Random crafting = bad design

[Resilan]

Why do game designers believe that random crits or discoveries are good for crafting? I have never understood this design choice or why player communities have tolerated it for so long. Randomness in the crafting process is a bad thing for the economy. Keep the combat design principals away from crafting.

 

Random crits on crafted gear leads to a scenario where crit crafted item costs vary based on how lucky you were with the random number generator. Unless the crit chance is extremely low, the non-crit gear becomes worthless over time. Instead of the crit item being a windfall for the crafter, the non-crit item becomes a money sink.

 

Random discoveries are likewise bad for crafters. I understand that the developers want to create a scenario where crafters are not equally capable of creating the same exact set of items. However, randomly determining which item is reverse engineered from a broad set of possibilities is not the right approach. Crafter A gets a desirable recipe on the first attempt while Crafter B doesn't get it until after 20 attempts. Crafter B is now at a disadvantage to Crafter A when pricing since his cost of obtaining the schematic is significantly higher.

 

If SWTOR wants a more player driven economy, the random element to crafting needs to be removed. They could learn a lot by studying the a game like Eve Online where the economy is largely player driven. Randomly created "better" items do not exist. The gating process is the long time investment to obtain the skills to efficiently create specific items. In turn, this makes people specialize in making certain items. Competition occurs on the cost of materials to produce the item and the market price of the item itself.

 

Serious crafters want to know in advance that they can make an item and sell it at a profit. Unless they know this up front with absolute certainty, they are not going to craft to supply market demand. They will make items for themselves and friends and may make a few items with spare materials for the market, but they will not invest the time to keep a market supplied.

[Grayseven]

Why do game designers believe that random crits or discoveries are good for crafting? I have never understood this design choice or why player communities have tolerated it for so long. Randomness in the crafting process is a bad thing for the economy. Keep the combat design principals away from crafting.

 

Random crits on crafted gear leads to a scenario where crit crafted item costs vary based on how lucky you were with the random number generator. Unless the crit chance is extremely low, the non-crit gear becomes worthless over time. Instead of the crit item being a windfall for the crafter, the non-crit item becomes a money sink.

 

Random discoveries are likewise bad for crafters. I understand that the developers want to create a scenario where crafters are not equally capable of creating the same exact set of items. However, randomly determining which item is reverse engineered from a broad set of possibilities is not the right approach. Crafter A gets a desirable recipe on the first attempt while Crafter B doesn't get it until after 20 attempts. Crafter B is now at a disadvantage to Crafter A when pricing since his cost of obtaining the schematic is significantly higher.

 

If SWTOR wants a more player driven economy, the random element to crafting needs to be removed. They could learn a lot by studying the a game like Eve Online where the economy is largely player driven. Randomly created "better" items do not exist. The gating process is the long time investment to obtain the skills to efficiently create specific items. In turn, this makes people specialize in making certain items. Competition occurs on the cost of materials to produce the item and the market price of the item itself.

 

Serious crafters want to know in advance that they can make an item and sell it at a profit. Unless they know this up front with absolute certainty, they are not going to craft to supply market demand. They will make items for themselves and friends and may make a few items with spare materials for the market, but they will not invest the time to keep a market supplied.

 

Random chance is part and parcel of MMO's. The chance of a critical success adds excitement to the process. I personally want to see more randoms thrown in, like a random chance of learning a new schematic when crafting.

 

Crits do nothing to the player economy at all, so I'm not sure exactly what you are thinking. If you get lucky and get an augment slot on a craft, congrats...you might be able to sell it for a little more. Regardless, the game economy is going to keep on chugging on.

 

You seem to be under the mistaken belief that without an augment slot a piece of gear is worthless when this is not the case. People will still buy it because smart players know they can't sit around waiting for gear with augment slots. If they come across one and they want it, they will be willing to pay a premium for it.

 

You state a lot of opinion as fact, but the truth is the system is just fine. This isn't a game for "serious crafters" because crafting is so easy anyone can do it. You just seem to want it all without working for it.

 

Ultimately, this isn't EVE or SWG. This is SWTOR and its crafting system isn't a game by itself but merely a mini-game meant to be enjoyed just as the space combat mini-game is. It is a small part of the whole, not a whole part unto itself.

[lunartic]

^ That

 

/67890

[Blackardin]

You state a lot of opinion as fact, but the truth is the system is just fine. This isn't a game for "serious crafters" because crafting is so easy anyone can do it. You just seem to want it all without working for it.

