Master Writs Need to be Easier to Track

FlopsyPrince

I know have one master writ clogging my quest log because I accepted it and only then realized I didn't have the proper trait researched on for that item. I tried pre-crafting a bunch of stuff today and boy is it easy to mess that up.

It would be really nice if the writ would tell us if we can make what it desires, all the parts. Yes, I can look that up, but the interface on the PS4 makes that quite challenging. I am sure you PC players all have an addon that does that, but it really should be part of the game and not require an addon, especially since we can only accept a single Master Writ at a time (in each category).

redlink1979

I understand your problem, some time back I made the same mistake: I activated a master writ that I couldn't complete right way. I had to buy the required motif page.
I always try to double check but sometimes things can go wrong: I have all traits research but I don't know all the motif styles yet.
Usually I don't mix things I always check the master writs before crafting all I can, I only activate the master writs upon delivery.
Consoles are a step back without addons but unfortunately we can't do anything about it...

FlopsyPrince

redlink1979 wrote: »

I understand your problem, some time back I made the same mistake: I activated a master writ that I couldn't complete right way. I had to buy the required motif page.
I always try to double check but sometimes things can go wrong: I have all traits research but I don't know all the motif styles yet.
Usually I don't mix things I always check the master writs before crafting all I can, I only activate the master writs upon delivery.
Consoles are a step back without addons but unfortunately we can't do anything about it...

That is why I say something like this should be covered in the game. Or work around it. Give me a "Master Writ Queue" separate from my main queue. That isn't ideal, but would at least allow me to save them without filling the quite limiting 25 slots.

Checking all the details on the PS4 (and XBOX I would assume) is far more challenging than it may seem. I should not need an external file to play the game well!

lordhakai

There is an addon for that. Lol i had to be one tpbsay that

FlopsyPrince

lordhakai wrote: »

There is an addon for that. Lol i had to be one tpbsay that

Not on the PS4!

And for those who would blame Sony or whoever: ZoS made the decision to make a game on the PS4. They need to have the game be complete and not rely on others (addon makers) to do the work they should be doing. We need more things like the built in map functionality that was recently added that enable better play. I am sure that negated the need for some addons too, but it was something that is really useful in the game.

CaffeinatedMayhem

Just to add - why *can't* we accept more than 1 master writ at a time? Or make it so we can't accept master writs unless we can complete them?

My main crafter has an empty quest queue except for dailies, never more than 3 quests at any time. If I want to accept 20 master writ quests, why not? Wouldn't Rollis Hlaalu be happy I'm getting more stuff done instead of bothering him turning in at most 6 quests at a time?

Feric51

thatlaurachick wrote: »

Just to add - why *can't* we accept more than 1 master writ at a time? Or make it so we can't accept master writs unless we can complete them?

My main crafter has an empty quest queue except for dailies, never more than 3 quests at any time. If I want to accept 20 master writ quests, why not? Wouldn't Rollis Hlaalu be happy I'm getting more stuff done instead of bothering him turning in at most 6 quests at a time?

I would settle for a 3 second prompt and/or some red text in the master writ for abilities we're lacking. Regarding the former... the game requires me to wait 2-3 seconds before I destroy those worthless crown poison daily log-in rewards, they could do that for master writs that we cannot complete... IE "You are unable to complete this master writ at this time, do you still want to accept it?"

And it would also be nice when viewing a master writ if the parts of the writ that your character cannot do would be in bold, red text. Motif chapter known for that item(yes/no?) trait learned for required item (yes/no?), have the required number of traits researched to craft in that set (yes/no?).

Ardaghion

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

lordhakai wrote: »

There is an addon for that. Lol i had to be one tpbsay that

Not on the PS4!

And for those who would blame Sony or whoever: ZoS made the decision to make a game on the PS4. They need to have the game be complete and not rely on others (addon makers) to do the work they should be doing. We need more things like the built in map functionality that was recently added that enable better play. I am sure that negated the need for some addons too, but it was something that is really useful in the game.

