"Useless Skills" and possible suggestions

I would like to first state I love this server so far. I would also like to state I am new to the server and did try to find similar posts to mine by searching the forums. Therefore I apologize if this is a reposted idea.

I think one of the sad things about UO was that some of the skills were just not that useful or they had a very shallow use. There are a lot of ways to argue about different skills but there are 2 that I find to be the lowest of all. That would be cooking and taste eval.

So what I would like to do is offer my reason behind these two as well as suggested solution staying as era accurate as possible. I would also like to point out that era rules have been known to be bent a little for the interest of better game play.

First I would like to tackle cooking. My arguments why cooking can be considered a "useless skill" follow. First let's look at what type of skill it is, crafting. All the other crafting skills have strong ties/needs to the game play. Let me give you some examples. Tinkering can be used to create tools needed by all professions. It makes lock picks for the lock picking skill. It can be used to make traps and is needed to disarm traps. In combination with carpentry it can be used to make potion kegs. It can be used to make decorations and jewelry. Pretty cool huh? The other crafting skills follow this example more or less. Smiths make the standard sets of weapons and armors. Tailors make standard for light armor. Carpenters in conjunction with the previous mentioned 3 (and cooking I know) can make great decorations, weapons, and more. My point is that everything these other professions can make are fairly useful and require the skill to make the really nice items. Food on the other hand has only two uses, stamina bonus and decoration. The sad thing is that both of these can be achieved without cooking, you can buy them a vendor. I have already read in other forums that food has no impact on skill gain or anything else.
So let us talk solution. If I remember correctly, which I may not, the savages came out the same time as the bola balls. In our current game we have the bolas, another toy tinkers can make, but we do not have the war paint cooks could create. I think this idea was sort of a beta that never left the ground. Now it does not have to be war paint like on the OSI servers but maybe the ability for cooks to make various dyes, hair dyes, leather armor dyes, clothing dyes, ect. Make the hues ones not on the dye tub table. Make the leather dyes very basic, much few choices than the dye tub because it is a reward. I know some people would complain about the dyes but UO was made to have a tiering system when it came to how we look. So dull copper is nice but a guy walking blue valorite armor was something totally different. If the colors that were obtainable were of a "lower status" then I think dye tubs would retain their value. For example, if you look at the Tailoring BOD rewards charcoal, Blood Red and Snow are considered a higher tier. So maybe ta cook could make grey, a dull orange, and a yellow of some kind. The rally nice colors would be reserved to the tub.
Another option would be a BOD system of some kind for cooking, one that would give cool decorations, rewards and some gold for players that enjoy that profession. There are a lot of statics that could be used for player rewards.
I am tired, it is late thank you for reading my first post. I plan on taking taste ID a little later. Thank you,

Aeryn Ahr.

Cooking could definitely use some help.

Awhile back, someone had a nifty idea that you could receive 'quests' to deliver food to the various guard outposts in the world.

As silly as it sounds I wouldn't mind makers marks on foods like cakes, cookies, and pies.

First of all "being hungry" should get a debuff or "being saturated" should get a buff.
Give it a difference of skill gain chance of +/-10% of being full saturated to being very hungry from normal.

I also would like very low effect buff food with ingredents dropped only by animals/monsters.
The effect must be very low like +2Str for 15min or (not and - only one buff at once) +2Agy.
Another buff could be increased skill gain chance of 10% - for each skill kind another food maybe to bring some diversity.
Also there could be a buff for "increased PvE"-hitchance or "better PvE"-Magic-Resistance or "lowering PvE"-hitchance or damage.

A cook should have good taste identification so the good buffs can only be done with very high skills in both.

Everybody should be motivated to eat in any way so there can be an economy for cooks.

lol saturated. The word is satiated.

