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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.
Crafting System - My thought's and Ideas
ArchivedUser
Guest
So I just wanted to start off saying that this is <em>my</em> opinion on how a good crafting system should work and some key features that need to be included in the game in order to make it work.
<strong> Overview of the system</strong>
1. One of the key features that will need to go into this system to make it work is this: <em>There must be an Item Decay System</em>. Not having an Item Decay System simply causes the market to be flooded with an excessive amount of items making a crafter's job, less meaningful and less profitable. This not only applies to gear but also to consumable items such as food or potion.
2. <em>All the professions are linked to one another.</em>
So, for example, say I'm a blacksmith getting ready to make a spear. Well, I need a wooden pole to put my spearhead on. I don't want just some stick from the woods. I need a strong wooden pole made out of some very
durable wood that I don't know how to work with. So I would go to a Woodworker and get the item required.
With this feature all professions will, more than likely, have substantial business because for other professions to
do their jobs it requires them to seek out other professions. Now you don't want to have to rely heavily on other professions to craft your items so you want to limit that to a degree.
3. <em>Ingredient Quality</em>
So what does Ingredient Quality mean? Say I have learned the plans to make a low-end sword. There are 4 necessary components to making this sword. 1: The blade 2: The hilt 3: The pommel 4: The handle. Now there are base requirements for this specific sword. I can't use iron for it because it doesn't meet the design requirements so I have to at least use steel for the blade. But wait I want to make this sword the best blade of its kind. So I decide to use the highest kind of ore available Titanium. And instead, I use the minimum requirements for the other pieces of this sword. Well, this sword would then have higher than normal qualities for attack damage compared to other swords made with base materials.
You can use this system to add a unique feature to the crafting system and add a lot of diversity to it at the same time.
4. <em>Progression as a Crafter</em>
All too often in modern MMOs in order to hone your craft all you need is money, time, and a city to sit in for hours. This system, I feel, is very flawed. Do I believe there should be a grind to crafting? Absolutely. Crafting should be treated as a type of side class. And with classes, you have to level up go on adventures and learn new techniques. The same should be in place for crafting.
If I'm a blacksmith and I want to learn a new style of smithing I should have to go to a faraway village and befriend the local populace in order to gain their trust and learn the secret to their craft. Or go to a volcano and fight my way in to reach a legendary anvil so I can work on it for awhile, enduring the local environment to grasp how to work with hotter metals. With this feature, it makes it so that crafting isn't something you just sit and spam item after item and eventually reach the zenith of your profession. It makes it so that you have to go out and explore. Have adventures. Which is why we play MMOs, to begin with.
5. I'm gonna go over the next few features briefly.
<strong> <em>Boss Items</em></strong>: Boss items are either broken forms of an item or uncompleted forms of an item that require you to find a crafter to finish or repair it. (Not all boss items but a good amount).
<strong><em>Soulbound Items</em></strong>: Mostly BoE(Bind on Equip) instead of BoP(Bind on Pickup) having this feature adds more demand for items.
<strong><em>Profession Stalls/Shops</em></strong>: Make it so that players can set up stalls in a marketplace of towns or cities to sell their wares either AFK or after hiring an NPC to sell them for them. This way you're not reliant on having a global auction house which has proven to be detrimental to a solid game economy system. Also for the crafters that have earned a lot of money allow them to buy buildings in town and turn them into shops where they can display their items. All their hard work should have some kind of reward. And with these shops, they can let other players put in basic orders to be automatically completed without the players' intervention by their apprentice. Like basic materials needed for other professions for example.
<strong><em>Make them needed in the game world</em></strong>: So say a city gets sieged and walls are destroyed. After the attackers are fended off woodworkers and blacksmiths can work to rebuild the walls. Is the army gearing up for war? Tailors and Leatherworkers can help make items for the war. They're going to need mounts for the war so tamers can go out and tame them.
6. <em>Gathering Professions</em>.
So a lot of people might not agree with this but I'm going to go ahead and say it. Everyone should be able to gather items. You shouldn't need to be an expert to skin a deer, pick a flower, or hit a rock with a pick. <strong>Everyone should be able to get at least base level ingredients</strong>
One reason for this is if all the professions are going to be linked to each other then letting everyone be able to gather means that people can't exploit others for the items that their profession has to make for their new creation.
Also with this system you can make it so that if the material is related to your profession strongly you can get more of it. Some examples tailors can get more cloth from clothing scraps from enemies. Blacksmiths get more ore from mining the same resource that someone else mines. Woodworkers get more timber.
You can also make it so that for really special ingredients say a special ore. Only blacksmiths have the skill to collect it.
