Lumberjacking?

[Vor]

How does it work now? I thought it was random locations, is that still the case?

Last few weeks or so I've been out 'jacking a lot. Pulled in the following totals (rounded to the nearest thousand):

Normal wood: 210,000
Ash: 16,000
Oak: 15,000
Yew: 6,000
Blood: 0
Heart: 0
Frost: 0

Been at it maybe 15 hours total so far.. and not a single bit of the top three woods? Is that normal? Generally I trawl around in a large circle from my house, then zig zag my way back through the middle to my house, recalling home when the bug is full. If it's random then surely I should have come across some of the higher woods by now?

I know, back in the day, it was fixed locations, it's not gone back to that has it?

 

[Petra Fyde]

No, there's been no change to the way lumber spawns, and yes, I've been through patches like that myself

 

[Olahorand]

I could imagine, that trees, which spawned normal wood only before, will not change that behavior, only those, which had other sorts, would cycle now.
Just speculation.

 

[Vor]

I could imagine, that trees, which spawned normal wood only before, will not change that behavior, only those, which had other sorts, would cycle now.
Just speculation.

No, there's been no change to the way lumber spawns, and yes, I've been through patches like that myself

Thanks. Well, I'll keep at it! Maybe my luck will change.

 

[KLOMP]

You're jacking all the time but never getting decent wood? That's the problem you've come here to ask us about?

SO MANY JOKES... ALL VIOLATE THE TOS... BRAIN MELTING...

 

[Picus at the office]

You're jacking all the time but never getting decent wood? That's the problem you've come here to ask us about?

SO MANY JOKES... ALL VIOLATE THE TOS... BRAIN MELTING...

I read this while taking the train into the the office, I can't tell you how many people looked at me as I laughed for a good while.

 

[Adol]

It works like mining does, there's a chance for it to randomly change as you finish chopping the wood; mark runes to a tree and come back and you'll get a few chances at the same wood before it moves, but it won't stay as such for very long... unlike mining though there are trees everywhere, so the chances of someone else chopping it before you do is extremely low, hence it looks like it's more consistent if you mark a rune and come back weeks later.

Frostwood though is incredibly rare in Trammel, and has been reported as such for quite some time. I don't do much lumberjacking but I've only ever seen it once (in the forests around Yew), the little I have was from an IDOC when it used to be much more common, and fixed.

 

[DerekL]

Edited to add: If your lumberjack is a human, you might also consider doing the quest to become an elf, as elves have an increased chance, compared to characters of other races, of acquiring the high-end ores and lumber.

At least ccording to the Mining FAQ - the 'increased chance' is so small as to be virtually undetectable. (<2-3%.)

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

Is this the kind of thing those void pool resource/crafting reward items can help with?

-Galen's player

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

You're jacking all the time but never getting decent wood? That's the problem you've come here to ask us about?

SO MANY JOKES... ALL VIOLATE THE TOS... BRAIN MELTING...

You have worn out your tool.

-Galen's player

 

[Adol]

However, I've found many, many times that runes I marked months previously, sometimes even a year earlier (I always put the date in the name on the rune) are still good for the specific ore or lumber type I found there, obviously because the population's dropped so much and because I must be one of the few people left who ever lumberjacks or mines in Trammel.
.

Yes, very very few people are doing it the old fashioned way any more, most resources are simply bought from recall-script choppers/miners who recall to set spots, so spots in the wold don't get cycled any more. When ever I've been mining or chopping, I've not seen another person once now, so the only person changing spots is me.

 

[Vor]

I actually came across another Lumberjack today. But it was the first time in years.

 

[Petra Fyde]

Is this the kind of thing those void pool resource/crafting reward items can help with?

-Galen's player

Yes

 

[Vor]

Is this the kind of thing those void pool resource/crafting reward items can help with?

-Galen's player

Never even heard of them. Though I've never done the Void Pool, so that's probably why.

 

[DerekL]

That's funny, because the official information from EA regarding the elven racial abilities when they rolled out the ML expansion said, "Elves receive an increase (a very noticeable one) to their chance of acquiring special resources such as colored ore when mining or special boards when lumberjacking." http://uo2.stratics.com/races/playable/the-elven-race .

I know what EA's official information says - but EA's "official information', especially the PR stuff like you link to above, isn't always... completely accurate.

 

[KLOMP]

You have worn out your tool.

Ha!

I actually came across another Lumberjack today. But it was the first time in years.

Ha...? Not sure if dirty joke or serious...

 

[MalagAste]

At least ccording to the Mining FAQ - the 'increased chance' is so small as to be virtually undetectable. (<2-3%.)

Much like the "bonus" to fishing with bait of that oh so silly suit.

 

[MalagAste]

Yes, that's my experience too. For me, it's relaxing to mine or lumberjack. It's just really depressing these days to go to areas where they used to be houses and not see anything there anymore.

Almost as depressing as going to any bank other than Luna or Brit and never seeing a soul...

 

[Basara]

That's funny, because the official information from EA regarding the elven racial abilities when they rolled out the ML expansion said, "Elves receive an increase (a very noticeable one) to their chance of acquiring special resources such as colored ore when mining or special boards when lumberjacking." http://uo2.stratics.com/races/playable/the-elven-race .

I think in the long run, if you are planning to do a lot of dedicated mining or lumberjacking, you just have to experiment with things like changing your character's race and seeing what works out best for you and how you play. I've heard some people complain that when they were training blacksmithing, they hated having an elf miner because they really struggled to get enough iron ingots, since so much of what they mined came out as colored ore. I don't know what else to say.

The bonuses do not work the way they claim they do. Period.

