Poll: Do you like Crafting?

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

I can't stand it... Most of the time it is unrealistic and part of the reason I don't enjoy survival games. It often means the game has masses of items to pick up, but tiny inventories, and very little in the way of guidance on what you want to keep or not.

I don't mind it so much in the Fallout World. Items are less randomised, and make somewhat sense, so follow a railway line if you need railway spikes, or find somewhere that makes robots or has machines if you want spare electronics, you also can buy stuff which reduces the nause... however, without this kind of stuff in a regular survival game you end up hoping to create something that sounds awesome that you found a recepe for. You search random chests/houses/rocks/tree stumps to see if they have random item X that is illogically inside, and then hours later eventually craft it to find that it is crap or useless.

Although, that is all the objectives of these type of games there are. You are forced to find food and water to survive... a mechanic that only serves to keep you moving and therefore putting you in more danger(including unrealistic hunger cycles... seriously, no one dies if you don't eat 10 times a day... ) and crafting is only to privide other mini objectives for yourself to make life easier... Maybe to take on more difficult areas, or reach a new safe spot. Eventually you get good enough equipment to reach whatever final goal there is in the game... or to unlock achievements or to survive the longest... I get it... it's just like arena/horde modes... it's not for me.

 

[MHR]

Because of the way the poll words it with "superior gear" I chose the finding it option. Obviously the best gear should be harder to get, that's the point in most games. I even hate gear crafting in MMOs because you know the best gear is always going to be on bosses, not the crafting nodes, and leveling up the skill by crafting useless gear nobody is going to want is just a pathetic use of resources, not to mention very unrewarding. You're much better off crafting things you can't just loot, like potions and such.

Though if the poll were to simply ask if I liked gear crafting in games, I would say yes. Poll biased. I like crafting when it fits the game. In Fallout 3/NV all you do is pick up random junk. It's nice to be able to do something with it, and the craftable weapons are extremely powerful and interesting while the actual best gear is still out there to be found.

 

[SmugFrog]

I'm really torn between those two answers; and it really all comes down to how it's implemented in the game.

A lot of times crafting is thrown in as a method of gameplay to extend the life of the game. Trying to grid for 100 Whos-A-Whats-Its to make that item can be a tedious chore. I'm currently playing Trove and fishing is absolute boredom. Fortunately I can watch a movie or do something else and just listen for the splash and hit a key to keep fishing.

So what are the pros and cons?

PROS
Well, as you say, you hate crafting? In an online game, that's good for players that love it - if it's implemented properly. In the early days of World of Warcraft, there was a type of armor that I could create that was pretty decent for a level 40 compared to any gear they would be finding. The problem was I had to farm for the material drops in order to make it. I took this into account when selling it on the auction house, and the armor sold quite well (No clue of the current economy, but at the time, for about 40 gold per piece). That was fairly expensive, but it was good enough that people would pay for it. The problem with World of Warcraft's crafting (from vanilla player standpoint) was that there wasn't enough to craft, and the recipes were easy to come across. It wasn't long until I ran into a competing armorsmith who would wait for me to post my armor, and then undercut me. Three or four more armorsmiths pop up on the server and it was pretty much useless to grind for those items anymore.

In Skyrim it works out pretty well by allowing you to create custom items if you so desire - and also as an entry point for mods to, rather than simply adding the item in the game, allow the item to be forged.

As a character in a game, especially an RPG, why shouldn't I be allowed to craft items? I should be given the chance to become the most supreme blacksmith or enchanter, making items that rival any that any that exist in the gameworld. And, just so, it should be a tedious task to obtain those items.

Some cons to this, aside from it being implemented poorly and being either 1) Overly tedious or 2) Easy enough where every player has every item they desire (which, these 2 have to be in careful balance)

The rare items in the game lose meaning at this point. And this is where my heart wants to choose that it's better to find the gear rather than have to craft it. On the other hand to that, I really dislike when every character is running around in the exact same armor at a particular level because it is the best armor you can find. This goes more into how the game applies the stat bonuses to a character and how a particular character wants to look, though.