7. <em>Make the items and services of a crafter be needed</em>.
For example, I can go into town and buy food from a tavern or bakery and load up for my adventure but the food I get from there is very basic and doesn't recover my health much at all. But if I go to a player chef's stall or he himself, I can buy food that will completely restore my health and maybe even give me a buff if I want to dish out a bit more coin. If I want to get my gear repaired I can go to a basic blacksmith shop in town and have them repair it to the minimal amount or go to a player shop or he himself and have him repair it to the max.
Using this system makes it so that: Player crafters are needed, It encourages players to become crafters themselves, and greatly boosts the economy of the game.
<em>Ideas for professions</em>
1. Alchemists: Makes potions (restore health/mana),/Dyes/ Elixirs ( Long time buffs)/Cures.
2. Blacksmiths: Weapons/Armor/Nails for woodworkers/Horseshoes for tamers/
3. Tamers: All mounts have to be tamed by them/Pets have to be tamed by them/Cattle for food can be raised by them/
4. Tailors: Makes all cloth wares for priests and such/ Makes all undershirts/Makes ropes needed to make ships
5. Leatherworkers: Saddles for tamers/Hardened Leather Armor/Leather straps for siege weapons
6. Scribe: Makes more detailed maps/Give players tattoos/Make scrolls for spell use/Engrave designs on armor
7. Woodworkers: Bows/Staves/Wands/Siege weapons/Boats/Player stalls/
8. Cook: Food (Obviously)
9. Engineers: Guns/Cannons/Traps/Devices
10. Imbuing: Add special qualities to gear/Repowers magical items
11. Jeweler: Necklaces/Rings/Earrings/Gems
I'm sorry for this wall of text but I believe this adequetly covers the ideal crafting system for MMOs. For those of you that read it all the way through I appreciate you taking the time to do so and I would love to hear everyones thoughts whether you read it through or not. I also plan to be doing similar posts for other systems in the game such as combat questing housing etc so if you'd like to hear more about my ideas on those sort of things keep and eye out or feel free to message me!
Edited for readability. (1:27pm 4/20/17)
<strong> Overview of the system</strong>
1. One of the key features that will need to go into this system to make it work is this: <em>There must be an Item Decay System</em>. Not having an Item Decay System simply causes the market to be flooded with an excessive amount of items making a crafter's job, less meaningful and less profitable. This not only applies to gear but also to consumable items such as food or potion.
2. <em>All the professions are linked to one another.</em>
So, for example, say I'm a blacksmith getting ready to make a spear. Well, I need a wooden pole to put my spearhead on. I don't want just some stick from the woods. I need a strong wooden pole made out of some very
durable wood that I don't know how to work with. So I would go to a Woodworker and get the item required.
With this feature all professions will, more than likely, have substantial business because for other professions to
do their jobs it requires them to seek out other professions. Now you don't want to have to rely heavily on other professions to craft your items so you want to limit that to a degree.
3. <em>Ingredient Quality</em>
So what does Ingredient Quality mean? Say I have learned the plans to make a low-end sword. There are 4 necessary components to making this sword. 1: The blade 2: The hilt 3: The pommel 4: The handle. Now there are base requirements for this specific sword. I can't use iron for it because it doesn't meet the design requirements so I have to at least use steel for the blade. But wait I want to make this sword the best blade of its kind. So I decide to use the highest kind of ore available Titanium. And instead, I use the minimum requirements for the other pieces of this sword. Well, this sword would then have higher than normal qualities for attack damage compared to other swords made with base materials.
You can use this system to add a unique feature to the crafting system and add a lot of diversity to it at the same time.
4. <em>Progression as a Crafter</em>
All too often in modern MMOs in order to hone your craft all you need is money, time, and a city to sit in for hours. This system, I feel, is very flawed. Do I believe there should be a grind to crafting? Absolutely. Crafting should be treated as a type of side class. And with classes, you have to level up go on adventures and learn new techniques. The same should be in place for crafting.
If I'm a blacksmith and I want to learn a new style of smithing I should have to go to a faraway village and befriend the local populace in order to gain their trust and learn the secret to their craft. Or go to a volcano and fight my way in to reach a legendary anvil so I can work on it for awhile, enduring the local environment to grasp how to work with hotter metals. With this feature, it makes it so that crafting isn't something you just sit and spam item after item and eventually reach the zenith of your profession. It makes it so that you have to go out and explore. Have adventures. Which is why we play MMOs, to begin with.
5. I'm gonna go over the next few features briefly.
<strong> <em>Boss Items</em></strong>: Boss items are either broken forms of an item or uncompleted forms of an item that require you to find a crafter to finish or repair it. (Not all boss items but a good amount).
