Description The /sample command is used in conjunction with a sample tool. When you /sample your character will take a sample of whatever resource you last selected from the sample tool UI. This allows you to perform sampling without using the sample tool UI. Command: /sample CommandQueue Entry: sample (8D0C1504) Radioactive Sampling Warning Prompt (NGE) Sample Radioactive Override (NGE) Survey Event 1 (NGE) Survey Event 2 (NGE)

Related Tags 50% This document has been partially completed. Ability This document relates to Player Abilities. Artisan This document is related to the Artisan Profession.

Ability Breakdown & Details

General synopsis:

Sampling is the starting means for crafters to obtain resources in SWG. Samples can be taken every 18 seconds and have varying yields depending on survey skill, resource concentration and whether or not a survey event occurs. The survey skill modifier controls the yields for each sample as well as having an effect on the number of resource concentration spots availible to the player.

Survey events are random occurances which allow the player to recieve a larger than average sample of resource if they are able to obtain it. These events pause the players current actions and come in two types. The first is an event which prompts the user if they wish to spend 300 action points to do a special sample on their current spot. If the player choose to do this then they initiate sampling. In this event, if the player does not obtain the concentration, they will recieve a normal sample's yield from the attempt. The second event prompts the player to choose whether or not they wish to go after a nearby resource. If the player chooses to do so, then a waypoint is generated and the player then has to move over to the waypoint and get within 5 meters of it to sample. The waypoint generated is always within a 50 meter radius from the players current location at the time of the event. If the player is unsuccessful with the attempt then they receive nothing. The size of the yield from a survey event is also dependant on the survey skill modifier of the player and thus a higher modifier will allow for a greater yield from the sample.

Detailed overview

From: The Dummies Guide to Understanding WTF Sampling is. Volumn I.

Normal Sampling

Normal sampling occurs when the sampling process goes on without prompting the user for input. Sampling starts with "You begin to sample for " and has a pause of 2 sec delay between returning the first sample success/failure message. From this point on, the interval between sample attempts is fixed at 18 seconds (30 sec in the nge). Sampling a resource returns yields based on the size of the concentration and which are also modified by the survey skill mod. An increase in the survey skill mod allows for greater yields to be obtained from sampling the same percentage concentration of resource. Hypothetical example: at survey 20, a player can sample anywhere from a 4-5 unit resource on a 90% concentration. At survey 100, the same player can obtain a 8-10 unit sample on the same concentration. There is also an increase in yields between concentrations using the same skill mod. For example, a 10% concentration at 100 survey skill may yield 1-2 units a sample, but on a 90% concentration the yield sizes are 10-12.

As alluded to earlier, Normal samples have a variance in sampling yields however this base range on the variance on the yields concentration increases through having higher survey skill mods.

Normal samples have a fairly common special event that occurs called a critical success or simply put, displays the message "You successfully recover a particularly rich sample!" This is not technically a survey event because it occurs automatically and the user is not prompted to make any sort of action. It is unknown to me atm if what affect survey mods have on this.

In regard to understanding the less common general messages, there are two in particular which relate to resource density. The first which is "%TO's resource density is too low to locate a sample here." deals with handling the situation where a player simply cant sample in that spot, regardless of skill level. This situation only occurs at the extreme lows of sampling, which are on spots that are at less than 10 % concentration.

The second is "Locating a viable sample of %TO here seems a bit beyond your skill." which is fairly obvious. This situation occurs when the player is attempting to sample on a spot at which their skill level is too low to sample on (although above the absolute minimum level aka greater than 10%). This situation occurs for example if a player at 20 skill is attempting to sample on a 10% concentration (requires 100 skill to even attempt). At level 20 survey, the player's min concentration mark is in the 30's so they have no chance at surveying a 10% concentration with that skill.

Among unknown factors..the event "You are only able to locate trace amounts of %TO." only happens when doing a survey on a resource around extreme low densities such as less than 10%. This seems to be chosen randomly along with "%TO's resource density is too low to locate a sample here."

