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I would like to talk about the current clothing crafting system. I apologize if this has been done before but I have seen enough of it now that I feel I can competently speak on it. Know that I have nothing but respect for those who put in the monumentous effort to create a varied and complex crafting system for us players to enjoy.
The system for crafting clothes is entirely too complex. One needs 4 seperate skills in order to properly create clothing. Profession: Woodcutter is required to gather the resource necessary for dummies. Craft: Woodworking is required to make dummies, one for every sex and race. Tailoring for the basic making itself. Then, Craft: Alchemy if one wishes to indulge themsleves with the concept of bright colors.
Then theres the recipes required for making a dummy for every single race and sex and the recipes for every dye you wish to have. However, the ingredients for the dyes are so bizarrely, unreasonably rare that it makes dye-making totally impractical. Indigo leaves and Fire Beetle Bellies especially. Then of course, theres silk itself, also bizarrely rare for something so mundane. All of these rare ingredients can only be found from mob drops, but most dedicated crafters are not going to have access to these things for quite some time. In fact, the only people who will have them are higher level characters who run and grind the higher level areas. The process of resource collecting is actually encouraging people to grind!
All of this for something as simple and mundane as clothing. Does clothing really need to be this complicated?
Please understand that I recognize the logic behind this. The idea, I am sure, was to get everyone involved in the crafting system. To encourage players to come together to share the skills required for making certain objects. But the truth is, the server simply isn't big enough to support such a complicated system. There are simply not enough players involved in the system to support it. Hardly anyone crafts because the system is complicated, and hardly anyone collects because there is so little profit in the simple act of collecting! And a lot of the times some of the items require skills the merchant didn't even stop to consider at creation, and can now no longer properly allocate their skill points to best take advantage of the skills they require.
I understand that some things should be just plain rare. Rare gems, recipes, materials, ect, to make rare and vaulable high-level gear. Awesome. Make us work for that great gear. High-power magic items should be rare, highly-sought after, and difficult to obtain. But we're talking about clothing. I have personally witnessed three characters, other than myself, who have become frustrated and gave up on the whole crafting system in general, just because they couldn't even make simple clothing. A system of this complexity actually deters the average player from getting involved at all, which you might say "Sucks for them, then" but it isn't. It sucks for everyone because a system designed to have everyone participate isn't being used to it's full potential and it hurts those who do get involved.
If another potential issue is the idea of players having casual custom clothing, consider that clothing serves no practical mechanical sense and is used purely for RP-purposes. Custom clothing can only enhance the roleplaying experience.
Below are some of the suggestions that I have put forth that, in my honest opinion, might make the clothing crafting system, and perhaps even the whole crafting system paletable to the average player:
Let clothing and dye making materials be purchasable at stores. Especially silk. It's clothes after all. I'm not asking for Canary Diamonds here. If we want clothes, make us pay 75 gold per bolt of silk. 100 gold for every fire beetle belly. Yeah its high, but people will pay it for the possiblity of custom clothing. Make sulfur available too, so that a dedicated tailor can purchase his own supplies and make all the dye he requires.
Free Points. A solid way of getting everyone involved in the crafting system is to hand out freebie points. Give players free skill points in any Craft or Profession and I guarentee you'll see more resource gatherers and crafters. The real problem behind this issue is that the server has added more skills to the game, but failed to reward characters with more skill points to spend on them. Not only do players have to continue to put skill points in their old skills, but have to figure out how to include new skills like Bluff, Sense Motive, and of course, the Crafting and Profession skills.
The bottom line, I fear, is that clothing-making is so mundane and so unmechanically appeasing, that no one cares that it's this complicated except for those who wish to be Seamstresses/Tailors. Why worry about the 4-step clothing process when people would rather worry about making those awesome weapons and armors? And they have a point! Clothing is mundane. So why is the process so complicated and unattractive? If you are absolutely dead-set on this system as it is, then at least consider letting clothing materials be purchasable. It would go some ways toward making clothing-making more appealing, although the extra effort from woodworking and alchemy still takes away from the fun. Why not use the Tailoring skill to make these items as well, perhaps at a higher DC? That way a character who wishes to make clothing, and nothing but clothing, could still do so.
I apologize profusely if I seem rude, snarky, or out of line. It can be frustrating to relate some of the woes that a clothing-maker has to go through in order to make something so simple that only serves to enhance roleplay. I also apologize for the length of the post. Please consider my points and know that I am not alone in my frustration. Thank you for your consideration. Please comment in both the positive and the negative. I appreciate it.