How it could be fixed
I still believe crafting can be a boon to a game - but it shouldn't be something the game is centered around. It should be a mechanic that is buried in the game in a manner such as how Skyrim handles it. Hey, it's here, if you want to use it - if not, whatever, go have fun! I'd love to see an MMO actually limit how many people have a particular recipe, making it an ultra-rare drop that you can't just farm for. Or make it so you have to learn it (over a great amount of time) from other players making it. Players these days feel as though they're entitled to every item in the game, which leaves nothing as being the elusive sought after items. It's a shame really - there ought to be something that makes a crafter/weaponsmith/armorsmith/enchanter stand out on the server they're playing on.

 

[er910]

I hate crafting weapons and armor. I want to hit a demon, watch it pop like a pinata and collect some loot. I don't mind crafting food and healing items tho.

 

[duwenbasden]

I don't mind either, but if both crafting and searching are available, the searched gear from dungeons must be more powerful than anything you will ever be able to craft; otherwise it's quite lore breaking when the sought and fought over level 100 legendary weapon everyone is killing each other over for is somehow weaker than the random shit I crafted 15 min ago.

I don't mind cooking or crafting medicine, but they have to not be the only option. And why can't I just pay a motherfucking blacksmith if I only want to sharpen my sword?

Thank god for mods.

 

[KenAri]

I like the idea of crafting, but I've never seen a game do it well. Most games are either just a time and money sink (ala Skyrim), or overcomplicate the system while adding no particular depth, resulting in an effectively linear 'customization' system with horrible interfaces (DA: Inquisition).

I'm still partial to simple customization systems, though. FPS games like CoD and BF have pretty fun tweaking systems.

 

[happyninja42]

Fair enough, the entire point of that game is to build stuff. But what about the rest of the games? Why the fuck does Dead Space have a "Crafting Mechanic"? For that matter, every other game that has a Crafting Mechanic...what the hell? What happened to the days where you'd delve deep into a dungeon, fight an optional boss, and HOLY SHIT! I JUST GOT THE MOST POWERFUL WEAPON IN THE GAME!!!!!

Personally, I miss the good ol' days...the days where you had to earn the best gear in the game...not make it. What's the deal with all the crafting these days? "Oh sure, you could quest to get this awesome piece of armor...or you could craft this piece of armor that's 10 times better!"

Anyone else miss the days where you didn't craft the best gear in the game, but instead had to find/earn it?

Because as much as you like the trope of finding a random encounter and stumbling upon the most powerful weapon in the game, lots of people also love the trope of the "crafting montage". Of the hero going out to find the items needed to forge the most powerful weapon in the game. It gives some people a more invested satisfaction in the reward. They didn't just get it by a lucky "ooh shiney" moment, but through hard work to find the items needed, and then forging it. Granted, the way most games, especially MMO's, actually implement this is usually crap, but the concept is good. I'd personally like to see games do things like "you can only forge this item in the heart of the Burning Mountain, at the ancient forge of the long dead Mastersmith Sir Hammersalot. And that mountain has been overrun by monsters, so you have to fight your way to the heart of the place to do it. That way, it would restrict the number of them in the game, and also make the actual crafting of it somewhat climactic for the player. The player didn't just forge it at a random anvil in town, while someone's pet wolf peed on a nearby building. No, the player forged it at the foot of a lava waterfall, each hammer blow echoing in the chamber while the very forces of the elements were drawn down into the blade to imbue it with primal power.

Of course, games don't do that so, *shrugs*

Thematically, players are wanting this:


and this....

well, I tried to find a quick clip of Tony Stark hammering away on the anvil in that forging montage in Iron Man 1, but youtube has let me down. But you get the idea.

Thematically, that's what players are looking for. Practically, what they get is "click button"

capcha: mayan ruins. an EXCELLENT place to have a mystic forge of ancient power to craft something at.

 

[RJ 17]

Snip.

That's all well and good, however I wasn't looking for an explanation as to why people liked crafting. Oh sure, people are free to give their own reasons as a matter of discussion, but you seem to be trying to provide a general explanation for why crafting exists in the first place.