<strong><em>Soulbound Items</em></strong>: Mostly BoE(Bind on Equip) instead of BoP(Bind on Pickup) having this feature adds more demand for items.
<strong><em>Profession Stalls/Shops</em></strong>: Make it so that players can set up stalls in a marketplace of towns or cities to sell their wares either AFK or after hiring an NPC to sell them for them. This way you're not reliant on having a global auction house which has proven to be detrimental to a solid game economy system. Also for the crafters that have earned a lot of money allow them to buy buildings in town and turn them into shops where they can display their items. All their hard work should have some kind of reward. And with these shops, they can let other players put in basic orders to be automatically completed without the players' intervention by their apprentice. Like basic materials needed for other professions for example.
<strong><em>Make them needed in the game world</em></strong>: So say a city gets sieged and walls are destroyed. After the attackers are fended off woodworkers and blacksmiths can work to rebuild the walls. Is the army gearing up for war? Tailors and Leatherworkers can help make items for the war. They're going to need mounts for the war so tamers can go out and tame them.
6. <em>Gathering Professions</em>.
So a lot of people might not agree with this but I'm going to go ahead and say it. Everyone should be able to gather items. You shouldn't need to be an expert to skin a deer, pick a flower, or hit a rock with a pick. <strong>Everyone should be able to get at least base level ingredients</strong>
One reason for this is if all the professions are going to be linked to each other then letting everyone be able to gather means that people can't exploit others for the items that their profession has to make for their new creation.
Also with this system you can make it so that if the material is related to your profession strongly you can get more of it. Some examples tailors can get more cloth from clothing scraps from enemies. Blacksmiths get more ore from mining the same resource that someone else mines. Woodworkers get more timber.
You can also make it so that for really special ingredients say a special ore. Only blacksmiths have the skill to collect it.
7. <em>Make the items and services of a crafter be needed</em>.
For example, I can go into town and buy food from a tavern or bakery and load up for my adventure but the food I get from there is very basic and doesn't recover my health much at all. But if I go to a player chef's stall or he himself, I can buy food that will completely restore my health and maybe even give me a buff if I want to dish out a bit more coin. If I want to get my gear repaired I can go to a basic blacksmith shop in town and have them repair it to the minimal amount or go to a player shop or he himself and have him repair it to the max.
Using this system makes it so that: Player crafters are needed, It encourages players to become crafters themselves, and greatly boosts the economy of the game.
<em>Ideas for professions</em>
1. Alchemists: Makes potions (restore health/mana),/Dyes/ Elixirs ( Long time buffs)/Cures.
2. Blacksmiths: Weapons/Armor/Nails for woodworkers/Horseshoes for tamers/
3. Tamers: All mounts have to be tamed by them/Pets have to be tamed by them/Cattle for food can be raised by them/
4. Tailors: Makes all cloth wares for priests and such/ Makes all undershirts/Makes ropes needed to make ships
5. Leatherworkers: Saddles for tamers/Hardened Leather Armor/Leather straps for siege weapons
6. Scribe: Makes more detailed maps/Give players tattoos/Make scrolls for spell use/Engrave designs on armor
7. Woodworkers: Bows/Staves/Wands/Siege weapons/Boats/Player stalls/
8. Cook: Food (Obviously)
9. Engineers: Guns/Cannons/Traps/Devices
10. Imbuing: Add special qualities to gear/Repowers magical items
11. Jeweler: Necklaces/Rings/Earrings/Gems
I'm sorry for this wall of text but I believe this adequetly covers the ideal crafting system for MMOs. For those of you that read it all the way through I appreciate you taking the time to do so and I would love to hear everyones thoughts whether you read it through or not. I also plan to be doing similar posts for other systems in the game such as combat questing housing etc so if you'd like to hear more about my ideas on those sort of things keep and eye out or feel free to message me!
Edited for readability. (1:27pm 4/20/17)
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Comments
<a href="https://www.ashesofcreation.com/forums/topic/item-decay-2/">My Item Decay Topic</a>
<a href="https://www.ashesofcreation.com/forums/topic/crafting-vs-gear-dropped-from-bosses/">Crafting vs Gear Drops from the bosses</a>
I have something about that that I got from a manga "To aru Ossan no VRMMO"
In that manga he combines to items to create a new one, so if u have boss gear then as a crafter of high skill u can combine gear or modify it to get better gear on a high risk and if u fail u can get weaker gear, wrong stats or lose all.
That will put crafters in a high place as they will be the best way to get a little better gear or look on the gear if that will be a thing.
But I do not know how much u can create in a MMO and make it work so this is just some of my ideas