Rationale for Crafting in Shroud of the Avatar

Crafting

Having tried crafting in a few games it appears that there is a common aspect about it - the actual process of crafting is very simple and not any fun. After acquiring the ingredients for an item you stand at a bench / forge / stove, type in the numbers, press go and wait. The first element for Shroud of the Avatar to address then is "process".

The "fun" of crafting is in obtaining the product you have made, whether that is a better weapon, some magic jewellery or some goodies to sell such as a tray of stat buffing food that always sells well on the broker. The first law of crafting is therefore:

"You must be able to make products that are genuinely useful and that players actually want."
Blindingly obvious so why do many games get that wrong?

Here is a list of points I feel is important for crafting in games:

Value of crafting
1) Crafting just standard items is far from ideal - it ought to be possible to craft desirable high-level (perhaps magic) items if you have the components & recipe.
2) A crafted item should be worth more than the sum of its components if sold at a trade broker or to an NPC.
3) A decent rate of crafting level advancement will stop the lag where players can't make items high enough level for thier character.

Reduce the Grind
1) Crafting speed should increase with volume. E.g. if it takes 10 seconds to make an apple pie, you shouldn't have to wait 100x10 seconds if you want to make 100.
2) No "work orders" where you are forced to make mundane items for an NPC purely for the sake of levelling a crafting profession.
3) Could consider omitting crafting levels altogether and just have a system based on recipe discovery.

Recipes & Experimentation
1) Crafting recipes should be logical and relate to real world counterparts.
2) Players ought to be able to work out recipes without having to "find" them or buy them.
3) This would also allow for player experimentation in creating new / custom recipes.
4) Player could make (write down) and sell recipes that they have made up.

Crafting Chance
1) Consider a % failure rate which reduces with crafting level (or the number of times you have previously made an item).
2) Consider a % crit success rate which increases with crafting level (or the number of times you have previously made an item).

Other types of crafting
1) Treat repairing items as crafting.
e.g. if your armour gets damaged or broken during combat and you are an armoursmith then you ought to be able to fix it yourself with the right facilities.
2) Treat upgrading as crafting e.g. adding magic components to a standard sword
3) Treat customisation as crafting

Material Aquisition
1) As well as having some that can be gathered easily by anyone, some could be obtained only by those trained in specific "Gathering Professions":
Hunter / Fisherman / Farmer / Miner / Lumberjack / Herbalist etc
2) Such "Gathering Professions" could be able to craft elementary items related to their profession (e.g. a lumberjack should be able to sell planks of wood, not logs)
3) There should be special components that have to be quested for (and some of these should not able to be bought or sold).
4) Some gathering nodes could be present in specific places only at certain times.
Issues like camping and stealing should not be an issue if Shroud of the Avatar is not going to be an MMO.

Crafting Profession Debate
Being dealt with admirably in Jack Knyfe's thread:
https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/?topic=what-craft-skills-do-you-want-to-see

Typical professions in games include: Alchemist / Armorsmith / Weaponsmith / Cook / Leatherworker / Tailor / Carpenter / Jeweller...
I think Shroud of the Avatar should innovate and expand that list but what professions should there be?
In medieval times professions were more specific and the following could be considered:

Clothes: Cobbler / Dyer / Pattenmaker / Haberdasher / Lacemaker / Cobbler / Seamstress
Useful Items: Basketmaker / Cooper / Chandler / Glassblower / Potter / Weaver
Construction: Architect / Builder / Brick Layer / Gardener / Locksmith / Stonemason
Art: Painter / Sculptor
The Written Word: Bookbinder / Cartographer / Scribe
Technology: Engineer / Mechanic / Shipwright / Wheelwright