Companion instead of player crafting was a major mistake

[AxeGaijin]

Ah yes the glory that was WoW crafting... 4 hours non-stop farming ore to get 6 skill-ups on my Blacksmithing....

[bugsan]

The best crafting system is in StarWars Galaxies. Period.

1) all items have to be crafted

2) materials have to be extracted

3) materials appear randomly on the maps. at random quality as well

4) you seek the maps for them, but let extractors do the thing

5) the crafting action itself is "complex", with steps, points, etc ...

and the main point :

6) no reusable items. armors and weapons break after heavy use.

7) crafter is a profession

 

 

In other posts, some ppl are seeking the maps for white/magenta crystals nodes. May be BW can improve it, with quests

[Fubbik]

In WoW and other games when I want a major break from questing, or PVP - which I hardly ever tire of - I pursue my gathering and crafting interests. I can spend a whole day on this and enjoy it. This is another reason why the Bioware devs have a major disconnect from players. They just don't have a clue.

 

In a few days I'll cancel SWTOR, and resub my WOW.

 

You go back to WoW so you can spend days on crafting ? Seriously, WoW's crafting took minutes to do, the hours and days were spent gathering, which you can do in swtor as well.

Now if you had referred to a game like Horizons (best crafting ever in any MMORPG) I could have taken you seriously, but WoW ???

 

Personally I think the "delay" in crafting an item is more logical than the instant gratification in other games, as it does take time to build something from raw goods in reality. You just have to work around the bottleneck and plan ahead.

[rlhaas]

I will never again want to do manual crafting/skills again in my life. I got the Salty title, and that's more than enough for anybody. I'm loving this.

[JHoltJHolt]

Best crafting was in UO.

[PlayLoud]

The best crafting system is in StarWars Galaxies. Period.

1) all items have to be crafted

2) materials have to be extracted

3) materials appear randomly on the maps. at random quality as well

4) you seek the maps for them, but let extractors do the thing

5) the crafting action itself is "complex", with steps, points, etc ...

and the main point :

6) no reusable items. armors and weapons break after heavy use.

7) crafter is a profession

 

 

In other posts, some ppl are seeking the maps for white/magenta crystals nodes. May be BW can improve it, with quests

 

This is true. I loved SWG crafting.

 

Though, I think I am having more fun crafting in SWTOR. I like learning new schematics. The only thing I might change, is giving us the option of which new schematic we learn. For example, if I have to RE 50 blue pieces of armor, I think it is fair to let me choose which purple version I learn.

 

I love the fact that I can send my companions out to craft. I watched my friend craft in EQ2, and it just looked so boring to me.

[TheKillerCF]

you know what? ill say to you what ill say to the guy whining about mail on dormund kaas yesterday, good, ****, i wount miss you and your incessant whining.

[TemplarAZ]

Just because you can send your companion out to gather on their own, doesn't forbid you from also going out and gather. This is by far the best crafting system of any MMO.

 

 

 

In WoW and other games when I want a major break from questing, or PVP - which I hardly ever tire of - I pursue my gathering and crafting interests. I can spend a whole day on this and enjoy it. This is another reason why the Bioware devs have a major disconnect from players. They just don't have a clue.

 

In a few days I'll cancel SWTOR, and resub my WOW.

[Revcis]

I was one off the first 700 weapsonsmith crafers on my DAOC server. I was still level 10, yet maxed out. Everyone in their 40s was running around with my weapons. When I logged in, I was deluged by tells. The other 690ish weapons crafter was furiously trying to craft over me, but couldn't close the gap because I was willing to spend more time crafting.

 

I killed more players than anyone else in that game. At level 10. Because all of the Celts were armed by me.

 

That will NEVER happen for anyone in Star Wars: The Old Republic.

 

 

Now comes all the posts from people who don't normally craft telling me how great their style of play is and that I should like it.

 

this is very missleading. at level 10 you have no way to get all the mats you need. unless your level 10 is nothing more than a crafting alt. getting all the money and items required from your guild or your max level player.

[Kissakias]

In WoW and other games when I want a major break from questing, or PVP - which I hardly ever tire of - I pursue my gathering and crafting interests. I can spend a whole day on this and enjoy it. This is another reason why the Bioware devs have a major disconnect from players. They just don't have a clue.

 

In a few days I'll cancel SWTOR, and resub my WOW.

