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MMO Crafting - It's Almost Like Work...
Do crafting systems in MMOs need a rethink?
Written by Chris Joyce, 02 December 2009
Slaving over a boiling stove, trying to cook the roasted meat that had been requested by the chef, I began to think "Is this really worth it?"
I looked around at the others in the room; sweating and swearing about a burnt pie, and realised this wasn't the life for me. I put down my utensils, turned off the stove, and left the room with my mace resting on my shoulder, now seeking adventure.
Crafting has become a big part of MMOs, and can be quite rewarding, but it can often start to feel like a real chore.
I appreciate that professions take time, and the idea is that you have to work hard to reach the highest skill level and obtain those 'epic' in-demand recipes, but surely there has to some element of fun or interest to it? This is a game, after all.
For the most part crafting tends to be fairly simple, with the difficult part coming from the actual gathering of the needed materials, but some MMOs tend to over-complicate this, or it becomes extremely repetitive and dull.
Spending half an hour stood by a forge creating 15 plate helms may well be the way to improve your craft in the real world, but in an MMO I feel there needs to be some variation.
I have played many MMOs in my time, and professions are something I do not like to overlook, feeling like I may miss out in later levels, either on the items I create, or the money I can earn from selling materials. I feel like a character without professions is wasted, but if the crafting system feels flawed in any way this can lead to a laborious task.
Some developers try to improve the crafting aspect of the game by introducing different ways to progress your trades. Aion, for example, sees your trainer offering Work Orders. These consist of a set of instructions to make a number of a specific item, and offering you some, or all, of the materials required. This means players can still advance their trade, without the need to spend several hours gathering leather, or metal ore. Unfortunately, I have found, progress is slow.
MMOZine Issue 19
For our latest Age of Conan coverage, click here to download MMOZine Issue 19 for free.World of Warcraft tends to stick with the time old tradition of making numerous identical items in the hope of gaining a skill point, which will then in turn unlock new recipes, or designs, from your trainer.
A crafting system I liked the idea of featured in Age of Conan. Instead of going through the above process, players sought the knowledge of a trainer in their desired vocation. The trainer would then task the player with creating an example of each item they had just been taught. By fulfilling this task the player could then create that item for themselves as many times as required, and they would then move on to the next tier of items they could learn to make.
This was certainly an interesting idea, if a little flawed at the time. I would like to see this method implemented in more MMOs, although with some slight tweaks and less of a high difficulty curve in the early stages.
Another issue I have with crafting in MMOs is that, no matter which profession you choose, it's all the same. The resulting item may well be different, and the materials used, but it still ultimately comes down to clicking the button and waiting for the progress bar to reach the end.
It would be nice to see some variation between the different crafts, and move away from the simple mouse-click and be given some control. Whether this would come in the form of mouse gestures, or something as simple as different machinery or items to click, any kind of variation would be welcome.
Warhammer Online touched on this idea a little, with its multi-stage crafting system. Cultivating, for example, required you to place a seed in soil, and then water it before harvesting. The crafting of Talismans required several parts to be fused together, with players encouraged to use random combinations of items in an attempt to discover a powerful mix, allowing players to discover their own recipes or designs. This idea was interesting and gave the player an element of control and adds a personal touch to their crafting.
What I would like to see is an original, but well implemented, crafting system - one that offers considerable reward yet remains fun to progress, and not an afterthought.
Am I asking for too much? Probably...
What are your thoughts?
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