 

Not going to comment on the whole crit issue, but I have to strongly disagree with the statement that the system if fine. It is actually horribly out of sinc,\. I've done alot of testing and monitoring. The numbers are all off. It is very skewed, from mission returns to the overuse of RNG with no learning curve.

 

I also have to agree with the OP regarding "random" recipes produced from reverse engineering. Show me the engineer that dissembles an item and has no idea what he is about to create, beyond closing his eyes and pushing a button. ;p

 

In order for crafting to feel somewhat real, enjoyable, less frustrating, it has to have at least a modicum of reality laced into the model. Otherwise its just gambling and people will do it for the same reason we all wait in line for that old lady to buy her 200 scratch tickets.

 

In short, they system design is good. Very good. The implementation is, well, its pretty horrible atm.

[Anbokr]

Agreed. RNG needs to stay out of crafting. I mean come on, crafting is already an afk boring grindfest; no need to make it worse.

[ViperI]

So every RE should guarantee a new schematic, thus you only ever need to make 1 base item to get the next tier and every combine should be a crit? Ok, got it, moving on... Edited March 25, 2012 by ViperI

[Ishko]

Greyseven you are dead wrong if you're seriously comparing crafting to space combat? What are you thinking?

 

Players learn to avoid crafted items without the augment slot. This is a hideously poor design as most of your items will just be wasted resources. The random discovery I can stomach, and it is exciting to a degree, but once you learn it, it's yours forever. The constantly blowing resources for a chance at a good item over and over again however is just a bad desig. Excitment quickly turns into frustration. Having green items crit for an augment slot would be alright, like how WoW's green quality gems sometimes crit for a better version, but blue quality and above is not good for the economy.

 

Maybe this isn't Eve, but that doesn't mean Eve hasn't demonstrated that they know how to make a good player economy. Even WoW knows better than to keep crits out of crafting because you'll eventually get to the point where only the crit gear is disirable.

[Grayseven]

Greyseven you are dead wrong if you're seriously comparing crafting to space combat? What are you thinking?

 

Players learn to avoid crafted items without the augment slot. This is a hideously poor design as most of your items will just be wasted resources. The random discovery I can stomach, and it is exciting to a degree, but once you learn it, it's yours forever. The constantly blowing resources for a chance at a good item over and over again however is just a bad desig. Excitment quickly turns into frustration. Having green items crit for an augment slot would be alright, like how WoW's green quality gems sometimes crit for a better version, but blue quality and above is not good for the economy.

 

Maybe this isn't Eve, but that doesn't mean Eve hasn't demonstrated that they know how to make a good player economy. Even WoW knows better than to keep crits out of crafting because you'll eventually get to the point where only the crit gear is disirable.

 

I sell crafted gear after crafted gear without augment slots. In fact, I've yet to NOT sell any crafted wearable I place on the GTN. At no point have I had to give up and vendor a crafted item because it won't sell. The majority of the items I've sold have not had augment slots because of the rarity of slotted gear during crafting.

 

Those resources aren't blown, since I assume with every item I craft that they will NOT have an augment slot. When I get an item with an augment slot, I charge a premium for it. The gear without augment slots still gets sold.

 

I still fail to see how anyone can believe that the lack of an augment slot is "bad for the economy". The economy exists and augment slotted items fit into that existence just fine. If people were going to "only" buy augment slotted items, it would already be happening and I have not seen that based on my sales.

 

Take a trip around the GTN and look at the number of pieces of gear that have augment slots versus those without out. Because the items with slots aren't ubiquitous players have no choice but to equip their characters with non-augment gear until they manage to find a price of augment capable gear.

 

Crafting in this game is EXACTLY like space combat in this game: I.E. both are small mini-games that are not intended to be major content unto themselves. Crafting in SWTOR isn't complex, isn't hard and isn't intended to be a play style. It is nothing more than a small part of the entire game. Without "randomness" crafting becomes nothing more than plugging variables into a spreadsheet to get an answer...or to put it plainly, boring.

[Resilan]

I sell crafted gear after crafted gear without augment slots. In fact, I've yet to NOT sell any crafted wearable I place on the GTN. At no point have I had to give up and vendor a crafted item because it won't sell. The majority of the items I've sold have not had augment slots because of the rarity of slotted gear during crafting.

 

You are missing an important point which I now realize that I failed to outline in my original post. After 1.2, crit crafted orange gear is going to be best option for end game gearing. That changes the dynamics of the equation dramatically. I agree that crits or lack thereof has little affect on the desirability of low and mid level blue and purple items. That will not hold true for end game gear. You cannot currently make end game gear so your statement is not contradictory to what I posted.

