User blog:SilverHexxitFights/Making a Quality Idea

Ounce for ounce, I have probably created more ideas than any single person on this wiki. A lot of them are complete piles of crap and I am ashamed of them.

That's not the point of this blog, though; the point is that I've shifted from quality to quantity. And I'd like to show you the steps in the creation of my newest idea. That's it; four steps that make the perfect idea. To summarize, I'll split them up here:
 * 1) Goal
 * 2) Inspiration
 * 3) Layout
 * 4) Fine-tuning
 * 5) Auxiliary ideas and review

Goal
The goal is an exact objective I'd like to complete. In this case, it is creating a summoner weapon between the chancy Slime Staff and harder-to-obtain Hornet Staff. Unlike with the gem staves or mineral bows, we have no summoning weapon that we can reliably obtain early-game.

Goal set: easy-to-obtain summoning weapon for early game.

Inspiration
This step can take a while. It's you deciding what you want to make your idea. I generally like to start with the basics and work my way down. So that's the inspiration done. We now have the following:
 * I want a staff type of weapon.
 * I want to be able to summon an early-game enemy.
 * I do not want to overlap with other ideas.
 * Making a Corruption weapon would overlap with the Scourge of the Corruptor and/or Eater's Bone.
 * I want the weapon to be forest- or Corruption/Crimson themed.
 * I don't want to create two weapons, so Corruption/Crimson are out.
 * I do not want it to be a rare drop from said enemy, so it should be craftable.
 * A monster that drops loot would be helpful.
 * Demon Eyes, with their signature drop Lenses, would be good, but are out of the question due to the Optic Staff.
 * I want the enemies to have a ranged attack, but not too strong.
 * That's it: goblins! They're fairly early-game and can throw/drop spiky balls, which are nice.

Goal set: Staff that summons goblins, available easily early-game.

Layout
This is an easy step. We want to decide the following for our weapon: We already know it has to be between the Slime and Hornet Staves, which deal 5 and 9 damage (plus poison) at a moderately fast speed.
 * Stats
 * Sprite
 * Obtaining

We already know it must be crafted. Spiky Balls are an easy candidate for this, as is Tattered Cloth. Perhaps it will be crafted with both - and some silver or tungsten is good, since goblins like shiny objects. Gems, too, but I don't want to put one in preference. Perhaps it can be either/or.

The sprite should be something goblin-themed. I'll talk to Hunt about this.

Fine-tuning
This is where we finalize everything. I've chosen the following for balance:
 * 8 summon damage
 * Can throw Spiky Balls, with a very small travel distance (about 10 blocks) that deal 5 damage.
 * Weak knockback.
 * Can, of course, follow the player - by using Rocket Boots.
 * Summons one minion unless boosted.
 * Said minion is as fast as the player and attacks with a speed of 10. In other words - very quickly. The Spiky Balls can be thrown with a speed of 18.
 * Crafted with 10 Silver/Tungsten Bars, 2 Amethyst/Topaz, 20 Spiky Balls and 5 Tattered Cloth at a Lead/Iron Anvil.
 * The sprite should be a silver and wood staff with a baby goblin (large head and small body) on top. The minion should be the baby goblin, which (as mentioned before) can don Rocket Boots.

Auxiliary ideas and review
As a review, how do I think this thing measures up? Sounds good! I like it.
 * It is goblin-themed.
 * It is available early-game without much grinding.
 * It is a summoning weapon.
 * It is stronger than the Slime Staff but weaker than the Hornet Staff.

Also, would I need to create additional ideas to have it work? My first thought was creating a Zombie Staff of sorts, but Zombies really have no common unique drops. I would have had to incorporate something (my Minecraft side said Rotten Flesh) to craft it.

Thank you for listening! I really hope this helps you create quality ideas. Also, tell me what you think of the Goblin Staff!