Mark Jacobs has come to the Keen and Graev Community Forums once again. This time he’s gathering ideas and opinions about what a next-gen MMORPG crafting system should be like, and he’s given a framework to work in which seems to indicate Camelot Unchained’s direction..

I jotted down a few of my ideas. They’re mostly incorporating things from the past with a slight twist.

Customization

Altering attributes of a weapon should provide increases and penalties, but the net change should always be a positive for someone. In other words, if I lower the durability of the weapon I can make it swing faster because it is lighter. I can also alter the weight to make it slower and hit harder. I can add more of one stat, but lose out on another.

Experimentation

Coming up with new combinations of ingredients or ways to craft are fun. I like SWG’s method of adding in resources of differing qualities to provide more ‘experimentation points’ which allow crafters to seek the best materials. The trade off being that the resources are more valuable and the weapons are more costly.

Resource Gathering

SWG’s method of placing harvesters in the world was great. This removed the tedium of going out and gathering, but added a ‘time to wait’ element. THere was also the added benefit of giving the player more time to experiment (see above) and come up with new ways of crafting.

Another option is to send players out into mines like UO does and let the player actively find nodes on their own.

Crafters should contribute to territorial control

Repairing anything should require a crafter.

Upgrading anything should require a crafter.

If no crafters are available, these can be purchased from NPCs are a huge cost with lower quality than a crafter can provide.

General Ideas

Give crafters the control they need to make a name for themselves. If I work hard at it, I should be known for what I do. Maybe I’m the guy to buy swords from because I have perfected a technique that provides a great value. Maybe my prices are lowest because I don’t mind smaller margins since I enjoy going out and gathering resources vs. someone who hates it so wants more money for his/her time.

Make it about more than price. A price war in crafting will reduce prices to zero. Someone should be able to charge more and still draw customers because there’s a value proposition supported by the game’s mechanics.

If you could design a next-gen crafting system, what would it be like?