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I hate crafting
Razeekster
Member UncommonPosts: 2,591
I've never understood the appeal of crafting. To me it's just another grind, and unlike questing, which at least has the appeal of finding out about the lore of the game, and some of the quests are actually interesting.
Crafting though...there is nothing fun or interesting about it, accept maybe the concept. You grind for 100s of mats and then go back to a crafting station and stand there waiting for the crafting bar to finish filling up and create whatever it is you're crafting.
I don't get how that's fun at all...
Can someone who actually enjoys crafting explain to me how or why it's fun to them? I don't get it...
Crafting though...there is nothing fun or interesting about it, accept maybe the concept. You grind for 100s of mats and then go back to a crafting station and stand there waiting for the crafting bar to finish filling up and create whatever it is you're crafting.
I don't get how that's fun at all...
Can someone who actually enjoys crafting explain to me how or why it's fun to them? I don't get it...
Smile
Comments
Different people like different things.
Personally i do not like crafting, and would prefer games where crafting is optional, and light weight.
However, I (and you) cannot deny there are some who like it ... otherwise minecraft would not be so popular.
Well, you gave 1 example of a crafting system. Granted, it's an over used one. But that doesn't mean crafting itself is boring. If it's meaningful and it's implemented well it can be a lot of fun providing gear and equipment for people. I've know people who do nothing BUT craft in games. They just like playing the markets, being the only person that can make a rare item, helping guildies (like yourself) out that don't enjoy it at all, stuff like that.
I personally always use crafting as a side goal, I find it helps make adventuring more interesting when you are on the lookout for ingredients and being able to outfit yourself with gear instead of depending on others usually doesn't hurt.
People enjoy different things. I never understood the appeal of housing in games myself, but that doesn't mean others don't.
To each their own. Lore quests aside, questing in general leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. They are merely rehashes of the same ole crap we've put up with since WOW was released.
Crafting, however, can be a diamond in the rough. Crafting in WOW is rather bland and mediocre. You craft because you need to, not because you want to. Games like EQ2 and FFXIV make crafting more intuitive and fun (for some of us). Do I like crafting? Yes, for the most part. It just depends on the implementation. Do I like questing? Kinda, but I don't quest for the story. I quest out of necessity. Quests with a good story are definitely a bonus. However, I play games for the leveling systems, the mechanics, and the gameplay.
Raquelis in various games
Played: Everything
Playing: Nioh 2, Civ6
Wants: The World
Anticipating: Everquest Next Crowfall, Pantheon, Elden Ring
It's being part of a thriving online economy. You produce something and somebody else buys it. You are a a psudo-entrepreneur.
For a lot of people, that's a pretty fun meta game often times more fun than the game itself
the fact that has to be explained is mind boggling.
What happens when you log off your characters????.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFQhfhnjYMk
Dark Age of Camelot
To the OP & others who dislike crafting, may I point out that without you, we who prefer crafting wouldn't have any real place in MMOs?
So, seriously, thank you, for existing, & for playing ('cos lets face it, crafting for sale to NPC vendors is just grinding).
You didn't explain what was fun about crafting at all. You described a feeling around crafting about being part of the economy, but that still doesn't make crafting any less of a boring soulless grind.Smile
You sir, have never actually play the game where crafting system is not an over look, step to the side gameplay. Crafting can be so much more than just collect ingredients, drop them in the masher, and spit out item you've selected. For crafting to be enjoyable, it often involve in-game economic where players are trading ingredients and their own crafting creation with other players as well as to sell them for profit.
Mats in those type of game usually come with different quality. Higher quality mats likely to help you craft higher quality item, if you have the skill to do so. Players would exploring deep, wide, and high to find quality mats to sell, trade, or to craft. Find and kill the dragon to get their scales, sneak into Dragon's laid to collect their eggs, raid bandit camp to take back stolen ores. etc. Those item can also be upgrade by adding parts to them, which give pro and con stats to how player choose.
When the item are crafted, it normally has player name embed on it, which allow such player to spread their name out as they sell their item in the market, and could become famous among other players on the same server.
Crafted item in those game does have durability, when it break, it gone for good. This help gathering/farming/mining professions and crafters to always be in need to help other players stay alive in the hash world.
When some items run low or run out of the market, it will become hard to find, and the price would go up. This allow crafters to see opportunity to race the other crafters to do the first dip into the gold mine before the other crafters flood the market with the same item and cause the price to go low again. This often cause some crafters to work with other players to do whatever to make the market crash, either block the trading routes, murder other players and rob their goods, or raid the town, just so they can sell their good at higher price. However, the other crafters may not take that actions well and fight back, which could start a small fight or turn into a full scale server wide war that can go one for weeks or months.
It's about exploring to collect the parts you need, create things for yourself and/or others, manipulate the game economy, and be rich in the game world.
I am in the same boat here... I used to use it as a means to an end or just avoid it all together.
Now I really enjoy games more centered around crafting... Firefall was probably my turning point. I also enjoy a lot of the SP 2D crafters like Terraria, Signs of Life, Crea and Starbound.
What are your other Hobbies?
Gaming is Dirt Cheap compared to this...
Depends on the game. As a rule i avoid crafting, but games like Vanguard (R.I.P.) and FFXIV have gotten me into it a bit more.
