this is a discussion I have had with many guild mates spanning many mmo's I am a big crafter in mmo's.
eq2 was just too messy swg crafting is the reason I quit ( just got ripped off by multiple crafting errors and soe answer was basicly tuff)
that said I have seen some great crafting systems in mmo's my top 5 are
5:) TESO its robust and varied enough to be good and you can if you like just be a crafter and max out of them
4:)WoW not a great crafting system as a whole but being the first on a server to get the arcanite reaper or the intellect enchant from molten core made me feel special (for a while)
3:)LotRO such a nice system that you had to rely on trade to make most things and the occasion crit chance getting better results was engaging.
2:)GW2 just because the crafted items looked awesome and cooking was fun and varied (downside bag space was so limited or expensive)
1:) Fallen Earth without a doubt the most advanced crafting system ive seen and its not just something to do on the side it is crucial to the game trying to scrounge the parts could take weeks but the end results were so worth it
Even as much as I enjoy FFXIV's crafting, it shouldn't be first, but does have a place on the top 5. GW2's crafting system should just drop off entirely however.
Originally posted by SBFord I’ve never personally been a huge proponent of crafting in MMOs, but there is undoubtedly a certain type of players that loves the art of creation and trading. This list will focus on 5 games that have or had great crafting systems, but they may not be specifically focused on crafting as a primary and necessary mechanic. Read more of David Jagneaux's The List: 5 of the Best Crafting Systems in MMOs.
Where did this list come from? I hope not the writer, since he says in his opening paragraph that he's not a huge proponent of crafting in mmos.
Anyway, my personal top 5 (in no particular order)
Vanguard FFXIV SWG Ryzom UO
I hear this all the time, and I think it's the wrong approach to take. Just because he doesn't tend to like a particular aspect of games, or even an entire genre, doesn't mean his thoughts on those aspects or genres are invalidated. Rather, his thoughts can be quite useful - especially to others who share his general perspective. If I'm someone who also has never been able to get into crafting in MMOs, I might be very interested to hear about crafting systems that like-minded players have actually managed to enjoy.
There's still plenty to be learned from the opinions of those who typically do not like particular parts of games. To just write off those opinions entirely is borderline fallacious.
This is not serious. Eq2 has (well had) the bestcrafting system and its not even on the list. Vanguard or even wow is better than some of the mentioned.
EQ2 craft was repetitive and easy. SWG was amazing. EVE is... well for EVE players.
FFXIV deserves it spot. No other game I've seen recently themepark or not can have the kind of effect on the market like this does. I mean.. If you goto craft something that you aren't skilled enough for, or if you make a mistake by not fully understanding what you're doing.. You could lose millions of gil/money. If you do it perfectly, you can make a better version of that item and its High Quality. Fail totally? All mats and money/time spent vanishes. This isn't wow where everyone is a max lvl everything. Skilled crafter's are more sought after than almost anything else in this game. The ones that can consistently make HQ items because they know exactly what they're doing are rare. No other game I've played recently even comes close in regards to their effect on the player base. To write it off like some people are doing here, is simply to troll/hate on what they've done. Nothing else on the market currently even comes close.
The reason I quit playing both GW2 and FFARR, was the CRAFTING! Not only could you NOT make even close to the best gear or weps in the game, but it was also totally useless junk that you could not sell!
Guildwars 2 deserve a special clause by it stating "Only the cooking System" which I do feel is amazing, probably deserving of a top spot in the list, even if I feel its not fully explored as much as it should be. The rest of the crafting professions though fall short and don't deserve to be on a top 5 list.
2. Yes I am going to say it, Horizons. That horrible game had some amazing crafting.
3. UO, the godfather of all things great in crafting
4. Vanguard
5. FFXVI
"People who tell you youre awesome are useless. No, dangerous.
They are worse than useless because you want to believe them. They will defend you against critiques that are valid. They will seduce you into believing you are done learning, or into thinking that your work is better than it actually is." ~Raph Koster http://www.raphkoster.com/2013/10/14/on-getting-criticism/
I love EQ2 and think its criminally underrated/underplayed, but the crafting system is not a top 5 crafting system.
Its great that there is a ton of content for crafters, more so than any game on the market.
However, the crafting itself is pretty lame. A tedious minigame that takes no thought, just mindless 4-5-6 4-5-6 with an occasional 6-4-5 or 1-2-3 thrown in. Its impossible to fail if you are paying at least minimal attention.
Its better now with the experimentation, but its a long, tedious slog to get there.
FFXIV does indeed have good crafting, but it is inspired by Vanguard. Vanguard was much more complex, however it also had an extreme element of tedium to level as well. Still, I would put it #2 to SWG and I am ok with FFXIV in the top 5 as well.
I do think recommendations like LOTRO, WoW, or even ArcheAge are a joke. Gather/single click/no fail combine systems are not worthy, no matter how useful the items made may be. Actual skill should play into the equation IMO.
