Jerry Cans and Quality of Life for Lantern Fuel

[northernshrike]

Jerry cans** and lantern fuel have durability. I understand why they do, but the durability of such is never a factor in most, if any, games. Because durability never lines up, it's hard to "merge" lantern fuels with one another. Yet at the same time, if I catch a fish with a Jerry Can on me, and cook said fish with a Jerry Can on me, the lantern fuel i extract from the fish is deposited straight into the Jerry Can itself.

 

To translate this into English: sometimes durability matters, other times it does not. It is unclear whether the durability applies to the oil or to the Jerry Can/Ever-Flame canisters as the game's feedback to the player sometimes suggests it's the oil (like with Ever-Flame canisters) and other times it's the Jerry Can (fish and scrapping lanterns that deposit fuel straight into the Jerry Can). Meaning the mechanic for oil is not consistent, and it creates a quality-of-life problem for the player: Ever-Flame canister spam. It is confusing that durability applies to Ever-Flame canisters, via its oil quality (i assume), but for Jerry Cans it doesn't. What is the difference between breaking down a storm lantern and receiving an Ever-Flame canister vs it being deposited straight into the Jerry Can? The answer is a different set of rules for each item. I can't merge 50% durability Ever-Flame canisters with 49% durability Ever-Flame, but if I have a Jerry Can none of that matters. I am over-explaining, but I am trying to be really clear here.

 

As a lovely quality of life change - make Jerry Cans (please see comment below, I know they are supposed to be permanent, but they aren't) permanent fixtures in the world. A tool like any other. Allow me to merge my Ever-Flame canisters into my Jerry Can, and have the Jerry Can, itself, have durability. As it stands right now, it is confusing, and requires me to make sure that I have a Jerry Can while I fish, or harvest a storm lantern, to avoid having my inventory spammed with Ever-Flame canisters of various degrees of durability. Jerry Cans CAN be heavy, and their favourable weight ratio and item consolidation ability means I have the incentive to carry something I don't need to perform an activity (ie: fishing) just so my inventory isn't spammed with 0.50 kg Ever-Flame canisters. In a game where Carry Weight is a resource, this is a quality of life issue. Something is just harder than it has to be. Means I can't catch as many fish as I want, or stay out as long - because I have to make sure I am lugging this can around because I can't squirt some Ever-Flame fuel into a Jerry Can after-the-fact.

 

**Please note: the wiki (https://thelongdark.fandom.com/wiki/Jerry_can) says that the Jerry Can is supposed to stay in your inventory when empty, but for me it never does and I have plenty of examples on my stream where it simply disappears when it reaches 0 fuel. This may be a bug, and it may be intermittent, but what I am asking, specifically and in addition, is for for the ability to merge Ever-Flame canisters into the Jerry Can while also having a persistent, functional, Jerry Can in the game world/player's inventory.

 

If this means Jerry Cans/Ever-Flame canisters need to be harder to find, I am alright with that.

 

I forgot to add: this is important because it is important to know the extent of your resources. Ever-Flame spam makes it harder to know how much oil you have.

Edited July 27, 2020 by northernshrike

[northernshrike]

I am sorry - but I also really want to add this example.

If I have a 0.11kg 49% durability Ever-Flame canister, and a 0.39kg, 50% Ever-Flame canister, I cannot merge both together because their durability is off. But what I can do is refuel my storm lantern, removing them from my inventory, and then if I have a Jerry Can, break down said storm lantern and it magically goes into the Jerry Can without a hitch.

 

I think that example sort of highlights, a bit, how odd and variable the rules around lantern oil truly is.

[ManicManiac]

This has been discussed a few times in the past.  I recommend the search function, because there has been some really good discussion about this topic in previous posts.

I echo what I've mentioned in some of those other posts: 

On 5/23/2019 at 11:38 PM, ManicManiac said:

Having a better fluid management system would be nice, specifically for lamp oil.

On 7/7/2019 at 11:32 PM, ManicManiac said:

There have been discussions on the possibility of a new fluid management system which would encompass all of those things.  It's been mentioned by Raph in a couple of the Milton mailbags; it's something that's on their radar.   

The following is a quote from Raph in Milton Mailbag, Dispatch #34:
"Yeah, we do need not just a fuel management, but a liquid management system/interface. We've discussed it a fair bit. Not sure where it sits in our internal roadmap but we'll get to it eventually."

[odizzido]

Yeah it adds a lot of inventory clutter. I think until the new system is added that they should all be at 100% condition to at least reduce clutter. It could be just like water is now.