Ballgnash@Guk wrote: Economy -- don't make me laugh -- there IS NO ECONONMY -- IT HAS BEEN RUINED!!! The only thing that still sells well are expert spells. The nerfs to tailored and armored and weaponmakers - makes those crafts totally WORTHLESS.
Meirril wrote: Domino is the one who ended up spoiling crafting. I prefered PRE-DOMINO. There aren't that many quests whe you are levlling up - so it is all pretty pathetic when you talk of quests. I want pristine Bonus BACK -- the XP on Crafting writs is junk - not that much even on the fast one - really useless. You can talk all you want about earring, othmir armor etc - but that is level 90 -- a lot of people who aren't 90 would waste time starting with all the changes that have made it so tedium. I prefer the crafting in EQ1 now - at least I didn't have to waste as much time to make junk as I do now.
You liked the system before Domino? Take a moment and remove those rose-colored glasses for a second. Domino didn't get rid of WORTS or the reliance on other classes that the game originally had, that was Beghn. In fact, Domino hasn't simplified crafting at all. Take a moment and think about what she's given us: crafting quests did not exist before Domino--there was nothing but writs. Domino brought us our journeyman quests, the quest for the earring of the solstice and our class cloak, the Mara quests, the shawl quest, and dozens more. She brought us daily crafting instances. She brought us crafting gear, for heaven's sake! Next GU we're getting our own AA tab. Domino is the best thing to ever happen to crafting in EQ2, and there's a reason she's one of the most beloved developers this game has ever seen.
Maroger wrote: Ok big guy. You've got 9 level 90 crafters. Try this, take any of them. Pick any non-quest recipe and don't put on any crafting gear. Do watch the screen and actually counter events. If there isn't an event, spam the progress counters only. I'm betting 8 out of 10 come out pristine. If you miss an event, you get an auto fail. That is intuitive. Unlike the system back when Behn was here. Back then it really didn't matter if you countered or not. It gave you a boosted chance at a success, but that didn't prevent failures after a counter. Honestly, paying attention to crafting back then was meaningless. I guess that is what you long for, crafting where you can watch TV and not care what your doing but get 100% success? Yeah, I can see why you like one button crafting. Do yourself a favor, stop crafting. You can buy everything you want crafted for very reasonable prices. Adventuring brings in tons of plat. Why do it if you don't like to?
1. Crafting window: don't like it? Mod it or go get a mod from eq2interface. I've modded mine to accept "enter" and "esc" keys as default actions. Very easy to do. Obviously, it's harder to mod the entire window to re-size it, but it's not impossible, and there's some fine examples on eq2interface.com. 2. There's nothing wrong with the crafting mini-game. I would make it more dangerous and a lot easier to fail. However, as it is tedious - there's no doubting that, I would also make it easier to suceed when you're paying attention and when you're well-equipped. I might also make all the components get destroyed if you died while crafting an item. 3. Domino. She's done a GREAT job with EQ2. Nobody ever does a perfect job, but certainly her heart's been in the right place. 4. Botting. This is still going on, so I'd try and do something to stop it and to make it so that events cannot be countered by anything other than a human player.
I love the crafting in this game. Want simplified? Go to Rift. Boring and overly easy. I don't believe it's meant to be for everyone. Just like everyone isn't going to dedicate the effort to being major raiders. Rush orders and such make the leveling easy enough, provide tokens and status. There are questlines to do. I have 7 level 90 crafters with two more on their way and it really wasn't that hard to do. I don't find it boring it's just what needs to be done to reach my goals. I like some of the poster's ideas on making crafting a bit more challanging and such but overall it's a nice system. Different graphics may be a nice change. What I don't understand is why would the OP craft if they don't like it and why would that make them leave the game? There is so much to do in this game, grouping, raiding, questing (of all types), crafting, leveling fast or slow, decorating. I can never find enough time to get to stuff. OP find something you do like and focus on that.