Why GW2, seriously? I played this game for quite some time and don't even have a clue on why you even need to craft anything - you buy everything from NPC merchants...
Anarchy Online would make much more sense. As a lot of other games as well.
But it seems the website here wants GW2 on every "the best" list.
i dunno maybe im a little biased but i think Asherons Call crafting should be on here, or even mentioned.
especially since every single piece of loot generated gear and weapons needs to be imbued and crafted to be worth a damn. and that especially goes for end game stuff.
if you dont use the crafting system in that game, your gear and weapons is going to suck balls.
I think the original EQ2 crafting system from back when the game came out was awesome, it since has been nerfed to hell.
Vanguard's crafting (another favorite) was just like how you described FF XIV, so much so it was probably taken from them, but IDK I never played it. Vanguard crafting was a full time job, not sure how it has evolved now.
Ryzom is very deep, each type of material, amount used and quality all affect different stats on items
My favorite crafting system isn't in a traditional MMO, and I've played a lot of MMOs. Personally I enjoy the crafting system in Minecraft, moreso with the various mods that enhance it. Not only are you crafting items, but you are building structures limited only by imagination, nearly limitless decorating possibilities, etc.
If EQ Next and Landmark can capture this, it would truly be the best crafting system ever.
So, this is obviously an opinion piece, and so... here's my opinion on that opinion.
First of all, an article about "the best crafting systems in MMOs" opening up with the author stating: "I’ve never personally been a huge proponent of crafting in MMOs," immediately raises a big, red flag. It makes me wonder "Okay, so someone who's not a fan of crafting systems in MMOs, is writing an article on what they consider the best crafting systems in MMOs.... Why?"
"Hey... I'm not really a fan of gaming PCs, but I'm gonna write an opinion piece on the 5 best Gaming PCs out there! After naming several that are truly the most powerful and well-optimized, with the best support, I will ultimately dismiss all those other factors, and base my #1 pick on which one has the coolest looking case!".
It shouldn't bear stating that an article about crafting in MMOs should be written by someone with an interest in and knowledge about the subject.
For that same author to deem FFXIV's crafting as "the game that truly has the best crafting on the market right now", based entirely on it 'being a mini-game', after dismissing the aspects that actually make it a core, and key part of the game itself... well, yeah.
Since they're, self-admittedly, not a big fan of crafting, I'm going to guess the OP is a FFXIV fan and, so, simply chose their favorite game for the #1 spot. At the very least, I can fully believe them when they say they're not a fan of it in general, because that is one of the most ridiculous arguments I've seen for picking something as a #1 choice.
I'm sitting here thinking about this, and the only conclusion I can come to is that this article is basically troll-bait. It's deliberately written to stir up controversy and, hence, website traffic. It holds absolutely no meaningful value in any other way. It's certainly not helpful to someone looking for a MMO with a meaningful and in-depth crafting system - some of which actually are mentioned in the article.
Ryzom has an amazing crafting system which ties directly into the world itself, with tons of depth and variety, and where the gear is actually useful throughout the game, since so much is player-made, and gear degrades over time. Istaria has a great crafting system that is quite diverse and deep. Mortal Online, as the article states... The choices are myriad.
But the author picks XIV because it's "like a mini-game!".
Yeah, I'm convinced. This article is troll-bait. I can't see it being taken seriously as anything else but.
I would have picked Mortal Online for number 1. No other game comes even close to it in depth. Other then that I would have SWG and Fallen Earth on top 5. But not GW2 or FFXIV. Age of Wushu and Ryzoom would be there instead.
swg is the best by far. in the end ffxiv is just reworked version of wow. you make a item with chance of a better quality item. just with a mini game involved. where swg is very indepth. earthrise had better crafting than ffxiv. and guild wars 2 crafting is crap. might as well add wows crafting to it as well. needing x and y making z is terrible. regardless of if a mini game is involved or not. the crafting in wildstar is better than half of the games list also.
Maybe better than doing opinion pieces that have no place for a single persons opinion, try doing a MMORPG Poll on the right side of the homepage and run it for couple weeks or more, then evaluate based on responses over the period and THEN write a conclusion with as many shout outs as you like based off the non troll feedback you got. It is not like you are doing a review for a new game of which you can be as opinionated as you like as long as it honest.
Comments
this is a discussion I have had with many guild mates spanning many mmo's I am a big crafter in mmo's.
eq2 was just too messy swg crafting is the reason I quit ( just got ripped off by multiple crafting errors and soe answer was basicly tuff)
that said I have seen some great crafting systems in mmo's my top 5 are
5:) TESO its robust and varied enough to be good and you can if you like just be a crafter and max out of them
4:)WoW not a great crafting system as a whole but being the first on a server to get the arcanite reaper or the intellect enchant from molten core made me feel special (for a while)
3:)LotRO such a nice system that you had to rely on trade to make most things and the occasion crit chance getting better results was engaging.