Here's a thread right along the lines of what you're getting at.

http://uorforum.com/threads/bonuses-for-useless-skills.1375/

Maker's mark for cooking would do the job for my. I made a GM Chef name Jamie Oliver and wanted to spoil the girls here with Jamie Oliver cookies

Jamie Oliver wouldn't bake cookies! Vegetables and such only, you fat bastard!

Bibbidy bobbidy's Pizza Pie deliveries!

I think some of us are missing the point. Not in a bad way, I am glad to see the discussion. However my point is that no skill should be useless. Out of 700 points allocating 100 is a big deal. Cooking like any other crafting skill should have strong tie to the game play of UO, not just an empty one. The ideas of buffs is good alchemy already does that. Maybe alchemy plus cooking for +5 or 10 in a skill for a very short period of time. That might effect pvp too much though. Maybe a carry weight buff? I still think something like dyes and quests should be a standard. It was after all tried with the release of savages. Could be tried to pet bonding? Need a cook to produce something for your pet rather than just the meat. Timed pet bonus perhaps? Cooks can make food that buffs pets stats? I just do not think having your name on a plate of cookies is enough to call cooking useful. This is my opinion and I do respect those expressed before this post. How about wood dye for bows and staffs and shields?

Considering how similar Alchemy and Cooking are in UO, in terms of how you use ingredients and so forth..

Why not give Cooking a passive bonus to Alchemy, akin to what Detect Hidden does for Lockpicking*? A somewhat increased success chance at making DP would be pretty nifty, me thinks, and a good reason to pick up Cooking.

*As an aside: Wouldn't it make more sense for Remove Traps to give that bonus to Lockpicking? Detect Hidden already helps with tracking, and there's a much better thematical tie there.

I would love to see tribal paint added.

If you are going to make alterations to a skill to make it more useful it should be far more subtle than creating a bunch of buffing foods, etc. That's a complicated revamp of a system that is both unnecessary and can cause any number of gameplay-affecting issues farther out. I can't speak for anyone but myself but I don't feel my experience has suffered due to the lack of Strength Muffins in my diet.

However a subtle fluff change like a craftable wood dye would make sense. A UO:R custom crafted item like the boats and ladders. It could require GM alchemy and GM cooking. Being a wood dye they could require oak boards in the recipe which would increase demand there and help that market and be fairly resource intensive as to prevent the market from being flooded. Give them a sensible and limited color palate and be good for 1 bow or staff or perhaps wooden crate.

I like the idea of a wood dye.

I think the ore colors would make a great wood dye. They're understated colors, and of course fit well with UO decor in this era. And they aren't as wild as the furniture dye colors, which justifiably cost a good chunk of platinum.

Bowcraft

Damage, accuracy, rate of fire boost to archery seems like a fair trade for the points, matches up with lumberjacking.

Passive benefits:

- bonus to damage + % (bowcraft / 10) (up to 10% bonus damage)
- bonus to rate of fire + % (bowcraft / 5) (up to 20% bonus attack speed)
- boost to accuracy + (flat) (bowcraft / 7.5) (up to 12.5 bonus accuracy)
- arrow / bolt conservation - % chance to recover a spent arrow or bolt (bowcraft / 5) (20% at GM)

Camping

The idea is to add benefits based on a knowledge of woodcraft and wilderness survival.

Passive benefits:

- hiding bonus when in a wilderness* area + (camping / 5) % (at GM 20% bonus)
- stealth bonus when in a wilderness* area + (camping / 5) % (at GM 20% bonus)
- tracking bonus when in a wilderness* area + (camping / 5) % (at GM 20% bonus)
- fishing bonus + (camping / 5) % (at GM 20% bonus)
- lumberjacking success bonus (does not apply to skill re: damage) + (camping / 5) % (at GM 20% bonus)

Active use:

- foraging - the character is able to locate food items (fruit/vegetables) in the forest.

* for simplicity, a wilderness area is one that is neither in a city nor in a dungeon nor on water

Item Identification

Your wide knowledge of items both mundane and arcane provide the following benefits.

