leadpipe

I joined the game more for the crafting than the PvPing and yes it is frustrating when you get ganked. That being said, remember than in the full game this is exactly what gives a faction a reason to control graveyard areas and therefore adds to the strategy of the game. Obviously, this isn't something that exists presently. However, I do think you should have a few choices of which graveyard to spawn at.

My only concern about the set bonus is that mixing armor will not be viable since you receive no bonus. It would nice to see a small piece of the bonus stack for each piece of armor, rising with each successive similar piece. i.e. for a 15% bonus, the first piece of a type gives you 1%, the second 2%, etc. until five pieces add up to 15%. If only wearing a full set is viable, you might as well only have full sets in the game.

I think we've been on the opposite side of the minigame argument before, but I agree with this 100%. By minigame I simply mean a series of tasks related specifically to crafting. I would greatly prefer this doesn't relate to timing or dexterity, but instead a challenge involving problem-solving, logic, and knowledge to affect how successful the crafting was.

You can wield a mop in one hand and a feather duster in another.

The question is will you still want it to be uncomplicated after you've done it a few hundred times or will your "just right" game then be incredibly boring because it's far too simple? The key to making it just right is to scale the complexity as you go along to keep the game challenging (but not overwhelming) based on what is being attempted.

It's not that this is how games work - it's that this is how people work (some of them).

As I'm understanding the ruleset presented, I don't see the potential for "farming". Every X amount of time, those who have a bloodstone tree get a bloodstone (and their base is vulnerable). It's either going to score them victory points or it's going to score someone else victory points. If I give another guild the bloodstone, I'm straight up giving them my victory points. If I let them destroy my city I'm letting them "farm" points, but almost certainly losing more points in the long run since I won't get bloodstones while I'm rebuilding the tree (and it will be extra vulnerable for much longer). I can see where letting a friendly guild take the bloodstone while my guild heavily defends our city could be a way to collectively get points without being vulnerable, but this is remedied by synchronizing the vulnerabilities for all cities (and all bloodstone spawns). Spawn times would need to rotate in order to keep this fair to all parties.

It does to me. I think part of this is because I don't have a good understanding of the actual smithing process (someone else did post a bit about this and it was somewhat helpful). I think part of it is also that I feel like much of smithing is a "muscle memory" activity and it just wouldn't translate into something expressed with the controllers we have. Part of it is that I think that any crafting game that is going to be interesting months from now is going to need a heavy mental component - and I don't get where that would be. Possibly the biggest thing I have trouble picturing is how the results would translate into different "kinds" of weapon bonuses - like better damage vs. better speed vs. critical bonus vs. other bonuses. To me, this level of customization (in addition to quality, of course) is what would make crafting really fun and interesting. If you do come up with an idea of what a player would actually do to accomplish the above, I'd be interested in hearing it and contributing what I can. I did come up with a "puzzle" example (and I know as soon as many people hear the word "puzzle" that's going to be the end for them) that I've posted elsewhere. For me it was a helpful thought exercise as to how a crafting activity could link to the inputs and results.

I think it's very natural for it to come back to combat. Most MMO's are based around combat and it is generally the most challenging and engaging activity. It has heavy *active* player control. In addition, basically every subsystem in the game effects or is affected by combat: character creation, class system, skill system, gear, terrain, fortifications and siege engines, scouting, weapon and magic mechanics, group tactics, and player skill selection ALL affect combat (and I doubt this list is exhaustive). This tends to make for an activity with enough depth and choices that it takes a long time to master (and therefore stays engaging). Since Lephys is arguing to include player choice in crafting to make it engaging, No other activity in an MMO would be as suitable for this analogy.

I'd love to see a crafting activity that is thematic and based on the actual activity, but that is obviously a challenge based on the fact that it needs to be translated into an activity that players can do with a keyboard and mouse, that can demonstrate player skill, can logically lead to varying results, and can have the depth required to stay entertaining for months or years. Heck, even just the keyboard and mouse requirement seems close to impossible. You mention pitching a concept above, but I really don't see an actual concept anywhere - I simply see a request to make crafting seem realistic regardless of other design concerns. How does the player swing their hammer to make a successful piece of gear? What obstacles are involved? How do they make their equipment unique? How is this activity linked to other subsystems in the game? Without *any* of these ideas, this suggestion is not even providing a starting point for implementation. I am on the mini-game bandwagon right now, and this is true because I can actually visualize such a system and how it might work (if I could visualize a *realistic* system that would work, I would switch sides in a heartbeat). And no typical mini game is going to do - I cannot think of a single crafting mini game in another title that would be worth imitating. Any activity worth putting in needs the following, IMO: - linkage to the interesting resource system that ACE has outlined, with different materials leading to different results - a LONG learning curve, so that the game can me suitable for beginners and still interesting for experts - many different "flavors" of results and levels of success, to tie into many different gear results - randomized starting state, so that "solving" the game doesn't simply become a matter of reading a wiki - as a "nice to have", the possibility of discoveries within he game based on rare states would be nice If you have a vision for a realistic game that had the potential for depth and longevity, please do share.

"Let's call the Sons of Dawn guild one. They have a bloodstone tree in the city of Festrune, which is surrounded with fortifications. On a Thursday evening, the city of Festrune's bloodstone cycles, changing to a state of 'unprotected'. For the next few hours, the city can be attacked. A bloodstone spawns on the tree. It has a target location that is relative close, near the local quarry. The defenders have a choice - to defend the city, or to escort the bloodstone to the objective to gain victory points. They opt to send a small party to sacrifice the bloodstone, but on the way they are ambushed by Kane's Fist, guild two. The ambush works. Guild two kills them all and takes the bloodstone. The stone points them to a new location, and the guild two players head off to that location and try to sacrifice it for their own victory points. Guild one regroups and decides to go after the bloodstone. They get reinforcements from the rest of their guild and ambush the party from guild two to retrieve the bloodstone. The party from guild two drops the stone and flees - it was a trap! Guild one returns to find the city of Festrune has been completely destroyed by the rest of guild two. Guild one didn't leave enough defenders to protect it. The tree is destroyed, the buildings are on fire, and guild two is now on the way to cash in the three new bloodstones that just spawned when they destroyed Festrune."

Duping in campaigns would have a less permanent impact (but can certainly help you win the campaign), but duping in the EK has a very permanent impact and would be a huge issue.

And then the day after that, that campaign will end and the reign of Xedrox will be over. :-)

I would say that it had clear disadvantages, that being one of them. Also, you would need to build a comprehensive lighting system that you may not need above ground. Depending on how you've set up the tunnel system, building defenses might be difficult to impossible. You can no longer detect enemies at range, so using siege engines defensively is impossible. But, for keeping your location a secret building underground cannot be beat.