There's an app for the iPhone for that! "Writ Master" lets you list your master writs and it will highlight parts of the writ you don't know like traits or style, so long as you also track that info in "The ESO App" another app that lets you track all kinds of character info, it's almost as good as having add-ons.

kringled_1

While I've done that (had my journal locked for a long time because of a master writ I couldn't complete due to ongoing research) and it's annoying, it's easily preventable (no add-ons). Whenever I do a master writ, I always line up the settings (trait/style) and then double check the writ itself before consuming it. If you're careful, you can easily pre-craft many master writs (I do so regularly) and turn several in to Rolis, then consume the next writs right there and immediately turn in.

FlopsyPrince

kringled_1 wrote: »

While I've done that (had my journal locked for a long time because of a master writ I couldn't complete due to ongoing research) and it's annoying, it's easily preventable (no add-ons). Whenever I do a master writ, I always line up the settings (trait/style) and then double check the writ itself before consuming it. If you're careful, you can easily pre-craft many master writs (I do so regularly) and turn several in to Rolis, then consume the next writs right there and immediately turn in.

That works fine for a single one, but the time for 20 or more of them gets tediously long. That makes it much easier to make a mistake as well. Sure, you "can" do it right, but the problem is making a mistake. Traveling to the create site just to check it out is far too time consuming for a game I play for enjoyment, not tedium.

Ardaghion wrote: »

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

lordhakai wrote: »

There is an addon for that. Lol i had to be one tpbsay that

Not on the PS4!

And for those who would blame Sony or whoever: ZoS made the decision to make a game on the PS4. They need to have the game be complete and not rely on others (addon makers) to do the work they should be doing. We need more things like the built in map functionality that was recently added that enable better play. I am sure that negated the need for some addons too, but it was something that is really useful in the game.

There's an app for the iPhone for that! "Writ Master" lets you list your master writs and it will highlight parts of the writ you don't know like traits or style, so long as you also track that info in "The ESO App" another app that lets you track all kinds of character info, it's almost as good as having add-ons.

I don't have an iPhone (I am on Android), but inputting all the relevant data is a major pain and quickly gets out of sync. Properly inputting the Master Writ information is also a huge potential source of error.

Feric51 wrote: »

thatlaurachick wrote: »

Just to add - why *can't* we accept more than 1 master writ at a time? Or make it so we can't accept master writs unless we can complete them?

My main crafter has an empty quest queue except for dailies, never more than 3 quests at any time. If I want to accept 20 master writ quests, why not? Wouldn't Rollis Hlaalu be happy I'm getting more stuff done instead of bothering him turning in at most 6 quests at a time?

I would settle for a 3 second prompt and/or some red text in the master writ for abilities we're lacking. Regarding the former... the game requires me to wait 2-3 seconds before I destroy those worthless crown poison daily log-in rewards, they could do that for master writs that we cannot complete... IE "You are unable to complete this master writ at this time, do you still want to accept it?"

And it would also be nice when viewing a master writ if the parts of the writ that your character cannot do would be in bold, red text. Motif chapter known for that item(yes/no?) trait learned for required item (yes/no?), have the required number of traits researched to craft in that set (yes/no?).

That would be ideal. Tell me I can't make it before I accept it (ideally with the reason(s) why I can't). That would be so much more helpful.

thatlaurachick wrote: »

Just to add - why *can't* we accept more than 1 master writ at a time? Or make it so we can't accept master writs unless we can complete them?

My main crafter has an empty quest queue except for dailies, never more than 3 quests at any time. If I want to accept 20 master writ quests, why not? Wouldn't Rollis Hlaalu be happy I'm getting more stuff done instead of bothering him turning in at most 6 quests at a time?