2:)GW2 just because the crafted items looked awesome and cooking was fun and varied (downside bag space was so limited or expensive)
1:) Fallen Earth without a doubt the most advanced crafting system ive seen and its not just something to do on the side it is crucial to the game trying to scrounge the parts could take weeks but the end results were so worth it
I hear this all the time, and I think it's the wrong approach to take. Just because he doesn't tend to like a particular aspect of games, or even an entire genre, doesn't mean his thoughts on those aspects or genres are invalidated. Rather, his thoughts can be quite useful - especially to others who share his general perspective. If I'm someone who also has never been able to get into crafting in MMOs, I might be very interested to hear about crafting systems that like-minded players have actually managed to enjoy.
There's still plenty to be learned from the opinions of those who typically do not like particular parts of games. To just write off those opinions entirely is borderline fallacious.
Editing to include a link to a similar point made by TotalBiscuit. I remembered the points he made, but it took a sec to track down the exact video in which he made them.
"I am my connectome" https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HA7GwKXfJB0
EQ2 craft was repetitive and easy. SWG was amazing. EVE is... well for EVE players.
FFXIV deserves it spot. No other game I've seen recently themepark or not can have the kind of effect on the market like this does. I mean.. If you goto craft something that you aren't skilled enough for, or if you make a mistake by not fully understanding what you're doing.. You could lose millions of gil/money. If you do it perfectly, you can make a better version of that item and its High Quality. Fail totally? All mats and money/time spent vanishes. This isn't wow where everyone is a max lvl everything. Skilled crafter's are more sought after than almost anything else in this game. The ones that can consistently make HQ items because they know exactly what they're doing are rare. No other game I've played recently even comes close in regards to their effect on the player base. To write it off like some people are doing here, is simply to troll/hate on what they've done. Nothing else on the market currently even comes close.
l have to go with SWG #1, and Vanguard. Didn't craft much after those games.
Bad list is very bad.
1. SWG
2. Yes I am going to say it, Horizons. That horrible game had some amazing crafting.
3. UO, the godfather of all things great in crafting
4. Vanguard
5. FFXVI
"People who tell you youre awesome are useless. No, dangerous.
They are worse than useless because you want to believe them. They will defend you against critiques that are valid. They will seduce you into believing you are done learning, or into thinking that your work is better than it actually is." ~Raph Koster
http://www.raphkoster.com/2013/10/14/on-getting-criticism/
I love EQ2 and think its criminally underrated/underplayed, but the crafting system is not a top 5 crafting system.
Its great that there is a ton of content for crafters, more so than any game on the market.
However, the crafting itself is pretty lame. A tedious minigame that takes no thought, just mindless 4-5-6 4-5-6 with an occasional 6-4-5 or 1-2-3 thrown in. Its impossible to fail if you are paying at least minimal attention.
Its better now with the experimentation, but its a long, tedious slog to get there.
FFXIV does indeed have good crafting, but it is inspired by Vanguard. Vanguard was much more complex, however it also had an extreme element of tedium to level as well. Still, I would put it #2 to SWG and I am ok with FFXIV in the top 5 as well.
I do think recommendations like LOTRO, WoW, or even ArcheAge are a joke. Gather/single click/no fail combine systems are not worthy, no matter how useful the items made may be. Actual skill should play into the equation IMO.
Why GW2, seriously? I played this game for quite some time and don't even have a clue on why you even need to craft anything - you buy everything from NPC merchants...
Anarchy Online would make much more sense. As a lot of other games as well.
But it seems the website here wants GW2 on every "the best" list.
i dunno maybe im a little biased but i think Asherons Call crafting should be on here, or even mentioned.
especially since every single piece of loot generated gear and weapons needs to be imbued and crafted to be worth a damn. and that especially goes for end game stuff.
if you dont use the crafting system in that game, your gear and weapons is going to suck balls.
I have about 10 max level chars in GW2 and I LOOOVVVVEEE crafting in general. In GW2 the crafting is complete garbage.
In GW2 you create thousands of totally useless things just to get xp and then npc them.. It is such a mind numbing waste of time.
GW2 should be on a list of the 5 worst crafting systems.
I agree with number 1.
But no mention of Vanguard, FFXI, or Ryzom, kind of hurt the credibility of the whole list
I think the original EQ2 crafting system from back when the game came out was awesome, it since has been nerfed to hell.
Vanguard's crafting (another favorite) was just like how you described FF XIV, so much so it was probably taken from them, but IDK I never played it. Vanguard crafting was a full time job, not sure how it has evolved now.
Ryzom is very deep, each type of material, amount used and quality all affect different stats on items
My favorite crafting system isn't in a traditional MMO, and I've played a lot of MMOs. Personally I enjoy the crafting system in Minecraft, moreso with the various mods that enhance it. Not only are you crafting items, but you are building structures limited only by imagination, nearly limitless decorating possibilities, etc.
If EQ Next and Landmark can capture this, it would truly be the best crafting system ever.
+1. More thoughtful than the original piece.