Minimum sampling concentrations per skill range:

Skill        Min Concentration

20          32%?????
40          26%
60          21%
80          14%
100         10%

Survey Events

Survey events are events that pause the player's current sampling action and then prompt them to make a choice in order to continue with sampling. The choices made allow the player for an opportunity to collect higher sampling yields or allows them to begin sampling radioactives.

Survey events come in 2 forms, The first is the voluntary which consists of radioactive sampling. In order for the player to hand sample a radioactive resource, they must first 'unlock' the safety on their sampling tool. This occurs via a prompt that is issue when the player first attempts a sample on a radioactive material. If the player choose to unlock the safety feature, then they are free to continue sampling the radioactive material for as long as they wish. A new prompt occurs for each new radioactive that spawns. If the player chooses to go through with the override, then The server's response choice depends on the type of resource the player is attempting to sample. If the radioactive is of the known category then the server responds with "You have chosen to override safety measures and may now sample (insert radioactive name here)" Likewise if the player chooses an unknown resource the server simply returns "You have chosen to override safety measures and may now sample the chosen radioactive."

The second form of survey events are the random models. These occur in a random fashion while attempting to sample. The first of these is the waypoint node concentration event which prompts the user to make a decision as whether or not to pursue a potential resource node. If they choose to do so then a waypoint is added to their datapad which updates the sample waypoint to a new random location within a 50 meter radius of the player. The player has to get within 5 meters of the waypoint in order to successfully extract the concentration. If the player fails to get within range, they lose out on the survey attempt and receive nothing.

Ex of failure:

[Chat] 15:59:50 A waypoint to the concentration has been added to your datapad.
[Chat] 16:00:09 You begin to sample for Onoo.
[Chat] 16:00:12 You are only able to locate trace amounts of Onoo.
[Chat] 16:00:27 You begin to sample for Onoo.
[Chat] 16:00:30 You weren't close enough to the concentration to recover it.
[Chat] 16:00:30 You failed to locate a sample of Onoo.

The second type is the gamble node. This event prompts the user to spend additional action points to have a chance at acquiring a deposit right under their position. If the player accepts the challenge then they spend 300 action for a gamble attempt at the resource. Failure to obtain the node however, results in a 'normal' sample yield.

A survey event pops up 30 sec after the player begins to sample (i.e the interval that it would take to get results normally) . If the survey event is a gamble node survey event, the player's sample timer is reset after they make a choice. Meaning, if they choose to go for the node, they have to wait 30 seconds before the survey attempt begins, and if they choose to ignore it, they are set back to waiting 30 sec to do normal sampling again.

Normal and General Sampling messages

21   critical_success   You successfully recover a particularly rich sample!
8   density_below_threshold   Locating a viable sample of %TO here seems a bit beyond your skill.
7   efficiency_too_low   %TO's resource density is too low to locate a sample here.

19   no_inv_space   You don't have enough inventory space to carry the samples you found.




13   sample_cancel   You stop taking resource samples.
18   sample_cancel_attack   You can't take samples while under attack!
20   sample_empty   You are unable to find any more samples in the immediate area.
3   sample_failed   You failed to locate a sample of %TO.
17   sample_gone   Sampling process aborted because the sampling tool is no longer in your inventory.
4   sample_located   You successfully locate a %DI unit sample of %TO.

15   sample_survey   You can't take resource samples while you are surveying.

10   start_sampling   You begin to sample for %TO.
11   start_survey   You begin to survey for %TO.
14   survey_sample   You can't take a survey while you are collecting samples.
12   survey_waypoint   A waypoint to the highest detected concentration of the resource has been activated.
2   tool_recharge_time   You will be able to sample again in %DI seconds.
9   trace_amount   You are only able to locate trace amounts of %TO.
1   wrong_tool   %TO resources cannot be located with this tool. 

Survey Event Messages/prompts.

