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The good and bad of crafting in 9.5...2 steps behind?
darshie101
Member Posts: 70 Arc User
I am getting used to the new crafting; which looks interesting.
Before, crafting was basically useless, like most of the crafting in any games, where the main point is gather stuff, to make something that can be sold for money and that's all. You rarely get to make some useful items, because the old archetype of MMO dictate that crafting must require something from other players, or must produce something for other players, so you are forced to interact.
Now, this new system looks a bit more compact and straight forward: you have elements, you make components, and then use components to make items for you or your ship (or still sell the components if you have no use of them).
Love it, is easy, and it takes away space from my inventory.
Now; the problems:
1) I have lost any kind of skill XP that I had before; I start from LVL1 without any kind of conversion of all the previous efforts....for some may not be a big deal, but if you don't craft for a living (because you have a life outside, beyond accumulate credits that are not useful there ); then it is a bit of a waste of time to start all over again.
2) The components are made one at time, and there is a time required to complete anything....well..WHY? Why this game has to work with the same mechanics of a paywall iphone game, where you must shed money to speed up the process, and so you can make only few operation at time? Isn't enough the various ways that exist to ask players for money (and I am the guy that when PWE was not even in the picture; paid for a lifetime while still in beta, so don't tell me that " the game is free, don't complain" , because I was here since before the launch
Not asking for anything free...I can pay my expansion, so don't worry...just don't nickel and dime me for crafting too ).
If I want to make 300 components I have to waste time to do the procedure 300 times...this is absolutely the most ridiculous and wrongly designed feature that I've ever seen in a MMO. If I am starting now, it is not a big deal, but if I have thousands of materials, converted from my years of stashing, I am basically punished once to convert them (which was supposed to be automatic), and the second time to get these timers for anything that I craft.
Seriously? Do you think that I pay money to buy Dilithium to accelerate the process for 300 times?
To me crafting can just die of a horrible death at this point; I would most likely sell the whole stash of material on the exchange; if there was something useful to do with credits I just see it as punishment for long term players that has a lots of resources; this is quite something that nobody thought about. A new player has no issues with this, obviously.
3) Rare materials are acquired not by chance, or by converting lower tier into higher ones; but in specific instances of Elite difficulty. Nothing wrong in the Elite difficulty, but you are basically forcing to do specific instances of content that maybe people don't even play. I play rarely anything beyond borg content; my setup is done to go against borg manily, so to do other instances to get this materials, I need to change the whole setup of the ship and powers of my captain... I don't get the reason for forcing people to play specific content; when you could just set up single player missions that are rewarding rare material, that require you to play them at the highest difficulty.
I can play sometimes some mission to have fun, but then depends from who play with you...some are borderline fixated with how a group must act and such; and that takes away the fun out of playing a game honestly IF you find mellow people, then it is fun, but when you find sarge yelling at you why aren't you flanking this or that ship; well; that just turn off the fun factor to me.
Overall I can say that the update to the crafting is good; but I seriously hope that you make it less a timer game like the ones so common on iphone (since that's how these games makes revenues), and remember that this is a MMO for PC, that has various ways to lure people into spend money; and crafting shouldn't really be part of this; unless you allow the creation of impossible items that nobody could obtain otherwise. But from what I can tell, crafting is basically giving you slightly better version of what you may find around.
You did plenty to improve this; can we get the extra mile on and make it also funnier and fair?
Before, crafting was basically useless, like most of the crafting in any games, where the main point is gather stuff, to make something that can be sold for money and that's all. You rarely get to make some useful items, because the old archetype of MMO dictate that crafting must require something from other players, or must produce something for other players, so you are forced to interact.
Now, this new system looks a bit more compact and straight forward: you have elements, you make components, and then use components to make items for you or your ship (or still sell the components if you have no use of them).
Love it, is easy, and it takes away space from my inventory.
Now; the problems:
1) I have lost any kind of skill XP that I had before; I start from LVL1 without any kind of conversion of all the previous efforts....for some may not be a big deal, but if you don't craft for a living (because you have a life outside, beyond accumulate credits that are not useful there ); then it is a bit of a waste of time to start all over again.
2) The components are made one at time, and there is a time required to complete anything....well..WHY? Why this game has to work with the same mechanics of a paywall iphone game, where you must shed money to speed up the process, and so you can make only few operation at time? Isn't enough the various ways that exist to ask players for money (and I am the guy that when PWE was not even in the picture; paid for a lifetime while still in beta, so don't tell me that " the game is free, don't complain" , because I was here since before the launch
Not asking for anything free...I can pay my expansion, so don't worry...just don't nickel and dime me for crafting too ).If I want to make 300 components I have to waste time to do the procedure 300 times...this is absolutely the most ridiculous and wrongly designed feature that I've ever seen in a MMO. If I am starting now, it is not a big deal, but if I have thousands of materials, converted from my years of stashing, I am basically punished once to convert them (which was supposed to be automatic), and the second time to get these timers for anything that I craft.
