Simplify crafting and remove the grind

[Kerr_Avon]

My suggestions for the crafting system:-

1. There is no need for a mastery level in crafting. There should be only one level, maybe with an increase in the number of crafting points needed to become proficient at a crafting level.
2. All recipes need to be simplified down to one version, with the stats being chosen by the recipient of the item. What I mean here is that a crafter would make an item, e.g. a generic piece of armour, i.e. light, medium, heavy, then before the recipient equips it, he or she would have slider controls to choose what stats they wanted. Each slider would be dependent on the other sliders for that item, so for example, if they maxed out agility, then there would be less points available for other stats. This would, in effect, reduce the number of recipes, and players could customise their items however they saw fit. Then, when the adjustments have been made, the player would equip the item and the stats would be permanently fixed. It would make things easier and less confusing.
3. Crafters could choose to train up multiple trade skills, maybe for a consideration of Turbine Points. That is to say that instead of having to level a number of different characters, you could have just one character who could level up multiple trade skills and join multiple guilds (for a cost in Turbine Points). I don't see any reason why this shouldn't be, because not every player wants to level up more than one character and go through the grind of doing the same quests over and over again, which is frankly quite tedious, especially for crafting.

Hope the above sounds acceptable.

[Vazoth]

I like the idea of being able to customize the stats of your crafted items. Although I think the crafter should be the one to decide about them. It could work similar to the distribution of skill points, meaning depending on the item and the crafting success you'll get a certain amount of stat points, which you can freely allocate to the item. This system would give crafting a much appreciated touch of uniqueness. However, seeing how many difficulties Turbine already seems to have with minor changes I seriously doubt that we will ever see such a system.

I also support the idea of multiple crafting guilds for one character, but I think it should be limited to the 3 professions of your chosen vocation. This would be the case, if they allow us to choose a second vocation. However I don't like one character being able to craft everything. So, in the case we would someday be able to take every single profession on the same character I'd like there to be a necessity to prioritize which ones you want to max out, while the rest stays at a mediocre level.

[Octaviane]

I would like to suggest stopping the practice of only getting a certain % crit chance to make a Teal Shield, level 58 Supreme tier (just one example) even using the Scholar made Journal and crafting scrolls. The item and others like it should automatically crit

[HaleElven]

I would like to suggest stopping the practice of only getting a certain % crit chance to make a Teal Shield, level 58 Supreme tier (just one example) even using the Scholar made Journal and crafting scrolls. The item and others like it should automatically crit

You can always join a guild and use their crit recipes. Or, purchase a 100% crit scroll from the LotRO store.

[robbie1435]

My suggestions for the crafting system:-

1. There is no need for a mastery level in crafting. There should be only one level, maybe with an increase in the number of crafting points needed to become proficient at a crafting level.
2. All recipes need to be simplified down to one version, with the stats being chosen by the recipient of the item. What I mean here is that a crafter would make an item, e.g. a generic piece of armour, i.e. light, medium, heavy, then before the recipient equips it, he or she would have slider controls to choose what stats they wanted. Each slider would be dependent on the other sliders for that item, so for example, if they maxed out agility, then there would be less points available for other stats. This would, in effect, reduce the number of recipes, and players could customise their items however they saw fit. Then, when the adjustments have been made, the player would equip the item and the stats would be permanently fixed. It would make things easier and less confusing.
3. Crafters could choose to train up multiple trade skills, maybe for a consideration of Turbine Points. That is to say that instead of having to level a number of different characters, you could have just one character who could level up multiple trade skills and join multiple guilds (for a cost in Turbine Points). I don't see any reason why this shouldn't be, because not every player wants to level up more than one character and go through the grind of doing the same quests over and over again, which is frankly quite tedious, especially for crafting.

Hope the above sounds acceptable.

1. Uh... I prefer the 2 tiers, actually
2. Uh... Let's not... Glass cannon every thing...
3. I'm going to face plant

Quite frankly, if you don't find craft easy now, you're not crafting at all.

[Kerr_Avon]

In real life it would be possible for one person to master several skills. For example, one could master playing the piano as well as master motor mechanics. One could be a master chef as well as a master artist. It just takes time and commitment. Similarly I don't see any real problem with the same applying to LotRO characters.

The other suggestion I'd make for crafting, in particular for the Jeweller, would be to have gem nodes similar to nodes for wood, ore and those used by scholars. The drop of gems when prospecting is rather pathetic and you have to mine a heck of a lot of ore to get even a reasonable number of gems. If there were gem nodes then it would take a lot of the grind out of levelling up the Jewellery trade skill.

