* When crafting materials below your skill level (in other words, when there is a zero chance to burn ingredients) you now receive ZERO points. On the other hand, if you're doing materials way above your skill level, you receive X2 points.
Thinking about it this really bothers me...
I understand what you guys are trying to do but killing off skill gain entirely is very discouraging. Take myself for example. I spend many hours smelting copper ore into copper plates and craft up hundreds a day. According to this information that means I no longer will gain any skill points in terms of smelting, but I am not able to advance or switch to anything else that would give me skill gain seeing as I am still rather new and can't afford it. Besides not being able to afford it my income consist of having to craft circuits so I don't really have a choice other than crafting copper plates, for which I will now no longer be rewarded for in terms of advancing skill.
I would understand a drop in skill point gain by say half, but completely removing any skill gain for something I am 'forced' to do while new seems extremely unfair.
I was going to post lots of good things about the new system (and probably still will), but there's a real sticking point here, regarding copper. Thing is, one of the points was to make people give copper a rest (and let newbies have this market). Thus, if your whole game strategy revolves around copper, nothing I could tell you would sound right... So before we go any further, why do you feel you're 'forced' to smelt copper? (And I'm not trying to be a smart-ass here, I sincerely suspect the problem might lay somewhere else entirely).
I consider myself to still very much be a newbie and anything copper related is certainly our bread and butter; hence the feeling of being 'forced' (and yes this is for lack of a better word) to constantly work with copper. I've only been playing SG for about a month and a half. So in terms of income what I make is still rather minimal. I probably make more than most people that have been around the same amount of time as me but that is because I've worked hard at creating a market for my goods by interacting with other players, and of course the amount of time I spend on SG.
Anything other than the circuit blueprints cost an absolute arm, leg, and both kidneys to newer players including myself. Yes my Smelting skill is rather advanced but that doesn't mean I have the means to move away from crafting circuits. The reason I have advanced my Smelting in such a big way is because after acquiring a Trucker and through the relationships I have set up I am able to move away from mining and just do mass manufacturing of circuits. Without those relationships I would not be able to enter this very creative and rare 'job' that I saw an opportunity for. This does however mean that only a specific set of skills are used, but the same can be said of mining, hunting, support, etc. So why should I be negatively impacted for a perfectly valid job path within the game?
Either which way you go though, all of the components in SG will always have need of you to create things that require the smelting of copper into copper plates and from there into the various other components needed. So whether you are a new player or an advanced player that will always be a fundamental part of your crafting process so why not be rewarded for it in terms of skill, even if it is at a smaller rate as your skill advances? not being rewarded in any way at all in terms of advancement is not the way to go.