The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth, whether it's scientific truth or historical truth or personal truth! It is the guiding principle on which Starfleet is based!
What sort of crafting system do we need in Star Trek Online?
We don't need one like Warcraft, where you gather mining ores, or herbs, or cloth, to "craft" various physical objects.
We don't need one like EVE Online, where you mine or loot, or create scientifically various physical objects.
In fact, I urge Cryptic to outright reject any notion of crafting physical "things".
Why?
It's just not Trek-like. It's the 25th century in-game. There is nearly free energy. There are replicators. "Stuff" has little meaning, in the 21st century context.
It's a new type of MMO. It's the 21st century in-real life. Change is in the air. You guys have a chance to do something original, in the 1950s rock and roll context.
Give us a crafting system that:
- Doesn't rely on physical "stuff".
- Relies entirely on knowledge, training and skills.
- Can be worked on **NOT** on timed schedules--emphatically not like EVE Online.
- In Warcraft, if I'm insane, have vast amounts of "gold" and are committed, I can level a skill from 1-450/max level in one day. Or at my own pace. We should be able to do that too in theory.
What will we actually "craft"? Ourselves:
- Skills.
- Knowledge.
- Abilities.
- Traits.
- Attributes.
Example things we can train/craft, give each 50 ranks, like our levels. Let us train a maximum of 10 at any given time. The Star Trek man is a renaissance man, after all. The big thing is that these would be things ANYONE can learn. The crafting system would the actually getting the ranks from 1-50. By having 10 maximum, that's a lot of crafting to do, and would let you significantly bump up your character customization. Dramatically. Possible examples:
- Weightlifting: Extra melee physical damage. Precedent: Big dudes like Worf. Each rank increases physical damage by 1%.
- Warp core engineering: Actually faster warp speed travel time in sector space. Precedent: Tom Paris, Warp 10. Geordi: Any number of extended 9.8+ trips. Each rank 1-50 increases warp travel speed by 1%.
- Equipment enhancements: various small abilities on your gear. 1-10: tricorder ground scans leave visible waypoint on nearby targets for 10 seconds. 11-20: Basic weapon cooldown, -0.4 seconds, and so on. Precedent: Wesley and others are always tinkering with and enhancing stuff.
- Stellar cartography: Ability to find anomalies in Exploration areas at a greater range of 2% per rank.
- Track and field: increase your sprint speed by 1% for each rank.
- Diplomacy (once we have diplomacy missions, which are coming): 1% more likely to succeed/get favorable response per rank.
- Tribble breeding: increase tribble spawn time by 1% per rank.
- Terrestrial forensics: 0.5% increased likelihood of causing a loot spawn on the ground per rank on each kill.
- Spatial forensics: 0.5% increased likelihood of causing a loot spawn on in space per rank on each kill.
- Commerce: 0.5% increased sales price of all gear sold to non-replicator vendors per rank, and 0.5% reduced cost of purchase from all non-replicator vendors per rank.
- Replicator efficiency: 1% reduced replicator cost on purchases per rank.
How do you get points, and level 1-50 times 10? By getting some sort of Training Merit. Did you complete a ground mission? You get a chance to get a Training Merit that applies to certain "categories" of Training Skills--maybe it would apply to the "Surface" category, which is Track & Field, Spatial forensics, and Swordfighting Training Skills. You can apply the Training Merit to one of your existing skills. Each application can earn you 1-4 points in that skill. Training Merits CAN NOT be traded or sold. Completed Exploration missions? Chance for training merits that can apply to Stellar Cartography & Spatial Forensics, for example. Have other accolades trigger others -- for every 15 minutes traveling at warp speed (in motion!!) you have a chance to get a merit to bump Warp Core Engineering.
Play = rewards tailored for that play. Specialization.
...and so on. Thoughts?
Comments
Your system is cool, but it's not crafting.. it should a seperate system all together imo
Thanks.
That's the thing with other MMOs, though-- crafting is a means to an end, and a time and "money" sink in-game.
This is deliberately not crafting of stuff, though, but character enhancements and customizations (permanent and subtle) in the model of crafting. Instead of learning a skill to be able to produce something later--cause and effect--this is learning a skill to permanently change who you are for the better.
Self growth. Improvement. Learning.
Kind of Trek, eh?
Long term, if they want to do a full on Crafting system of Stuff, sure, go for it.
I think this would be much more popular though, if done first.
If you ask me, I'm all for a good old in-depth crafting system similar to SWG. Tons of resources with varying qualities and crafting experimentation. That's really good stuff that adds lots of levels of complexity and depth to gameplay.
But naturally I won't hold my breath. STO needs a heck of a lot more content before they can even think about in-depth crafting. Also, given Cryptic's track record, it seems clear to me that deep crafting is well off their radar.
Doesn't mean I can't dream.
Why not have both? If they want to do a Crafting of Stuff system, it will be popular, sure, and I'm sure they have one cooking already--every MMO does. I'm calling for something different.