 

Of course, all of this is simply my opinion. When the game designer makes a statement that they want a more player driven economy, that has certain implications. If you want a player driven economy, crafting has to be a big component of the game and certain design decisions no longer make any sense. In my opinion, depending on crits for the best end game gear is one of those decisions.

[ColonelKer-Nal]

Random chance is part and parcel of MMO's. The chance of a critical success adds excitement to the process. I personally want to see more randoms thrown in, like a random chance of learning a new schematic when crafting.

 

Ignoring the rest of your post, since from the 2nd paragraph on it became very obvious you don't understand what you are talking about, let's just focus on the first paragraph.

 

Random chance should be used where appropriate, not as a blanket excuse that "well this is an MMO and random is what MMOs are", because that's.... well "untrue" it the mildest word I can think of.

 

Simulation games are, by their nature, a representation of some facet of the world we experience. Combat in simulation game is "random" because it is the only fair way to represent physical conflict between living entities. Drops are random (w/o quotes, more on this later) because the devs want to assign a rarity to items in the game.

 

None of the above has anything to do with crafting. If you've ever built something with your hands you are well aware that the quality of the finished product has nothing to do with luck or randomness. I will say that I like the idea of possibly learning a new schematic, but that is the ONLY random thing that should be associated with crafting.

 

Re: "Random" vs random

Combat is random, but it's stacked odds in the player's favor. And I might add the odds are stacked by the player through the use of stat modifying gear. That's why combat is "random", as compared to the drop table which the player is unable to influence at all.

[Ironcleaver]

I hate random but I see why they did it.

 

Myself I'd rather have seen a system that unlocked the more you threw at it.

• Buy a Green Schematic off the npc Vendor.
  
• Experiment a green into a blue by spending 25x the resources needed for green - unlocking the blue schematic, now costs per normal blue.
  
• Experiment a blue into a purple by spending 50x the resources needed for blue - unlocking purple schematic, now costs per normal purple.
  
• Experiment a purple into an orange by spending 5x the resources needed for purple - unlocking orange schematic, now costs per normal orange.
  
• Augment can be added at anytime for 3x the cost for said tier (green/blue/purple/orange) - placed an aug slot on said piece.
  

[Note: Experimenting would be a one shot unlock. Example: A belt costs 2/2/2 resources, in a special experiment box we can add 50/50/50 of the same resource and the output would unlock a blue schematic of the same type... ect.]

 

This way if you invest into a schematic you'll get to keep it after unlocking it but the price is generally high enough so that most people will not unlock all schematics in the master list.

 

This also boosts resource consumption and collection accross the board creating a healthier economy even outside gear (harvesting, collectors, resellers, ect.)

 

I'd also like to see some quest lines (longer quest lines) for orange appearance gear. Currently someone can get an orange piece by doing a flashpoint or a heroic - I'm talking beyond that.

Edited March 25, 2012 by Ironcleaver

[Grayseven]

Ignoring the rest of your post, since from the 2nd paragraph on it became very obvious you don't understand what you are talking about, let's just focus on the first paragraph.

 

Random chance should be used where appropriate, not as a blanket excuse that "well this is an MMO and random is what MMOs are", because that's.... well "untrue" it the mildest word I can think of.

 

Simulation games are, by their nature, a representation of some facet of the world we experience. Combat in simulation game is "random" because it is the only fair way to represent physical conflict between living entities. Drops are random (w/o quotes, more on this later) because the devs want to assign a rarity to items in the game.

 

None of the above has anything to do with crafting. If you've ever built something with your hands you are well aware that the quality of the finished product has nothing to do with luck or randomness. I will say that I like the idea of possibly learning a new schematic, but that is the ONLY random thing that should be associated with crafting.

 

Re: "Random" vs random

Combat is random, but it's stacked odds in the player's favor. And I might add the odds are stacked by the player through the use of stat modifying gear. That's why combat is "random", as compared to the drop table which the player is unable to influence at all.

 

Crafting is no different from combat in an MMO, especially in an MMO where crafting is a small mini-game. Since my entire job depends on me using advance manufacturing systems in order to machine parts to tolerances less than the width of a human hair (70 or .07mm is a human hair, I deal in tolerances of .05mm) I can tell you that "random" even comes into effect there since even minor temperature variations in the environment effects my equipment, not to mention machine tool inserts that vary in size from one batch to the next. I use a 30 million dollar automated machining cell and see "random" every day.

