The Difficulty of Crafting...

[jcljules]

I've been playing for almost 2 months now, and I -still- have only been able to figure out -one- craft. Its seemingly impossible to find basic recipes for 'starter items' in almost every craft.... and everything I analyze is uncraftable. I'm really really stuck 

[FuSoYa]

I know it's not going to be fun to hear but your best bet is joining a clan that specializes in a certain project and then finding someone IG to teach you.  Give it time and it will come then you will one day be a badass... whatever that means.

Brandon

[Marauder Moe]

Instead of looking for finished products to analyze, perhaps start trying out random raw materials?

[RogueGunslinger]

Yeah, start from the ground up. Simple materials that are easier to get.

[Qzzrbl]

From the ground up would be a little less impossible if the "view" command at least hinted to the craftability of raw materials. A "You could probably make something out of this" would suffice I'm sure. I know my last crafter-type pc spent well over 3000 coins (<-newb money AND from loan that never got paid back) buying materials that looked like they could be crafted into some weapon, before finally making something. Like that massive horn that was all big and spikey that was bought at the raw goods store. Surely I could just stick a handle on this and have a deadly mace of some sort. Huh? No? Oh well.... Guess I'll just waste another good bit of 'sid on some worthless object that surely looks like it would make a weapon....

I would imagine a crafter worth his weight in beans would be able to look at something and have an idea forming in his head of what he could make from it before wasting his precious money.

[Salt Merchant]

Remember that there is an analyze command that can be used on finished objects to see what they were made from.

Don't give up on a piece of raw material because it once indicated nothing can be made from it. Try again now and then as your character's mastery improves.

Find the appropriate tools to work with.

Try combining objects. Sometimes 'craft x x' will work where 'craft x' does not for instance.

[Synthesis]

With my first merchant PC, I compiled a list of well over 700 craftable item "recipes."  It wasn't even remotely difficult.

(Hint: make a d-elf merchant as your first merchant.  Chances are, every d-elf tribal encampment in the Known World is packed floor to ceiling with shit that nobody can craft with, because they're all ranger/linguists.)

[jcljules]

I've tried most of what you've all said; I've only recently figured out what I think the problem probabaly is. I've looked at every (insert item type) that I've seen so far, there's been about 20. 18 of those 20 can -only- be made by clans. Why are there so few crafts for indies? 

[Gimfalisette]

There are plenty of recipes that aren't owned by clans. I think you're probably misinterpreting the messages that you get from your analysis.

[jcljules]

when I use "value" it tells me that its been made by the such and such branch of such and such.

[Gimfalisette]

So it sounds like what you're doing is buying things from a clan shop, and then analyzing / valuing them...and...they're made by those clans. But that's not surprising, is it? They came from clan shops. That doesn't mean that everything craftable in game is clan-only.

Other people have suggested finding common, cheap, easily-available materials and seeing what you can craft from them. Single items, that is. That's a very good suggestion.

[Lizzie]

It sounds like some of the advice is being lost to the OP's notice, so I'll highlight what others have said here:

Instead of trying to analyze finished goods, use the craft command on raw goods. Don't forget to try combinations of raw goods as well.

Now, here are some suggestions of crafting materials for beginner crafters (not giving away recipes, just offering suggestions.):

Jewelry craft: Well obviously jewelry is made with jewels, right? But you're not a high-end jeweler..remember when you were a kid and mom took you to the beach and you'd string shells and beads made out of polished (but cheap) stone together? No? Well mine did. Also think of the materials around you, in your environment; lots of different types of rocks (not gems, rocks), and in some areas all sorts of varieties of wood.

Stonework: Stone. Any and all types of stone. Just remember stone comes in different sizes, and your skill level might not let you make anything too intricate (small), or too involved (big). Experiment with different sizes of the different stones you find.

Woodwork: Unlike stonework, it's a lot less involved chopping a huge piece of wood into two smaller pieces of wood, than it is to actually carve anything useful out of something small enough you can set on a table. Other than that, the general idea is the same.

Leatherwork/Tanning: The materials are obvious, but the particular species of material might be ellusive. I would suggest considering which types of hides are -most- likely to show up in a shop, taken down by a typical hunter who actually plans to live the next day, and might not be the most skilled hunter in the world. Instead of looking for the most interesting, unique, or strange looking material, look for the most common material. In the south, what will you find, that every hunter and their kid vivaduan sister considers a pest, worthy only of removing from the premises? In the north, which animal(s) are so prevelent, and so irritating, that the city soldiers will go out on patrols just to use these critters as target practice?

Armorcrafting: Same general idea as leatherwork, using both leather -and- chitin/shell and possibly even some cloth, except you don't have to tan chitin or cloth before you can use it.

Clothworking: Ugh - well there's no way to "forage" for sandcloth - so just buy some plain uninspiring sandcloth or linen and get started. Remember, in real life, silk requires extremely fine stitching, or the holes will show in the seams. You'd probably start, in real life, with muslin before trying a pattern with silk.

Weaponmaking: Certain weapons are so complex that you need another skill (or a friend with that skill) to make a completed weapon. You might be trying to do that, which you will find difficult for awhile. However, it probably isn't -too- complicated to find some bone, or some manner of thin wood, and whittle it into a blade. Which types and sizes, you'd need to experiment with. And remember there are some stone-like materials that are found to be remarkable for their cutting abilities.

Toolmaking: From what I've seen (this is the only skill of the crafting skillset I've never used more than making just a couple of basic things), wood, stone, and bone are all useful, to varying degrees. Experiment with common materials first, even to the extent that you'd start with only things that "grow" in your starting location's surroundings (northern materials if you're in the north, southern if in the south, forage rocks if you're in the tablelands, etc. etc.).

Lastly - use the forage command when you're out of the city. Often you will pick up things that your character can actually use.

[Kyviantre]

My personal frustration is not the solo-item crafts, I'm stuck at a loss for two-or-more-items crafts.  In some subguilds, they are easy enough to find (or at least, guess at), but in my current it seems like absolutely none exist, tis disheartening

[spawnloser]

Woodwork: Unlike stonework, it's a lot less involved chopping a huge piece of wood into two smaller pieces of wood, than it is to actually carve anything useful out of something small enough you can set on a table. Other than that, the general idea is the same.

( --- snip --- )

Lastly - use the forage command when you're out of the city. Often you will pick up things that your character can actually use.

First, Lizzie gave lots of good advice... I don't need to quote it all, you can scroll y'own damn self.

However, two things I want to address...

The first thing I left in the quote?  Honestly, I don't know what she means.  I'll sum it up, though, in clear and unarguable language.  LUMBERJACKING is about cutting down trees and cutting pieces of wood into ever smaller pieces of wood.  WOODWORKING is about carving/whittling pieces of wood into useful items.  For both of these crafts, I suggest BOTH cutting down trees and foraging for wood when you are somewhere that wood could realistically be.

The second thing I left in the quote?  Most important skill for most new crafters.  (exceptions: tailors, armormakers)

[jstorrie]

Playing an independent crafter is supposed to be more difficult than a clanned one, in the same way that playing an indie hunter is generally more difficult than playing a clanned one. If you're having trouble getting a crafting character going, try joining a group that will support you.

[jcljules]

Thank you all for posting this advice, especially Lizzy--it really helped and will probably continue to in the future.