- tool durability bonus - when using tools, they are %(itemid / 4) more likely not to lose durability
- bonus to magery when casting with a scroll + (itemid /5) (+20 at GM)
- charge conservation - when using a charged item, such as a wand or staff, you have a %(itemid / 4) chance to preserve the charge (25% at GM)
- recharge wand / staff - using a stack of scrolls of the appropriate type, you can recharge a depleted wand for up to 5 + (itemid / 10).(up to 15 charges) (100 magery /100 itemid required)

Crafting

When combined with magery and carpentry:

- enchanted staff of [spell] (lesser) - using a stack of scrolls (any 1st level) you can enchant a normal gnarled staff with a stack (up to 15) first level spells. The maximum number of charges the staff will be infused with is 5 + (itemid / 10). (60 itemid, 60 magery, 60 carpentry)
- healing staff - using a stack of heal scrolls, you can enchant a normal gnarled staff with a stack (up to 15) heal spells. The maximum number of charges the staff will be infused with is 5 + (itemid / 10). (80 itemid, 80 magery, 80 carpentry)
- greater healing staff - using a stack of greater heal scrolls, you can enchant a normal gnarled staff with a stack (up to 15) greater heal spells. The maximum number of charges the staff will be infused with is 5 + (itemid / 10). (100 itemid, 100 magery, 100 carpentry)

Arms Lore

Increases effectiveness in the use of weapons and armor. Turn it into a true warrior skill. Gain it passively when attacking with a weapon.

- bonus to weapon damage + % (armslore / 20) (+5 damage at GM)
- bonus to armor protection + (flat) (armslore / 10) (+10 AR at GM)
- dex penalty reduction - (flat) (armslore / 10) (+10 on dex penalty at GM)
- parry bonus (with shield) % + (armslore / 8) (up to 12.5% bonus parry chance)
- decreased wear on weapons and armor % (armslore / 4) (25% less wear at GM)
- two handed weapon parry* - at 60 armslore gain % (armslore / 10) + (parry / 5) chance to parry while wielding a 2-handed weapon (30% at GM armslore & parry, 10% at GM armslore with 0 parry)
- one handed weapon parry - at 60 armslore gain % (armslore / 20) + (parry / 20) chance to parry while wielding a one-handed weapon (and no shield) (10% at GM armslore & parry, 5% at GM armslore with 0 parry)

* You cannot parry with a bow or crossbow, nor with wrestling.

Crafting

- increased chance for exceptional when crafting weapons and armor + % (armslore / 5) (+20% at GM)
- reduced fail rate for repairing weapons and armor - % (armslore / 5) (-20% at GM)

Spirit Speak

In speaking with the dead, the character becomes attuned to the forces of life and death.

Passive benefits

- passive regeneration of (health) regenerate at an increased rate of (spiritspeak / 200) per second (+1 / two secs at GM, + 1 / four secs at 50)
- passive regeneration of (stamina) regenerate at an increased rate of (spiritspeak / 100) per second (+1 / sec at GM, + 1 / two secs at 50)
- healing skill bonus + % (spiritspeak / 5) more health healed with bandages ( +20% at GM)
- healing spell bonus + % (spiritspeak / 10) more health healed with spells, scrolls, wands ( +10% at GM)
- energy spell bonus + % (spiritspeak / 10) damage done by harm, magic arrow, & energy bolt + % (spiritspeak / 10) duration to energy field & energy vortex (+10% at GM)
- energy spell defense - % (spiritspeak / 10) damage reduction from harm, magic arrow, energy bolt, & energy vortex (-10% at GM)
- resurrection bonus - characters resurrected by the medium have + (spiritspeak / 2) more hit points than they normally would upon resurrection (50 at GM)

PvM benefits:

- reduced damage from undead monsters - % (spiritspeak / 5) damage ( -20% at GM)
- increased damage to undead monsters + % (spiritspeak / 5) damage ( +20% at GM)

PvM penalties:

- increased damage from wisps + % (spiritspeak / 5) damage ( +20% at GM)
- reduced damage to wisps - % (spiritspeak / 5) damage ( -20% at GM)

Wisps will also speak more often in the presence of a grandmaster medium, and will be drawn to them.

