the first couple days of the game. With these points, players can dive right into the game and start discovering new things and trying to survive.
- The second purpose is to create a feeling of wonder in the world to new players. As players discover each item in the game world, new crafting recipes and buildings open up, allowing the player to do more and more with the materials they find when coupled with purchasable skills such as Metal Working or Pottery.
Before a player can craft anything with a character, the character must generally discover all the ingredients first (Known exceptions: Hearth Fire, Personal Claim, Ancestral Shrine, and maybe Village Claim). This is often the biggest problem for completely new players. Sometimes an item needs more than its ingredients to be able to craft it; for example, to craft a Pipe you need to have discovered clay AND something you can smoke in it, such as Pipestuff. The first time discovering an item is always identified by an icon appearing over the character's head of a pair of sticks briefly rubbing together before producing a spark of flame. The player will look something up and see the recipe but not have it in game. They won't realize that they might be missing the discovery for something obvious. Bones seem to be the most common early item. Later it might be things like straw or plant fibers.
Often times players who have more than one character have neither the time nor the inclination to rediscover all items necessary to function. Fortunately, a character who has discovered an item can teach it to others directly or create a Material Account of an item, which other characters can read in order to teach a discovery without all the footwork involved. There is a catch however: no LP is awarded for using a teacher or material account to learn a discovery.
Notes
- The following can't be emphasized enough: When trying to figure out why you can't craft an item, make sure you have discovered all the ingredients first. If one of the ingredients isn't easily obtained, try using the barter stand suggestion below.
- Anything that can be placed into a Barrel, Bucket or a Granary can be discovered by placing it into one and taking it out. Exception to the rule: Liquids.
- (Stack) New/undiscovered items that are placed back into there source stack do no trigger a discovery of said item ... until its placed in the players inventory. For example: Hide patches that are auto generated when partially processing a large hide that is stacked. As those rest patches are placed back into the hide source stack.