I love the crafting in EQ2 (also secretly have to admit i loved it before pre-combine, hated it also, but i loved it that u had to plan it all out, u were actually more involved) BUT i think the player is not involved enough and i agree that the mini game is tedious. I also have the feeling that the TS skill doesnt make that much of a difference. For instance, it still takes me 5-6 rounds (so 5 times 4-5-6) for a pristine bar for a GREY recipe, even a lvl 9 recipe....i dont even think its funny that a master or even grandmaster of a certain skill needs the same time to make something a double lefthanded barbarian noob does. So i do wish that they would design TS so that the player is MORE involved rather than less or, and then i agree with the OP, abolish the stupid mini game altogether and loose the one thing that made EQ2 unique. On my white christmas wishlist there is an MMO with crafting that involves mining with prospecting and geology and possibly ur own claimed mine, with several quests inside. With woodsman going out in group, marking specific trees and chopping those, transporting...and left with the choice to let nature wither or help restore..... in short ....more CHOICE not less
Meirril wrote: I have 9 crafters at level 90 but Domino's changes have made crafting too tedious and boring for me to level another crafter or waste time in crafting. The last straw was removing the Pristine Bonus --- there are really no quests for low level crafter - all the quests are for high level crafting. Frankly I don't like any of the changes Domino made - I think she really destroyed crafting by making it so you have to watch the screen = Personally I wonder if the apprentices will be SOE approved BOTS - that is what I am hoping for. Frankly all the nerfs we have had to crafting has made botting more popular than ever!!
Maroger wrote: http://eq2.eqtraders.com/articles/a...tr=060000000000 30 and below Chocolate Chip Cookies of Seething Malice (evil only) The first several stages of A Gathering Obsession New Halas crafting series Butcherblock Mountains crafting series Steamfont Mountains crafting series Journeyman Service, Tradesman service new Crafter Leaper 40 Advanced Service Crafty Sootfoots series 50 Adanced Journeyman Tasks Artisan satchel and charm All Shadow Odyessey crafting Tradeskill instances Mara writs Sage book quest I will assume you think level 60+ is "high level".
I will not critique Domino's contributions to EQ2. I will not critique Domino's contributions to EQ2. I will not critique Domino's contributions to EQ2. I will not critique Domino's contributions to EQ2. Domino has done amazing, wonderful things for Tradeskills in EQ2. She's added hundreds of new recipes She's brought value back to Carpenters She's added meaningful quests including the Tradeskill Epic, Gathering Obsession, and the Prayer Shawl. She has brought a level of player-developer communication previously thought unheard of. She says what she means, makes lists of her plans, and delivers on her promises. If she needs player feedback, she tells you what she is looking for and what's non-negotiable. She is quick to help players with issues and respond to player requests and feedback. She tackled tinkering and adorning, and has made crafting of jewelry/cloaks/weapons viable to crafters again even at level 90. If I had to name one developer that I wish others would take a cue from, it's Domino. But when you put someone on a pedestal and consider them perfect and infallable, you are setting yourself up for trouble. By so dramatically improving the recipes, quests, timelines, and roadblocks to successful crafting, Domino has unintentionally moved the spotlight to the underlying limitations of the EQ2 crafting engine. When we had to work around all the issues, from opening doors in crafting instances, to managing our power, to seeking out pristine bonuses, and all those things which were seen as annoyances, we had to keep on top of the ball. But now that all those impediments have been taken away, the limitations of a 1-2-3-1-2-3 crafting system have been laid bare. The stopgap measures to try to make paying attention during crafting important, such as bigger, unrecoverable failures, higher progress requirements, etc. have had the opposite effect, adding to player frustration. They say if you fix a problem, you'll find 10 more, and I think Domino has done an exceptional job on tackling issues and responding to player concerns. Tradeskills has felt like we had someone who truly cared about a gameplay style, something lacking in other areas of the game, and a feeling that was lacking in Tradeskill sbefore. I'm looking forward to seeing what she does as Associate Producer. The open communication and looking at things from a player perspective are desparately needed.
The new exp curve of levelling crafting was simply the lazy way out. Instead of equalising the tradeskills in terms of each having the same ammount of 'discovery' items to make per level was the correct way to go, but it wasn;t done. Instead, the lazy way was taken - nerfing pristine bonus and forcing everyone to just grind ungodly writs. Crafting is awful now. It's slowly being going wrong since the interdependency removal and is now more tedious than it ever has been. All it required was some thought and planning to make all crafting subclasses have the same ammount of recipes per level. Not a lot of thought needed to fix that really. Dull, dull, dull.
I like and dislike crafting in EQ2. It is certainly more involved then a lot of the EM stuff out there but it is not anywhere near as good as Vanguard's (which IMHO is the best out there). I am surprised by everyone saying crafting is a grind. I do it mostly with the quests now. I barely do any writs and can hit 90 just fine that way. Though I usually only TS if I have vit, which may be part of it, but still. I almost never touch my xp pots and I don't seem to have a problem with it.
