Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Crafting Gear/Progression
Johnny7
Member, Alpha Two
My first post! 
I love crafting! But I find it quite poorly done in most games. Usually it becomes irrelevant so quickly and its really disappointing.
I'm not a huge fan of Final Fantasy 14, but one thing that really kept me coming back was their crafting system.
You had hundreds of crafting skills you needed to use to actually craft stuff and to make things even more exciting you had crafting GEAR! With their own stats that helped you craft higher level gear with more ease and sometimes even better quality!
The same applied to Gathering classes, and i found it really fun and unique that players that actually liked gathering/crafting had their own gear to collect.
I haven't come across much info on Crafting/Gathering in the game but I really do hope we have gear associated to our professions!
What are your guys thoughts?
I love crafting! But I find it quite poorly done in most games. Usually it becomes irrelevant so quickly and its really disappointing.
I'm not a huge fan of Final Fantasy 14, but one thing that really kept me coming back was their crafting system.
You had hundreds of crafting skills you needed to use to actually craft stuff and to make things even more exciting you had crafting GEAR! With their own stats that helped you craft higher level gear with more ease and sometimes even better quality!
The same applied to Gathering classes, and i found it really fun and unique that players that actually liked gathering/crafting had their own gear to collect.
I haven't come across much info on Crafting/Gathering in the game but I really do hope we have gear associated to our professions!
What are your guys thoughts?
2
Comments
Almost all gear will be crafted. Monsters drop materials vs completed gear. Most gear will not be soul bound.
I agreed with you crafting in most games dies off really early.
I hate instanced content. It removes elements from the open world, which is what mmos are about.
I like it when players go around looking for ores. This could be done by simply striking stones with pickaxes and getting the loot, or maybe even with killing a stone themed boss and looting massive amounts of ores, or rare ones.
I dont like when you have to spend time and skills and playing minigames to farm ore.
I dont like complicated tool systems, it makes it feel more like simulating a real life tradie and I'd rather spend my time simulating an adventurer and a warrior that finds things he can turn to gold.
Same for leather, wood, herbs, glyphs(gear bonus) and cooking.
Crafts should take time to gather the ingredients and be sold for GREAT profit.
I dont like games like eso or ffxiv or even bdo that you produce MASSIVE amounts of items to sell and compete for SMALL MARGINS.
I dont like auction houses for the same reason.
Since AoC has open world PvP and no p2w I will still play regardless what I like and dont like about crafting minigames.
I also dislike ESO in which crafting is a way to sell DLCs.
That game has 300 sets, half of them craftable, only less that 10% of all gear being viable for end game.
For me a crafted set of 5 piece of Doom Plate armor should take a lot of open world gathering of materials. The set should carry me for a month or two.
Raid bosses should have a RARE chance to drop the SAME gear set for example.
Crafted gear and boss drops should be equally STRONG and useful.
One path takes organisation and open world gatheting, the other should take organization and open world raiding.
Legendary gear is a different topic altogether imo.
I 'think' I heard them say there will be gear associated with professions - i.e. gear to help you do your profession better.
There are also different backpacks (e.g. to help gatherers) - https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Backpacks
One of the things I liked about GW2 was the crafting, it did have its problems, but I've yet to come across a system that didn't. The speed up while crafting loads of components was great, while it may be realistic having to sit looking at a screen waiting for each iron bar to take several seconds to create just gets boring. However for me the best thing was that some of the best gear in the game was craftable. It may have required loads of materials, but at least they were all available in open world, and tradable.
I do hope that AoC also goes along this route and doesn't limit the best gear to only those that raid.
The whole open-pvp system is balanced around the idea that "you can be attacked, your attackers will be punished (somewhat) if you don't fight back, but you're actually incentivized to fight back (reduced death penalty)" - the precondition being you're able to fight back, in most cases.
And gatherer gear kinda takes away the fight-back factor.
It's been mentioned that gathering professions will be able to create their own tools though.
I totally agree, if gatherers need specific gear for gathering, then they will just be easy targets.
In terms of tools though, I would only really like the idea if we have a specific harvesting tool slot. If we have to equip these tools in weapon slots, that would go badly for gatherers.
agreed. I'd tools (even multiple ones) that have pogression and nees to be maintained.
Dedicated gear you have to equip is a bad idea in a ow pvx game
From what I have read on the wiki, saw on YouTube videos and found on the official site:
Nothing is final... And many things will be revised after testing A1,A2, B1 etc...
(Yeah that pretty much sums it up no matter how general it may sound... Which is actually very promising!)
Personally if we are to take seriously developers' comments that this will be a world where you can be an alchemist, a fisherman, a gatherer a blacksmith etc.. without the necessity to focus on the rest of the game aspects, then I don't see how this is achievable without skills, tools, accessories, even body gear, stemming from the needs of your occupation!
I.E: aprons for blacksmiths scaling with the fire intensity required for different items to smelt.
Sickles for different types of herbs plants flowers.
Or even water backets for animal breeding so on and on...
I mean what is the point of me joining the game when I want to play as a specific profession first if I don't have such items...
Would I join a PvP mmo that has nothing but 1 sword type and that's it? Definitely not.
So to conclude : If the Devs plan to execute what they advertise (judging by what I 've see untill now they are) AOC is sure to have such items, as the crafter's profession in this game is highly valued due to the economy model and may even be paramount to have players who focus solely on that aspect of the game!
Damn..., look at my new furnace!
It's such a beauty!