Seriously? Do you think that I pay money to buy Dilithium to accelerate the process for 300 times?
To me crafting can just die of a horrible death at this point; I would most likely sell the whole stash of material on the exchange; if there was something useful to do with credits I just see it as punishment for long term players that has a lots of resources; this is quite something that nobody thought about. A new player has no issues with this, obviously.3) Rare materials are acquired not by chance, or by converting lower tier into higher ones; but in specific instances of Elite difficulty. Nothing wrong in the Elite difficulty, but you are basically forcing to do specific instances of content that maybe people don't even play. I play rarely anything beyond borg content; my setup is done to go against borg manily, so to do other instances to get this materials, I need to change the whole setup of the ship and powers of my captain... I don't get the reason for forcing people to play specific content; when you could just set up single player missions that are rewarding rare material, that require you to play them at the highest difficulty.
I can play sometimes some mission to have fun, but then depends from who play with you...some are borderline fixated with how a group must act and such; and that takes away the fun out of playing a game honestly
IF you find mellow people, then it is fun, but when you find sarge yelling at you why aren't you flanking this or that ship; well; that just turn off the fun factor to me.Overall I can say that the update to the crafting is good; but I seriously hope that you make it less a timer game like the ones so common on iphone (since that's how these games makes revenues), and remember that this is a MMO for PC, that has various ways to lure people into spend money; and crafting shouldn't really be part of this; unless you allow the creation of impossible items that nobody could obtain otherwise. But from what I can tell, crafting is basically giving you slightly better version of what you may find around.
You did plenty to improve this; can we get the extra mile on and make it also funnier and fair?
Post edited by darshie101 on
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Kinda amusing/sad that crafting will be the method to upgrade our mk12 gear to higher mks.
I cannot find that anywhere....
It actually doesn't seem neccessary to be able to craft to use kits or get kits. At minimum, the crafted ones are tradeable, but it seems at least on Tribble, they are available in other ways.
I play the game in bursts; so it may happen that for months I don't play, and then go on for weeks playing it, and then stop again.
I try stuff on tribble sometimes; but when time is little, I prefer to focus on the game itself
I can't find either this little arrow that allow to make more than 1 item; I need to check further.
Anyway, even 5 is not that big of a deal...I have converted 4K-5K elements; it will take forever just to do the 20 hour assignment; which sucks big time, because I already maxed out the previous crafting level, and now I need to start all over, without even get anything from the previous time spent.
It is like a new expansion come out, and they throw you back at the beginning of the game basically...makes no sense to me; but I doubt that anything can be done at this point. If I will have spare time to waste on crafting, then is fine; otherwise it cost me less to buy what I want on the exchange.
Crafting only gives you the chance to get some special mods on weapons like an increased firing arc. It's just too bad that the system is still bugged and some of the "new" mods are not obtainable some certain weapons.
Maybe it finally gets fixed with DR but I wouldn't hold my breath.
Got zero intention of putting even ½ dil into crafting, be it for leveling or the actual items.
Because I agree with the developers, crafting as of yet is an unfinished, rushed mess that is missing several key components that both make a crafting system and also makes viable gameplay.
Dil cost just makes me laugh. Oh I am jumping through 13,000 hoops just for PERMISSION to give you dil?
Hilarious people, hilarious
when you go to craft the component, the option is a clicky somewhere near the icon that brings up a slider
And why it is so bad ? To push players to sink ungodly amount of dil. And by ungodly, I think it's close to the millions dil (which is like a thousand zen).
I've made a lot of crafts in various MMOs. Bad or good, I had it all. But to be honest, sto craft is the worst.
Have to agree on that. I also played my fair share of MMOs both F2P and subscription based (way before F2P infested the net like cancer) and almost all of them had a better executed crafting system.
It is what it is, a cash grab for cryptic.
I've been in this game for almost four years was maxed out in crafting three years ago so yes I got smacked in the face pretty hard. But wait I did get that special doff to help me craft what I already could I just have to wait about 300 more days since I wont waste one single dill on this new wonderful system
They should of given us a doff that gave plus 50 to crafting then i would not feel that they robbed me again.
The new crafting is nothing but a money grab that im not falling for. Im not looking forward to upgrading my mkxii fleet stuff as im only lvl 10 in 3 of 4 things other one is lvl 8.
