Ryzom

I have accidentally hit my tracking, while digging on a node that I KNOW is there. I figured what the heck, take two steps back and see if they fixed tracking, Ok...maybe it was five steps...nope tracking still goofy. *hit prospecting* *node pops* Please note I did NOT turn so much as a degree, was looking for SPECIFICALLY the node I KNEW was there...once I decided to test it. And the node was NOT found on tracking, but POP, prospecting found it.

Plus, why would I use tracking after newbie anyway. I do NOT CARE if a node is in the middle of a pile of agro...If I can't dig it... I don't NEED the frustration of knowing it is there. (Like the Q50 big shells near Pyr, the Choice nodes are ALL under a pile of agro mobs, if you are under level 60 melee, bring friends to dig, and HOPE that they don't loot, you might get a stack in two hours....might. I decided to dig to a higher level and then found another site of a higher Q that was quite a bit less over guarded).

I guess I have a higher expectation out of tracking since I have tracked resources in real life(ok I learned how to and found one hill worth of quartz crystals...in Arkansas, which is almost easier to do than find WATER...but I had fun...) and have had experience with those that do it for a living. If they were as poor at finding resources of all kinds as tracking is in game....they would not have a job any longer.

usinuk wrote:Please refer me to a post where this has been confirmed.



That's one part of the bug. I can have prospecting find mats that deposit tracking doesn't. Repeated tracks will not show mats in a region - even switching from major to minor node and 'only' to 'up to' stanzas - where a single prospect will find them specifically.



In spending the time to level every single harvest line over 100 I've mapped regions where almost no one harvests. In doing so I'd get a deposit track confirm, find nothing nearby, then get frustrated and blow my entire focus line on doing wide angle 40m or 60m searches in the hope that I can find another minor node. Initially, I did this by standing right over the nominal node deposit tracking was supposed to find and then turning around in circles, hoping that if I didn't find the specific node indicated by tracking I'd find another one, as there are almost always a couple of minor choice nodes near each other (not the case with minor fine/basic nodes). Then I'd run around and do random 40m or 60m prospects to see if I could find anything worth harvesting.

Guess what? Sometimes I've found nothing. Hence, your version of the 'bug' is confirmed. And oh by the way, this is not seasonal.

But wait...there's still more to this. Sometimes, I can get the single most specific request in deposit tracking - choice oath bark for instance, since yes, with all the harvest points I have I have taken pretty much every stanza line available (except for the truly useless craft mats ones) and still have almost 1k points left - and have deposit tracking claim the mats are within 1m every single time...when they clearly aren't. That's another aspect to the bug, and can often be cured by logging.



No, I'm getting tracking to sometimes work roughly the way a couple of GMs told me that it should.

I'm glad tracking is working for you. A lot of times it does for me. Sometimes it doesn't - I just raised 3 specific ways in which it doesn't consistently work - and if you go back a few months there is thread after thread on the subject. I'd like it to do so more consistently since I have well over a thousand sps invested in deposit tracking and related stanzas alone.

madnak wrote:Do they always happen in the same land, or with the same mat type? Anything common?

That's what's maddening about deposit tracking and why I despair it ever getting fixed.

It's consistently inconsistent across all lands and mats that I've tried.

lyrah68 wrote:I do NOT CARE if a node is in the middle of a pile of agro...If I can't dig it... I don't NEED the frustration of knowing it is there

On this I'd disagree. I do find tracking - when working - can be quite useful in finding seasonal mats and just as importantly, figuring out when excellent/supreme versions are available. Especially in places like the PR where there are frequent mob migrations, certain mats may have aggro on top one day and not the next. I just mark the approximate spot on my map, pop down and note when the baddies aren't there. Only thing frustrating about this is that there doesn't seem to be much consistency to mob migrations at times either...

Now THIS sounds like a good use of the ATS. I have three of the four races. I will try each region...other than PR...since I can't get there solo on any other than Fyros, and I will report what I find.

madnak wrote:Hmm. I guess I'm wrong about that then... I don't understand why it would work for some and not others. Has there been any consistency in terms of the bugs? Do they always happen in the same land, or with the same mat type? Anything common?

Not to be contentious or anything, but I did not claim tracking was bugged, I asked if it was. It will be quite a while before I have a 60 degree cone and so forth for testing Madnak's experiment, but I'll keep it in mind.

In the meantime, I think I will adopt lyrah's suggestion and just make my prospects cover as much ground as possible with multiple sources, as that seems much more efficient. If tracking has a error margin of more than 10 meters I can't honestly say I see it's usefulness. I wonder if the problems with tracking are due to database lag?

Thanks,
Matt

Day one results:
created a Zorai and fully skilled her out, took the hour to delete and recreate all stanzas I normally use, plus the tracking skills.

Results are as follows:
Race: Zorai
location: just outside of Zorai race mainland starting town...whatever that is
Action stanzas: 500 m tracking, up to supreme, speed two.
Results: TWO mission nodes, more than 350 meters away. When I prospected I found FIVE non mission nodes (translation, MORE useful materials) within longest range prospecting.

Technically...this track WAS successful...I tracked TWO nodes; but practically, it was an abysmal failure. I was run 350+ms in a HOT COLD game for more than 20 mins only to find TWO nodes I wouldn't bother to extract since I can't craft with them.

LONG range tended to take me to the FARTHEST mission node possible.
And all tracking seemed to seek the FARTHEST node of the LOWEST grade available in the tracking area. At least in the two tests I did...I didn't get depleted node after depleted node. Gimme a chance to get into the PR and find those excellent and supreme nodes. Once I deplete them all I will REtest.