This is long overdue as well, though it would be quite easy to fill my queue with things I couldn't make. It would help remove the "run to the drop off point and find what I haven't made" problem however, especially since many of them have to be made blind, hoping I got things correct.

kringled_1

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

kringled_1 wrote: »

While I've done that (had my journal locked for a long time because of a master writ I couldn't complete due to ongoing research) and it's annoying, it's easily preventable (no add-ons). Whenever I do a master writ, I always line up the settings (trait/style) and then double check the writ itself before consuming it. If you're careful, you can easily pre-craft many master writs (I do so regularly) and turn several in to Rolis, then consume the next writs right there and immediately turn in.

That works fine for a single one, but the time for 20 or more of them gets tediously long. That makes it much easier to make a mistake as well. Sure, you "can" do it right, but the problem is making a mistake. Traveling to the create site just to check it out is far too time consuming for a game I play for enjoyment, not tedium.

What I'm suggesting is taking about 10 seconds extra to double check before doing anything that commits your quest log or consumes mats. I'm not sure what you're thinking of, because even with 20 writs it's not a huge amount of time. I'll be doing about 8 Master writs tonight (4 alchemy, 2 enchanting, 2 other) and don't expect to have issues because I generally am careful and don't. I'm not suggesting just going to a remote site cold to check; be pretty sure you can make the item before you go, but check there before accepting the writ if you don't want to risk blocking other quests of the same type. But go ahead and rush if you feel you have to; I just think that this problem is substantially of your own making.

VaranisArano

Last time I bought and crafted a bunch of Master Writs at once, I wrote out which motifs I did/didnt know.

Then, I took up a full page in my notebook writing out item type, style, trait, and quality. I checked them off as I ran around my guild's crafting hall making each one so I'd for sure get them right.

I'm on PC. Sometimes old-fashioned pen and paper is the way to go.

So yeah, the Master Writ system could use some user-friendliness upgrades.

Ardaghion

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

Ardaghion wrote: »

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

lordhakai wrote: »

There is an addon for that. Lol i had to be one tpbsay that

Not on the PS4!

And for those who would blame Sony or whoever: ZoS made the decision to make a game on the PS4. They need to have the game be complete and not rely on others (addon makers) to do the work they should be doing. We need more things like the built in map functionality that was recently added that enable better play. I am sure that negated the need for some addons too, but it was something that is really useful in the game.

There's an app for the iPhone for that! "Writ Master" lets you list your master writs and it will highlight parts of the writ you don't know like traits or style, so long as you also track that info in "The ESO App" another app that lets you track all kinds of character info, it's almost as good as having add-ons.

I don't have an iPhone (I am on Android), but inputting all the relevant data is a major pain and quickly gets out of sync. Properly inputting the Master Writ information is also a huge potential source of error.

I think these apps are available for the Android. I've never had a problem with keeping the data sync'd, if I research a trait or learn a motif I enter it into The ESO app, the data can be transferred to the Writ Master app. I've never tried to use it but Writ Master can use your camera to read in the writ information. I manually enter the writ information and haven't had any issues, the app shows you what and how many materials you need to make and improve the item as well as showing a map of the crafting locations.

phwaap

Can't consume until you can do it. Even when you have the knowledge, sometimes you don't have the materials and get a nasty lesson.

LadySinflower

I have an external file in OneNote that syncs to my phone, tablet, and PC. I play ESO on Xbox. I am lucky enough to be part of a guild with a guild house that contains crafting stations for all the sets. When I get a master writ for clothing, BS, or WW I input the requirements to a template in OneNote. Then I check on a regular crafting station to see if I have the right style motif and have learned the trait I need. Then I check a crafted set web site to see if I've learned enough traits for the set. If all of the answers are yes, I travel to the guild house and make/improve the item. If I found a no in my checking, I note the file in OneNote with what I need and put the writ in a "can't complete" category. Then I put the writ in the bank. If it's a matter of needing the motif I'll go out and try to find/buy it. If it's a matter of needing a specific trait or enough traits for the set, I have to keep it until I can do it. Almost all provisioning, enchanting, and alchemy writs I get can be done immediately. If I need a hakeijo rune I will put up the writ for sale. I don't PvP and they are too expensive to buy for a writ. If I don't know the recipe for a provisioning writ I'll try to find/buy it. If I can't find it or its too expensive I'll put the writ up for sale. Jewelry writs are usually destroyed immediately. I have a high reward legendary one that I'm waiting until I have the ingredients to complete for the gold dye. Nobody wants jewelry writs so I don't waste trader space with them.

