I agree that there is a place for some RNG in a decent crafting system, but at the same time, the scope of how substantial that RNG should affect crafting should be reasonably predictable, and ultimately rather subtle.
The best crafting system I've every experienced, seen, or otherwise heard about in an MMO included elements of RNG, but the RNG was limited in scope, so to speak. Without going into too much detail, the player had a reasonable expectation based on the quality of their materials, and the bonuses they had to augment their crafting ability in game through game mechanics.
You'd never, for instance, craft a high-end item that required high-end quality materials without first activating/applying the appropriate buffs and skill bonuses during the crafting process, as doing so nearly ensured that your end-result would be within an expected range of quality. There was still a bit of RNG involved. Your ideal goal was to achieve "amazing" or critical successes during the crafting process of the components required for whatever it was you were crafting, and while these were not always guaranteed, they could be rather common if you bothered to invest in going through the various motions available to you to improve your chances. But even normal successes would still produce a decent product, it just wouldn't quite be as good as the very best, so even in those cases where you were relatively unlucky during the crafting process, it never turned out to be an overall loss or waste.
Some of this might sound tedious or monotonous on paper, but in practice it was all quite satisfying--it was a true crafting process, not just a simple button-push on an interface. And not everyone was willing to dedicate the time, effort, or resources to doing this--it wasn't something you could just passively fall into, or do in the background, or have access to while doing something else in game. It was something you had to deliberately focus on. The grind to cap out crafting was the easy part, but the actual process of end-game crafting was what separated the boys from the men where crafting was concerned. As a result, high-end crafting was competitive, rewarding, and even a bit exclusive, but in a good way. On a given server, players who so desired could truly establish themselves within their respective communities as the known go-to crafters if you wanted <this> high-end weapon, or <that> high-end armor, or whatever else. If you wanted something custom made, or had a special order, you would be encouraged to seek out the most renowned, and trusted crafters that had built a reputation of being able to provide the best quality within their communities. Moreover, the crafters were never all-purpose. As a crafter, you generally had to devote yourself to one particular discipline--you couldn't do it all. Some specialized in armor, others in ranged weapons, others in melee weapons, others in ship gear, others in droid construction, and so on.
Point being, RNG, while certainly present wasn't the most central consideration--it was actually rather minimal, relatively speaking. In practice, what RNG did exist only really mattered where especially particular min/maxing was concerned. But even if your end product in a given crafting session was a bit less than absolutely perfect, it was still worth while. What's more, given that crafting was largely component-based, you could always try again on whatever component didn't quite meet your standard without necessarily sacrificing too much in the process. You were never really left feeling robbed, frustrated, or discouraged by the crafting experience because of the RNG, yet RNG still had its limited place.
Comments
The best crafting system I've every experienced, seen, or otherwise heard about in an MMO included elements of RNG, but the RNG was limited in scope, so to speak. Without going into too much detail, the player had a reasonable expectation based on the quality of their materials, and the bonuses they had to augment their crafting ability in game through game mechanics.
You'd never, for instance, craft a high-end item that required high-end quality materials without first activating/applying the appropriate buffs and skill bonuses during the crafting process, as doing so nearly ensured that your end-result would be within an expected range of quality. There was still a bit of RNG involved. Your ideal goal was to achieve "amazing" or critical successes during the crafting process of the components required for whatever it was you were crafting, and while these were not always guaranteed, they could be rather common if you bothered to invest in going through the various motions available to you to improve your chances. But even normal successes would still produce a decent product, it just wouldn't quite be as good as the very best, so even in those cases where you were relatively unlucky during the crafting process, it never turned out to be an overall loss or waste.
Some of this might sound tedious or monotonous on paper, but in practice it was all quite satisfying--it was a true crafting process, not just a simple button-push on an interface. And not everyone was willing to dedicate the time, effort, or resources to doing this--it wasn't something you could just passively fall into, or do in the background, or have access to while doing something else in game. It was something you had to deliberately focus on. The grind to cap out crafting was the easy part, but the actual process of end-game crafting was what separated the boys from the men where crafting was concerned. As a result, high-end crafting was competitive, rewarding, and even a bit exclusive, but in a good way. On a given server, players who so desired could truly establish themselves within their respective communities as the known go-to crafters if you wanted <this> high-end weapon, or <that> high-end armor, or whatever else. If you wanted something custom made, or had a special order, you would be encouraged to seek out the most renowned, and trusted crafters that had built a reputation of being able to provide the best quality within their communities. Moreover, the crafters were never all-purpose. As a crafter, you generally had to devote yourself to one particular discipline--you couldn't do it all. Some specialized in armor, others in ranged weapons, others in melee weapons, others in ship gear, others in droid construction, and so on.
Point being, RNG, while certainly present wasn't the most central consideration--it was actually rather minimal, relatively speaking. In practice, what RNG did exist only really mattered where especially particular min/maxing was concerned. But even if your end product in a given crafting session was a bit less than absolutely perfect, it was still worth while. What's more, given that crafting was largely component-based, you could always try again on whatever component didn't quite meet your standard without necessarily sacrificing too much in the process. You were never really left feeling robbed, frustrated, or discouraged by the crafting experience because of the RNG, yet RNG still had its limited place.