Surveyevent1


24   cnode_1   Ignore the survey device and continue working.
25   cnode_2   Focus the device on the concentration.
23   cnode_d   As you work, your survey device beeps and chatters.  You look down to find that it has discovered a nearby node of concentrated resources.
22   cnode_t   Survey Event
27   node_not_close   You weren't close enough to the concentration to recover it.
28   node_recovery   You successfully recover a particularly rich concentration of resource!
26   node_waypoint   A waypoint to the concentration has been added to your datapad.












surveyevent2


35   gamble_fail   You weren't able to recover the full concentration of resources.
33   gamble_no_action   You don't have enough action points to recover the concentration.
34   gamble_success   You successfully recover the concentration of resources!
31   gnode_1   Ignore the concentration and continue working.
32   gnode_2   Attempt to recover the resources. (300 Action)
30   gnode_d   It appears you have found a previously undetected concentration of resource.  An initial inspection indicates the cache is of high quality, but it looks like it may be difficult to get to.
29   gnode_t   Survey Event







Radioactive sampling

38   radioactive_sample_d   Sampling a radioactive mineral will result in harmful effects. Are you sure you wish to continue?
39   radioactive_sample_known   You have chosen to override safety measures and may now sample
37   radioactive_sample_t   Confirm Radioactive Sample
40   radioactive_sample_unknown   You have chosen to override safety measures and may now sample the chosen radioactive.

A few notes on Radioactive Sampling....

As mentioned earlier, sampling radioactives prompts the user to ask whether or not they wish to continue sampling on this resource. The reasoning for this is that radioactives can potentially cause ham debuffs, wounds and battle fatigue to the player if sampled by hand. The effects seem to be linked to the Potential Energy of the resource and/or class of resource. Data acquired seems to indicate that the type of harmful effects may be linked to the PE of the resource. The effects seem to differentiate at the 500 PE mark. At 1-499 PE, the player will experience a 'debuffing' effect in which their ham bars are reduced by 250 points per sample

Debuff effects

According to this thread the debuffing effect takes away 250 points from the total values on all ham bars. So if a player had 1000/1000 health then after the first sample that gains a 250 debuff, they now have 750/750. The second sample will reduce that again to 500/500 and so on, similar to how spice downers work. The player probably couldnt sample again if their ham got so low that the debuff would reduce ham to 0 but that is just an assumption. It may be possible that the debuff would also incapacitate the player by dropping ham down to 0 or below...The negative modifier on the debuff apparently displays in the player's character stat sheet. What is unknown however is if this is a cumulative effect, meaning does it take 250 each time you sample or if it is only once. I would imagine that it is a cumulative effect and takes the full 250 for each attempt. According to the poster, each effect lasts for 5 minutes. My guess is that these effects stack with their own individual timers for when they will wear off, so if someone gets a 5 min timer, then sample 2 minutes later, they will have another 5 min timer + the 3 min timer remaining on the first effect.

Wounding/battle fatigue effects

Sampling radioactives can also yield wounds and battle fatigue. The amount of damage for each sample would vary according to the PE of the mineral, the efficiency of the vein, and how many units you obtained from the sample. I have seen no formula for how to calculate the damage taken from PE however it is well known and documented that additional wounds/bf are acquired through certain effects such as diseases and mind heal actions.

I believe there is a base amount of wounds/bf acquired when sampling a radioactive above a certain threshold. The threshold mark i believe is at the 500 PE level where any radioactive that is 500 or higher will go through a conversion formula that applies the damage to the player's stats. I believe there is a base amount and this amount is further modified based on the player's current battle fatigue and also the PE level of the radioactive, therefore a high PE radioactive will give high wounds/bf and will give even more so as the player accumulates BF. A player who samples a radioactive can be incapacitated if their ham is reduced to below negative numbers. This incapacitation only in curred ( I believe) when the player had enough ham to sample, but not enough ham to cover the damage that incurred after sampling. It is probable that the player's wound stat got reset/regenerated to 1 to allow them to be recapacitated.

