| Harvesting |
| We all know (or at least accept) that 'harvesting' parts is a far too simplistic means of generating materials for crafting. There is no 'real' risk or 'effort' required to do this. It might take time, but that time can be effectively mitigated by being a higher level adventurer. As long as harvesting can be 100% mitigated by simply being high enough to grey out the mobs, harvesting will NOT be an effective means of obtaining what are in effect free resources. |
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| There is no real scarcity and harvesting skill really doesn't mean much other than when you can move to the next tier. Not to mention, how good can a bow be made from fallen and rotting tree limb? |
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| So the question begs to be asked, why does harvesting even exist? I think originally, it was there to attempt a time sink as a means for advancing trade skill societies. I could be wrong, but that seems to be the only real purpose at any time (now it is just a time sink). |
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| Then we can move to the placement of the nodes... There seems to be some real issues there, plus the ever present issues of too many bushes and not enough ore/roots/etc. Hasn't anyone else ever felt weird that these metal deposits just 'pop' out of the ground? Or that trees limbs are found in places where there are no trees? Or perfectly cultured crops are found in the middle of a swamp? |
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| So again, I must ask... Why is harvesting in the game? What point (other than a misused time sink) does it serve? |
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| Personally, I think it could be gotten rid of and replaced with some sort of faction oriented purchase system (similar to the societies of old, but based on the unified concept that is used today). This would give the crafters a better base for what their items SHOULD cost as well as the buyers a better idea of the value of the product. This would give you the base product (a complete elimination of mastercrafted, and before you skin me alive or dismiss this, read on, I have an idea for that J) |
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| Recipes |
| This is another area that I think needs to be addressed. I for one am disgusted that the great secrets of crafting are dropped from random wildlife that seems to have by happenstance eaten a book... I propose a different means, whereby one is taught the creation process through a quest. A trainer would have to deem you worthy of passing along this information to you. And the better the knowledge, the harder it would be to obtain the recipes. This along with the ability to purchase materials should make crafting a bit more streamlines and potentially remove the whole tiering effect we see now where different materials are used for each tier. In truth, metal workers would only likely work in a couple materials, while gem cutters wouldn't place quality tiers on a gem type, but rather on the gem cutting. By making the recipes use more materials in general, it would signify that the materials are more refined or pure (ie, a 10k gold ring is more than a 14k, 18k or 24k gold ring). But would also allow the developers to make foods that seem a bit more... normal, or even racial foods (speciality recipes for provies!). |
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| Crafting Process |
| I am willing to concede that if the products were worth something, that the crafting process probably isn't that big a deal. Whether it is single pass or subcombine oriented. |
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| Crafting Process |
| I am willing to concede that if the products were worth something, that the crafting process probably isn't that big a deal. Whether it is single pass or subcombine oriented. |
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| Imbuing |
| I'd like to see imbuing become a more important aspect of crafted gear. As of right now, the best any crafter can make (under my recommendation) is handcrafted. But what if that was the best 'base' we could make? It is in the Imbuing I'd like to see the armor be given it's kick as it were. Use it like an adornment system where the player could place a series of imbuements upon the armor. I don't have a set number in mind, it would depend upon the concept of the imbuements as to how many it would have and what the base armor had in abilities as well. But I think that this could be an excellent way that drops could be used to augment the crafted armor in a positive way without making the crafter overly dependant upon the adventurer. It would allow the two entities to work together to make a reasonable set of armor that can look good, be relatively unique and take time to complete. Ie, it would allow the armor to grow with the adventurer or more actively fit the playstyle of the adventurer. It still wouldn't be raid quality gear, but perhaps it could be good enough to get started in raiding (ie, legendary in quality), especially with the ability it would have to target your abilities. |
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| Conclusion |
| Yes, this would be a huge change to implement, but it is believed that crafting should be given serious consideration and time to become more than a sideline activity that one does when they are bored of adventuring. |
