Crafting Issues

[Lohrik]

I am not sure what the majority of people do when playing Istaria but for me it is crafting. I would rather build on my plot as appose to following the story line by doing adventure quests. When I started having problems with Maple Treants, my good friend, Aksgryndhr hunted trophies to bring me up to level 100. After that he took me into Dralnok’s Doom so that I could level another school up to 92. Even now with a 110 rating I still am not able to gather without being harassed by monsters. Currently I am trying to gather marble. I have to gather in full armor because of the Marble Golem’s rating and how they get assistance from one another. I really see no benefit in having a full set of cargo gear.

Amon visited Market Place last week and I mentioned to him that the Shadow Spiders were a nightmare when trying to gather silk. Amon said that he would make the Shadow Spider Breeders no longer aggressive. I appreciate the change he made but now that I think about it, why not change the gaming experience for those who want to craft? Why not make a crafting potion one can consume which would make crafters seen “neutral” to all tiered monsters? The potion would have to work on all monsters in Istaria and be priced such that a new player could afford it. It also should be a potion that cannot be dispelled. More importantly the potion should have a nasty side effect should someone decide to go adventuring while using the potion.

I know there are some that will object to a crafting potion. One may say that it would take away from the experience of the game, but I find the hours of gathering and applying to be an experience in itself. Adding hostile elements into the game only frustrates me and I know there are some who feel the same.

[TheRock]

Just a thought for you to consider.

When I am gathering resources in hostile areas I first fill my disk while it is still in my backpack, then I try to seek out the larger resource nodes( preferably mother lode). I then equip my disk and detach it. When the mobs get close i just back off until they move away and go back to gathering. Many times I will work another node while waiting for the mob to move from the motherlode.
By doing it this way the delay time to gather resources is minimized for me.

Cheers

[Jorev1]

The two branches of adventuring and crafting were designed to be dependent on each other. It is not realistic for someone to be able to obtain the higher tier resources easily without dodging aggressive mobs and even killing them in some circumstances.

I think it is unfortunate that Amon made a mob non aggressive and in doing so dummied down the gaming experience for you. Accomplishments only have merit when they are earned and dealing with aggressive mobs is one of the balance checks when crafting higher tier items.

In the current state of the game economy on a seven year old server where everything crafted is available at below realistic value, I guess it really does not matter. If we were playing a new release or a fresh server where there were no advanced player crafters, it would be more competitive and matter a whole lot more.

[Lord Shinobai]

The OP does have valid points in his post. Many games out there do rely on adventuring to be able to craft, but it varies greatly from a little to extreme. Istaria I would put on the higher end for many of the reasons stated by the OP and by others in similar threads by people who are solely/primarily crafters. Personally, I love adventuring and while I love having a plot and working on it crafting just isn't my thing. I'll do it here and there, I've got a couple schools leveled up decently, especially all my building schools, and yes I will end up with my GMC title but I by far prefer adventuring and all I have to do it give out very little coin to get what I need from the "crafting world" to have the stuff I need to do all the adventuring I want.

Having a potion, or buff, or something a long those lines in game that the OP suggested actually is a really good basis idea. I personally see something along the lines of potions as well. I'll outline my spin on it

-The potions are tiered, 1-6
-Each Tier potion only allows collection of resources that tier and below
-They make you to mobs/mobs to you non hostile
-You are not able to equip a weapon or add a "prevent any hostile actions" type of thing, something along the line of the "prevent teleportation" or "prevents recall"
-Lasts for 15min, same as other "crafting" pots
-As to dissuade abuse, CANNOT STACK with other crafting pots (ie: Metal Reaping Potion, etc)
-Make it a pita to craft if you want, i'm sure crafters will pay for it. They're probably already paying for food as it is and/or they can just craft it themselves.

My 2 cents at least.....I like the idea....

[C`gan]

I'd like to also mention the two unguarded silk fields at Last Stand and Wolf's Paw/South Gate. They are, rather unfortunately, linked to the spawn on the southern side of the Rihki silk field. I've been able to ascertain this by clearing out both LS and SG fields to 0 plants.

[MarshDog]

The idea of potions I really like , if i have to go to the bathroom , make a quick snack test my blood sugar let the dog out/ in you get the idea , some times it is kinda hard to find a safe spot in a short amount of time. So either I have to recall or drop game.

[Dhalin]

I'd like to also mention the two unguarded silk fields at Last Stand and Wolf's Paw/South Gate. They are, rather unfortunately, linked to the spawn on the southern side of the Rihki silk field. I've been able to ascertain this by clearing out both LS and SG fields to 0 plants.

They really need to cut it out with the linked fields that are miles apart.

Nobody enjoys travelling 5+ minutes from one linked field to another.

Another example of fields they need to UN-link, are the Platinum fields in Dralk. The one North of Dralk should NOT be linked to the one down by the Hermit.

I can understand linking of nearby fields, sure, but to link fields the whole way across a stinking continent/major area? That's a bit stupid/annoying.

[velveeta]

Just a thought for you to consider.

When I am gathering resources in hostile areas I first fill my disk while it is still in my backpack, then I try to seek out the larger resource nodes( preferably mother lode). I then equip my disk and detach it. When the mobs get close i just back off until they move away and go back to gathering. Many times I will work another node while waiting for the mob to move from the motherlode.
By doing it this way the delay time to gather resources is minimized for me.

