How Crafting Should Work in MMO

With the upcoming release of Albion Online, a game that focuses entirely on a player driven economy, I wanted to throw my concept for true crafting into the ring and explain why I think it would be simply the best crafting system period.

First, games that had crafting, but dropped the ball.

World of Warcraft

Artificial Restrictions

As a base level comparison, no game should lack the crafting features that were available at least here in World of Warcraft.  Players had restricted professions, used specific tools and materials and they were extremely linear in progression, but also due to these restrictions, only certain professions of certain levels could create certain items with even more specific materials which gave rise to an economy.  These restrictions are artificial though, and we will take the concept and evolve it later on.

Guild Wars 2

Lacking Broad Use

Guild Wars 2 crafting is the most sure way of getting the strongest items in the game and it is also a good way to level up characters.  However, it promised a Minecraft-esc experience but gave us a hugely linear and watered down version which resulted in crafting to be a chore, not a fun gameplay mechanic.  When ingredients are more lucrative than the finished product, selling your items is a waste of time and so the player economy for Guild Wars 2 is almost non existent.  Especially considering that the strongest items in the game, which are only craft-able or found through intense RNG, CANNOT BE TRADED "barring Legendary Items".  However, in GuildWars 2 we are able to custom craft items with specific skins and stat alignments but the problem is these had no difference from world drops which were easier to find than craft.  Guild Wars 2 who's gameplay focused on the leveling pve experience, had meaningless crafting as that system only really starts to work at the end. game.  Some items can be crafted for aesthetics, but even those are easier found.  We will take that with us on our journey to find the best crafting system

Runescape

No Custom Creation

Now there is much more to Runescape's crafting than simple combat stats, but in a game that lacks mechanics, having tactical differentiation is important and for the most part Runescape, despite its no class system, doesn't offer enough customization with armors and weapons between it's different tiers.  Not being able to tweak or customize the individual items damages the complexity of the game and results in an overloaded inventory focus especially on foods for healing and attack resources like runes and arrows.  Overall Runescape has a great crafting system that happens to be lacking in combat diversity specifically which Albion Online succeeds in expanding.

Albion Online

Ability Diversity

Very similar to Runescape, Albion Online would have a similar economy and crafting but their added ability slots truly change the game.  There is not a lack of builds, but there is a lack of types of spells.  Many are just alterations of point and click damage, or different kinds of defenses or speed buffs.  In a game who's crafting is essentially focused on the skills slotted, there should be more offered in terms of gameplay mechanics than the strategic choices we have now.  Pulls, Leaps, Cloaks, Devours, Knock Ups, Walls, even abilities that focus on non combat mechanics like Instant Node Mining, Instant Tree Chop, or better gold find.  It is still in alpha, so it surely can improve and introduce more variety and will certainly do so.  Luckily, Albion Online seems to have solved or at the least alleviated the issues in previous games and so more than most, Albion has great crafting potential.

This trailer inspired this blog post as one developer stated how a player would be able to specialize and potentially be "the best at making" a certain type of weapon or armor.  With the game as it is now, I do not see that as a truly reachable statement.  In order to bring "Skill" into crafting rather than just sinking more time, I have a proposal.

A game focused on crafting, should still give the strategic, tactical, and mechanical diversity that a standard MMO build would.  There are entire sites dedicated to sharing build combinations in games like League of Legends, World of Warcraft, and Guild Wars 2.  Players are ranked in these sites and this should be evidence of a skill and mastery that comes with "crafting" these builds.  Taking these systems; talent trees, sphere grids, rune slots, and making them apart of the item crafting would add a sense of mastery for crafters and expansion for players.

Being able to make a weapon simply "stronger" is not good enough to consider another crafter better or more specialized than another.  Give them the tools to really CRAFT and to create a trade.

EXAMPLE

When making a sword, the crafter should be able to choose the active abilities slotted with it, passive mutators, as well as individual stat allocation.  If they have power over cosmetic choice, that is bonus.  

Strategy

Higher piercing increases critical hit chance and attack range , crushing increases white damage and attack AOE, and handling increases attack speed and cool down reduction.  Higher handling will lower the total durability, Higher piercing will increase the durability loss per hit, and crushing will increase overall weight/inventory space.  However, just raw stat upgrades, even if specialized, is not enough.  

Tactic

Different potential abilities based on depth of trait specialization.  Down the Piercing line will offer up more aggressive assassination based abilities such as lunges.  Down the Crushing line will give crafters the option of choosing from disabling type of skills and CC.  Down the Handling line will let players have more control over their other skills with abilities and spells that can be activated to cancel or modify others such as dodges, parries, or combo linking.

Mechanic

And at the highest degree of play, at the most intricate level of inspection, crafters should be able to enhance the actual game mechanics and give players a sword that they truly FEEL comfortable using. What is the shape of the AOE?  A cone?  A circle?  Maybe even a crescent, with a unique combination of handling and piercing, auto attacks can be modified to both slash and lung which gives an alternating sweeping auto attack.  With levels instead into crushing, the attacks would hardly lunge at all but instead encircle the player character.  

Of coarse, this is just a single weapon.  Imagine what could be done with dual items and also in combination with accessories and armor.  Who makes the most effective long range bows?  Who sells the most mana efficient staffs?  Not who has the highest tier materials, but who really is crafting the best items.

Add this into what Albion Online has already, and you would have an unrivaled crafting experience. 

"this is not supposed to be a recommendation for Albion Online specifically but my personal view on what crafting could be like in an MMO"