The careers would each need to be beneficial to everyone though.
I sort of agree with the other person you have some good ideas just not what I would call crafting. Their is only really one way to do crafting that is having a set of blue prints, then some resources and an ability to combine the two elements to produce a product.
SWG in my view had the best system in which you hand made an item to create the blue prints then could run off a number of items in a factory. Eve copied this idea but made it simple as they did not put in the quality of resources effecting the output.
It is not a million miles away from the OU EQ crafting however for that you had to hand make every item. You just ended up with a lot of pointless items nobody wanted for the sake of leveling in crafting.
If there were enough careers/Training Skills they wouldn't all need to be super beneficial to everyone though, since that's subjective. Why would someone who plays engineer and specializes in space combat take Weight Lifting? They can -- it would benefit them on rare beam downs -- but it wouldn't be key.
It would benefit you, for sure, but the key would be people can tailor their hobbies/training based on their play style. A ground PVPer would differ wildly from a space explorer/diplomat, for example, versus a commerce guy that plays the Exchange.
1. Crafting takes place on shipboard.
2. You could trick your ship out to specialize in crafting at the expense of combat/science.
3. Your BO engineer is your crafter, or if a player wanted to concentrate on crafting it could be a subset of engineer
4.Skills for crafting would be their own tree added to the existing skill trees
5. The quality/power of what you craft is dependent upon skill level, crafting tools, and ingredient. This means that you have to have high skills, good tools, and great ingredient you make the most powerful items. So, while everybody could craft a phaser pistol the most powerful phaser pistols come from this combination.
6. Id add quality to the drops of ingredients in order that only the best drops would come from the highest level play. This way thered be interaction between the fighters getting the ingredient drops and the crafters that need the drops.
7. Id allow anything above power X to have a customizable name by the crafter.
8. Memory alpha would be changed to Starfleet Engineering and would be the place for crafting training.
9. Id not master list all items onto the auction servers. Rather each star base would have their own auction server for crafted items. This would force either crafters or their delivery folks to post items on different star bases.
10. Id change the deep space encounters in such a way that you couldnt opt out and crafters would run the risk of losing their goods if they werent escorted.
Anyhow, just some ideas for what they are worth and yes I did take this directly from another game that decided it was "not fun enough" and dumped it for a generic everybody makes exactly the same thing system. That game now hear's crickets at all hours of the day 24/7.
but, crafters like the chance to explore as well, while hunting down crafting nodes (least i know quite a few who do anyway)
i would propose using this idea to expand upon social areas in the following manner.
each social area has a unique flavour to them, risa is a paradise and place of relaxation, earth is the political and cultural center of the federation, vulcan has science and mysticism and andoria has a harsh climate.. and there are other worlds with themes that can be tied into them.
so we expand the social areas, make new "crafting areas" in them. these areas would be different for each world, and specifically tie in to what could be "crafted/trained" there.
for example.
to increase ones logical crafted attribute you would travel to vulcan, beam down to the social area and move from it to a science academy. in there you would have a reasonable sized area filled with computers, books, something to give it a real "ancient place of learning but with modern resources" feel.
to train you would be sat at a console, or with a book and solve simple puzzles, memory tests or something not too taxing and impossible, but engaging and thematically accurate, earning attribute points in logic/science as you go. you can then use these points to raise specific qualities like the ones you mention above.
another example, for Risa.
to increase phsyical attributes, you beam down to risa and move from the social area to a large outdoor area filled with "platform game" style puzzles, where you physically have to complete objectives, like rock climbing or swimming up a river etc. again, nothing so complex that it would be impossible for people to do, just something engaging and fun. while doing this you earn phsyical attribute points which can then be spent on improving qualities like you mention.
now, here's a twist for you..
once someone has reached a max grade (5 grades, at ten levels each, so 50 levels, 5 grades) in a specific quality, they can then go to memory alpha and use items and collected materials that we've already got and "work" with a scientist who specialises in that trait and learn how to make themed items that can be sold.
for example.
someone who's trained to level ten in a science/logic themed attribute would learn how to write "papers" on various subjects. they'd then be able to sell these to other players (i'm thinking set price here tbh, high-powered crafted items create all kinds of issues with an imbalance of crafters only taking certain professions and routes so they can earn the most money, a set price for these items basically stops that and makes sense thematically) items like this would give a temporary boost in the attributes they're based on. so someone could use one of these items, and get a 30 min boost to a specific logic attribute. (you read a published paper on medical advances, this gives you a 1% boost to all healing given and recieved for 30 min or so)
with physical training, an item could be something like "Mr Worf's callasthetics program" was in the series, so you'd buy the item called "training program" and it would give you a 1% boost to melee damage for 30 min.
something like this allows us to craft ourselves, while giving us expanded social areas, mini games and a source of income, as well as making use of the memory alpha system (which could carry on along side this as it is) which i think should please everyone..
well, except anyone who has to code it.. >_> that'd be the HARD part
I'm sick of seeing people saying crafting in Star Trek isn't canon, when the same people are flying around in their TOS Constitution class ship armed with disruptors and wearing ST:WoK uniforms. You people that hate crafting don't have to do it, you know...