The writs that I can do, I travel to Rolis Hlalu and accept each writ as I turn them in. Then there's no chance of accidentally accepting one I can't do. But I have made mistakes in the past.

This is an awful lot to have to go through using external tools. The game should be helping us know whether or not we can complete them, and helping us to track the ones we have to save for later. Just my opinion.

FlopsyPrince

kringled_1 wrote: »

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

kringled_1 wrote: »

While I've done that (had my journal locked for a long time because of a master writ I couldn't complete due to ongoing research) and it's annoying, it's easily preventable (no add-ons). Whenever I do a master writ, I always line up the settings (trait/style) and then double check the writ itself before consuming it. If you're careful, you can easily pre-craft many master writs (I do so regularly) and turn several in to Rolis, then consume the next writs right there and immediately turn in.

That works fine for a single one, but the time for 20 or more of them gets tediously long. That makes it much easier to make a mistake as well. Sure, you "can" do it right, but the problem is making a mistake. Traveling to the create site just to check it out is far too time consuming for a game I play for enjoyment, not tedium.

What I'm suggesting is taking about 10 seconds extra to double check before doing anything that commits your quest log or consumes mats. I'm not sure what you're thinking of, because even with 20 writs it's not a huge amount of time. I'll be doing about 8 Master writs tonight (4 alchemy, 2 enchanting, 2 other) and don't expect to have issues because I generally am careful and don't. I'm not suggesting just going to a remote site cold to check; be pretty sure you can make the item before you go, but check there before accepting the writ if you don't want to risk blocking other quests of the same type. But go ahead and rush if you feel you have to; I just think that this problem is substantially of your own making.

I took far more than 10 seconds and still go one wrong. Yeah, my fault, but it still shows a poorly designed system. Too easy to make a mistake and the game should not have gotchas like this.

Nice that you assumed I rushed rather than that I was human and do sometimes make mistakes.

LadySinflower wrote: »

This is an awful lot to have to go through using external tools. The game should be helping us know whether or not we can complete them, and helping us to track the ones we have to save for later. Just my opinion.

Exactly. I wonder why some people can't understand this point and see it as their job to disagree. I guess everyone has to have a hobby.

kringled_1

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

I took far more than 10 seconds and still go one wrong. Yeah, my fault, but it still shows a poorly designed system. Too easy to make a mistake and the game should not have gotchas like this.

My position is different from yours in that you describe the current state as poorly designed and full of gotchas. I think the current state is acceptable, and what you are requesting is for it to pretty much be on rails, to remove almost any chance for user error to have any consequences at all.
I don't think of crafting in this game as being intrinsically difficult; it simply requires diligence and persistence, and some resources.

"FlopsyPrince wrote: »

Nice that you assumed I rushed rather than that I was human and do sometimes make mistakes.

I didn't assume that you rushed. I am defining what you did as rushing, since you did not take enough time to guarantee a negligible error rate.
I know people make mistakes. I made that mistake. But people also can do high stakes activities with very low error rates. I described how I was able to reduce errors. If I'm critical, it's because you seem to want the developers to change things to the point where you don't ever have to look at what you're doing and alter it for improvement.

"FlopsyPrince wrote: »

LadySinflower wrote: »

This is an awful lot to have to go through using external tools. The game should be helping us know whether or not we can complete them, and helping us to track the ones we have to save for later. Just my opinion.

Exactly. I wonder why some people can't understand this point and see it as their job to disagree. I guess everyone has to have a hobby.