An example of how disease affects bf accumulation is from the following.

http://soe.lithium.com/swg/board/message?board.id=combat_medic&message.id=32566&query.id=32428#M32566

I did some experiments today with diseases, and it appears that the formulas involved with diseases and battle fatigue are:

Real tick damage = base tick damage * (1 + (target battle fatigue / 100))
(Is it just me, or does that formula show up a lot in this game.)

Battle fatigue incurred = base tick damage * .075

In other words, a master combat medic using a 100 effectiveness diseases will do to the target at:

000 BF: 200 wounds, 15 battle fatigue
100 BF: 400 wounds, 15 battle fatigue
200 BF: 600 wounds, 15 battle fatigue
300 BF: 800 wounds, 15 battle fatigue
400 BF: 1000 wounds, 15 battle fatigue
500 BF: 1200 wounds, 15 battle fatigue

As you can see, the damage from battle fatigue very quickly amplifies the wounds you incur. Keep in mind that this was using diseases (as opposed to normal attacks), and was done by a master combat medic. It is possible that the battle fatigue is linked to the base stats of a diseases ignoring the user's combat medic effectiveness. However, it is likely this formula generalizes to the amplification effect of all wounds (although I know there are other ways to incur battle fatigue than simply wounds). It is also likely the calculation to find battle fatigue incurred is based off of the base tick damage (as opposed to disease written strength), although we would need a non-master to confirm that.

Example of how heal mind works with bf/mind wound accumulation:

http://wiki2.swganh.org/index.php/Heal_Mind_%28Ability%29

Heal mind has a base wound amount of 40 to mind, focus and willpower and a base battle fatigue amount of 9. Battle fatigue on the combat medic will increase the number of wounds incurred for each heal.

base wounds * ((100 + BF) / 100)

You will incur:

000 BF: 40 mind wounds
100 BF: 80 mind wounds
200 BF: 120 mind wounds
300 BF: 160 mind wounds

bf incurred =

base wounds x 0.225

For Base amounts, Until more information is found I would recommend using the information made by this poster. Note that without knowing the PE of the sampled stat it is very difficult to ascertain the value of these base figures but without any other data to go by..it is only a start.

Nov 22, 2003
http://swgforums.swganh.org/viewtopic.php?search_id=2123085462&t=57570

Quote:
My guildmate swears this gives him wounds, but when I do it all I get is
negatives in the "modifiers" column, and no "wounds". I heal back to normal
fairly quickly afterwards as well..

Yup I just sampled radioactive last night, 1st time I got some damage, second
time 100pts of wounds to my HAM and 100pts of battle fatigue, 3rd time was 300pts
of wounds to my HAM and another 100pts of BF. Needless to say I stopped sampling
after that.

It seems to give me around 300-400 wounds per stat and a lot of battle fatigue
each time I sample.

Wound damage formula

Maybe our formula could look something like this:

If sampled resource = PE greater than or equal to 500 then do the following:

wound damage =

(base wound x ( 1 + (BF / 100 ) ) + ( 50 x (1 + (PE/1000) ) )

base wound = 50 base bf = 100

We could even go so far as to make BF a product of the PE as well. This could look like

bf incurred = 0.075 x PE to make the bf accumulation grow faster if the player is sampling higher PE materials. This bf incurred is on top of the base amount so, a player with 0 BF sampling 1000 PE material gets 175 BF on each attempt. A player sampling 500 PE only gets 137.

Ham reduction formula

If sampled resource is less than 500 then do the following:

ham reduction = 100 x (2 + (PE/1000)

So far that I can tell, BF does not accumulate when sampling on resources of less than 500 PE or has any effect on ham reduction values.

This formula would allow for a ham reduction of 249.9 (truncated to 250?) at 499 PE material and would allow for variance in the effect based on the PE of the sampled material, so thus lower PE yields lower ham reductions.

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