Mineralogy: Loot and You

So you want loot and you want it now. We understand. Although you can’t get your loot now, you can take steps towards getting it at any time. This page will go over the what, how, when, and where to get your shiny pixels, and we leave it up to the reader to decide the why.

Those who frequent other servers will notice that we are taking a radically different approach to how every other server has dealt with this facet of MCRP life, with inspiration taken from real-life mining in times similar to our setting. The goal of this unique take is to enhance RP and immersion while decreasing aimless ore hunting, RNG, and camping ore locations.

Ore Distribution and Finding a Mine Location

So you are a prospective miner, wishing to acquire the most rare of materials such as Ardus or Perunite, eager to get your hands on the coveted resources. Before that can be done, one must consider where the minerals are located, as well as in what amounts. BDcraft, players may prospect the land to find areas of which there could be high concentrations of ores. Characters with a keen eye and an ear to the ground will find subtle hints and tell-tale signs of ore locations, hidden in plain sight. Wherever a character may desire can be prospected however, with each area having unique compositions of minerals beneath the earth. After conducting their research or potential experiments to determine the composition of the stone (which they may or may not accurately ascertain) the prospector will need ample rest, with the process taking the span of a day to perform energy-wise, and only being able to be done twice a week. This strenuous work doesn't guarantee results either, as the only confirmation the character will receive on the composition of their study is what they deduce themselves; if they are to be keen on the ample hints scattered throughout the land, they could be moderately close in their estimate however.

There are 4 metrics to be evaluated when prospecting a potential mine; how much ore is there, how dispersed is the ore, how rich is the ore, and what ores can be found. 

Constructing a Mine

Once a prospective plot of land is thought to be worth the investment, construction of a mine can begin. The building of a mine is no simple task, and requires the labor and capital of a sizable group, often reserved for cities or larger settlements. From working pulleys and levers to move ore out of the depths to piping systems to move groundwater out of miner’s ways, to creative issues with air deprivation, all these can be considered IRP for the characters to construct the mine. The more effort gone into building a functional and effective mine, the more dividends the potential mining foreman will see with their crew, with less cave-ins, less flooding, and other mining issues. Once a group has constructed their mine successfully and paid a very sizable amount of coin for various startup costs, they are to contact staff, who will appraise the mine’s construction. The staff have an internal guideline they follow, affecting the success of the mine itself and structural integrity, but good guidelines for the players are to have builds and functions that make sense IRP, such as those listed above like pulley systems for ore transferring, supports, carts for hauling, lanterns, washing mills, stamping mills, ect. Upon the approval of a functional mining design, staff will give the go ahead, and the first mining session can be scheduled. 

[insert mine example]

Mine Tiers

Mines, once built, can be further developed. One can spend money, labor and RP to delve deeper into the earth, going from a surface cut mine, to an average mine, to a mine reaching far into the depths. Maybe you wish to invest in better water pumping systems to allow further depth exploration. Many options are available. We classify our mines into 3 tiers. Poor, Moderate and Rich mines. Staff carefully chooses the quality of the mine based on a great number of factors, with the 2 largest being the construction quality, and the available resources nearby. You may build the greatest mine to ever delve into the land, but if there are no deposits of Naglurite Ore that you intended to mine below you, you will instead be getting a large amount of some other mineral. You could also have the shoddiest mine to ever shamble, full of broken gears and floods and dust, but be set upon a veritable bounty ripe for plundering. 

All Poor mines have a 50% decrease in base yields.

All Moderate mines are the base yields, and may feature a 1% chance to gather a rough gemstone of the appropriate type, as well as Elemental Crystal Shards.

All Rich mines have a 66% increase in base yields, and may feature a 5% chance to gather a rough gemstone of the appropriate type. All rich mines have a 1% chance to find a rough diamond. 

Mining Ores

If everything goes to plan with the extensive construction of a mine, the prospective miners may begin breaking the earth open to plumb its riches. Within these mines will be the appropriate distribution of the minerals (and hopefully ores) that the prospector may or may not have accurately found. The process of mining is unique on BDcraft, such that resources aren’t as abundant as one might think. A miner excavating in a properly established mine of typical richness could expect a day’s work to bring up 1 ingot (10 pounds) worth of iron ore for example. The more rare materials would have even lower yields, driving the work of the individual even further up in requirements for an ingot. However, this is offset by the always-open nature of our mines. Simply open a ticket in game or on the discord, and a staff member will oversee the roleplay. For less-exotic and common materials, you will only need to do the roleplay once, and then you will be vetted to mine certain simples ores without staff supervision at your convenience. 

Once the roleplay is approved, you will be either 1. given a number of ore pieces based off of the amount of ore, quality of RP and quality of the mine, or 2. in the case of more common materials, be added to the Permission node to begin mining ore on your own. 

For Staff Grade Ores, group mining is incentivized, as the mines within BDcraft do not go on cooldown or have timers for everyone, just individually, and are always available for mining, so long as a staff member is available to read your initial RP and your personal CD is up. Should a nation desire to employ their entire citizenship and strip a mine of all of its resources in a week, they are able to do so, having a veritable bounty of ores at their disposal. However, mines in BDcraft do run dry. For Special Grade mines, the ore node has a 1/120th chance of downgrading. If it is a Rich Ore Node, it will downgrade into a Moderate, and then a Moderate into a Poor, and a Poor into nothing. Ore veins dry up, stones no longer hold as much as they used to, and mining foremen running the mine are forced to either abandon the mine and start up a new mine elsewhere, or they may dig deeper below, where minerals seem to be more abundant…

Daily Mining System

If your mine is successful, or you have access to another's successful mining operation, you can collect a daily amount of ores from the mine itself. This is done by running into the mine itself and mining the block.

To get access to a mine, you must ask (in roleplay of course) the owner of the mine; if they allow it, they inform staff, who then give you permission to collect, AFTER you yourself perform a staff-overseen mining session. Hope you know how to swing your pickaxe! You can be on as many mines as you want, and they all have their own cooldowns and loot tables. When you have mined, you are put on a 20 hour cooldown for that specific mine type. This also means that if someone breaks into your mine, they can plunder your riches and risk the chance of downgrading your mine without you knowing until it's too late!

Staff Grade Minerals

All of the daily mining system is solely for minerals of Special Grade. Staff Grade minerals require a mine to be set up as usual, but all mining sessions must be overseen by staff. You will know if your mine is able to harvest Staff Grade minerals at the outset of your first mining session, and very rarely when upgrading your mine (if possible) to the Rich mine quality, though no guarantees. As stated above, there are no cooldowns on mining these mines just like the Special Grade Mines, besides your own personal CD of 20 hours. But be wary, as these mining events are far more dangerous than Special Grade Mining, and the consequences of your mining is left up to the Staff running the event.

Yay, Loot!

You have your shiny pixels at long last; now what? Well, that part is up to you; do you sell your hard earned ore for cash, or perhaps hire a blacksmith to refine it for you? Maybe you even dare to brave refinement yourself, or perhaps you forgot this altogether and see if the material has any alchemical use? The choices are yours; it’s your loot now, after all.

For crafting, check here: Metallurgy