Ore:

• The stated method is that Humans have a 40% chance of getting colored ore, and the Elves have a +20% bonus.
• The ACTUAL results is that mining just does not work that way. Each spot HAS ITS OWN UNIQUE COLORED TO IRON ratio (not a flat, base, 40%), that stays the same no matter what ore is present, AND a standard # of swings before the chance of the vein running out kicks in. If a spot is currently Iron, then elevating the ore with a Prospector's Tool or Gargoyle Pickaxe will cause that ratio to express itself as DC to iron (or shadow to iron if both tools used).
• The Elven Racial bonus appears to express itself as 120% times the base FOR THAT SPOT. So, if a spot is producing shadow iron at a drop ratio of 60%, and typically starts running out after 15 swings, then an elf will be getting shadow iron 72% of the time, and also be getting an extra 1-3 swings. BUT, if the spot is a bad one where you get colored ore 10% of the time as human, your chance as an elf is 12%. If a spot produces 10 or less ore, the human 10% extra ore is likely to give a bigger bonus than the elf 20% extra swings.
• Compared to the human 10% chance for +1 ore each swing, this balances out one of the two bonuses, possibly both if the human is having a good RNG streak and the elf has a bad streak.
• On average, an elf will come back with 25 ore for every 20 swings, compared to a human's 22 ore, and typically those extra ore will be 1 colored, 1 iron and a medium (or 2 small) of each. Sure, it adds up over thousands of swings, but when you're out in the field mining, that extra 16.67% weight carrying capacity tends to be more useful (allowing you longer time mining between stops, especially if using a fire beetle). At the same STR, an elf will have to stop to unload 5 times for every 4 times for the human, and in the time the one extra trip takes, a human could mine more ore than the difference in their racial bonuses. OF course, if you only mine for one long stretch per day, and quit when full, the elven bonus is more pronounced - you just got to mine one more day a week than you would with a human.

Wood:

• Wood TYPES are not affected by race, period.
• The ratio/percentage of special wood from a tree is based on the resource square (like ore, but a different number, if you can get both from the same square).
• Humans get 11 wood per swing. Elves get 10 wood per swing, but get 20% more swings than a human, and 120% * the base chance for a special wood, but ONLY if the tree is currently producing a special wood. IT WILL NOT make a tree that is 100% normal wood for humans this spawn cycle give colored wood to an elf, or give a better colored wood than what the human gets. But, if the tree is producing 50% chance of a specific colored wood, then the elf will have a 60% chance.
• a tree with 20 swings will give a human 220 logs, but an elf will probably get 24 swings resulting in 240 logs from the same tree. at 50% colored yield, a human would have 110 colored, 110 normal, while the elf (60%) would get 140 colored wood, 100 normal.
• Again, this comes down to the elf getting a slightly better overall yield, but losing much of the advantage from having to unload MUCH more often if the intent is to keep all the wood. However, given the weight of wood, any race lumberjack will have to be unloading into a packy (and probably doing log to board conversions) BETWEEN TREES, and likely just dropping normal logs to the ground (possibly to come back for later). Advantage goes to the Elf - but as noted before, the bonus does NOT help them find anything humans or gargoyles couldn't find - it just increases the amount they get.
• Frankly, when it comes to woods higher than Yew (and to an extent, even Yew), ANY lumberjack is better off getting 10 Vet reward stumps and collecting every few days, and only going out LJ with the intent of bringing home normal, oak and ash, with any accidentally found better woods considered an unexpected bonus (to mark, go back to and exploit a few times each hour until it changes), NOT something to actually plan for.

 

[Petra Fyde]

Never even heard of them. Though I've never done the Void Pool, so that's probably why.

Void pool rewards come from Vela the Sorceress in Cove
http://uo2.stratics.com/essays-and-guides/covetous-dungeon-revamp-a-guided-tour/vela-the-sorceress

 

[Vor]

Ha!



Ha...? Not sure if dirty joke or serious...

Serious. In the woods North of Brit.

 

[Warpig Inc]

Jack a few screens around the the Royal City moongate. Can also be suprised with the woods North of the Ilsh Spirit gate.

If there is a group of four trees they all get jacked with that area thing going on. One tree could be frost. If your just wacking the same one next to it that is normal or Oak. You will never see the Frost. I hit one tree 3 times to see if it is other then normal on my elf. Then check the others in the group the same way. Found no need for runebooks and just log out complete areas. Snakes and Monbats gathering areas theory. Ilsh pixie spawns in Ilsh is also considered a mob and no need to have trained packies. With the crystals in garg lands. I see no point to jack anyplace else for what some stumps don't give ya.

 

[startle]

Other than some really good info (here), what I've gotten so far from this thread is:

.... so I've been out 'jacking a lot.... Normal wood: 210,000.... Been at it maybe 15 hours total so far.. and - Generally I trawl around

210,000 ouch....

You have worn out your tool.....

Galen could be "on" to something here....

You're jacking all the time but never getting decent wood? ...

I think Galen answered this already...

.....I laughed for a good while.

Some people are just warped...

My experience has been that...elves have an increased chance... The rare woods ARE out there...

Ooo... Tina, you rascal...

...Well, I'll keep at it! Maybe my luck will change.

That's the spirit, Vor - Keep at it!

Yes, very very few people are doing it the old fashioned way any more....

Adol - you have observed this? Omg...

..... they all get jacked with that area thing going on.... If your just wacking the same one next to it that is normal ......

No way I'm going here...

But, what shocked me the most - was when I saw this:

.....I've been through patches like that myself

Oh dear..... 'Et tu', Petra.... My goodness.