Having it as a separate class to level up and making it more engaging, trying to get HQ items through skills and specific mats to get higher stats (or money if you're in it for that) helps keep me engaged in it. It's a lot better opposed to just watching a bar fill up 5,000 times is nice.
It can be useful if you can get through it; gives you a way to make some extra money and help friends.
Developers need to work on their implementation of crafting. In most games these days, it is simply a grind for materials, then grind for points which inexplicably unlock better recipes. It ruins immersion when you are just trying to get points.
Depth and complexity can make a difference. SWG and DAOC were two games that made crafting an integral part of end-game content. You weren't forced to craft, but you at least needed to buy crafted gear to participate in end-game content. That kind of participation keeps the economy going in the game. It also requires designing your game around the crafting content from the beginning and can't be implemented very easily after launch or even in alpha or beta testing.
the fun i suspect, is the sum of it's parts, rather than focusing on the aspects that are "less fun" like gathering of materials or doing the same repetitive clicking over and over until you get carpal tunnel syndrome. That was the explanation. You create something from scratch and could end up a rich man/woman if done well. That would be the fun part. Setting up a goal, then try to reach it and then ending up reaching it or go beyond it. Then there's being part of a sub community which a lot of gamers like as well consistent of dedicated crafters.
You can apply the same line of thinking to an auction house meta game of buying low, selling high which is another part of a few MMO's some find fun. I personally have no interest in it but I can see how that could be more enjoyable, rather than slaying orc's for somebody else
Actually, crafting NEEDS players to not like crafting. Those that don't like crafting are the CUSTOMERS of crafters.
So thank you OP. Your business is much appreciated.
It depends on the game. I enjoy crafting in games that don't have tiered resources and where equipment is destroyed and needs to be replaced. In EVE Online and Mortal Online, I can focus on a particular type of item and specialize in it. Moreover, I don't have to grind through 80 levels worth of useless crap - gated along the way by your Murder Things level - just to create something people want to use.
I'm not a fan of crafting in most of the EQ/WOW-style MMOs simply because the tiered content and the static loot table make it a tedious and repetitive process. Some people like that, though, so more power to them.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
I don't know for sure but I think there are some private servers with SWG that are still online.
I don't know that much cause I have never been into the game but a few friends of mine still play it, or so they say.
Crafting is simply a realistic part of what should be in a ROLE playing game.The other realistric aspect is that you don't have to craft,you can simply buy off the market/auction house.
The problem with crafting and many other systems is they are usually done very generic,each craft being like the other and nothing leans towards RARITY or exploration and discovery.
I wish there was a way to keep information off the internet,then crafting could really be unique to each player.What crafting should do is be able to allow players to customize their gear in a way that is different from others.Also you should be allowed to sell your wares not have that lame "soulbind" idea i see in games.
Crafting should be expansive and go far beyond just gear.Example in FFXi you could garden and grow tons of different items.You could craft food that is meaningful ALl the time,not just outside combat or just inside combat.
I would like to see other additions like ships and boats and housing.If a game goes a step further and allows you to raise mounts and pets,you can have a whole line of crafting revolve around that as well.
I think what a game should also do is make crafts VERY powerful but make the mats sop rare limiting players from spamming their use.Think of it like having that one huge heal pot that could save your life that one time.
There is a heck of a lot that can be done with crafting,we have yet to see a really creative developer and one willing to put in the effort and cost to make it happen.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
I don't think anyone can describe it to you, to where you will say, "I get it!". It is like asking why someone likes a certain food, and the reasons they like it are probably the reasons you don't.
I like crafting, all the way back to UO, also liked having a vendor to sell stuff for extra cash with the materials I didn't need. I like to be able to make stuff for my characters or a guild I am in, and help people out. A lot of mmos I played in, like DAoC for instance, I had a bowyer/fletcher, and when I made my scout, I had the best bow for lower level characters. I would smash people in the battleground, if I did not craft, I would not have that bow....Sure at higher levels their was non-player made bows, but that is just a small thing.
I had fun running around mining in UO in my full valorite GM plate armor, and seeing pks wanting to kill my smith to take it...Gave me some good laughs. I was in one of the top PvP guilds in VG, me and my wife craft and it was nice to see people (us included) using stuff we made to help them kill people in our rival guilds, and maybe the new outfit we made was some of the difference in winning.
I like mmos with a player economy, I like to be able to make stuff that is useful to all my characters, my guild, and have non-instanced housing that I can make and put stuff in.
I am not a game hopper though, if I am playing a mmo that I like, I generally play only 1 mmo at a time. IT also makes up 80%+ of my gaming time too. So I like a good mix of harvesting/crafting, pve, pvp, raid, and even side stuff like diplomacy every once in a while like VG had. I hate daily quests, I like to log in and not feel like I have to do x, y, z or I am gimping my play time.
I doubt any of that did much for you OP, but if you don't like crafting, it is no big deal, I have never played a mmo personally where people that just want to kill stuff cannot afford anything they need with that play style and let others do what they dislike. They may hate to part with the cash for it, but I haven't seen the killer punished in any mmo that I have played yet. I am sure their is one out there, just as I have played mmos where crafting sucks and is a waste of time.
I never understand the appeal of it either. All it does is drain time and in-game resources in order to make vendor junk nobody wants, just to get skill-ups in order to make more junk for the vendor so you can continue the whole pointless cycle. I do try out crafting in games, albeit briefly, to see if one day a game has crafting that might intrigue me, but to no avail.