 

i have a solution for you

just watch your companion while crafting

[-sith_hunter-]

This is the first time a game ever was able to just tell me "here is a crafting system" and I was able to say back "this looks simple enough to do rather than just look it up at the AH".

 

Though now I here reports that any mod crafters are obsolete at lvl 50 because epic, raid, and pvp gear comes with mods bolted in and unchangeable.

[Picoom]

In a few days I'll cancel SWTOR, and resub my WOW.

kktxbai

[Silviastud]

I'm going to have to agree with the total dislike for the way that BW went with crafting skills. It does feel handed to me, which completely de-values the skill.

 

There have been many references made to other MMo and I have only played 2 of them, being SWG and WoW. I'm still a VERY active WoW player, and have been playing since beta. In SWG I was a Doctor/Swordsman and a Pistoleer/BH Pistols, so I had some crafting exp in that game as well.

 

Now for WoW, I've never been excited about professions in WoW, actually I hated them. I never saw the point, I'm what I would call a Hardcore Raider with a schedule that limits me to a Semi-Harcore/Casual raiding schedule, due to being in the Navy and no Hardcore guild would accept someone that has to leave for 4-5 weeks at a time during progression. So I'm into Endgame content and anything that will help me with being the best I can at raiding. And my professions in WoW didn't ever seem to matter that much. After 2 expansion and HM ICC I still didn't have a maxed primary profession because I couldn't be bothered to go and gather materials. This was a good thing as far as I could see it, it made me value those in my guild that took the to level their professions, or send my hard earned gold on the AH to compensate the people that worked to max their professions.

 

Now in WoW most primary professions have more value to the Endgame player. Being a Blacksmith/Miner I gain 2 extra gem sockets and 120 Stamina which goes greatly improve my stats and made the grind worth the pain of gathering. In addition WoW has added crafting patterns that can ONLY be sourced from the Endgame raids. They can then be sold on the AH if you choose to do so, but at a high cost. These items are normally of a high value to people trying to max their gear for early progression into raids, or may become BiS gear when you have your 4 pc Tier bonus. Not to mention the materials you need to make said items drops in the raid. This has made professions more individualized, more valued, and 100% more useful than they used to be. Now I can be a Blacksmith just like anyone else on my server, however, I may be 1 of 10 people on a 10,000 person server with the BiS off piece crafting item and I have to be sought out to produce it.

 

I feel that SWG has been expressed plenty in this thread, it was hands down the absolute best crafting system I have ever experienced. If you had the desire to produce a great product you could put in the time gathering the best qualities of materials, use the best crafting station, and work out the best combination of materials. Your success was based solely on your will to work at it and how much effort you wanted to invest. The market would always be there because items had a finite life span and people always needed new armor/weapons/buff. You could have your own vendor, in your guild city, and it made it extremely easy for repeat customers to come back to you for the well crafted goods you delivered. This was a real economy, you made choices and the crafter and the buyer, you didn't have to search the one source for sales, an AH, and just look at prices. You looked at stats/dmg and compared that to the prices for the same exact "item" but with different values.

 

So now keep in mind I hated crafting in WoW because it was tedious and time consuming, I didn't want to "waste" my game time to level it. However, i did value the people that took up their professions and maxed them, and I paid them well for it. Now lets think about how crafting worked for ME in SWToR:

 

Started the game a Sith Warrior aspiring to be a Jugg, great everything is on track. I go do some quests, level up, earn some credits and get a companion and learn my 3 crew skills. "Ok, this is interesting" I begin to think, I don't actually HAVE to do anything to level my professions except keep questing and earn credits, oh and while questing I'll grab these nodes when I see them. This is too easy as far as I could tell. So I'm the type to min/max, I don't give the slightest care for story or any of that sort of thing, I want to be the best tank at lvl 50 I can possibly be, I don't care about anything else. So I'm on the straight quest grind, while trying to make sure any choice I make is the best one for progression. So I'm currently lvl 40 at this point, keep in mind I have a heavy raiding schedule on WoW and can't play SWTOR endlessly, but I'm 360 Artifice, 340 Arch, and 400 Treasure Hunter... I don't even care about the items I can make, I'm just doing it because it's easy and I don't really have to do ANYTHING, but quest to keep my credits flowing.

