World of War-CRAFT

Keen, from Keen & Graev's gaming blog posted something I agree with quite alot.
Brainstorming ways to make FE even better

Now the post relates to Fallen Earth, which looks like an interesting MMORPG. Definitely one I'll try at some point. But the points he makes really apply to most MMO's.

I'm mainly talking about his reference to Crafting.
In WoW, Crafters are really a so-so requirement. Nobody has to use the services of a crafter... ever. There are numerous ways to obtain armour and weapons of a higher standard then even the greatest crafter can make.
Gems and Enchants require someone to create them and are of a limited time use. Eventually you will find a better piece of gear, and then you'll need to buy that uber enchant / gem again.
But for Weapons and Armour that doesn't apply.

Keen suggests that Durability should be added to Fallen Eath. And I think it should also be added to WoW.

WoW already has a sort of durability, but that's really just a hidden gold-sink for Blizzard to control the amount of cash in-game. And with the amounts of gold available just from dailies, it's a pretty pointless function. It's extremely rare that people can't afford their repairs, no matter what the cost.

In fact I'd bet most people don't even bat an eyelid at paying a 30g repair bill to a vendor, but would be disgusted if they had to give 30g to another player every time they needed repairs.

But why should they? It's the same amount of money, it's not hurting you any more than paying a vendor.

Keen suggests that all items should degrade over time. Make crafted epics the be-all and end-all of quality. Give them the ultimate stats, give them alot more choices, but make every single item degradeable.
In WoW, I'd add 'Take out the huge penalty for dying in your gear'. Does the hit that kills you really need to cause more damage to your gear than the million hits that didn't?

That would create a steady market for Crafters, where people would come to them regularly for their gear, and also return to them for repairs, or renewals of the same gear.

And what if the stats of your gear reduced depending on it's durability? 50% Durability = 50% of the stats?

Or, if you didn't want to go as extreme as that, just remove the NPC vendor repairs from the game. And make it so that only blacksmiths / leatherworkers / tailors can repair the relevant gear. (Of course it would still have a mats cost to make the repairs).
Alternatively, add 'repair-kits' as a craftable item, that way, people can stock up on them, but they'll always be in demand.

I've always seen the crafting system in WoW as a bit weak. That's why, in all the years I've played,  I've always avoided being a BS, LW, Tailor, etc... My Pally is the first toon to get a highish level as an Engineer, but that was a choice relating to the AH in Dalaran, the chance for repair bots, and the low costs involved.

I have never once made anything that serves anyone else but myself. It's just not worth it.
And the few rare items I've required the services of a crafter for (apart from Gems and Enchants) have been more a case of lazyness than neccessity. Rather than spend weeks grinding heroics for the best gear. I simply dropped alot of cash on the AH, and for Mats, and bought myself a bit of a boost. Almost all the stuff I've had crafted has now been replaced anyway.

But what would the mobs drop, if crafted gear was always going to be better? Tokens, and gold. You spend the tokens on special materials, or plans, required to make your gear.
If anyone has played any of the Fallout games, they'll have heard of Power-Armor. It's one of the best gear sets in the game, but you can't use it until you've been shown how.
You have to complete a specific quest chain to gain access to that training, and before then, it's nothing more than heavy trash (expensive trash, but still trash).

I actually preferred the old 'attunement' system for raids. It meant that you were more prepared for what to expect in the raid itself.
So if you scrap gear-drops, you could make Naxx drop gear tokens, which could be spent on any level of gear. But. Until you'd completed Naxx you could only wear tier 7 stuff. After killing every boss in Naxx you're rewarded with the training to use t8 gear. Malygos rewards t8.5, and Ulduar t9.
Remember, they're not rewarding the gear itself, just drops to make it with, and the training to be able to use it.

In that way, someone who grinds Naxx constantly, can amass a huge amount of tokens, but they can't just go and spend them all on the best gear in the game. They need to 'progress'. And without spending those tokens to obtain the gear needed to finish Ulduar, they're never going to be able to use t9 gear. Sure, they can spend their tokens on t9 crafting equipment, but they can't put the gear on, because they haven't 'earned' the right too.

So if you see someone in full t9, you know they're not just a wannabe hardcore, they've put in the effort, and achieved a full clear of at least 2 raids to get to that point in the game.

The crafters can make you anything you like, as long as you have the relevant tokens, and they can maintain it for you. But until you've earned the right to wear it, it's just going to be clogging up your inventory.