I will point out that once you are at full 9 trait crafter, all of this simplifies to whether or not you know the motif. Yes, it's a more awkward space to operate in before that. My method was simple. If I could do it now or within a month or so, I kept the writ. Everything that would take longer, or for which I didn't think the motif was affordable, I either sold or donated. If you have eidetic memory (the in game feature from Shalidor), tracking motif knowledge is all in one place. Hanging onto large numbers of writs you can't do anytime soon is not helping you.

FlopsyPrince

Wanting to know if I have the needed motifs before starting to craft something is asking it to be put on rails? Yeah right.

I guess we should remove all the quest marker stuff from the map (and related items) since that just leaves us on rails to the quest elements....

disintegr8

I don't think it is unreasonable to ask for a prompt to warn you if you do not have the motif knowledge when you try and accept a writ. At least no more unreasonable than asking for account wide skyshards or skill lines..... I'm only missing the newest 5 or 6 complete motif sets and I can still get MW's I cannot use.

I have encountered the problem myself of trying to complete several MW's in one hit. I have definitely made mistakes, the wrong item/trait/style, but after golding out the wrong thing once, I now always double and triple check before improving it. At least it is only CP150, so wasted materials if I pick up the mistake then aren't critical.

As for being able to accept more than 1 of each MW type at a time, they would have to change them so they either don't show up in your quest log or increase the maximum number of quests you can do for that to happen.

kringled_1

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

Wanting to know if I have the needed motifs before starting to craft something is asking it to be put on rails? Yeah right.

I can't tell you what it is on your interface, but for me, it's literally J for the journal, tab over to lore library (one click for me), then scroll down and select the motif if you're not complete. One key, one click, scroll wheel, second click. How is that a huge burden that someone needs to fix for you?

idk

I have always thought it would be great to be able to have more writs accepted than one per craft. However, I do understand the design is to protect ourselves from ourselves since some people click fast and end up accepting writs on their non crafter.

In the end, I do understand when I work to craft writs I have not actually accepted I need to pay special attention to make sure I get everything right. That is a risk I accept.

FlopsyPrince

kringled_1 wrote: »

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

Wanting to know if I have the needed motifs before starting to craft something is asking it to be put on rails? Yeah right.

I can't tell you what it is on your interface, but for me, it's literally J for the journal, tab over to lore library (one click for me), then scroll down and select the motif if you're not complete. One key, one click, scroll wheel, second click. How is that a huge burden that someone needs to fix for you?

I am on the PS4. I can navigate there and look, but I have to write a bunch of stuff down outside the game, navigate around to look, etc. I really should be able to play the game in the game, for something like this.

Alinhbo_Tyaka

I'm on the PC and I think it is ridiculous that the writs don't inform me whether I have the skills to make them or not. If they can do the table look-ups while I am at the crafting station there is no reason they shouldn't be able to provide the same information when I look at the writ. Another thing to resolve is the one active master writ per crafting skill. If I have room in my quest log there is no logical reason not to let me stack writs and do multiple at a time rather than have me running back and forth between crafting station and Rollis. Before I get jumped on about add-ons I think they stink. They give the developers an excuse to not improve the game and climb on somebody else work without paying for it.

FlopsyPrince

Addons also keep the functionality from console players, since they usually don't implement that functionality in the game, letting PC players rely on the addon and having console players be left out in the cold.

I cannot do a clothing one now, since I have one with 6 more days of research that I accepted before realizing I didn't know that exact trait. I will soon, but I did not then and I do not want to abandon it.

More addon features need to be put into the game. Anything that has a popular addon should ultimately be in the game. They can get away without that on the PC, but they decided to sell a console game and should live with the effort that requires.

FlopsyPrince

I just did a bunch of them that had piled up and I will note again that this is a real pain. Accepting them deletes the item, so you are stuck losing it if you accept one you end up not being able to do.