 

So, here is my point, do I think that crafting professions should have better gear than any of the vendors or raids, not at all, should it be even close? Nope it shouldn't. It's too easy, I HATE leveling professions and mine are almost maxed and I'm not even max level yet, I can't even use the items I'm crafting, I just RE and make more... Why should Bioware give any value to these professions??? IT'S NOT HARD. I valued craftsmen in my other MMOs because I knew it took time and dedication to see valued success, in SWTOR it's just a credit sink, you don't need any more time than you aren't investing anything extra, you aren't going out of your way for anything... Why should that earn you better gear? Bioware has GREATLY devalued the crafting system by making it so anyone can do it effortlessly. Several people have called out WoW for being so easy people can be midly retarded and have great success at it. If crafting in this game isn't an identical transparency laid over the top of that myth... I don't know what is.

 

I really hope Bioware finds a way to increase the difficulty of being a good craftsmen, and finds some way to give it more value. Until then I'll just keep my nose in the operations groups and top end flashpoints, with a maxed profession I do little with.

[CthulhuRyleh]

so you can still do all that in TOR, you can easily wander around aimlessly looking for nodes. You can also sit there and watch the progress bar and yell huzzah whenever you finish your craft. No one does it because why would we? We can continue doing what we want while we craft or even gather. If you prefer to go out and gather and watch progress bars please be our guest.

[Liathan]

I personally love companion crafting because I have no desire what so ever to hit craft all and then go afk for 30 minutes while sitting in a city.

[reillan]

The best crafting system is in StarWars Galaxies. Period.

 

Except that PotBS was better.

 

You had the ability only to craft a limited number of items, not remotely based on your level but rather based on your willingness to invest and ability to reach the location to retrieve them.

Each of those items were probably used as a component of another item, so that it took an entire guild of people working together to craft the most complex items - the ships each person needs.

Crafting could go on while you weren't present, so long as you started it and stopped it.

Crafting was so complex that it required a production line manager to keep it running smoothly. And excel spreadsheets.

[zgodsill]

I would prefer if you had the option of crafting yourself. I really like having companions to do all the tedious things but sometimes, like OP said, I like to do those things myself.

[zacharySW]

How is this different from wow dude? Instead of watching your guy wave his hands for 30 seconds you companion makes it. Instead of farming Elewin Forest for copper your companion does it; you can still mine nodes while he is at it too.

 

The system is nearly identical to WoW with some quality of life additions. You're looking at the sparkles and not the underlying mechanic.

[Mac_Garen]

I absolutely love the Companion crafting system.

I'm not too fond of the state of most professions except Biochem though, but that is another conversation.

Sure BW could not please everyone, but calling "a major mistake" is borderline hissy fit.

If you don't like it, that is fine. We respect your opinion and even respect the fact that it is a deal breaker for you.

Now, if you come all the way to the forum with a tantrum like post such as yours, don't expect to be shown compassion.

[Goshee]

I like the current system, I guess it's down to opinion but to say it was a major mistake is very ignorant.

 

I know many in my guild who love the system the way it is. Have fun with WoW OP and good luck!

[Silviastud]

So, those of you that like the Crew Skills, what specifically is it that you like? On topic the OP states that it was a mistake that we don't do our own crafting any more. Essentially I agree, it's taken all the work out of it, and why should we be rewarded for that?

[worldsapartmm]

In WoW and other games when I want a major break from questing, or PVP - which I hardly ever tire of - I pursue my gathering and crafting interests. I can spend a whole day on this and enjoy it. This is another reason why the Bioware devs have a major disconnect from players. They just don't have a clue.

 

In a few days I'll cancel SWTOR, and resub my WOW.

 

 

Nope. Crew skills are the best thing ever. Have fun not being here and complaining. I know I will.

[Corvenik]

you go gather your own mats while having your companions go out on missions or you can gather your mats and make your slave make you something its pretty much the same thing ,you are gonna end up having "made" something to sell

[Aerokin]

Personally I enjoy it this way. For me, it's new and refreshing. I like it as it is.

[MetallicaRulez]

I definitely prefer this system to WoW. My only complaint is how freakin' long missions and crafting take. I mean... 25 minutes per L50 stim? How exactly am I supposed to dominate a market when it takes me all day to make 25 stims!?!

 

I understand certain gear pieces or ship upgrades taking 20-40 minutes to craft, but medpacs and stims shouldn't ever take over 10 minutes.