Crafting: Core System or Diversion?

I’m not sure if this is considered a reblog or simply a cop-out (the latter of which, I am sure of), but Damion over at Zen of Design came up with a rather interesting question:

Is it better to make a crafting system for pure crafters (a la UO and pre-NGE SWG)? Or is it better to make a crafting system where crafting is a sideline (EQ, WoW)?

Read the original post and the many follow-up comments for a good idea of where this discussion has been going. I’m simply going to repost the comment I made there and elaborate on it or refine it where I feel necessary.

My answer to the question: Yes.

It is better to do what makes the most sense for your game. But, is it ever worthwhile to spend a lot of development resources on a crafting system?

The truth is, there aren’t terribly many people who enjoy spending hours upon hours making things (compared to those who enjoy adventuring). But then again, the argument could be made that it’s because none of us have done crafting justice, just like I argue that nobody has done PvP justice.

I agree with Patrick McKenzie. No system–crafting, PvP, ship-to-ship combat, etc.–can be bolted on and be successful. It needs to be integrated into the game from the start in order to work correctly, or you need to be willing to sacrifice an exorbitant amount of development time to reestablish the foundations of your game to accommodate the new system.

Back to my original point: “Yes.” If your game has crafting at the heart of it, then you need to make a crafting system desirable to pure crafters. If your game does not have crafting at the heart of it, it should either not exist (assuming it makes sense to not be there, which is generally not the case in an MMORPG), or it should be streamlined to the point where crafting is desirable to non-crafters (allow players to hire NPC workers to craft things for them, make crafting somewhat point-and-click, and so on).

If you try to bolt on a “compelling” crafting system to a game that doesn’t have crafting at the heart of it, it won’t be fun for anyone. The crafters who are initially attracted to the system because it seems to be comprehensive and fun will be disgruntled because crafting will seem useless or just won’t feel “right.” The players who don’t generally enjoy crafting will absolutely abhor the crafting system because it’s simply too clunky and overly complex.

It is this grey area where most of the crafting systems in MMORPGs today fall. They are too complicated and require too much time and effort investment for the average adventurer to enjoy them. The products they produce are too useless overall for the systems to be attractive to true crafters (that is, it is more rewarding for an adventurer to adventure for his equipment than purchase it from a crafter, thus making it undesirable to craft in the first place).

Can a happy medium be reached? Maybe. If items that are dropped off creatures can be augmented by a crafter and improved, maybe that’s a happy medium (of course, a system for temporary trading or no physical handing over of an item at all must be established since players are not reliably trustworthy).

A compelling and deep crafting system that coexists with a compelling and deep adventuring system would be tough to pull off, though. Adventurers don’t feel amply rewarded for their effort without the mad lewtz, and crafters don’t feel amply rewarded for their effort when mad lewtz exist.

That is not to say that a deep crafting system absolutely cannot exist in a game that focuses on adventure. There must be ways around the idea that greater damage is better on a weapon, period, or that armor with the most physical protection is the best, period. Maybe if crafted items focused more on versatility it could still prove useful. Sure, that Sword of Demonslaying does a poop-lot of damage to demons, but my Crafted Sword of Shimmering looks freaking cool, can be used at a lower level than your sword, and does increased damage to all ethereal types, not just demons.

I digress. I don’t have any conclusions as to how to implement a happy medium system as of yet, but I’ll think on it and may post further on the subject in the future.

Back to the original point, yet again (I’ve gone on a few tangents already here… shrug). Quality over quantity. If you aren’t sure that you will have time to integrate crafting into a game and make it fun and worthwhile, don’t try to. Dedicate the time to making other areas of the game more fun and if you can, implement a streamlined system into the game like I mentioned above. A game that does a few things extremely well is better than a game that does a lot of things passably.

Item permanency and accessibility should also be considered when deciding how meaningful the crafting experience should be. If items are too permanent, crafting will never be very worthwhile. If items are accessible and useful to too broad a range of characters, crafting will never be very worthwhile.

What do I mean by too permanent? If the items do not decay and eventually break and/or the items can be freely traded to others (i.e. there is no item “attunement,” “soulbinding,” or other term that means you can trade it at first, but once it is used effectively it can never be given to another character), they are somewhat permanent. If items do decay or, at least, permanently bind themselves to an owner, a deep crafting experience is closer to being viable.

What do I mean by too accessible? If items can be wielded by both high and low level characters at a useful level of effectiveness, crafting won’t be highly desirable. If a level 10 character can wield the same equipment as a level 50 character, even if he is less efficient in his use (and can use the items to a worthwhile degree), there will be no market for new crafters in the world.

Don’t try to satisfy both the hardcore crafter and hardcore adventurer with your crafting system without fully thinking it through and measuring the pros and cons (which is difficult to do considering there are few worthy reference points for such systems). Go lean and mean with your crafting system if the focus of the game is adventuring. Go deep and meaningful with your crafting system if in a sandbox or highly sociable environment. Trying to make both crowds happy will most likely result in the overall unattractiveness of the system to all types of players.