That is a point though. Yes the previous system was over the top easy to max out and the the mk xi craftables had already way too high dil costs but it wasn't a obvious cash grab like the current is.
And the fact that upgrading our gear which we already bought with heaps of dil is somehow tied to this unfinished and bugged sytsem dosen't really help it's bad reputation.
Age old curse of grammar, people wanted a system that was "funnier" so they got a joke of a system.
So the joke's on us then.....
The new one currently too...
New mods? Sorry, just for Cannons and Beam Schools!
MK XII consoles bugged? Yeah, we know that for 40 days, but we have no intention to fix it... ever!
Got a Xindi Shield R&D Doff in a Lockbox? My bad, we have forgotten to add a meaning for her/him!
I am sure they will find a way to top this, like forgetting the DR upgrade items (for KDF R&D only of course!)
I won't be using any Dil on mine, I just use the 20 hour project. I have no intention to use dil to speed it up. Since I won't log on in time later to get it reduced some. Plus I'm not made of dil so I can't afford the price soon as it starts. So I just like it ride out the timer. Plus I will be spending enough dil on it when the higher gear comes. Since dil is required on those.
I tried to craft stuff at lower levels in hopes to speed up the process. Nope, it takes too long and you don't get enough points. So I saw no advantage in crafting at lower level. Unless I'm outfitting one of my alts. Which I'm not using at this time anyways. Since my main 3 characters are all lv50. I won't be crafting anything for a while. Which is why I just hit the 20 hour project. As for my mats, I just letting them keep building. Until I start crafting gear I can actually use.
The good part, what little I did craft. I did get some cool stuff. And at higher levels you do get access to really cool gear. This is one reason why I'm keep going at it. Plus with DR, I'm sure they will add to crafting and more items to be made. However it will just take a while to get there.
USS Casinghead NCC 92047 launched 2350
Fleet Admiral Stowe - Dominion War Vet.
In theory, I like the idea of being able to make useful stuff, pick mods, build upgrades and so on. Here they've done what seems to be standard procedure for Cryptic: take some good ideas, mix in a few really bad ideas, ignore player feedback and release it into the wild, fix later if ever.
Paying dilithium to skip the timer is a good idea, because it serves as a nice dilithium sink and gives the option to progress faster with a greater cost. The problem is that the current cost is utterly ridiculous: 18k to skip a 20 hour timer when daily refining limit is 8k (plus a bit more for some). How can a feature like this work as a dilithium sink if the price is so insane that most people will just ignore that option entirely? 1k, 2k, even 5k might make it useful, but 18k? Nope.
Apparently the high-end crafted goodies are account-bound rather than character-bound once equipped. Alt-friendly is always a plus in my book, but what's this about upgrading gear to Mk XIV through crafting? If they think I'm going to do the three-month(?) grind for several characters (or even one, really) in every R&D school... again, nope.
I honestly don't understand the ever-increasing obsession the devs have with timers and grinds. Is it a commandment from the corporate overlords? Does someone important at Cryptic actually think logging in to reset a timer is gameplay? Maybe they'll change this around if and when the almighty metrics deliver a message of nope.
In that case you "just" have to buy the upgrade items from a crafter.
What are you spending your dil on then? Falafel?
I've spent jack-stab money on the new crafting system, and have some nice new shiny out of it.
This. The only real blag to it for me is the time-gated nature of it. But balls, it's only a game. I think most of the people who dislike the new crafting system are just used to leveling and repping an alt in a month, they're not used to actually investing any time in it to get a reward.
Anyway, to each their own.
Depends on how you view it, innit. I see it as summat else to do whilst I'm playing the rest of the game. It takes however long it takes me.
I can see the other side though: I explained it to my wife, said how long it would take to get to certain levels. She screwed her face up and said "balls to that, you do it and I'll ask you for stuff if I want it."
So I get all her mats. Win-win for me.
Some people just have the major "Gotta Catch 'Em All" mentality. As well, some people want it right then and there. Me? I'm working slow and steady with all of this. I'm at Level 13 with the Beam School right now. I've not touch dil (except for that one time when I wasn't paying attention) to speed things up and I usually use my other character to give my mats to my crafting character. It's actually quite relaxing and fun to do. And, heck, I've been selling my Mk X Antiproton VRs for a good few hundred thousand ECs combined, so I get money and EXP (7.8k or 8.8k XP per go round, depending on how nice RNGesus is to me)
I get them in probably one out of every five R&D boxes.
Also (and I don't like this) the purple mat you have a chance to receive is dependent on which elite PVE mission you complete.