Hypothetical question(s)!

No argument from me. I just don't think that it will be enough like Ilucide said and there will still be issues of competing against drops. Things can be added but their core market diversity issue will remain. The only way I see to retain weaponsmith identity, expand their market reach, ease their compeititon with drops and avoid adding more tradeskillers in it solely for self sufficience(and thus being counter productive) is to give them dominion over all weapons and ammo and not combine them with an armor providing class.

So, what was the final decision on this? Merge Carpenters and Woodworkers and give weaponsmiths back all weapons including thrown weapons?

It was a hypothetical question, there was no decision. Ilucide commented in this thread:

it would still be nice to know what their intents are. I mean, I'm not going to bother leveling up my weaponsmith until I know what is happening with this, since I already have a lvl 68 armorer.

I thought Ilu's quote was very clear.

I think this would be a pretty good idea. It always seemed that 9 classes were to many and if you pick one of the classes without a lot of recipies leveling was a real grind. Nothing will help sales at this point, but not making leveling as much of a grind would be welcomed.

[p]if mud is clear, then I guess it was...[/p][p]They need to answer the question before some of us go and waste our times any further.[/p][p]Are you, or are you not, going to combine these classes. No wishy washing, we're thinking about it. Yes or no.[/p]

Jalathan@Lucan DLere wrote:

[p] Hypothetical means the question is to be answered based on assumptions that for the purposes of the question are to be considered true. Outside the purpose of the question, they are unimportant. The assumption in this case is that the classes are merged, the question is how do you feel about it. [/p][p]So the answer to your question is they're not thinking about it, we know that because it was presented as hypothetical.[/p][p] [/p]

I think these changes should happen, and hope that tradeskills will continue to be improved upon.

yes, but now that it has been discussed hypothetically, I want to know what their intentions are in a non hypothetical sort of way. My weaponsmith is on permanent hold until this is resolved.

Jalathan@Lucan DLere wrote:

That may take awhile. This topic is only about a month old and brought up many issues I doubt Ilucide even considered. The hypothetical was also brought up as a way of testing the waters before even bringing it up to the larger development considerations. I'd really rather Ilucide,or whoever, take a good amount of time examining all the arguments- including those outside the original scope of the question- without rushing it or over consideration or popular will. We know all to well the effects of rushed, ill-thought out ideas.

Yes, but even bringing it up in this case has put alot of people in limbo (myself included). I'm certainly not going to take the time to level my weaponsmith up if they decide to move foward with this, I'd have no reason to. So right now, he will not progress because I do not feel the need to further waste my time on something that may or may not go away.

I like this idea alot, but, as others have mentioned, I think it might be a mere band-aid on the issue. If people dont need the stuff that the new "blacksmith" class makes then any benifit will be short lived - they might level quicker, but thats about it. There are so many great armor and weapon drops (sometimes off of the easiest of mobs and or quests) that the market for weapons and armor is limited, even in rare form. I think you need to fix that either first, or at the same time. I think there are some ways to do that that might not be that hard - such as: - Add better resists to Player-made weapons and armor, lower or remove them from *most* quest armor / drops (excluding legendary, relic and high raid content - or a variation of that) - Allow new stats like "weapon mastery" - sort of like a master strike only on a weapon. Allow weaponsmiths to embue these weapons with a certain mastery that will hit harder, or more often, or will proc a heal or something when used against a set mob (s) and make them way better than adornments - or remove the bulk of weapon-based adornments altogether. - Make *only* player-made weapons and armour adornable. - How about a "wear factor" as other have mentioned? What if only the new blacksmith could fully repair a weapon (current menders could still repair them enough to be usable, mayby to 50%) - What if weapons needed sharpened? Why cant a blacksmith sell a sharpening kit, and a polishing kit? Things that if not used regularly will cause the weapon to loose some of its damage, lower its stats, etc.

[p]Another method would to relieve the current tedium for many classes is to go to an EQ1 style combine. Hit Combine, the RNG rolls and it decides whether you made the item or not. That would certainly remove the tedium from crafting. I really think that the Arts don't serve any purpose but to drag out the item creation process. The one-step combine really eliminated the need for the arts and we should got to EQ1 style combine and eliminate the tedium.[/p][p]It is the tedium and worthlessness of our products which make the EQ1 style crafting very appealing and would eliminate a lot problem. We could still have the same recipes but instead of wasting time on the arts do 1click combine for the RNG and that is it. [/p][p]SOE apparently has no desire to invest a lot of development time into Tradeskills to solve the problems of lack of recipes for certain classes, but an EQ1 combine would solve that problem plus it would be easier to maintain than the current mess.[/p]

I'm a level 61 carpenter and don't see the need to combine with Woody. I've made quite a reasonable living. People always want strongboxes (my income staple from mass production) sales crates and rare furniture making which puts a huge dent in the status cost of accommodation. Vive la difference is what I say! And, as a coda I quite enjoy the process of having to counter crafting 'problems' with buffs. The longer crafting process adds another dimension to the game for those of us willing to invest time in the process.

I have heard that the crafting in Vanguard is very complex and much more challenging than that in EQ2. I believe you can actually build houses in the game.

[p]There are 2 main issues facing a tradeskiller, leveling up and making coin from it. Merging the 4 classes and making them into 2 classes will not really help out in the making coin department. You can't sell anything if the customers are not there. [/p][p] So really, if the Devs decided to make this change the biggest effect will be on those leveling up. It will make all the classes more even when it comes to frist item XP gain. This is very important cause some classes, namely armor smiths, weapon smiths, and carpenters have it harder then the other classes to level, this change would even the playing field some.[/p][p] As far as making classes more "wanted" or in other words make them profitable, the Devs would have to make the player crafted items better then other items in the game. [/p]

Or just "as good as"

And by "as good as" it would be nice if it were as good as legendary items, with differing stat preferences. If you could craft something in line with legendary items while determining the focus of the primary stat component, you'd have a nice item that people desired.

Choadley@Mistmoore wrote:

ATM I'd settle for having Mastercrafted better than Treasured.