~Crow.
The system for crafting clothes is entirely too complex. One needs 4 seperate skills in order to properly create clothing. Profession: Woodcutter is required to gather the resource necessary for dummies. Craft: Woodworking is required to make dummies, one for every sex and race. Tailoring for the basic making itself. Then, Craft: Alchemy if one wishes to indulge themsleves with the concept of bright colors.
Then theres the recipes required for making a dummy for every single race and sex and the recipes for every dye you wish to have. However, the ingredients for the dyes are so bizarrely, unreasonably rare that it makes dye-making totally impractical. Indigo leaves and Fire Beetle Bellies especially. Then of course, theres silk itself, also bizarrely rare for something so mundane. All of these rare ingredients can only be found from mob drops, but most dedicated crafters are not going to have access to these things for quite some time. In fact, the only people who will have them are higher level characters who run and grind the higher level areas. The process of resource collecting is actually encouraging people to grind!
All of this for something as simple and mundane as clothing. Does clothing really need to be this complicated?
Please understand that I recognize the logic behind this. The idea, I am sure, was to get everyone involved in the crafting system. To encourage players to come together to share the skills required for making certain objects. But the truth is, the server simply isn't big enough to support such a complicated system. There are simply not enough players involved in the system to support it. Hardly anyone crafts because the system is complicated, and hardly anyone collects because there is so little profit in the simple act of collecting! And a lot of the times some of the items require skills the merchant didn't even stop to consider at creation, and can now no longer properly allocate their skill points to best take advantage of the skills they require.
I understand that some things should be just plain rare. Rare gems, recipes, materials, ect, to make rare and vaulable high-level gear. Awesome. Make us work for that great gear. High-power magic items should be rare, highly-sought after, and difficult to obtain. But we're talking about clothing. I have personally witnessed three characters, other than myself, who have become frustrated and gave up on the whole crafting system in general, just because they couldn't even make simple clothing. A system of this complexity actually deters the average player from getting involved at all, which you might say "Sucks for them, then" but it isn't. It sucks for everyone because a system designed to have everyone participate isn't being used to it's full potential and it hurts those who do get involved.
If another potential issue is the idea of players having casual custom clothing, consider that clothing serves no practical mechanical sense and is used purely for RP-purposes. Custom clothing can only enhance the roleplaying experience.
Below are some of the suggestions that I have put forth that, in my honest opinion, might make the clothing crafting system, and perhaps even the whole crafting system paletable to the average player:
Let clothing and dye making materials be purchasable at stores. Especially silk. It's clothes after all. I'm not asking for Canary Diamonds here. If we want clothes, make us pay 75 gold per bolt of silk. 100 gold for every fire beetle belly. Yeah its high, but people will pay it for the possiblity of custom clothing. Make sulfur available too, so that a dedicated tailor can purchase his own supplies and make all the dye he requires.
Free Points. A solid way of getting everyone involved in the crafting system is to hand out freebie points. Give players free skill points in any Craft or Profession and I guarentee you'll see more resource gatherers and crafters. The real problem behind this issue is that the server has added more skills to the game, but failed to reward characters with more skill points to spend on them. Not only do players have to continue to put skill points in their old skills, but have to figure out how to include new skills like Bluff, Sense Motive, and of course, the Crafting and Profession skills.
The bottom line, I fear, is that clothing-making is so mundane and so unmechanically appeasing, that no one cares that it's this complicated except for those who wish to be Seamstresses/Tailors. Why worry about the 4-step clothing process when people would rather worry about making those awesome weapons and armors? And they have a point! Clothing is mundane. So why is the process so complicated and unattractive? If you are absolutely dead-set on this system as it is, then at least consider letting clothing materials be purchasable. It would go some ways toward making clothing-making more appealing, although the extra effort from woodworking and alchemy still takes away from the fun. Why not use the Tailoring skill to make these items as well, perhaps at a higher DC? That way a character who wishes to make clothing, and nothing but clothing, could still do so.
I apologize profusely if I seem rude, snarky, or out of line. It can be frustrating to relate some of the woes that a clothing-maker has to go through in order to make something so simple that only serves to enhance roleplay. I also apologize for the length of the post. Please consider my points and know that I am not alone in my frustration. Thank you for your consideration. Please comment in both the positive and the negative. I appreciate it.
~Crow.
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