[Kerr_Avon]

Quite frankly, if you don't find craft easy now, you're not crafting at all.

I am a Westemnet Master Woodworker on one character and a Westemnet Master Armourer on another. The thought of having to grind another trade skill to Westemnet mastery makes me feel depressesd.

[HaleElven]

I am a Westemnet Master Woodworker on one character and a Westemnet Master Armourer on another. The thought of having to grind another trade skill to Westemnet mastery makes me feel depressesd.

Then, don't.

The way crafting is set up is specifically to foster interactivity between players, though recent removal of components have dampened this (ie. Weaponsmith/Tailor no longer needs Polished Jems, Metalsmith no longer need leather, Woodworker no longer needs braces, etc.).

Don't want to raise a Cook? Jeweller? Scholar? Tailor? Weaponsmith? Fine. You can always ask other players to craft those items for you.
Though, you will open yourself up to the possibility of getting ripped off, that's just the risk you take by being unwilling to do this yourself.

[robbie1435]

I am a Westemnet Master Woodworker on one character and a Westemnet Master Armourer on another. The thought of having to grind another trade skill to Westemnet mastery makes me feel depressesd.

I agree that guild rep is difficult, but crafting in general is not(processing). Guild rep is getting a little to insane in my opinion, but I don't think we should be able to pick out stats on gear. Turbine knows best where our stats should be at, and making our own gear would just cause issues with balancing(Do we need more of them?).

Also, I'm a Westemnet Master Weaponsmith and Armourer. I face some of the same issues with leveling, yet still don't find it difficult.

[Seschat]

Then, don't.

The way crafting is set up is specifically to foster interactivity between players, though recent removal of components have dampened this (ie. Weaponsmith/Tailor no longer needs Polished Jems, Metalsmith no longer need leather, Woodworker no longer needs braces, etc.).

Unfortunately, the absurdly short maximum duration on the AH kills this. I might consider putting up westernese ingots if I had any hope they wouldn't be mailed back to me before I got a chance to log in again. Also remember, components weren't removed, they were shifted over to the gathering classes. making it largely pointless to put any effort into your third crafing class. My current main has Scholar, Farming, and Weaponsmith. Without another character leveling Prospector someplace, I have no real hope of getting the 2-3 types of ingots I need to train up Weaponsmith.

[HaleElven]

Also remember, components weren't removed, they were shifted over to the gathering classes.

No, they weren't.

I'm talking about the components like a Etched Yew Brace in Woodworking that required a Steel Plate(?) from a Metalsmith. Those types of components required crafters to rely on each other, and there's nothing in the changes made to the Gathering professions to compensate for it.

making it largely pointless to put any effort into your third crafing class.

I'd have argued that it was already mostly pointless to work on a second crafting profession, seeing as you can only enter into one guild per character.
So, if you wanted to join the guild of the secondary crafting profession, you should create an alt with the vocation that highlights that profession.

Afaik, the only reminiscence of this is in Scholar, that needs some Ore for some RK consumables, and Cook, that needs wood for Campfire recipes.

My current main has Scholar, Farming, and Weaponsmith. Without another character leveling Prospector someplace, I have no real hope of getting the 2-3 types of ingots I need to train up Weaponsmith.

And, imo, since your character can either be in the Scholar guild *or* the Weaponsmith guild, it wouldn't make sense to work on Weaponsmithing (even if you had a steady supply of ingots), since Scholar is a unique Historian profession. If you had wanted to be a Weaponsmith, it would have been better to have been an Armsman.

[rosey21]

My suggestions for the crafting system:-

1. There is no need for a mastery level in crafting. There should be only one level, maybe with an increase in the number of crafting points needed to become proficient at a crafting level.
2. All recipes need to be simplified down to one version, with the stats being chosen by the recipient of the item. What I mean here is that a crafter would make an item, e.g. a generic piece of armour, i.e. light, medium, heavy, then before the recipient equips it, he or she would have slider controls to choose what stats they wanted. Each slider would be dependent on the other sliders for that item, so for example, if they maxed out agility, then there would be less points available for other stats. This would, in effect, reduce the number of recipes, and players could customise their items however they saw fit. Then, when the adjustments have been made, the player would equip the item and the stats would be permanently fixed. It would make things easier and less confusing.
3. Crafters could choose to train up multiple trade skills, maybe for a consideration of Turbine Points. That is to say that instead of having to level a number of different characters, you could have just one character who could level up multiple trade skills and join multiple guilds (for a cost in Turbine Points). I don't see any reason why this shouldn't be, because not every player wants to level up more than one character and go through the grind of doing the same quests over and over again, which is frankly quite tedious, especially for crafting.

