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Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Profession distribution
dnn_
Member, Alpha Two
We all know that people have preferences on what they would like to do, but it's also known that prices have a way of influencing people's decisions.
Even if the profession distribution starts with 1/3 of the people doing gathering, 1/3 doing processing and 1/3 doing crafting, eventually the market would drive people to another profession untill we have a sustainable distribution. This is relevant bcuz brings light into the "scarcity" of freeholds that people worries so much about.
That being said, what do you think would be the sustainable distribution for professions?
I'm thinking somewhere around 75% gathering, 20% processing and 5% crafting.
Even if the profession distribution starts with 1/3 of the people doing gathering, 1/3 doing processing and 1/3 doing crafting, eventually the market would drive people to another profession untill we have a sustainable distribution. This is relevant bcuz brings light into the "scarcity" of freeholds that people worries so much about.
That being said, what do you think would be the sustainable distribution for professions?
I'm thinking somewhere around 75% gathering, 20% processing and 5% crafting.
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It is also what will encourage the most open world pvp.
"Come join us as you wont like the taste of the Grapefruits we're throwing at our enemies."
"Never settle for what you think you know" - C. Krauthammer
My reasoning is most people just want to run around killing things and clicking on shinies and would rather not deal with the hassle of seeking out and purchasing the materials they need for processing or crafting. This sentiment also passes on to crafting as people would find it a hassle to find the specific components they need for crafts, however these people are doing this because they need to. Processing is the oddball because its a half-way point between just picking something up and crafting a finished product, so I could see this not being as popular as the other two.
I would say that it depends on the life time of the game and the profile of the players.
A player who will want to make money quickly will probably turn to gathering because he will not want to depend on other players the first few days to advance his profession, and therefore his ability to get rich.
A player who likes to invest in crafting, because it's a facet of the game that he likes, will choose the path that appeals to him the most. And chances are that crafting is the slightly more favored path. It's more demanding and the costs are higher (therefore more fun)...and it's sexier to create a weapon/armor than to pick up mushrooms in the mud.
But this type of player will be quite balanced I think, with possibly a greater appeal for crafting.
So in the short term, the Gathering will dominate with a good 60% I would say. Crafting at 25% and processing at 15%.
But in the long term, players who were looking for a quick way to make money will turn to the most profitable (Crafting in the first place probably). Especially since they will have the means to buy the components, which in terms of playing time, is faster and less dangerous than finding themselves in 1v1 in a freshly discovered mine and only asking to receive blows from a pickaxe.
And those who like to invest in crafts will favor, as in the short term, what is the richest in possibility.
So something like 35% for Gathering, 35% for crafting and 30% for processing.
But I could be wrong of course ! For exemple, processing being the profession that generally links the two others, it may be more popular and profitable than I think.
A lot of people are going to want to craft things for themselves, at least until they can't afford it (up to, maybe including, Master level). And they will buy what they can't make themselves.
Most people are going to do a little gathering here and there, just because it's easy and they can do it while adventuring. And there will be a huge spectrum of how much time, dedication, and risk people put into it. Some people will gather a ton, but mostly the common stuff they see on the side of the road. Others will go on dedicated gathering trips for valuable stuff. Others will be opportunistic and only gather rare stuff if they happen across it.
A lot of crafters will try to do their own processing, but will be limited by public processing stations (or family owned) if they don't have a freehold. Some traders will try to process their goods if it means cutting out a middle-man and increasing profits.
Top-tier artisans for all of these will be very rare though. And not just because of the huge investment of time and money to get to that artisan level. They will also need access to high-end stations/materials: Grandmaster crafters will need top-tier disciple-specific crafting stations from nodes (probably a scientific metro) and whatever is required to get grandmaster recipes. Grandmaster processers will need top-tier stations on a freehold, plus caravans to move all the materials to and fro. And grandmaster gatherers will need to do raiding/PvX to get access to super-rare Gathering nodes.
Overall, I'd say we see a fair number of people dabbling in crafting/processing, but not enough to affect the market. We'll see a ton of gatherers that do affect the market, but mostly for common/low-level materials. And we'll see a very small number of high-end artisans that control the top-tier market where most of the demand is.
We'll probably see some other niches that I didn't mention, too. Like a small cohort of mid-level consumable crafters, since that type of crafting will be consistently in-demand, while also being more accessible to casuals. And maybe a few "gold-rush" gatherers, who are not particularly high-level, but are willing to travel the world to get high-demand resources as they appear.
If you're a mid-lvl crafter - you'll have to buy all your mid-lvl processed goods, because you won't be able to make those yourself.
It's an interesting question, from most MMOs that I've played a lot of players "gather" because it's part of the early leveling and something you do whilst doing quests and exploring.
I've always thought the numbers tail off a bit for "processing" as unless you're going to craft with the mats, few people seem just to want to do that.
Crafting normally has a decent number of players because it can be a very good money maker.
It will be interesting to see what the numbers end up being, it's not often an MMO make you focus on one branch of crafting like AoC is doing.
You can have different artisan classes and professions on your alts.
*actually rereading the wiki it doesn’t directly say you can have different artisan classes on an account it specifically references professions, but language later said insinuates that artisan class is per character not per account. I would still bet it’s probably safe to assume you’ll be able to have different artisan classes on alts.
Alts will have the same opportunity, but shares certain things like storage space, citizenship, etc.
"Come join us as you wont like the taste of the Grapefruits we're throwing at our enemies."
"Never settle for what you think you know" - C. Krauthammer
This is basically how it happens in real life. Since they're a select few, they will be able to control the raw mats market. So gatherers won't be paid much.
Those who are master gatherers will belong to guilds, since they need those unique materials.
This is why I'm waiting to hear if they are actually giving resources a quality ala SWG. If so higher quality iron, copper, etc. will be sought after. I thought they touched on this ages ago, but haven't seen anything concrete. I made a ton of credits in SWG by hoarding quality mats and selling them when stuff on the market was crap. Just wishful thinking for the time being.
"Come join us as you wont like the taste of the Grapefruits we're throwing at our enemies."
"Never settle for what you think you know" - C. Krauthammer
I hope they don't give a quality to every mat, just because. Certain mats do need quality, like how gemstones may have a better clarity and wood may have more blemishes or knots. But things like Iron don't change. Iron is iron, and the quality is in the refinement (processing) into iron bars, not in the raw material itself. So I could see higher quality iron bars, but not higher quality raw iron. Now, certain iron ores may yield more iron than others, by being richer in iron, but that's quantity not quality.
That is true in this world, but remember this is the fantasy world of Verra. Who's to say that corruption or magic hasn't seeped into the lands and effects every gatherable?
"Come join us as you wont like the taste of the Grapefruits we're throwing at our enemies."
"Never settle for what you think you know" - C. Krauthammer
You know what...you've got me there. I rescind my comment.
I'm not holding my breath though. I think we would have heard more about this is it was going to happen.
"Come join us as you wont like the taste of the Grapefruits we're throwing at our enemies."
"Never settle for what you think you know" - C. Krauthammer