(Wisps?? Why?? It's a mystery...)

Active use:

- if successful, the character can understand the spoken words of a ghost player character
- if successful, any ghosts in the area will be revealed (% chance based on spiritspeak skill) (Eg 100% at GM)
- active regeneration of health - regenerate at an increased rate of (spiritspeak / 100) per second over 10 seconds (+1 / sec at GM, + 1 / 2 secs at 50) total regen at GM = 10 health over 10 seconds)
- active regeneration of stamina - regenerate at an increased rate of (spiritspeak / 50) per second over 10 seconds (+2 / sec at GM, + 1 sec at 50) total regen at GM = 20 stamina over 10 seconds)
- the following actions/events will stop the regeneration: moving, taking damage, becoming poisoned, using a skill, casting a spell, using an item.

Taste Identification

Your first hand knowledge of foods, potions, and poisons brings some benefits.

Note: I had another version, but I removed the ability to cook magic foods. Adding too many new items to the game doesn't help anything (if we look at most games)

Detect Poison

Your finely tuned sense of taste allows you to identify whether food is poisoned.

- identify whether a food item is poisoned - min skill 10, on success receive message (you aren't sure..., this food appears to be poisoned, this food is safe to eat)
- identify the level of poison - min skill 25, on success receive message (this food appears to be poisoned with deadly poison)

Healthy Appetite

- healing food - your expert digestion when combined with a knowledge of healing allows you to gain health from eating regular food (as well as stamina)
- heal (tasteid / 10) when eating any food item. Ex: At 60, you would heal 6 health from eating a loaf of bread, at 80, 8 health, at GM 10 health.
- hunger awareness : Using taste identification on yourself will let you know what your level of hunger is. In this way you can know your capacity to eat a meal.
- You are very hungry
- You are a little hungry
- You are quite full

Note: although some food items are stackable, a character may only eat so many items before they become full.


Potion Enhancements

Your exposure to potions and their digestion enhances the effects of drinking them.

- heal potion bonus : heal (tasteid / 10) more points when drinking a heal potion.
- cure potion bonus : cure (tasteid/ 30) higher levels of poison.
- refresh potion bonus : gain (tasteid/ 10) more stamina for lesser refresh, (tasteid/ 5) for regular refresh. At 90 skill, total refresh potions increase your stamina regeneration by (tasteid/ 20) per second over 15 seconds.
- agility / strength potion bonus : increase stats by (tasteid/ 20). At GM, you gain 5 more str/dex points from drinking agility / strength potions.


Poison resistance.

From tasting poisons you develop a partial resistance to poisons.

- poison damage reduction : take (tasteid / 20) less damage per poison tick. At 20, you take 1 less damage per tick. At 80, 4 less per tick. At GM level, 5 less damage per poison tick. (Minimum 1 damage).

- poison downgrade - the level of poison that affects you is downgraded by one level.
- 80 skill, there is a 50% chance that poison will be downgraded 1 level. Thus, you have a 50% chance not to be affected by Lesser poison. Deadly would affect you as Greater, etc...
- 90 skill, there is a 75% chance that poison will be downgraded 1 level.
- 100 skill, there is a 100% chance that poison will be downgraded 1 level and a 50% chance that it will be downgraded 2 levels. Thus, you become immune to lesser poison, and there is a chance that a deadly will affect you as regular poison. This also means there is a 50% chance that normal poison will not affect the character (being downgraded to 0 from 2, this negating the poison).

Just wanted to mention that while I really do enjoy coming up with ideas for skills, changes are always a slippery slope that can lead away from what you like about the game to something that doesn't quite taste or feel like the 'real thing'.