Class InterdependenceFollow

I loved crafting until I got to level 10 and found out I couldn't make any of my new recipes completely on my own. Having to stop crafting and either negotiate trades or hunt for bargains is definitely not my idea of a good time. I really enjoyed hand making or gathering all of my materials. I found it to be a relaxing and rewarding procedure.

Working in tangent with other crafters should have some benefits however, this current system does more to force dependence on others than cooperation. This system is too heavy handed, IMO. I mean who cares if I make my own scrolls at level 50 when I'm a tailor? It still takes me a great deal of time and effort. I still spent money on the book.

Instead, give us artifact items that requires 9 50th level crafters to work in tangent in order to create. ANd make each recipe based on skill level not crafter level. For example, If I am a 30 level tailor and my alchemy is level 15 then I should be able to make any alchemy item level 15 or lower, provided that I have the recipes.

Cel

I too like it, although it is a pain sometimes. Like the above poster said, I can see this being very good once the trade skilling community is established (filters money back into the economy, stimulating it) but now that people are new it's a bit of a pain. Also wanted to point this out:



(From this thread.)

That will help the interdependancies greatly, as people will be able to be either crafting and selling or afk and selling. Hopefully that comes soon.

Excellent post! I agree with gxm Scholar completely. The crafting process is exactly that, a process. It requires time, skill, and patience in addition to good business communication skills.

Although I am not a high level crafter yet, and I do anticipate frustration with the system, this is no different than what I experience in real life business. It is a good way to work on my skills as a real person as I make items at the crafting stations.

One could say that this is a game, not RL, and you would, of course, be correct. But soaring to 50 as quickly as possible with an "unreal" system is not my particular kind of fun. I am going to enjoy the challenges all the way because the first 50 I get will be well deserved and meaningful to ME.

I also see the crafting system as designed to force you out in adventuring mode. Can't craft, go harvest or adventure level. Not only does this help advance your harvesting/tradeskills and bring in needed silver to support your craft enterprise, it also breaks the tedium of mashing buttons as you make 50 pristine lead bars, and allows you to safely navigate through Tier ! and Tier 2 zones without being massacred!

So, I support the system for the very reason some decry it: the challenge!

Persevere, friends, persevere!

I certainly see your point, though I am too level to be stuck yet. I know when it comes I will be frustrated too.

I think that if there is a lesson to be learned from this state of affairs it is that forming cooperative ventures with other players who have similar playing goals/time may be the best way to ride out the learning curve.

Forming or joining a trade guild where some cooperative activites take place may work best. Available complementary crafters, a ready (though low profit) market for some goods, adventurer types who can harvest while in the field- these kinds of things may very well be what Sony intended for all of us to do.

Heavy-handed, yes, somewhat. However, the EQ2 world is what it is. I will seek to succeed regardless of the obstacles. MOBS aren't the only thing there is to fight! <grin>

I don't know about you but I have to utilize these skills all day long IRL. I don't want it to have to be part of the game if I want to get past 10 in crafting. Especially since many of the people behind these characters aren't savy business leaders or skilled communicators and even if they are, their time and energy is not focused on the game with the professional dedication it would be IRL. That makes this crafting system...not the players...SUCK.

Family, school, work, etc... they all hold a bigger priority to most of us. Getting into a guild or crafting network won't change these things. So, not only is this game asking me to conduct business with others if I want to craft, but it's asking me to do so without the same social agreements and priorities that are set within a real business environment. And that shouldn't change, because this is a game and it wouldn't be fun if it suddendly got as demanding as RL.

We need different options in crafting because right now it's just not fun.

I personally enjoy crafting alot more than adventuring. Other than the occassional duo with an IRL friend, all my adventuring has been done solo. On top of that, all of my solo experience has been a side bonus from harvesting in monster infested areas.

I like the idea of the reality that links interdependance. I was also like to point out that leveling your workshop will eventually allow more items from higher tiers to be purchased. However, these additional items will all be of the "shaped" quality. The advantage of buying from players is to be able to make pristine items, but in the future you will have more workshop items available like washes and resins so you can continue to level without as much interdependance.

I myself have eight characters crafting since I enjoy being able to make a full spectrum of items. I currently have an alchemist, jeweler, woodworker and tailor with 4 more on the way.

