Idea for new crafter types - initial email

[Malifaxis]

Hello, it's the Sand Lord's Advocate again, trying to speak up for the newbies.

There's been some posts lately about how much of a bitch it is to be a crafter without even knowing the mud.  If you've done this, you know precisely what I am talking about.  If you haven't done this, then you'll probably have some snarky "Why don't they just find out IC" blather to slap down later in this thread.

Some of you may also know that when you start play with certain types of characters, you get an email with certain information.  Information you -NEED TO KNOW- to play your character effectively.

Could a set of emails be designed for each class/sub that starts out with crafting skills?  These emails would provide two or three recipes per skill that would start at a very low skill level.

There would be no harm in doing this.  No vital armag secret is going to get ruined if people know how many vines it takes to make a shoulder basket.  No HRPT will be slain by people knowing how to make a proper jelly knife.  Tuluk will not explode if newbie bards know how to make a harmonica.

Does this sound good to anyone else?  Staff?

I'd be willing to help assemble the documents if this sounded like a workable idea.

[Lizzie]

I love this idea. The only thing though - the merchant guild starts with a few different crafting skills. If that merchant guild player picks a crafting subguild, would he get a short list of recipes for each craft? If so, why, if not, why not?

If someone picks some non-craft guild that branches a craft down the road, would he get an e-mail after he branches it? If so, why,if not, why not?

If #2 is yes, then would the merchant who branches other crafting skills also get a couple of recipes e-mailed for each of those new craft skills? If so,why, if not, why not?

The idea is awesome really. I'm curious though about the implementation.

L. Stanson

[Hymwen]

Edit:

If someone picks some non-craft guild that branches a craft down the road, would he get an e-mail after he branches it? If so, why,if not, why not?

Nah, I think it's fair to assume that if you have branched a crafting skill, you have been playing enough to have a decent idea of how crafting might work and where you might get some of the materials. Besides, I see branching a skill as slowly learning the very basics of basics, in which case it is not at all unrealistic to have to ask for help IC, as opposed to a starting merchant who should at least know how their bread-and-butter starting skills work.

[Malken]

[Malifaxis]

Someone who is a merchant crafter would recieve both.

So a merchant would get all of the original skills, and a weapons crafter would get the additional skills from that subset.  Two recipes for each skill.

[Marauder Moe]

I'd just as soon put a few sample recipes in the help files for each skill.  Oh wait...   :roll: :wink:




Seriously, though, I suppose it wouldn't be too bad if these had a few more examples in them.  Maybe a basic example of each craft one with northern ingredients and one with southern.  Ingredient sdescs shown too.  An email (like magickers get) seems unneccesary.

[Olaf]

Yes, please.

My current character has knife-making.  I've bought all sorts of bits of bone, rock, pottery shards, etc.  I can't do anything with them.  I've gone out mining and scavaging and found a multitude of materials.  I can't do anything with them.  

I wasted a ton of money and time before just giving up.  Should I ask IC?  I can just imagine, "Excuse me Mr. Gaj Patron, sir.  Have any suggestions for knife-making?  Oh not, not a nice one.  Think of the crappiest knife possible.  How would you make THAT?"  Now that I'm in a clan, I have a feeling I can ask around a bit.  But if I weren't in a clan ...

Argh!  It's not THAT hard to make a sharp rock.

[Marauder Moe]

Did you check here: http://www.armageddon.org/cgi-bin/help_index/show_help?skill_knifemaking ?

[Beux]

Yes Please.

[Nao]

Great idea.
This would only be needed for starting skills, since most guild branching a craft should have plenty of skills for survival already.

[Angela Christine]

I like it.


However, I think it would be even better to just plump up the crafting help files a bit.  This stuff doesn't have to be a big secret, and improving the help files would probably be easier.


I would like to see 5 example recipes for each craft.  At least 1 should use materials available in Red Storm, and 1 or 2 should use materials available in or around Allanak.  (Tuluk doesn't need a quota, because most materials available in other places are also available in Tuluk).

[spawnloser]

I have played a character with knife-making, and I'll admit, it is a difficult one to find materials for, Olaf.  Once you find something that works, though, they're not hard to get ahold of...and then other materials, you'll start figuring out how to use them too.  Keep at it.

[jstorrie]

I'm with AC. This stuff doesn't need to be secret, just beef up the help files a bit. There should be one or two craftable recipes feasible in each starting location.

[Dalmeth]

I think beefing up the help files is by far the most sensible suggestion.  The recipe for anakore claw gloves is no help in my mind, plus, they don't really give you an idea of the portion or specific type of the ingredient.  The specific type is really important when you are dealing with animal parts.

Alright, how about some players get together and divvy up the various craft skills and make lists of recipes for items for relatively simple items made from easily obtainable objects?

I could probably do wood, but that's a bit too easy as well.

[KingOfSpades]

Someone who is a merchant crafter would recieve both.

So a merchant would get all of the original skills, and a weapons crafter would get the additional skills from that subset.  Two recipes for each skill.

[Larrath]

I'm in favor of a short quip about each crafting skill when a crafting character is approved.  I'm opposed to having a quip sent for any branched skills, because at that point a player should be able to determine what they need to use for the craft.

Here is what I would include in each quip - and I'll take jewelry as an example.

Code Select Expand


In stark contrast to the clothing fasion, Zalanthan jewelry tends to be uniform across the Known World, with the exception of political or regional motifs (such as carvings of Scrabs or the Ivory Pyramid of Tuluk).  Many different materials are employed in order to make jewels; bone, clay, ceramic, obsidian (in the South) and soft woods (in the North) are the most popular due to availability, and are followed by rare and precious stones.
Gemstones are often polished but virtually never faceted due to the immense difficulty involved.

The most commonly used tools for the jewelry craft are the rasp and chisel, and leather thongs are also used often.

Example recipes:
Tuluk #1: 3 ginka fruit, a small piece of wood and a string > a red-stained bracelet
Allanak #1: 4 shard of obsidian, a large piece of obsidian > an obsidian scrab-head
'rinth #1: a piece of clay, a leather cord > a black clay pendant
Luir's #1: a pinch of mul mix, 4 black feathers > a small mul mix pouch
Red Storm #1: 5 handfuls of sand > a bunch of sand


About the crafting recipes in the helpfiles, they're not REALLY helpful because of the way the syntax is written:
When you see an example that says "craft stone stone stone into a beautiful stone necklace", you can't possibly tell what three stones are being used.  So long as the information present is very basic, I don't see what harm this can cause.