 

The difference in real life "random" and game "random" is that there is always a reason for the real life "random" and with enough troubleshooting I can find the cause of any issues I come up against. It is, after all, part of my job.

 

Random chance is a staple of computer simulation. Random chance takes the place of real world issues because...well, it is a game and they can't waste resources trying to model the millions of things that could go wrong.

 

If this were a crafting system on the level of SWG...then and only then could you truly complain about random chance being bad design. Except, it too had random chance at its most base level in the form or random resource stats. I spent months searching for the perfect resources to make the best possible items I was crafting in that game.

 

In this game, crafting is a simplified process. The only real variation comes in mission queues, RE chances and loot drops. Everything else is as simple as x+y=z. Finding the x and the y have to be random, otherwise all that would need be done is to sell x and y from vendors.

 

MMO developers have only so many tools from which to draw from in order to create their games, and RNG's are one of the biggest. Complaining about randomness is no different than complaining about required effort.

[DataBeaver]

The difference in real life "random" and game "random" is that there is always a reason for the real life "random" and with enough troubleshooting I can find the cause of any issues I come up against. It is, after all, part of my job.

There are some real life things that are truly random. See quantum mechanics. There are also things that we know very little about and thus can't pinpoint the source of perceived randomness. The human mind is one example of this. I've come to think the RE success as a flash of intuition that allows you to devise an improvement to the item. However, I also think that after examining enough examples of the item, arriving at the improvement should be inevitable. In other words, there should be randomness in the RE process, but also a cap to how many items you need to RE before getting the upgraded schematic. Preferably so that the chance of success steadily improves as you RE more and more items, until at some point it hits 100%.

[Kanana]

Increasing odds that cap at a high Percentage are the way to go. F.E. 10% for first attempt, 20% for second, 40% for third, 50% for any after that. You still can get lucky and feel special for getting it on the first try. You still can have bad luck and get a streak of nothing. But you'll have less of the pointless, boring and frustrating grind.

[Screaming_Ziva]

Sometimes I hate random but, for the most part, I like it.

 

I have RE'd many Synthweaving items spending millions to do so and I am pretty much the only one on my server selling them.

 

Recently I decided to start selling another Force Master Sash so I have been RE'ing an Overkill Force Master Sash. After 100+ REs, I have learned 3 schematics from it so far:

 

Hawkeye (Accuracy)

Commander (Presence)

Rampart (Shield)

 

All of which are pretty much worthless on a caster item.

 

Is it frustrating? Definitely. Does it need to be changed? Probably not.

[Grayseven]

There are some real life things that are truly random. See quantum mechanics. There are also things that we know very little about and thus can't pinpoint the source of perceived randomness. The human mind is one example of this. I've come to think the RE success as a flash of intuition that allows you to devise an improvement to the item. However, I also think that after examining enough examples of the item, arriving at the improvement should be inevitable. In other words, there should be randomness in the RE process, but also a cap to how many items you need to RE before getting the upgraded schematic. Preferably so that the chance of success steadily improves as you RE more and more items, until at some point it hits 100%.

 

In a fair world, the RE process would involve the number of times an attempt has been made.

 

For example:

 

I make a Widget, which is a basic green item. I make 5 Widgets in order to level my crafting and to RE. The Widget comes with a base 10% chance upon RE'ing to return a Finely-tuned Widget. Every time I RE a Widget, my RE chance for "discovering" the Finely-tuned Widget goes up by 1%.

 

The problem with this becomes a database issue, as now Bioware has to keep track of the number of times I RE said Widget. I am vaguely, and in the most general terms, familiar with the way database storage is done and in my knowledge it appears at the onset to be a fairly large but workable option...depending on the way information is stored. It could be as easy as appending a single digit to an existing line of code or as large as requiring a complete redesign of the system.

 

Had the system been initially designed in such a way as to keep track of the number of attempts in order to discover a new schematic this wouldn't be an issue.

 

The fact remains that randomness is still a major portion of the equation...even if that randomness gets a better chance at becoming reality the more you "research" the item.

 

I also would like to applaud the above poster who brought quantum physics into the discussion, but as a layman I tend to gloss over such specialized fields of theory. In short, its over the heads of 99% of the population and of the remaining 1%, 99% of us have the idea of quantum physics wrong.

[ConradLionhart]

I think this is an interesting idea that I am willing to embrace.