This game has only been out for a little past a month, as the community devops the interdependencies will be easier and easier. I suggest starting business contacts. I am working on tailoring right now, and I have contacts on my friendlist everytime I need something.

The class denpendacy is a great idea, and not having it is a great idea. We all have our own prefferences, but we cant satisfy everyone. I see more advantages to the game with the dependacy on others. Many say it ruins the demand and prices of items on the market. however i see that a bit different myself. I feel that the game will add more competition over the whole tradeskill scheme, that prices will be lowered. Everyone contributes, not just the high lvl people. I just think that people need to pace themselves with all aspects of the game. If you look at WoW for now, there are people damm near maxing out in lvls, if not havnt by now, and they are just blowing through the game play. I think that EQ2 is trying to make this game more replayable than others before. There are many places to lvl up, and lots of lewt to be WON. However, once its grey to you the item doesnt drop, and the only ways to get items are by buying or going back with an alt to get the experience of doing it. I think just like adventuring, people miss so much of the game grinding to lvl up to reach the high end, they miss a lot in the middle. Then they wanna sit back and talk about all the things they wished they could have done, but cant, or the challenge is gone, and the fun is lost. One thing i would advise maybe for the games tradeskills, is a vendor who sells all the components needed,,, but at a higher cost than normal, but low enough for the crafter to make profit off their item. That way we can help stabilze the economy of the game and have a standard to go by. If anyone remebers the economy in eq1 atm, its shattered. It will never recover. I think eq2 is trying to devise a way so that such is not the case. We will see in the future as this pans out. I think that if we are able to stabilze the market, people wont be so stern to buy items and wait for sales on items i would say. They will just buy and move on, and keep the money circulating. If we get a standard moving and established, it will be hard for a select few to corner the market for products and ingrediants. I may seemed to have rambled on, but just a stream of consiounsness post. Thanks and my apologies.

From what I have seen, the quality of material on the vendors is level 2 stuff. I thought I read somewhere (cant remember where) that the quality of secondary components has an effect on the XP received when you craft. I have been using pristine for both primary and secondary components selling anything substandard to the vendor. I have not tried using vendor components to make stuff.

On the lowest level that I can make while still getting XP I have been getting about 1/2 - 1 pct per combine

That info is good as gold. The time difference between crude and pristine is immense when making 20+ sub-ingredients (all of which have sub-ingredients of their own) for things like workshop tasks. 50+% time savings for the same net return is just great info.

I would like my merchant board to be able to broker both ways.

For example, George needs iron spikes to complete some combines, so he goes to his broker only to see there are no iron spikes on the market. He then goes to his merchant board and clicks a button called "place orders" that brings up an entire new area of the merchant board which acts as an escrot account.

The area would have a few item slots, money slots, and an interface into the database just like on the normal board for "browse market." The difference in the database interface however would be that the menu is for placing orders, not looking them up.

----------------
| | | | < ordered items
| | | |
----------------
0PP 0GP 0SP 0CP
----------------
| | | |
| | | | < received items
----------------
0PP 0GP 0SP 0CP

So George looks up iron spikes and hits "order." The interface would have an "offer" slot that allowed him to offer how much he'd pay for an item as well as quantity. George orders 5 iron spikes at 3 SP each. Here's what the interface would look like now.

----------------
|5iro| | | < ordered items
|spks| | |
----------------
0PP 0GP 15SP 0CP
----------------
| | | |
| | | | < received items
----------------

Now George goes to bed and comes back the next day to see this:

----------------
| | | | < ordered items
| | | |
----------------
0PP 0GP 0SP 0CP < my offer
----------------
|5irn| | |
|spks| | | < received items
----------------



A person filling an order would pull up a similar window called "fill orders" and the items would leave their inventory and go into other people's received items slots.

Like anyone would read that post, I was caught in the heat of the idea. In short, it would be nice if players could place orders as well as fill player orders for crafted items. I would love to be able to craft something some specific individual with a name actually needed rather than just placing stuff on my sell board for the general public. This would promote social interaction as well as in-game commercial relationships.

But how many times would you get an order placed, go make the goods and then get "Sorry I already got them from someone else who was online"

Placing orders on an afk artisan you have no idea if they will log back in and make the stuff in 5 mins or 5 days.

It would also have the result of creating a "buyer's market" in tradeskill goods. The one chance you have to actually make some cash back on you TS investment blown away because everyone who can make that thing is posting to beat each other's prices.