How to make Crafting meaningful. my CRAFTING idea for ESO

How to make Crafting meaningful. my CRAFTING idea for ESO

This is my longish post with many ideas I believe would make crafting a vital part of the game, even at end game as well as adding other great features like immersion, social interaction and just plain makes sense. It's probably too late for anything to change but maybe if I get in the beta early they could implement some of these if they're good. Please read everything before commenting and I hope you enjoy, I was excited just thinking of the possibilities.


Before I talk about crafting we need to lay the foundation

- - DURABILITY - -

A lot of games have this in different variations and some people don't like it BUT it gives some needed mechanics.

1 - Gold sink. hate them if you want but without it the economy would be ruined entirely. I'd rather have a gold sink that makes sense and isn't immersion breaking. If I swing my sword 1000 times why doesn't it get more dull and lose some of its damage. (gold sinks are another topic entirely but we need them)

2 - It gives people a reason to go to town or keeps in AvA . This is where people can meet and socially engage. If everyone was in the wilderness 100% of the time you wouldn't get that feeling when you see hundreds of people running through the streets of a living city.

3 - WHERE PLAYER CRAFTERS and my idea COME IN - They are the only ones who can get your weapons and armor back to 100% durability and effectiveness. Small town NPC crafters might be able to get your stuff up to 85% and the great smiths in big cities up to 95% but if you want your stuff to be the best you've got to find a real person and hire them to fix you up. That's the whole point of playing a Massively Multiplayer Online game right, other people. (or become a crafter yourself, a reason to be a crafter? what a novel idea!)

- This creates a ton of social interaction. "LF master weapon smith to repair 3 items. 2gold tip pst" I'd much rather see this than people trolling because there's nothing better to say. Meet new people, be part of a community & make some money as a crafter it all adds to a living breathing world.


- - the nuts and bolts - -

- Each items stats are affected by its durability. IE: 10dps weapon at 85% durability = 8.5 dps

- Balance mobs and the world around players being at 90-95% so you don't feel the need to repair every time you lose 1 durability (that would be annoying) and have field kits at a lower amount like 75% crafters can use so you don't have to run back to town as often.

- The higher lvl and quality the item is the longer it lasts before losing durability but costs more to repair. IE:
lvl 2 blue rarity sword loses 1 durability every (5min play time) costs 1 copper to repair
lvl 50 yellow rarity sword loses 1 durability every (90min play time) costs 1 gold to repair

- If you die you can respawn at a wayshrine with a 1% durability loss but if you rez at your body its 5% (already confirmed by Dev's that you can rez at wayshrines or at your body. Just adding durability to that mechanic)

- AvA keeps could be upgraded with crafting stations so you can keep your weapons in tiptop shape. This gives a good fallback position and adds more reason to want to hold keeps. I can just picture my guild upgrading a keep and someone saying "Hey thanks Acolytes for the smithy" more social interaction, affecting the game and world around you = good stuff

- Each profession would only be able to repair the type of items they can make. IE:
Weapon smiths can repair - weapons (duh)
Tailors can repair - Light armor

- Each crafter has a "repair" skill that as you use it, levels up. Practice on existing items to raise you level. If you "fail" to repair the item it loses durability and if you're successful it goes up depending on your skill. A novice would take more attempts to repair something than a master. IE:
novice: +5 durability per successful repair
apprentice: +10 durability per successful repair
journeyman: +15 durability per successful repair
artisan: +20 durability per successful repair
master: +25 durability per successful repair

So if that sword is at 50% durability the novice needs at least 10 attempts to repair it fully while the master only 2. I want to feel better and see tangible rewards compared to those who are lower than me... don't you? "let me have that sword novice, I'm a Master"

- this could be a long term type of enhancement to items. Obtaining crafting items throughout the game (dungeons, mob drops, AvA player drops, Action house, stolen from npc's homes ect) crafters combine these crafting materials with an item to increase its maximum durability and effectiveness. Based off the item lvl and crafting material added. IE:
lvl 5 sword enhanced via "low lvl crafting material" = max 101% durability - 10dps weapon becomes 10.1dps (when fully repaired)
or
lvl 50 armor enhanced via "epic Daedra blood" = 110% durability - 200armor chest piece becomes 220armor

