Weapon Naming

Just chiming in with my suggestions.

In regards to naming your weapon - that is all it should be, a name. Just as in the real world it does nothing other than offer a label to the item. My Mighty Spoon of Soup Slurping grants me no other benefits other than feeling good that I named my spoon if that was my inclination. The option to name an item should definitely be in the game but should offer no bonus to the item whatsoever.

As for a weapon somehow indicating its usage in killing a particular creature such as skeletons how about this idea. Each weapon has one gem slot attached to the pommel/handle of said weapon (The limit should always be one). A gem can be added to this slot that is aligned to a particular creature (therefore creating an additional marketplace in its production). Lets say in this example of skeletons the gem is a bone white one attached to my longsword. The gem confers no bonus to the item but upon killing an unspecified number of skeletons will slowly start to develop some kind of particle effect or effect triggered when unsheathed. As my kills of said creature increase so does the effect. To keep a degree of immersion there should be no indicator of actual amount - nothing saying Skeletons Killed - 200 or anything like that.

The point here is that it is prestige, not bonus that should be emphasized. The item can degrade of course and no doubt can be broken, requiring a whole industry of weapon crafting and repair. The repair of items containing a gem of this kind should be more expensive and require a smith with particular skills therefore adding to the prestige and again always supporting that crafting economy.

 

Just to add an additional idea to my last one in regards to the creation of aforementioned creature aligned gems.

The construction of these could be an interesting process. Perhaps requiring a master crafter to enter an area badly infested with the creature that would be impossible to solo. Either his guild would need to help him or the character looking to purchase the gem needs to organise a support troop to help him out. This would encourage teamwork, haggling, varying amounts in transaction dependent on how much the customer is getting involved in helping get it constructed.

In a nutshell and in my book, anything that gets people interacting and not solo playing everything is a win.