Cheers

i do the same thing - it's not perfect, but it does get the job done.....

[Lord Shinobai]

I know some people's arguement is that putting something like this in the game would be the same as putting an "easy button" on leveling crafting, but that's not the case. I feel that if you choose to be a pure crafter in this game that option should be available. The option to be a pure adventure is there. Am I restricted on a *couple* of quests if I choose that route? Yes. But can I experience 99.5% of the adventure aspect of the game as a pure adventurer? Yes.

Crafting is a big aspect that attracts so many people to this game. It differs in a lot of ways than so many other games. It's not just the strugles at T1 that people experience that lead them to leave. I've seen many people who get into the game, rave about the crafting and then get to T3 or higher and just get too overwhelmed with the fact that too many locations are too well guarded for the playstyle they decided to play.

How do pure adventurers get coin to get things from crafters? They do quests and/or sell the spoils of their victories. How do pure crafters get their coin? By selling the finished products they can make to the player base.

As an adventurer those mobs in a resource field give me multiple benefits to kill them PURELY for adventuring reasons. Trophies, comps, xp, quest credit, etc. I don't have the resource nodes in the field coming at me hindering my progress at all. Pure crafters on the other hand do have this problem once they reach T3 and above is most school.

Yes, some resources have small secluded locations with bare minimal resource nodes at best with no mob spawns but that is not the case for all resources, especially come half of T4 and almost all of T5.

This potion really isn't a game breaker, hitting an easy button, or anything. It allows those who wish to experience the game only for it's crafting to do just that. They still have to level up just like adventures do.

And here is some extra food for thought: An adventurer in full teched gear can usually kill decently above his level, giving him more xp, or he can take on multiple mobs at the same time around his level, giving him bonus xp. A crafter in fully teched cargo gear by almost as early as "late" T2 is about a full tier ahead in skill level of what they can make BUT they are capped until they hit the proper level in order to obtain the ability needed to actually collect the higher tier, thus limiting them in ways that adventurers are not. Although that has nothing to do with whether or not mobs are in a field, it is a response that it "dummies" down crafting for crafters.

They will still have limitations that adventurers do not but will be able to do what they like without having to devote A LOT of time to a reason they did not come to the game to play in the first place, or just prefer not to do.

[Dhalin]

But can I experience 99.5% of the adventure aspect of the game as a pure adventurer? Yes.

Eh, actually, no.

Unless, of course, you don't mind wearing t1 refurb armor, or random blighted equipment at T5, in which case you will probably get killed, and horribly so.

You can ask someone to make you equipment, sure. That's the only way you're going to do T5 adventuring with no craft schools.

But then....

If you're a T5-T6 crafter with no adventure schools, couldn't you ask someone to escort you/help you while you do your T5-T6 crafting?

[Lord Shinobai]

Eh, actually, no.

Unless, of course, you don't mind wearing t1 refurb armor, or random blighted equipment at T5, in which case you will probably get killed, and horribly so.

You can ask someone to make you equipment, sure. That's the only way you're going to do T5 adventuring with no craft schools.

But then....

If you're a T5-T6 crafter with no adventure schools, couldn't you ask someone to escort you/help you while you do your T5-T6 crafting?

If you read further into my post you would have seen that I said that a pure adventurer would need to buy stuff from a crafter. But that's using coin that, again as I stated in my post, you earn while purely adventuring.

And am I understanding you correctly that it is even close in comparison to give a crafter comps/coin in return for finished products (takes maybe 15min to make a set if the adventurer has all of the comps, which getting the comps takes only adventuring and lasts a whole tier, which if we are talking T5 you're not going to be upgrading anymore.....) and having an adventurer escort a pure crafter for every load every time they want to collect resources that are always full of mobs? I guess my sense of time differs GREATLY from yours.

Simply put: Adventurer needs only coin and comps, neither of which require crafting or an "escort", to have a crafter make the finished product they need.
Crafters need to level up 2 or more schools as well as for the most part wonder why they can't use cargo gear, which is obviously what a crafter would prefer to wear, and instead have to gather in the same armor we use because wearing cargo gear means almost certain death.

[Arietna]

It's why I stopped playing. I don't like adventuring much, I played Istaria for the crafting. I would be back in a shot if I could craft to my hearts content and not be forced to level adventurer schools in order to continue crafting.

[Ramaj]

It's why I stopped playing. I don't like adventuring much, I played Istaria for the crafting. I would be back in a shot if I could craft to my hearts content and not be forced to level adventurer schools in order to continue crafting.

.........and that goes for many, many more (ex-)players...

[AmonGwareth]

I am happy to try and provide some unguarded resources. But, the best and most generous resource fields will always be guarded. And Tier6 resources should always be difficult to obtain, imho, because they are tier6.

As for potions it just seems like a way to obtain the best resource fields with limited effort. Sorry, no can do.

[Jorev1]

.........and that goes for many, many more (ex-)players...

And there are players such as myself who pass on MMOGs designed in easy mode. You can't satisfy everyone.

[C`gan]

Well, since the subject here is crafting issues, I have one.

Kenaf Port on Scorpion Island has no tailor hall. May we have a WorldProject one, please?