 

I would think that casual players would be happy with this, because it is possible for crafting to have comparable gear with operation gear, just that it is a more expensive way to do it. And rightfully so because it is relatively less difficult compared to operations.

[DataBeaver]

The problem with this becomes a database issue, as now Bioware has to keep track of the number of times I RE said Widget. I am vaguely, and in the most general terms, familiar with the way database storage is done and in my knowledge it appears at the onset to be a fairly large but workable option...depending on the way information is stored. It could be as easy as appending a single digit to an existing line of code or as large as requiring a complete redesign of the system.

They could limit it to the last few items you've tried to RE to avoid a database explosion. Usually people concentrate on getting one schematic at a time, so it shouldn't be an issue.

[ColonelKer-Nal]

Crafting is no different from combat in an MMO, especially in an MMO where crafting is a small mini-game. Since my entire job depends on me using advance manufacturing systems in order to machine parts to tolerances less than the width of a human hair (70 or .07mm is a human hair, I deal in tolerances of .05mm) I can tell you that "random" even comes into effect there since even minor temperature variations in the environment effects my equipment, not to mention machine tool inserts that vary in size from one batch to the next. I use a 30 million dollar automated machining cell and see "random" every day.

 

Yes, I spent over a decade working in MilSpec electronics, working in tolerances of .005 in. (by hand, not automated) so I understand what you're saying.

 

The difference in real life "random" and game "random" is that there is always a reason for the real life "random" and with enough troubleshooting I can find the cause of any issues I come up against. It is, after all, part of my job.

 

Random chance is a staple of computer simulation. Random chance takes the place of real world issues because...well, it is a game and they can't waste resources trying to model the millions of things that could go wrong.

 

I'll grant you that the reason random numbers are used for a lot of resolution in computer games is due to a lack of variables. To me this just says that the crafting system needs more depth. Which is what prompted my original "poor design" comment.

 

And please note that I am NOT asking for SWG's depth of crafting. But allowing the player to, in some fashion, choose what stats go into an item would be far better than the random crap shoot we have currently.

 

MMO developers have only so many tools from which to draw from in order to create their games, and RNG's are one of the biggest. Complaining about randomness is no different than complaining about required effort.

 

Except that the PRNG isn't truly random (unless something like Random.org is used, which it isn't in this or any other game I am aware of), and that IS cause for complaint. When players RE over 500 of an item and have a schematic available to learn, they should learn it.

 

And while I understand that this is being fixed in 1.2, it should have been fixed in beta. A simple addition of +1% chance per attempt means you never have to RE something more than 100 times to get a schematic (assuming one is available to learn).

[ColonelKer-Nal]

In a fair world, the RE process would involve the number of times an attempt has been made.

 

<snip>

 

The problem with this becomes a database issue, as now Bioware has to keep track of the number of times I RE said Widget. I am vaguely, and in the most general terms, familiar with the way database storage is done and in my knowledge it appears at the onset to be a fairly large but workable option...depending on the way information is stored. It could be as easy as appending a single digit to an existing line of code or as large as requiring a complete redesign of the system.

 

Storage is cheap. Really cheap, though SAN can get a bit pricey. And keeping track of the number of times each character RE's a given item prior to success would take 8 bits (one byte). Assuming that after you RE an item 100 times you learn a new schematic, that's 7 bits for the number of attempts (7 bits has a max value of decimal 127) and use the 8th bit as a flag for success (set all bits to zero on the next attempt). Are there 1,024 schematics to be learned in each profession? That's one additional KiloByte per character. This is a truly insignificant amount of storage in this day and age.

 

However BW needs to hire a qualified, certified DBA. They had 6 months of DB issues with the GTN prior to launch, and have majorly nerfed access to the GTN at least twice because of it. I have no idea what they're using for the DB on the back end, but either it's the wrong product or it's set up incorrectly.

Edited March 31, 2012 by ColonelKer-Nal

[DaveTJ]

Database size is not the real issue. It's the amount of data that's held in memory per player (and needs to be passed across the network when you cross zone lines, server boundaries, whatever you choose to call them) that causes problems.

 

Z

Edited March 31, 2012 by DaveTJ

[Grayseven]

When it comes to coding an MMO, there are so many things to consider that unless we are actively involved in DBM of such a system we can never know exactly what is required or even how it is done. We can draw parallels from other DB systems and infer similarities but MMO's also have to deal with levels of back and forth traffic that most DB's never have to deal with.

