A game where the best gear is made by crafters ---Good Luck with That

My last ten supply bags were recipe free.

 

I guess the point is the word "fair", cause is just a subjective word to represent these drops. I personally think that an utter broken system is where everyone can and do get everything, because in this scenario, everyone is self sufficient and there is really no point for a marketing, there is no point into setting shops to sell stuff everyone can just craft if they have the same patience as you to just collect mats (why would I bother touring the world to buy some inks for my armor if i myself make them all at my basement without needing to waste time/lucky searching a right vendor at a right location)... seriously, how many interesting vendors you guys use to see out there?

Aside 2-3 crafters in owl head, there isn't really any reason to buy anything from anyone, and just because those crafters make exceptional items for huge amounts of their time/effort into getting wood/minerals and recently obsidian ingots, in which requires someone to go into a special forge in a group.

I wish there was exceptional chairs to craft, a chance to get an "ornate" whatever stuff... maybe this would help diversity? Exceptional food, cratfer's bonus on stuff based on how much someone work with something, etc. expansion possibilities are just endless...

But up to now, scrolls have the same effects, potions also and there is no "special flavor" on many item classses that makes them desireable, mixed with lack of scarcity (everyone gets everything), hence why i see market nowadays, aside from pledge and cosmetic items (given those are always addons and rare), is just dull.

Hence i think why the problem is more than just a recipe drop and i do believe these things are getting their proper content yet, not already here.

This is why i am putting patience and some trust on the guys just yet.

 

Yes, exactly.

 

That's why I'm not against the basic idea of recipes as loot. What I have a problem with is if they added a ton of new recipes, but kept the same % drop rate for "any recipe". I think they also need to put recipes on lower-tier monsters. I was okay with them being higher-tier loot when it was just new potions.

But I think eventually things will work out. It may take a few months. People will complain, but I take it as just the world changing, and it will change again eventually.

 

Guess we all sit tight and see what come next.

 

I do agree not everyone should get everything. But there are multiple systems in the game already.
1. It takes YEARS to actually GM every crafting skill. So NO, not everyone can MAKE everything. Even more so for MW'ing and Enchanting.
2. 250g a recipe was absolute garbage as a new player. I've blown massive amounts of gold just on recipes. Eventually, I found out you can "learn" most just by adding the correct materials to the table. That alone has saved me SOOOO much. Now recently I went to get a practice dummy recipe. I got screwed, because all the old players have it, and it is basically not in the game anymore.
3. Yes, I classify this new RNGessus recipe system as not in the game. I have gotten 2 supply bags and they both had junk. I mean literally rusty dagger, map, and gold junk. I can kill almost ANY humanoid for that same stuff, and other than the map I would get it every time. The current system is just broken period.

My suggestions: Quests for recipes. NPCs located in far away places for rare recipes that teach, but do not "sell" the recipe. Things like Obsidian recipes only taught from an obsidian smith. Then make basic recipes learnable from trying different combinations on the table. This allows new players the ability to learn, and stronger players the ability to do quests, or go to a hard dungeon with a party to learn.

 

To clarify, I should not NEED a recipe at all to tell me I get bear meat from a BEAR carcass or dragon meat from a DRAGON carcass or even an Ingot from an INGOT mold. But I would want someone to teach me how to make and design a building, craft an obsidian weapon, how to cook a recipe without burning the rare ingredient or how to enchant. Those would not be simple skills one would be able to acquire easily.

 

I understand what you say, however as a GM crafter myself and with many vendors shops in different cities I would disagree that there is no point. Sure everyone can become the same but GM abilities to make the top gear takes many months of non stop crafting to get per school. That said not all will want to invest the time and resources to make it that far. Its a huge investment which in the end has returns that do pay for itself if you are willing to take it to the end.

 

I think only the obsidian meats require a recipe. The rest are all "re-teachable", which apparently also means "discoverable".

 

Yes, currently that is true. They are messing around with the recipe system right now, so it is to point out that there should be many basic things that are discoverable.

 

This sounds like an opportunity for a very niche YouTube channel.

I would like to see more things like the Warlock's Chain - i.e. recipes to combine a selection of artifacts into something else (Frogkin Ring + Ring of Brittle Brawn + Met. Iron Bindings = extra strong, extra jumpy necklace or 'Necklace of Hulk Smash').