- this means that item progression isn't just go farm higher tier dungeons for item drops but involves crafters who take that awesome sword you got and makes it even MOAR AWESOMER'D!!!. AND it doesn't take away from the already established repair mechanic (mentioned above) but enhances it again as only player crafters can repair and item to its max.


lastly in closing

- - ONLY ONE CRAFTING PROFESSION - - or only one that can be maxed out, why? it takes away social interaction

- in GW2 you can have every crafting profession maxed out , I do and 6months into the game how many times has a guild mate asked for me to craft something? or anyone for that matter? 1... just 1 time since launch did it matter. Now no one needs anyone else and that sucks. It removes a huge reason to be a crafter and part of the game. I remember when guild crafters were appreciated and mattered. When the whole server knew who the best crafters were and held in the same high regard as top tier PvPers and raiders.

- IMO you should only be able to have 1 crafting profession maxed per character and if you want to switch you lose all progress from your previous one

- This adds meaning to alts. Why would you become a crafter on your alt if your main has every craft maxed... you wouldn't and that means you lose out on that experience with your new character .

- Can only repair items around your level or lower (or some mechanic like this) otherwise everyone would just have a lvl 2 character that's max'd in repair and it would take away from having max lvl players and crafters being needed like my gw2 example mentioned above.


So there you have it. How I think Crafting could not only be viable, but add to social interaction, meaningful game play mechanics, immersion and endgame.

What do you think?


ps. number crunching would of course need to be balanced to fit, but those above give a good representation of my idea.

TLDR: don't be a lazy bastard. It took me longer to write it than you will need to read it :)

I hate being locked into a crafting profession. Let me be a hybrid and learn several, but not be as good with them as a dedicated crafter.

There is nothing wrong with durability, it's just that Elder Scrolls durability is way too extreme, as you can probably tell from Oblivion. Many MMO's implement durability, take WoW for example, but it's discrete and isn't as irritating as an Elder Scrolls durability system is.

(February 20th 2013, 05:27 PM)Knightmare Wrote: I hate being locked into a crafting profession. Let me be a hybrid and learn several, but not be as good with them as a dedicated crafter.

good thing i wrote only 1 maxed out, i hate repeating my self as much as you hate being locked in ;)

(February 20th 2013, 05:17 PM)Ziz Wrote: - - ONLY ONE CRAFTING PROFESSION - -

(February 20th 2013, 05:33 PM)Ziz Wrote: good thing i wrote only 1 maxed out, i hate repeating my self as much as you hate being locked in ;)

Seeing conflicting statements here.

- - ONLY ONE CRAFTING PROFESSION - - or only one that can be maxed out

just because you "dont like something" doesnt mean its a bad thing. i dont like working out but its good for me.

ps. this is why i usually dont bother posting on forums. people dont bother to read, even when you put in bright red letters please read before commenting...

Overall I like it @"Ziz". Like you said, the numbers would need tweaked a little im sure, but all in all, its what I look for in a game to keep crafting a valued and useful part of the game, not to mention "makes sense".

If I had any disagreement at all, it woule be to maybe only limit your choices to 2 crafting skills that can be mastered. That also depends on how many different crafting "skills" we end up with by launch. But yea, I like it. Very well done I think.

Quote:3 - WHERE PLAYER CRAFTERS and my idea COME IN - They are the only ones who can get your weapons and armor back to 100% durability and effectiveness. Small town NPC crafters might be able to get your stuff up to 85% and the great smiths in big cities up to 95% but if you want your stuff to be the best you've got to find a real person and hire them to fix you up. That's the whole point of playing a Massively Multiplayer Online game right, other people. (or become a crafter yourself, a reason to be a crafter? what a novel idea!)

I DO NOT want to have to find a player to repair my stuff. A hardcore pvper like myself wouldn't want to have to find a player who is capable of repairing my stuff when I should be able to visit a repair vendor to handle it. First I don't want to have to find someone just to repair my armor. Second, people will take advantage of it and charge ridiculous prices. Last I would think its better to take durability when you die. People will already be spending there gold in AvA when they run out of alliance points to spend. I would be swing my sword hundreds of times and eventually run out of gold due to the fact that I have to repair it just for swinging it. That's why I prefer GW2 system for durability so I can constantly stay in the fight and only repair when I die. It works for WoW since your not in a protracted fight.

