Because this is about crafting, I'm going to repost something I wrote in another thread some time ago, and then answer the main question.
Mike Laidlaw wrote...
Brockololly wrote...
Well, in order to have quests which involve non combat activities maybe then we need non combat skills which we can actively progress in and level up as the game goes along? Or are those still "vestigial" ?
Not if implemented well. I do not think they were implemented well in DAO. You could perhaps even draw the conclusion that we want to both bring them back and do them better in the future. Or, alternatively, wild speculation.
For some reason this response reminded me of the crafting minigame that was in DAO/DAA. Crafting in that game was horrendous.
Please never implement it that way again. That's not to say that player crafting should be totally absent, as in DA2. Because I like to have my Persuasion skills maxed on my PC for greater options in quests, I'm more limited on the amount of points I can put in crafting skills, so I'm forced to use my friends to craft for me. This would be fine except I have to buy vials and such from a vendor NPC, and if I don't have hoards of gold, I might have to enter and leave a store building several times in order to get all of the components together (this mainly applies to having Oghren craft runes for me in DAA), and then get to an area where I can use my friend to craft.
Brockololly's post reminded me of crafting because a "non-combat skill which we can actively progress in and level up as the games goes along" almost perfectly describes the crafting in World of Warcraft. If you want to make any sort of decent money, you must have a crafting skill of some kind. If you want to have the best additions to your gear you must have a crafting skill (each one gives their own unique benefits). During some periods in the game the best weapons came from crafting. So it really wasn't optional at that point.
That is where I don't want to be with Dragon Age. I like the idea of it being optional, or perhaps Nightmare players might want to invest in it for resist gear, or something along those lines.
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Jessica Merizan wrote...
What are some of the best things you've seen in crafting systems before?
The ability to tailor the way an item works (stats) - Yes
The ability to tailor the way an item looks (visual) - Yes
The ability to upgrade an item (runes) - Yes
Collecting lots of things to use in crafting - NO!!
Randomizing the process (so you aren't guarenteed to always craft exactly the same thing; stats/visual variable etc) - NO!!
Limits on what you can craft based on skill - Yes
Limits on what you can craft based on class - Yes
The ability to buy crafting materials - Meh
No crafting materials - Meh
I'll elaborate on some of these:
Collecting lots of things - I despise having to do this, especially if there is a storage issue, or something that forces you to buy more storage in a game. It's somewhat acceptable in an MMO where you are expected to (1) play for an extended time, and (2) have additional alts that also have access to your shared storage, but I would not like it for a SP game. To me it would seem like a huge amount of time investment for a relatively small, short-term, gain that ends when I'm done with the game.
Randomizing the process - Combined with collecting the components, there are few things worse that investing the time and money to craft something that you don't want or can't use. Try crafting in Diablo III to see this in action.
Ability to buy materials - This is only a "meh" because, while making crafting considerably easier, there can also be the storage component, or the annoyance of having to continually go back to a vendor for some components.
No crafting materials - In a way, this was similar to DA2's system. Sure, you had crafting nodes that you discovered, but it was a one-time deal and required no further effort on your part. I think having no crafting materials at all is getting a bit carried away, and if these are totally eliminated you might as well not have a crafting system at all.
When referring to DAA above by real gripe was with runecrafting in DAA. I found it tedious and annoying, and other than a single instance, I have never used runecrafting that DAA and merely contented myself with vendor runes, or sometimes loading up my Warden with some uber runes before I head into the final battle in DAO, knowing I will do an import.
I will add that I did like some of the unique crafting opportunities present in DAO and DAA. The dragonscale armor from Wade in DAO and his various other items in DAA, as well as Starfang from Warden's Keep. Your PC gathers come limited, basic materials, talks to a crafter, and they craft it for you, to your specifications, so you get something you like that is custom made. More opportunities like that would be most welcome.
As far as materials go, having a few basic materials which are then able to be broken down into further components can be helpful. As an example, in World of Warcraft there is the profession Inscription (this makes glyphs/runes that enhance/alter abilities). In order to make glyphs you need ink. The basic material you gather are herbs, which you then mill down into pigments and create inks to draw the glyphs. You buy blank parchment from a vendor. All you need to do inscription are herbs and some parchment, it's simple, yet complicated, because there are additional steps from herb > glyph. I wouldn't mind something like that in Dragon Age since it doesn't require you to run around hoarding materials.
The crafting in Guild Wars 1 was somewhat of a combination of several systems. You never crafted anything for yourself, taking all your materials to NPCs to craft. All of the components were either looted from mobs or broken down using "salvage kits" by salvaging junk loots you got from creatures. This wasn't a bad system itself, the only problem came from matrial storage, for which they eventually added a storage tab specifically designed for these.
To summarize, I suppose for crafting, I like the be able to customize items, but I also don't want it to be too tedious, or to feel required for character advancement. To me, it does not increase pride that I gathered a bunch of materials and crafted something for myself, I'm only
relieved that it's finally over and I can at last use the piece of gear I was aiming for.
Modifié par nightscrawl, 05 septembre 2012 - 09:09 .
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