Really not well designed and tough until you know most anything. I was in a guild house with most stations, but I was still missing many patterns and making sure it would work before accepting was quite risky even after multiple checks.

Jayne_Doe

While I don't think the current system is all that bad - I can and have crafted multiple master writ items to turn in all at once, without ever having made a mistake (except for a time early on where I accidentally equipped something I had crafted for a master writ, thus binding it to my account and thus couldn't turn it in), I do think adding in the ability to see whether you could craft the writ before accepting it would be a great QoL improvement.

We already have similar features with recipes/furnishing plans. If you're not at the right crafting level, it will tell you, in red text, that Provisioning Improvement 4 is needed, for example. Furnishing plans and recipes also tell you, before learning them, what the material requirements are and whether you have said materials or not. Would it be too far-fetched to have this same functionality with master writs? Simply red text for the motif/trait if you don't know it and a "requires x traits" in red if you don't know the required number of traits.

FlopsyPrince

Jayne_Doe wrote: »

While I don't think the current system is all that bad - I can and have crafted multiple master writ items to turn in all at once, without ever having made a mistake (except for a time early on where I accidentally equipped something I had crafted for a master writ, thus binding it to my account and thus couldn't turn it in), I do think adding in the ability to see whether you could craft the writ before accepting it would be a great QoL improvement.

We already have similar features with recipes/furnishing plans. If you're not at the right crafting level, it will tell you, in red text, that Provisioning Improvement 4 is needed, for example. Furnishing plans and recipes also tell you, before learning them, what the material requirements are and whether you have said materials or not. Would it be too far-fetched to have this same functionality with master writs? Simply red text for the motif/trait if you don't know it and a "requires x traits" in red if you don't know the required number of traits.

I wish I was as good as you. Though I have only had one mistake where I was stuck until I could finish researching nirn stuff on one item (leather gloves IIRC). I do mess up yellow enchants too often. Annoying.

katanagirl1

I made the mistake of opening a MW for which I didn’t have the style page known once, and I now go to the crafting station and set it up first to see if anything shows up red before accepting it.

I would instead prefer that the quest info for the writ that I see on the top right of my screen before I interact with the crafting station would still appear after interacting with the crafting station. Writing all that info down on little pieces of paper to make sure I don’t mess up is ridiculous.

I’m on PS4

Ardaghion

I made the same mistake once, it wasn't a high value MW so I deleted it rather than wait until I had the trait researched.

While I agree it would be nice if ESO warned you in some way, until that happens I just have some phone apps that are essential to keeping track of all my crafting information, traits, motifs, etc.

FlopsyPrince

Ardaghion wrote: »

I made the same mistake once, it wasn't a high value MW so I deleted it rather than wait until I had the trait researched.

While I agree it would be nice if ESO warned you in some way, until that happens I just have some phone apps that are essential to keeping track of all my crafting information, traits, motifs, etc.

I can barely tolerate the time needed to enter traits and that only when I need to craft something on another character to meet the research need. I can't see spending all the time manually entering motifs. They really need a better interface if they want us to use such apps. (Let the apps pull information, after connecting with our account most likely.)

Ardaghion

I don't know if there's an API for the ESO console account to allow such access, although they usually come with security concerns. Destiny had some 3rd party apps that allowed access to your account and character info, like managing armor, weapons, and moving items to and from the vault. It was a gamble since you were allowing a 3rd party app access to your account, including item deletion.

Still, I don't find it difficult using the ESO app and ESO Writ Master app; in the time it takes me to open/learn a motif, I can mark it off in the ESO app UI. I then have a list of all the known/unknown motifs. The only other step is pushing the motif list to the Writ Master app. It's not perfect as the Writ Master tracking app only works with a single crafter.

Sure, I'd like ZOS to make certain add-on like features available on consoles too but, until they do, I'd rather use an app vs. making more mistakes when opening a MW for something I don't know how to craft. Which reminds me, I need to find and buy the the Pyandonean Boot motif before I can do that lucrative 9 voucher MW.