Also don't worry about cities being ghost towns. When people are max level they tend to reside in the capital city. Plus they tend to be the hub for finding groups, crafters, etc.

Quote:- AvA keeps could be upgraded with crafting stations so you can keep your weapons in tiptop shape. This gives a good fallback position and adds more reason to want to hold keeps. I can just picture my guild upgrading a keep and someone saying "Hey thanks Acolytes for the smithy" more social interaction, affecting the game and world around you = good stuff

A crafting station wouldn't play a big factor in defending a keep. People would defend them just because of the point value, strategic location, or even if the tower was fully upgraded.

Quote:- this means that item progression isn't just go farm higher tier dungeons for item drops but involves crafters who take that awesome sword you got and makes it even MOAR AWESOMER'D!!!. AND it doesn't take away from the already established repair mechanic (mentioned above) but enhances it again as only player crafters can repair and item to its max.

I agree with this. The mainstream term for this type of person would be an "Enchanter" I would like to have my stats increased on items to give me an advantage.

No, durability just ends up being a pain in the ass for new players, and a required waste of time for experienced players. Also single locked professions end up being a pain in the ass for solo players, since they will have to make new accounts to craft their gear.

Thank god this is never gonna happen.

I'd like to see every profession having one item that would be considered a must-have by one type of player or another. For example, the best cloth helm could only be made by a tailor or the best leather pants could only be made by a leather worker. This still allows end-game gear progression but guarantees each profession to have one in-demand item.

I stress that it’s only one item per profession and not designed to take away from end game gear progression.

(February 20th 2013, 08:31 PM)Blackvein Wrote: I'd like to see every profession having one item that would be considered a must-have by one type of player or another. For example, the best cloth helm could only be made by a tailor or the best leather pants could only be made by a leather worker. This still allows end-game gear progression but guarantees each profession to have one in-demand item.

I stress that it’s only one item per profession and not designed to take away from end game gear progression.

I agree its probably one thing they're going to do based on comments so far

As long as you mean every profession having one item thats a "must-have" for EACH type of fighter. That I could agree would be a bit more of a balance between crafting and end-game gear progression. To have one item thats a "must-have" for ONLY ONE type of fighter is basically crippling crafting and rendering it useless.

I realize this is just symantics, but it makes a HUGE difference in how it plays out.

(February 20th 2013, 08:31 PM)Blackvein Wrote: I'd like to see every profession having one item that would be considered a must-have by one type of player or another. For example, the best cloth helm could only be made by a tailor or the best leather pants could only be made by a leather worker. This still allows end-game gear progression but guarantees each profession to have one in-demand item.

I stress that it’s only one item per profession and not designed to take away from end game gear progression.

I have no problem with this if Solo players can still craft their own gear and still be effective with it.

"Each items stats are affected by its durability. IE: 10dps weapon at 85% durability = 8.5 dps"

That, I have a problem with, because I don't want to have to find a crafter to repair my gear just so I can be effective.
If people use player run repair services, it should be because it's cheaper, not because they're forced to.

I quite like this! Professions need to be actual professions, not just making things for oneself.

Why not add some sort of customization element? colors, maybe? Skyrim let you name equipment after enchanting it.

Ok. this thread made my brain melt..

First of all.. Are we talking about TES or WoW?
TES Armor works Unarmored, Light, Medium and Heavy.. It cant do 'Leather' that wouldn't make any sense. that would be saying Bonemould is made from leather.

I do like the idea of durability, however it should not be such an attention demanding detail. your system merely means that new players will spend 9/10ths of their time running back to town to repair.
It also means that low level repairers will be able to repair it to what? 5%?

Also adding meaning to alts?
not every player wants alts, the game is to cater for SPRPG players as well.
It shatters game immersion to go 'Oh I need this, let me re-log and make it on my alt'.
It also sends the social aspect of the game to hell

Good effort on the post, its good to get idea's flowing, you can never get a perfect system without input.
I look forward to debating about this :p