Artisan Classes, Crafting Professions, and the Player-Driven Economy. What would you like to see?

Hello, second ever post here.

I know that the game is only just going through alpha 1 systems testing and systems like these are not implemented yet.

I was reading through the wiki on crafting to see what it was about and how it would maybe flesh out in ashes so that it hits all of the marks it needs to and to see how maybe it would be able to interact with further iteration as the game progresses.

"Crafting and gathering is a very important component of the economy that players will have direct control over. Whether you wish to build a sprawling plantation around your house, or wish to travel the vast wilderness in search of treasure and resources.

The crafting systems and artisanship in general is pretty complex." – Steven Sharif

My question stands as it does from my title, what would you guys like to see?

How in depth should the crafting process be for items?

What should happen should we choose to attempt to craft things in bulk (Like nails for buildings for example)?

How scarce should resources be?

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Ebro Epaito

The truth is I would just like to be able to log in and do stuff my in and around my "house" . Plant, farm, cook,
maybe some tailoring, carpentry. It goes against the way they want the game to go but I hate being dependent on other players to have fun they way I want to have fun. I enjoy the persistent environment of MMO's not necessarily the Multi player interdependency of MMO's.

With that said, Id like to see a mixture of old school UO and Star Wars galaxies both great crafting MMO's IMO.

I don't really care about making a ton of money its not like I can use it in the real world.

Dygz

That doesn't go against the way Ashes is designed.

Markune

My question stands as it does from my title, what would you guys like to see?

Here are my big ticket items when it comes to crafting:

- Value/Balance (Equipment): There needs to be some value to the items we create. This can be cosmetic value for those that crave those things, but preferably it also involves value to the players. Imbalance in crafting tiers created by the lack of resources, a burdensome crafting system, or difficulty collecting resources can be an issue. Nobody enjoys being a lvl 18 Warrior still working on armor suited for a Lvl 1 Warrior because of a burdensome system. It also does a disservice to those that enjoy crafting only to realize top tier crafted material has limited use or value when compared to dropped or purchased material.

- Social Value: Some would argue they should be able to be a Cook, Armorsmith, Weaponsmith, Fletcher, Tailor, Alchemist, Astro-Physicist, High School Gym Teacher, and In-Flight Missile Repair Technician all at the same time. I think a little more nuanced approach is better, and to be honest it's one of the few things I think Blizzard got right with WoW. There is no reason people can't learn to Fish and Cook, but if you want to be a professional blacksmith probably not time to also be a professional tailor and Alchemist (as an example). Characters should need to make difficult choices in their development. It gives them depth and appreciation for the skills they do have going forward. DAoC had a unique system as well. You could be a Jack-of-All Trades up to a point, but could only specialize in one area to become a master. Forcing others to interact in trade and the economy adds to the social value of the game. I believe it's important.

- ROI (Return on Investment): This is somewhat related to the first bullet point, but i wanted to call it out separately. Players that focus on crafting should have benefits and returns for their "Masterful Creation". simple examples are:

A ) Increased reputation among their fellow trades folk. Blacksmiths receive discounts when purchasing material from a blacksmith vendor. Alchemists receive a discount when purchasing material from the Alchemy "guild", and so on.
B ) Increased coin when selling material back to their specific trade NPC.
C ) Increased quantities when harvesting material related to your profession that scales with your skill. Higher the skill as an Herbalist the more herbs you can salvage from a given plant.
D ) Racial bonuses to harvesting resources can be a way to add flavor, but care should be taken not to make the bonus so large it effectively excludes other races.

- Market: There needs to be an intuitive process to bring material to market for the player base to enjoy. Typically this comes in the form of an "Auction House". After that let the players set the market.

Pixierage

Ebro Epaito wrote: »

With that said, Id like to see a mixture of old school UO and Star Wars galaxies both great crafting MMO's IMO.

This, lots of this...

McShave

Everything crafted during the profession leveling process needs to be important, starting from the first item. I hate making 10 shirts to get a level up, just to vendor them because they are useless.

No one should be able to completely craft final items by themselves, from resources to final item. Someone needs to gather the resources, another player needs to turn these resources into usable components, then a crafter must take these components and make a final item.

To craft final items, like weapons and armor, caravans and furniture, and siege weapons and ships, the game needs involve many different components. Swords, for example, need hilt, crossguard, pomel, and blade.

Trade and economy need to be involved too. Different resources need to be gathered from different areas, to support travel and caravans/ economic growth.

If Intrepid can do the things I've mentioned, then maybe I will actually give a damn about professions in this game.

Azherae

I most want to see a system where the bulk of 'leveling crafting' for low levels involves things like building better Caravan Armor, Node Buildings, etc, so that most people are dabblers that reach base proficiency and know what some of the feelings are so that they can specialize in their Freehold, and also so that Alts can participate more meaningfully in crafting other than Gathering.

Beyond that, I'll always support the tiered system where the materials for the next good body armor involve using the previous one (like using Tier 1 crafted armor to make the Tier 3 crafted Armor, at least as an option).

SkylarckTheBotanist

With respect to becoming a Master Artisan, since there will likely be only a hand few of these Masters (for a specific artisan class) on the server. I would like the ability for others to easily find these Masters in order to request their help.

Specific Example: I want to be a Master Gatherer. I would like a Master Processor to know that they can reach out to me to gather specific resources. I don't know if that's done via 3rd party message boards, or maybe NPC's saying "Have you heard of the Master ____, on the North side of Town X".

But since Master Artisans are going to be rare I think their community influence should also be great. I look forward to hearing how Intrepid plan to balance that.

Dygz

Since we will know where influential people live in-game, it should be easy to connect with Master Artisans via a wide variety of social media platforms, including Twitter, Twitch, YouTube and discord.

Also. I would not be surprised to be able to search Server Webpages on the official Ashes Website for characters by Level, Profession, Primary Archetype and Citizenship - likely by Race and Religious or Social Org as well.

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