That really makes things competitive between the various races and would have slowed down the pace of the game to the point that we would not have reached an end game for some time.
Things like experimental engines and weapons with huge resource requirements etc, or at least huge cooperative player effort.
Knowledge for example, could give bonuses to various stats against certain ships (because you've studied how they work). A simple example I appreciate.
As long as they add beter items.
especially end game ones.
Other than that system is great
Like it.
Oh, and...I'd like to do that from my bridge
You get it!
Latinum
Gold
Dilithium
Antimatter
and so on. Some rare or dificult to get items still have value, or the Ferengi would have been out of business (literally) a LONG time ago.
I think the things we currently pick up by scanning anomalies, etc, could be worked into a crafting system (Since a lot of it is actually just "data" even though it still takes up space in our inventory)
I think Customized Kits would be fun...build your OWN combination of skills from your specialty, or use up extra materials and space in the kit template for some abilities OUTSIDE your skill area.
The problems I've had with crafting in other games boil down to it becomes the only way to get the best equipment. If it doesn't, then the crafters complain that nobody wants their stuff because they can get better items by looting, which is a real problem for games where crafting becomes a separate class (such as SWG).
So, either everyone can craft what they need, in which case you are cutting out player interdependency in favor of expanding content for everyone, or you are restricting crafting to a particular class, in which case you promote interdependency at the expense of broad content.
The other problem with crafting in MMOs is that it inevitably leads to debates regarding decay. A crafter only gets so much business if he can sell an item once to another player. Once a player has the best equipment, he doesn't go back to a crafter without a reason. Potential solutions are the periodic release of new and improved equipment to craft, the development of consumables, or decay. Each of these options has a drawback.
If you keep releasing new, craftable, better gear, then players have to keep replacing all their gear simply to keep up, and eventually they come to resent that. Furthermore, eventually you exhaust the pool of new things to make.
If you go the route of making consumable buffs, then eventually the content has to take that into consideration. That in effect establishes a barrier to participating in any new content. Without the buff, you can't do it.
If you go the decay route, then you open a whole can of worms between the class of players that want a sandbox game, and the class of players that want an adventure based MMO.
I'd love to see a game that balances all that out against the adventure aspect. Crafting is really engaging for some, but I'm just not into it.
Just a thought.
Just picking out this one thing in the event that Cryptic does do a traditionalist crafting system--have you played a game where you had to schlep everything all over creation? It was a total nightmare of not-fun in EVE.
Oh, neat, I had fun mining and chatting with people, fighting the odd player or NPC pirate for 3 hours one evening. Let's see, I got 175,000 units of Unobtainium for my share of the trouble in the starbase in Sector 245. Where can I sell it for the best return nearby? Let's see, Sector 251 has a good rate. The best close by!
You load up your cargo ship. Which can carry only 20,000 units. It takes you 15 minutes each direction.
*insert phaser in mouth*
Cool idea. Should have been integrated into the skill system though IMO. And plenty of 'crafting' occurs in ST. There are miners, farmers, merchants, etc, etc all over ST.
I think you should be able to buy base materials from various merchants, be required to have certain skills to use those base materials, and then be able to make stuff.
1) "Tuning" the item you specialize in. Be it better Warp fields, or a reconfigure of a warhead to improve on the design. I'd consider a crafting system that ran separately from level, and simply allowed each player type to "tune" a set of devices, weapons, systems, consoles to become better. Similar to Memory Alpha, but with more focus, and an ability to do it on board
2) repurposing found, borrowed, or loaned technology. Be it a new torpedo system that wasn't meant to work with Federation gear or a loaned or salvaged cloaking device. This type of jury rigging runs through the more recent series and is as important to maintaining the right "feel" for a Star Trek game.
Anything else? Doesn't feel much like Star Trek.
Other than Quark or Mudd, there really weren't many "Uncle Owen" types in Trek.
I like the anomaly nodes we scan already. Instead of having a barter system make it so that we input them into the computer and it updates a research database. The more of a certain item you plug in, the more data that is unlocked. This in turn would allow you to refine weaponry, gear and perhaps even skills.
Something like that... Im trying to tie it into the research crafting that Homeworld 1 and 2 had. Anyone ever played that? Youre a race of people that left their planet after gaining thier freedom and travel across the galaxy to their origin... during the journey you have to upgrade your motherships computers and ships and weaponry through researching tech. It was really alot of fun.
Personally, I'd like to see reverse engineering for ship components.
Re'ing starship components in SWG was sweet. Sad that newer MMOs don't even bother trying to come up with a crafting system even close.