Artisan Archive
Thread: Follow up on proposal to allow simultaneous advancement of Artisan / Combat professions
I very much agree that he is on the right track -- apparently, so does Sony. In EverQuest 2, a recent interview with "Moorgard" makes it clear that it is best if a player can simultaneously advance his or her combat skills and artisan skills to be able to fully enjoy the depth of the game.
Star Wars Galaxies could definitely benefit from this rationale. Ways to do this include:
Allowing people to access two spheres of the game: Combat / Combat Support and Entertainer / Artisan, and give them 250 skill points to advance in each sphere. This is similar to the current thought of receiving 250 skill points to advance for the Space Exploration professions.
Allow people access to two spheres of the game, but limit one sphere to 150 points.
The following is a snippet from the article at IGN.com:
"Deathstryker: There are many players interested in trying out your new tradeskill system, yet not everyone wants to play an artisan as a main character. Will there be any way for adventurers to experience tradeskills without having to make a separate character to do so?
Steve "Moorgard" Danuser: The goal in making a separate artisan archetype was to provide players an alternative to killing monsters that was equally challenging, rewarding, and fun. The downside to this approach was that it essentially cut our game's content into to two separate paths that never intersected for a single character. To experience the full depth of the game, a player would be required to create two separate characters.
We've decided to take a different approach. We have changed the artisan from being a separate archetype into an advancement path that any character can experience. All aspects of artisan advancement remain the same: artisans gain experience through their craft, gaining levels and moving through the class tree to choose a class and sub-class. Artisan experience is separate from adventure experience, so the only way to advance as an artisan is through the crafting process. A single character can, for instance, simultaneously be a level 23 paladin and a level 15 scholar; players choose which profession they want to display when another player sees them in the world.
All the fun and functionality of the artisan remains; we are simply opening up the tradeskill system to every player. If you choose, you can still avoid adventuring altogether and advance solely as an artisan. None of the challenge and fun of playing an artisan is lost through this change, but many players who might not otherwise have experienced our extensive tradeskill system will now be able to do so."