How Involved should Crafting be?

[Sturm Kintaro]

     So obviously there have been lots of ideas on crafting in the forums as we've continued down the development track; patents  What I'd like to do is get a sense of what the community thinks of the different crafting styles or schools of thought and what would be the "best" fit for Force of Arms.  Please keep in mind that we are designing the game world with the understanding that players will be doing most of the construction inside the game world;  yes, you'll be able to buy things from your 'Corporation, but players may be able to do it more efficiently on their own, and it also may give them the opportunity to tinker with the items in the hopes of getting more performance out of your components.

      We're trying to get a sense of what players want; do they want something where they can just craft a stack of something on mental autopilot? or do they want something that takes a bit more skill, but isn't quite so repetitive/boring?  Can players make a stack of components at once?  Should it be instant, or should there be a timer on crafting?  Should a player have to make components, then make the item, or should they just have the necessary resources to make the end result? (i.e. if I want to make a rifle, should I have to make the stock, barrel, trigger assembly and breech, or should I just be able to take those materials and throw them in a fabricator to make me the end result w/o the middle steps?)

So let's hear those thoughts - keep it civil, please!

[Deathseer]

I say make it realistic, complex things should take a lot of work to build just one, but simple things should be able to be built in stacks.

[teufelich]

I voted for making excell cry

down with MS

realistic seems more practical in honest opinion.
6hrs to have an engine built if all parts arranged is good.  However, like most crafting not many players will lean towards crafting parts and gear.
so a good player market base that is competitive <not overwhelming or under mined> by standard base market would be best preferred for those crafting, thus way if something they make doesn't sell on the player market they can still earn a few chits off the game market.

[Alpha500]

i voted for making excel cry , i want to be able to customize everything
(let me repeat that : EVERYTHING)   but i dont want there to be a timer for when it is done. 
EDIT
i think there should be a multi-level system.  the first is pre made mechs.
the second is choosing the 3 main parts (legs, hull, weapons)
the 3rd is choosing the different premade parts.  like different weapons, a computer core , ect.
the 4th layer is completely customizing everything, down to the last servo.

[Zerbula]

I think It should be like folders... for example...

Mech
- Chassis/limbs
- Weaponrey
- Electronics
- Power Plant

Though If one wanted, they could go deeper in depth:

Mech
- Chassis/limbs
-- Torso
-- Legs
--- Left Leg
---- Hip
---- Thigh
----- Weaponrey
----- Armour
----- ETC.
---- Knee Joint
---- Shin
--- Right Leg
-- Arms
- Weaponrey
-- Kinetic
--- Auto-cannons
--- Gyro-get Cannons
---- Weaponrey, Mount place, Caliber, Etc.
--- Lasers
--- Pulse Lasers
---- Weaponrey, Mount place, Caliber, ETC.
--- The rest
-- Energy
-- Missle
- Electronics
- Power Plant
-- Nuclear fusion
-- Nuclear fission
--- ETC.


I can't really go into detail, but a system kinda like folders in a PC, and when you reach a 'file', It's customizable. Of course, you only have to go so much detail if you watnt to, I.E. just have a standard automatically there.

I think if a person wants to spend a month making an engine, they should.  though if they don't, don't force 'em.   

[teufelich]

necro threading ftw muahahahahaha

*points at zulls post*  LOTRO?

my add:

ok so not sure if/where any this going as of late but as a numbers project to challenge the brain for fun I am tinkering on a crafting excel sheet.

Composes basic of 3 levels there are 10 tiers possible.
Example for small laser, nothing set in stone just example:
Level 3 finished laser, tier 1 say 5damage, tier 2 say 5 damage less heat, tier 10 say 10 damage much less heat.
Level 2 main components to build the laser at final stage.
Level 1 part to build components, easiest to get from salvage.

and say a basic rule of if building a lvl 2 componenet it can not be any higher tier than the lvl 1 components put into it.
so example being to make small laser again:
lvl 1 tier 9 component
lvl 2 tier 10 component
lvl 3 tier max tier possible = 9 (not counting skill ability to make any tier for lvl 3)


along with all this im trying to build formula so that components and crafting with costs and profits to where there is no HUGE profit or total loss thus it being worthwhile for someone to craft.

I am not certain how such a system would match up with FOA (am rereading documents and notes atm) but could be interesting even if not used

[Zerbula]

necro threading ftw muahahahahaha

*points at zulls post*  LOTRO?

Sorry Bro, haven't touched LOTRO. 

[teufelich]

Sorry Bro, haven't touched LOTRO. 

you didn't miss much

did a 3 month subscription to test and see what it was like... was very disappointed game play wise.  However it was very true to the lore of LOTR