Test TWO results:
Ok, I figured the failure was in seeking SO far away.
Race: Zorai
Location: same as test one (within 100 ms of that mission node I found)
Action stanzas: Tracking 200 m, speed three, up to supreme
Results: Found two basic nodes of crafting mats but when I stepped back three steps and RE prospected, I found THREE nodes of choice, same material.

Another Technical win for the tracking, but again...I claim a ROUSING victory on the practical side. Great...I found the location of X material...in its most basic form...but I had to LOOK to find the TOP quality available in that area.

So I concede, Tracking works...sorta, but in MY practical use, it is worthless. I use my farthest prospecting with widest angle and find MORE with a HIGHER degree of control than when I use tracking.

If this is "working as intended" then the devs have nothing to do on this issue, if it is NOT working as intended...then I respectfully request that THIS get added to your "clean up" list.

I have conceded that when you are "new to the area" tracking helps aim you in a general direction that MIGHT get you CLOSE to something you might or might NOT use.

If you find that successful, then by ALL means, use it, more focus to ya. If you agree with me that it is "less than efficent" feel free to fiddle with having two, three or even FOUR prospecting actions (long wide slow, up to highest grade you can find for "tracking"; medium range, medium angle, ONLY your highest grade for once you get in the right neighborhood; and shorter range, smallest angle, with knoweldge, with highest node life you got to conserve your precious focus. and maybe one or two others that you find the need of.)

I am a firm believe in the idea of "if it works, harms no one, then use it". No skin off my teeth if a player finds tracking useful. BUT, many of us find that it is working backwards.

I purport that tracking should:
find the highest grade when you use the UP TO stanza not the lowest

Find the NEAREST node that you CAN immediately prospect to the surface, if I find a node and have to sit for a WEEK prospecting day and night to find WHAT it is and when it is...is THAT a successful track? Maybe you think it is successful, but to me it is a horrid waste of time and focus.

I didn't use tracking for the longest time. When I first used it on newbie island it was pretty useless. The key is in using the specs properly.

I have three tracking stanzas, one for Choice, one Excellent, and one Supreme.

Deposit Tracking 100-500m (I use different ones depending on what I am looking for, I start small then make the circle bigger and bigger)
Prospection for _____ (each uses the Only Choice/Ex/Sup spec the UP TO stanzas are crap)
Area Spec (i.e. Desert/Forest/PR)
MAJOR Mat Specialization (I don't bother with anything below Choice anymore so I use the major mat specs to make certain the tracking is accurate. I have found minor mat specs not very good, but then again I don't bother with them much either.

I would say tracking is accurate within 30-50m... though most times the route I take to the source help me pinpoint it better through triangulation, so it is usually near my feet 5-10m.

It helps to use the same specs you used for your tracking in your prospecting. My prospecting angle is now 180degrees and range I set at about 30-50m, so I can find the mats quite fast. The only frustration I have with tracking is that when the weather changes, or the time changes, and you are tracking a source that is time/weather dependant, it will not actually be available when you get there. That is when I have to mark my map with a placeholder, do some more tracking and come back to that spot to check it when conditions change.

vguerin, A.K.A DoubleTap would be the one I would ask to be sure though, as he is an uberharvest king.


Oroboroed
Guild Leader
Joes Hotdog n Bagpipe Emporium
http://www.HotdogsnBagpipes.com

THey REALLY need to re work the "up to" stanzas to reflect players wants...which is to pull the HIGHEST grade available in the area NOT the lowest ones.

And I stand behind my test, I got the lowest grade mission nodes at the FARTHEST distant on EVERY tracking that I did. I find that just about useless. I find better nodes with prospecting.

lyrah68 wrote:THey REALLY need to re work the "up to" stanzas to reflect players wants...which is to pull the HIGHEST grade available in the area NOT the lowest ones.

No, they don't. They added the *ONLY* prospections for when you want to find the highest grade available. The up to's are perfectly fine the way they are. Having been a harvester working my way to where I am now from day 1 of retail, harvesting as it is now is perfectly fine. I for one don't want to see them tinker with the skill at all, anymore.

Now if only they'd fix the issue with PR mats, we'd be set.

here's an image i just now hobbled together that reflects the way i understand how tracking works (officially explained in another thread).

http://ryzom.vx3lan.com/ryzom/images/de ... acking.jpg

hope that helps :0)

who knows why the tracking points to the deposit and not the source...the deposit has all kinds of different materials. so even walking right pinpoint to where the tracking says stop, you are just being led to the edge of the deposit closest to where you started the tracking. it "gets you in the ballpark" which for a low level harvester without a long range prospection and large cone angle...can be an extremely frustrating experience.

*with right finger points to her nose* *with left finger points to Gfunk* DING DING DING BINGO...my point exactly, nicely stated.

grandma wrote:here's an image i just now hobbled together that reflects the way i understand how tracking works (officially explained in another thread).

http://ryzom.vx3lan.com/ryzom/images/de ... acking.jpg

hope that helps :0)

who knows why the tracking points to the deposit and not the source...the deposit has all kinds of different materials. so even walking right pinpoint to where the tracking says stop, you are just being led to the edge of the deposit closest to where you started the tracking. it "gets you in the ballpark" which for a low level harvester without a long range prospection and large cone angle...can be an extremely frustrating experience.