Artisan Archive

I was thinking about some ideas for changing how crafting XP is awarded, I would like a little feedback.

At present I have a problem with the system for accumulating crafting XP. While I like the idea that you get better at crafting by making items (as opposed to some games where you might have to kill monsters to get XP of any kind), it's implementation in SWG does not favor actually playing the role of a crafter and contributing to the economy.

Trying to master a crafting profession bymaking items thatare actually intended be usedwould take an eternity. In the current system the only means to accumulate a meaningful amount of XP is to "grind" an endless number of items, usually in partice mode. This is not a process that anyone I know of could find entertaining, it's just mindless clicking until your fingers bleed.

I would propose an alternate means of calculating XP rewards based on creating a quality product. The mojority of items crafted in the game have experiemental values based on the quality of your materials and the number of experiementaion points used. Added tostandard XP for creatingthe item, the crafter would get a precentage bonus to their XP reward for how much thevalues of the item were improved over their base value. For example, the base damage rangefor a CDEF pistol made with the worst materials and no experimentation might be X - Y, but if the crafter can increase the range to 2X - 2Y they would receive additionalXP for their effort.

The main idea is to reward the crafter for actually being good at their job and focusing on making products that are more likely to be valuable to the game economy. The crafter will spend time finding quality materials for their products and start learning to experiement as they improve their skills with their profession.This will also level the playing field a little between crafters and combatants. Combat professions require higher and higher XP costs for new skills, but they can also defeat stronger and stronger opponents for larger rewards. A more skilled crafter will have more experiementation points and will get more XP accordingly.

I also think "Usage XP" needs to be revamped. Usage XP should see the same bonuses for product quality as seen above (the quality score for the item should be sorted in the item info). I'm pretty sure that usage XP is also filled with bugs when it comes to mass-produced products (using factories). Combined, master crafters will have a functional means for getting XP for things like Force Sensative skills. I personally find it ironic that crafters, the player base most likely to be FS just for the FS bonuses rather than a means to Jedi, are finding it nearly impossible to do so. I know that when I master a crafting decipline my work is mostly aboutmaking schematics, and with the flaws in usage XP I almost never make any crafting XP at all.