[MUD-Dev] Crafting/Creation systems

[eric]

From: "Paul Boyle" <ppboyle at centurytel.net>

>   Simultronics - Dragonrealms - The most complex systems I've run
>   across have been there.  The forging system in particular was

Its been at least 5 years since I've seen this game, I don't even
remember it, so can't comment. However, overall the crafting systems
are soo bad in MMOGs that I would just go back to first principles
myself. The question I would try to answer is "Why is a person
crafting?"

A couple answers to that are, for personal enjoyment or for personal
gain.  Personal gain can come in many forms, one being fame, another
wealth. The tedium of all the current crafting systems obviously
removes them from being for personal enjoyment (unless you like that
sort of tedium, or you like "creating" a thousand identical
objects), and in most all games that tedium is used as a balance to
the creation of valuable items. Now because of that, creation
becomes a formula, do X for Y seconds with Z resources and you make
W item. Sounds like machinery to me, not craft. And since every
object you or anyone else in the world "creates" is actually
identical I would say the allusion to machinery goes deeper than
just the recipe nature of crafting.

A good system that didn't really exist in the hands of the users was
present in Simultronics games. The traveling blacksmiths/tailors/etc
that the GMs masqueraded as from time to time had the level of depth
you as a user would want. People create things everyday on thousands
of mediums, why can't I go get some paint and paint my house? Or
(DAoC/UO) what secret do those dye merchants know that I don't, that
allows them to make so much money on a simple thing as color? A good
personal example was that when I played gemstone, one of the most
rewarding experiences was finding or being present when one of the
travelling GMs decided to show up.  I could tell him what I wanted
(gold pieces acted as a surrogate to skill in this case since I paid
him with my time with earned gold) and he would create it. Wether it
was a shadowly longsword with a serrated blade, or a beautiful
flowing cloak of interwoven flowers, it was me using my creative
power as a thinking human that brought something into the world, so
thats the cloest I've yet seen to *real* craft in any MMOG. Put that
in the hands of the users with real resources and values (ie
economy) and you'll have all you need.

The best two completely player driven systems I've seen so far
implemented were UO and DAoC, they are both largely the same though.

Other things that are lacking in most skilled trade crafts like
blacksmithing is the a basic concept of human technology, sharing of
knowledge. You start as an apprentice to a master blacksmith. You
learn from him, and then go out on your own as a journeyman (I
wonder if he travels?), this is when you perfect your craft and or
bring something new to it, then when you are a master the cycle
repeats. Slowly evolving a more advanced technology. The things that
are missing other than evolution of the craft are the transfer of
knowledge, every crafter works in their own world (a single player
multiuser world for crafters). Some aspects had interest in UO, for
instance the metal mining things was interesting and promoted a
slight community of miners where sharing had value (Of course you
could buy the UO mining for dummies book for 15.95 on ebay, except
it wasn't called that.), that is sharing locations to particular
veins of metal types.  Another possibility that didn't exist was
sharing technique for extraction and the later process of
smelting. UOs main flaw was of course they weren't real resources,
they were metal generators, never changed, always output the same
value. And that is why they didn't promote any longterm community
value. And once you knew the locations, there was nothing new to
share with the community, nor an reason to do so, except for real
world cash as was done thru ebay.

Another reason many of the arificial contructs fail in MMOG is while
you are learning skills, expanding personal knowledge there is no
reason (familar to man) to pass on knowledge to others, because you
life forever. The cycle of life has defined human civilization, and
these are the definitions we are throwing in games, but the main
factor of their origin is absent in the games. If humans lived
forever we as a whole would be a lot more selfish, and even today
with our longer lifespans you see that happening.




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