Yes, I think at least recipes for the advanced materials/components (e.g. Hardened Leather) should be more common in the low level supply bundles (only seen them in Yellow ones so far). This might be a problem solved by having more players grabbing more loot, but for now it's a pretty hard transition from only needing 250g to needing to be able to kill multiple 5 skull+ mobs and hoping the one you want drops.

 

Replying to myself with a further thought: I suppose one side effect of this current rarity might be that (new) players start buying refined materials and components off of vendors.

 

I think complex recipes should be obtainable just like elemental summons (fire, phoenix) are - via quests given by masters of that particular area of expertise. And the quests given should be crafting in nature.

 

So why don't they do this for all skills and play styles? You can't wear light armor until you kill a monster that drops the skill book for putting on light armor. You want to get dodge? Grind the deer that drops it.

When you have a fundamental mechanic that the game is being designed around, making it increasingly difficult/overly frustrating to do it is not going to keep those of us who enjoy it. I raised this concern repeatedly with the asinine grind times for gathering certain resources years ago. Not only was grind made worse for those resources, but then this was introduced. It only affects those who enjoy crafting (as those who don't want to gather/craft aren't going to care one way or the other, but will scream shenanigans if this was done to their preferred play style).

 

I agree that the current implementation of drop only for the higher end recipes is terrible for a new crafter, but I hope it is merely the first step of a process that includes other ways of obtaining recipes, such as obtaining recipes from questing, perhaps with a 'choice' of recipes as a rewards similar to how you get to choose an item when opening a tool bag etc to take out some of the randomness

 

Killing animals or farming a deer for a % in dodge would be silly, yeah... but that also missed the point entirely. If i had to kill a cat to wear light armor, that would feel unaccomplishing, but having to chase a spirit stag for, say... unlocking a skill that reflects some lunar magic - and also comes with side effects, or to customize one that i got entirely and giving me a different playstyle that isn't exactly mandatory to have (like summons) but that feels unique. Then i am all for it.

I actually hope they put much more depth and flavors in skills than currently. A spell you can only cast with a rare reagent? Go for it, as long as it is meaningful when you cast.

A recipe that only drops from a balrog? Other that demands several days of reading the sky and can only be crafted under a new moon and only one at a time? Don't ask me twice.

 

So, here we are, two and a half weeks later, and... where are the recipes?

I just took a stroll through Owl's Head, and on the individual vendors all I can find are the same old potion recipes, obsidian recipes, chain of power recipes, tabletop catapult recipes, and the occasional recipe that can be bought from an NPC. In other words, nothing that wasn't already around in R43. And they might even have been sitting on people's vendors since R43.

I found exactly two of the "new" recipes at the Public Vendor:
- Constantan War Hammer Head
- Meteoric Iron Two-handed Mace Head

I was amused because the two-handed mace head recipe was my example of something that not a lot of people would want to make, but the recipe would drop at the same rate as the others and thus cause a glut.

So while I'm sure that some are getting dropped and sold, there seems to be a lot more demand than supply. I don't think it was this bad when the new potion recipes came out, and I wanted them more than I want weapon recipes that I can't even teach to others.

EDIT: And then I just broke down a grey supply bundle that I had. Bronze dagger blade recipe, someone's lunch, a potion, and a map of Solace Bridge.

 

That is my entire point. If you had a special unique recipe like balrog's epic loin cloth, yeah fine give it a rare drop chance. Let you have your epic feels for the interesting and unique recipe. Basic crafting recipes, like the above example of bronze dagger blade (which was discovered by humans roughly 5,000 years ago), should NOT be dropped and should be easy to get your hands on by talking to a trainer or recipe merchant. Fighting skills and farming mobs should not be required for the crafting focused player as it does not allow the crafter to feel that they are accomplishing anything.

 

I was lucky enough to get all my bronze recipes before the whole recipe-as-drop changes took place. Since most if not all of these are not teachable - let's all pitch in to assist new players have some decent bronze weapons.

 

I asked and the recipe for Royal Purple Dye was removed and only someone with a Founders account can craft it. you can plant the seeds,grow it,harvest it. Only a Founder can turn it into dye. Then you get the seed again, plant it and the whole thing starts over again. But you need a Founder to make the dye for you if you aren't one. Bottom line was,I was told,it was 'supposed' to be this way.