Crafting; Theme Park MMO vs. Sand Box MMO

[Greyfairer]

Quite a few of the threads within this forum bemoan the state of the long term "usefulness" and/or viability of crafting in SWtOR.

 

Part of this seems to be based on systems experienced in games past (some of the most recent being Eve and Pirates of the Burning Sea and some of the older being SWG and UO).

 

Having been lucky enough to play most of the games mentioned and partake in crafting in same there are a few things which need to be clarified as the discussion about crafting and its role in SWtOR goes forth.

 

-Theme park MMOs generally do not have true player run economies. Within a true player run economy the vast majority, if not all, of both basic and advanced items are player created. In a true player run economy being a pure crafter is a viable class choice and there are usually "crafting" classes.

 

-Theme park MMOs seldom have item degradation and/or destruction. This helps to drive any economy, but especially player run economies. However, the vast majority of players dont want to see their "purple uber sword of vorpalness" ultimately become worthless and need to be replaced so developers have hit a mid ground with the damaged with use/need to repair, but never destroyed mechanic.

 

-Theme park MMOs usually have several methods (or currencies) a player can use to obtain gear such as PvP, PvE and crafting. Sand box games usually do not have multiple currencies or routes for similar gear. Some sand box games will offer up unique crafting materials or unique pieces of gear/equipment/recipes for activities outside of crafting, but the vast majority of gear is still player made. For instance in a sand box game a player will defeat another player in PvP and find, if corpse looting is available, the defeated player is outfitted with player made gear not some gear he bought with PvP tokens or obtained on a raid to kill the "uber purple worm of vorpalness".

 

-Theme park MMOs seldom have any differentiation among same item/class made gear. Ultimately all crafters of any one skill will create the same end product and the only difference will be in the final price charged. Every blacksmith capped in the smith skill will make the exact same "uber purple sword of vorpalness". There is an attempt to control the influx of certain items by controlling the introduction of materials needed (tying them to raids etc.) but in the end all products are the same. In many sand box MMOs the materials themselves vary in quality and thus affect the end product when created. This mechanic supports true crafting classes.

 

-Theme park MMOs tend to make crafting available to everyone and is usually a secondary/supportive skill set. In most sand box MMOs crafting the best items is left to those dedicated to crafting. For example in original SWG one of the biggest things a crafter could do was collect the best raw materials (mats had individual ratings per node). This gathering alone was so important some players created toons with skill sets optimized for gathering. Likewise the best items were created by players who tailor made a crafting toon for crafting alone. Within systems like this crafting becomes an entire game within itself.

 

 

So there are trade-offs and using the sand box vs. theme park conversation helps to illustrate some basic concepts. Not every player will PvP, or raid or craft so each multiple routes need to be made available to obtain similar gear. Now when a player engages in all those activities (PvP, PvE raid and crafting) as opposed to some they will no doubt see redudant gear and wonder if the time invested in crafting was worth it.

 

Yet, with no true player run economy, no item degradation, with mutliple gear "currencies" and a goal of making crafting accessible yet not a primary game role the struggle becomes how to make it "worthwhile".

 

So my two cents presented in a *bam* wall-of-text hits you for 200 mind damage.