 

I'd assume the simplest way to deal with increasing the chance of an RE to return a new schematic based on number of attempts would be by using the buff system where a crafter would get levels of a RE buff each time they RE'd a specific item with the buff resetting if the crafter RE's a different item. This reset would prevent players from RE'ing a bunch of low level/low material items in order to get the best buff before moving to a high level item.

 

The buff should also reset once a new schematic is learned. Once all schematics from a particular item are learned, no buff would accrue so as to give us a clue that we are done with that particular item (even though by now most of us know exactly what a specific item can give us by now).

 

I'm still not sold on crafters being able to pick and choose stats on items as this could lead to imbalances in gear. As long as the available combinations are not "wasted" by not being of use to someone, the current system would seem to work just fine. It also gives us something to work towards as if I do not yet have a particular stat set I'm looking for, I'm going to keep crafting and RE'ing in order to get that stat set.

 

Just yesterday I was the victim of the RNG as I tried in vain to trigger a schematic on various grade 18 armor mods as well as to get some Hypertech Artifact fragments instead of the endless supply of Alien fragments I seem to get most often. While frustrating, I don't think it means that the system is bad and needs to be completely changed.

[naardejood]

I don't have an issue with the RE system so much as I take issue with this paradigm shift to empty crafted gear being BiS. Even PvE gameplay is competitive in the way that your gear reflects your accomplishments as a player. The new change makes it impossible for me to acquire gear through player skill and time invested with the content that one can acquire by simply farming up credits. Sure, the default set gear will be "good enough", but it's aggravating when the only way to improve (when you've got the end-game mods) is to farm more credits and pay someone for a slotted version of the gear you fought through a raid for (and earned) or grind all the crew skills and farm all the mats and farm all the schematics, etc. etc.

 

Everyone wants the best there is, and that means non-slotted gear will be relegated to twinking gear or simply RE'd for more mats to throw at the RNG in the hopes you'll proc a slotted piece while you strip down and throw away/RE your empty, useless raid gear. On top of that, there's a lot of players that don't care about appearance. They'll grind level 15 orange gear until they get a slot and just use that, so you're going to end up with large quantities of mishmashed early-game sets running around with purple 61 mods. It's FAR easier to make a level 15 piece of gear BiS than it is to make a crafted end-game item BiS, but the stat reward is identical.

 

I can totally understand wanting to allow players to use whatever gear appearance they want at end-game, but FAR better systems already exist for this. It's called the wardrobe system. You have two gear sets: One set is "hidden", but is the set you derive your stats from, and the second is merely what shows up on your character model. Don't like the way your end-game set looks? Pick up a set you do like from a crafter (or wherever you feel like) and throw it in your wardrobe.

 

If you want crafters to be able to provide gear with different looks (which people will buy, even if it's not BiS), implement a wardrobe system to give unslotted gear a place in the game besides RE fodder and prevent crafting from becoming *mandatory* for end-game gear progression. This worked wonderfully for Rift and I was astounded to find it not implemented in SWToR. It's one of the greatest things I miss about Rift.

Edited March 31, 2012 by naardejood

[ColonelKer-Nal]

When it comes to coding an MMO, there are so many things to consider that unless we are actively involved in DBM of such a system we can never know exactly what is required or even how it is done. We can draw parallels from other DB systems and infer similarities but MMO's also have to deal with levels of back and forth traffic that most DB's never have to deal with.

 

I'd assume the simplest way to deal with increasing the chance of an RE to return a new schematic based on number of attempts would be by using the buff system where a crafter would get levels of a RE buff each time they RE'd a specific item with the buff resetting if the crafter RE's a different item. This reset would prevent players from RE'ing a bunch of low level/low material items in order to get the best buff before moving to a high level item.

 

The buff should also reset once a new schematic is learned. Once all schematics from a particular item are learned, no buff would accrue so as to give us a clue that we are done with that particular item (even though by now most of us know exactly what a specific item can give us by now).

 

I'm still not sold on crafters being able to pick and choose stats on items as this could lead to imbalances in gear. As long as the available combinations are not "wasted" by not being of use to someone, the current system would seem to work just fine. It also gives us something to work towards as if I do not yet have a particular stat set I'm looking for, I'm going to keep crafting and RE'ing in order to get that stat set.

 

Just yesterday I was the victim of the RNG as I tried in vain to trigger a schematic on various grade 18 armor mods as well as to get some Hypertech Artifact fragments instead of the endless supply of Alien fragments I seem to get most often. While frustrating, I don't think it means that the system is bad and needs to be completely changed.

 

There ya go. You found a way around the issues, now if BW will implement it....