Hope the above sounds acceptable.

I have to say I love WOW's crafting system over LOTRO's. It is much easier & simple. You don't have to gain mastery for each crafting tier. They just use a number system & once you reach a certain number, you go to the next tier. Also you can have more crafting professions. Everyone can have first aid & cooking then you pick 2 primary professions.

[Grimdi]

While the ideas might be useful for designing a new MMO, the chance for the Lotro crafting system to see such a fundamental change is less than zero.

[Ellenara]

Crafting is already too easy and a lot of the grind was recently removed by material recycling. I would like to see more complexity such as optional extra components made by other crafting professions that can improve stats on top end items.

[SouthernBelle0927]

In real life it would be possible for one person to master several skills. For example, one could master playing the piano as well as master motor mechanics. One could be a master chef as well as a master artist. It just takes time and commitment. Similarly I don't see any real problem with the same applying to LotRO characters.

The other suggestion I'd make for crafting, in particular for the Jeweller, would be to have gem nodes similar to nodes for wood, ore and those used by scholars. The drop of gems when prospecting is rather pathetic and you have to mine a heck of a lot of ore to get even a reasonable number of gems. If there were gem nodes then it would take a lot of the grind out of levelling up the Jewellery trade skill.

I'm overrun with gems to the point that I vendor polished ones in stacks of 100 on a regular basis, because posting raw or polished gems in the Meneldor AH is an exercise in futility. What I don't accumulate from nodes I more than make up in drops from humanoid mobs and treasure nodes (backpacks, corpses, etc.). If you're on Meneldor, send me a PM and we'll make arrangements for getting you well-stocked.

[Madmanthief]

I hear "Trade Skills" being tossed around a bit.

First and Foremost this is not RIFT, which is so insanely easy to level in crafting that it is utterly pathetic. Heck, it's utterly easy to level period.

Mastery tiers adds a level of difficulty, maybe not much anymore with the proccessing added, but still better than some games I have played.

[Geldeger]

My suggestions for the crafting system:-

1. There is no need for a mastery level in crafting. There should be only one level, maybe with an increase in the number of crafting points needed to become proficient at a crafting level.
2. All recipes need to be simplified down to one version, with the stats being chosen by the recipient of the item. What I mean here is that a crafter would make an item, e.g. a generic piece of armour, i.e. light, medium, heavy, then before the recipient equips it, he or she would have slider controls to choose what stats they wanted. Each slider would be dependent on the other sliders for that item, so for example, if they maxed out agility, then there would be less points available for other stats. This would, in effect, reduce the number of recipes, and players could customise their items however they saw fit. Then, when the adjustments have been made, the player would equip the item and the stats would be permanently fixed. It would make things easier and less confusing.
3. Crafters could choose to train up multiple trade skills, maybe for a consideration of Turbine Points. That is to say that instead of having to level a number of different characters, you could have just one character who could level up multiple trade skills and join multiple guilds (for a cost in Turbine Points). I don't see any reason why this shouldn't be, because not every player wants to level up more than one character and go through the grind of doing the same quests over and over again, which is frankly quite tedious, especially for crafting.

Hope the above sounds acceptable.

1. I agree with this. I wish we could craft crit items right away. By the time I can craft lvl 32 crit items (for example), my character is like lvl 40. That takes the fun out of it. I mean, lvl 32 items require dwarf iron, platinum and other mats that are found in around lvl 35 areas. And I need to collect enough of those mats to reach mastery before I can start crafting crit items. By the time I can craft lvl 32 crit items, I'm about lvl 40 and I should be looking at lvl 42 crit items at that point (but I won't be able to craft them until like lvl 50.. and so on).

I can break that cycle by buying a bunch of mats from the auction house. I can level my profession without gathering my own mats. But that's a pretty lame thing to do. It's not fun, not to mention that for a new player it can be too expensive.

In other words, I think professions right now are more about the end goal than the process. You max out professions, then you max out the guild, and then you finally craft stuff for your capped characters, your alts, your kinmates. And I think professions should be more about the process. They should be more useful to low levels. Let me craft good lvl 32 gear right when I start finding dwarf iron, etc. Don't gate these items behind mastery, which I won't reach until lvl 40.

2. That sounds cool. It would be nice to have that kind of flexibility. But it's more of a luxury. Too much work for the devs and not essential.

3. I don't mind this. But I don't need this either. I wouldn't level all those professions on one character. My storage wouldn't have enough space for all those mats. I do one crafting profession and one gathering profession per character right now and ignore the third, that's enough for me.