Forums » Crafting and Gathering

Crafting: Impactful with Purpose

    • 11 posts
    March 2, 2022 12:26 PM PST

    **This is an opinion piece with my thoughts on how to make an impactful crafting experience**

     

    Prideful Crafting
    More often than not, Crafting is simply a means to an end. And even then, the end doesn't always justify the means. Typically what you see nowadays is Crafting falling by the wayside once a player gets to max level. They advertise their profession in a general chat of some town, in hopes to recuperate the costs of getting their Craft maxed out, or they hope to make some coin on the side to help pay for their own next big thing. In either scenario no one truly races their Crafting skill to max "just because". They want to get a jump on the competition and be the first to say "I can make this!".  And like leveling in MMOs, racing to the end typically leaves a player unfulfilled, wanting more. So how could we make the journey more impactful? How could we make the endgame Crafter feel a sense of purpose? Specializations and choice, throughout development. That would be my opinion.

     

    Specialization 

     

    There's no worse feeling, as a Crafter, than knowing anyone can craft anything. At that point, why even involve other players? Just make your own stuff. But by specializing yourself, you create a pocket market within the economy. It helps define your growth. Specializing brings choice to the player. Choice gives agency. Agency brings pride and purpose. Purpose impacts the world we game in. So what do I mean about Specializing, and bringing choice into Crafting? Here is an example.

    First Choice, pick a basic craft. Let's say for this example we picked Alchemist. 

    Tanner (Leather)
    Weaver (Cloth)
    Blacksmith (Metal)
    Carpenter (Wood)
    Apothecary (Herb)
    Alchemist (Magical)
    Cook (Food)

    Second Choice, pick a specialization. And this choice would be made after some level of skill has been gained. And for sake of example, I'm using my imagination on the actual crafting bits. I don't know what professions will be available or what exactly they can make. Would be nice to go outside the box a little bit with this.

    Alchemist - Breaks down magical properties of items | Can create spell scrolls & spell components

    Specialization Options:
         Spellcrafter - Adds magical properties to items (Fire proc to weapons)
         Artificer - Creates magical items. (Trinkets or toys)

    Once that Specialization has been chosen, any recipes that the other Spec might have are now out of touch. Because if you can craft everything, what's the point? Adding this extra level of detail feels good as a Crafter. It's a way to develop a character when you don't exactly feel like questing. It also presents a major milestone to give a sense of acheivement. 

     

    Interdependant Crafting

    Another part of Crafting that is great for in-game economies, as well as building networks, is interdependancy. Being able to forge a shield, would require a good of knowledge about the components to a shield. The wooden core may need the help of a carpenter to build. The leather strappings, a tanner. An Armorsmith may need to call on other crafters to finish the build. And this isn't a bad thing. Having that connection with others in the community or guild that can help facilitate these components builds a community. Especially if as we build components we are able to adjust stats in some way...

    Why reach out to others for pieces of your final build? Rather it's components to a shield as mentioned above. Or perhaps the Weaver supplies the Alchemist with papyrus for their scrolls. Or the Carpenter makes utencils for the Cook. Maybe the Blacksmith creates a buckle for the Tanner for belts. All of that is great, but why would we want to do that, other than the social aspect of it? Perhaps those that build the components have the opportunity to adjust stats. Back to the shield example above. The Carpenter creates a wooden core for the shield, but perhaps instead of adding CON (or HPs) they can get an additive from an Alchemist and have the shield give WIS (Mana Regen?) instead. Same can be said from the Tanner making the straps. Each component when crafting could have an additive slot that allows the Crafter the ability to adjust stats. This could even be specific to those that Specialize, or something that unlocks at a certain Crafting level.

     

    Materials Matter

    Just like the subject says, materials should matter. Its honestly boring when Crafting systems introduce a quanity = quality type parameter. "If I drop more iron into this sword build, it has a chance to be better". That's hogwash, and lazy, and as a Crafter there's nothing exciting or fun about that. If a recipe calls for 10 Iron Ingots to forge the blade of a sword, so be it. But what if it was better quality Iron? Rare (blue) quality? Would that increase the stats? Yeah, and maybe more. Introducing higher quality ingredients builds excitement for both the Crafter and the Harvester. And then of course the idea of additive ingredients that can alter the stats (or appearances) of gear would be great fun.

     

    Masterpieces

    Something I've always been fond of as a Crafter in the various MMOs I've played. Was the chance at making a "Masterpiece" in Dark Age of Camelot. When crafting a piece of gear, you'd typically make something with a quality of 95-98%. But occasionally, you'd create a Masterpiece with 99-100%. This did a couple of things, a slight boost in stats. And also it allowed for more Spellcraft gems to be attached to the gear. A more recognizable approach to this would be D&D, and "Masterwork" weapons. Which would add +1 to your attacks. The idea of something being crafted so well that it adds to its efficiency is the "WOW!" factor to Crafting. 

     

    • 2419 posts
    March 2, 2022 1:52 PM PST

    Don't take this the wrong way, but have you looked through any of the dozens of posts by Nephele about crafting?

    • 11 posts
    March 2, 2022 2:01 PM PST

    Vandraad said:

    Don't take this the wrong way, but have you looked through any of the dozens of posts by Nephele about crafting?

     

    I didn't go through all of the dozens of posts. Rather older or newer. This was meant to be a voice to what I think would be impactful to crafting, summed up. 


    This post was edited by NocturnalDemise at March 2, 2022 2:05 PM PST