Decision record: lock out vertical integration by blocking super skills #26

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opened 2026-08-20 04:59:39 +00:00 by coilyco-ops · 0 comments

coilyco-ops commented

2026-08-20 04:59:39 +00:00

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Filed from the Sirens Discord #suggestions-feedback-bugs forum.

Source // https://discord.com/channels/1300204416229441587/1530967773172338799
Raised by // Elizabeth, 2026-07-26
Forum tags // mods (code)
Signal // 6 replies

Status

Recorded as a decision, not queued as work. The community position went against it and Kai stated a preference in the opposite direction. Filed so the reasoning survives the next time someone proposes it.

What was proposed

Elizabeth raised the concept without advocating for it, explicitly noting "This is not a path currently under consideration."

Sirens has a skill tree with prerequisites, so later skills are gated. What has gone unchallenged is each producer's ability to supply their own raw materials and components, since there is nearly no limit on how many additional skills one player accumulates over a cycle.

Some long-running servers do the opposite and block super skills entirely, so no skill benefits any existing skill. Her framing: what if a Mason could not make bricks, a cook could not be a butcher, and a butcher could not also be a hunter? Having played it, she found it "very disparate and unnatural coming from Sirens, however, it forces trade in a way we haven't experienced here."

Why it was rejected

reihtnog, with 2 thumbs up and a hundred, gave the player-experience objection:

While I like the idea of more trade I would hate to rely on others for everything. If I got on and there was nothing on the market for me to do my job I would get burned out quick

StiFFFy gave the small-server objection, which is the stronger one:

If for example you take what's currently happening, if Rei has IRL stuff happening means goodbye mechanics. None of our miners/smelters can take it, and with no mechanics progress halts completely. On a busy and full server, sure it might work. Smaller communities will utterly struggle

Elizabeth conceded the absurdity she had hit in practice: gathering to sell crops to the farmer in order to buy seeds to plant crops.

Kai's stated direction

If the skill flow adjusts in any direction, my pref would be for it to drift towards more vertical rather than less

With a process guardrail attached: "Not that I'm gonna do that without a whole poll and everything, but it's my preference".

What would reopen this

A materially larger and more consistently active player base, which removes the single-point-of-failure objection that killed it.

Filed from the Sirens Discord `#suggestions-feedback-bugs` forum. **Source** // https://discord.com/channels/1300204416229441587/1530967773172338799 **Raised by** // Elizabeth, 2026-07-26 **Forum tags** // mods (code) **Signal** // 6 replies ## Status Recorded as a decision, not queued as work. The community position went against it and Kai stated a preference in the opposite direction. Filed so the reasoning survives the next time someone proposes it. ## What was proposed Elizabeth raised the concept without advocating for it, explicitly noting "This is not a path currently under consideration." Sirens has a skill tree with prerequisites, so later skills are gated. What has gone unchallenged is each producer's ability to supply their own raw materials and components, since there is nearly no limit on how many additional skills one player accumulates over a cycle. Some long-running servers do the opposite and block super skills entirely, so no skill benefits any existing skill. Her framing: what if a Mason could not make bricks, a cook could not be a butcher, and a butcher could not also be a hunter? Having played it, she found it "very disparate and unnatural coming from Sirens, however, it forces trade in a way we haven't experienced here." ## Why it was rejected reihtnog, with 2 thumbs up and a hundred, gave the player-experience objection: > While I like the idea of more trade I would hate to rely on others for everything. If I got on and there was nothing on the market for me to do my job I would get burned out quick StiFFFy gave the small-server objection, which is the stronger one: > If for example you take what's currently happening, if Rei has IRL stuff happening means goodbye mechanics. None of our miners/smelters can take it, and with no mechanics progress halts completely. On a busy and full server, sure it might work. Smaller communities will utterly struggle Elizabeth conceded the absurdity she had hit in practice: gathering to sell crops to the farmer in order to buy seeds to plant crops. ## Kai's stated direction > If the skill flow adjusts in any direction, my pref would be for it to drift towards more vertical rather than less With a process guardrail attached: "Not that I'm gonna do that without a whole poll and everything, but it's my preference". ## What would reopen this A materially larger and more consistently active player base, which removes the single-point-of-failure objection that killed it.

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2026-08-20 04:59:39 +00:00