TTH had the opportunity recently to ask Mark Jacobs all about Crafting. I'm sure by now that most people have seen the video by Mark and understand that crafting seems to be his personal project.

In the first of 3 articles, Tony 'RadarX' Jones asks Mark some very good questions.

Tony Jones: When we look at crafting, is this a scalable type system? Is it something you can build upon?

Mark Jacobs: Absolutely, that is something I wanted with this system. I know that we don't have six years to work on a game and because of that there are things that we could not get in for launch. There just was not the time. So I wanted to have a system that was different and very easily scalable. Not only scalable vertically but horizontally as well. Whether it's adding things like weapon smithing or armor crafting, that make everyone happy. This is a system that we can add those things too. We can refine and improve quite easily.

Tony Jones: How is the leveling curve going to work with crafting? Will it start off easy and grow in difficulty from there? What are the challenges with crafting?

Mark Jacobs: It's not that I don't like recipe systems, we had one in Camelot. I've played recipe systems; it's just that it's been done before. Doing a recipe system for Warhammer Online. in the sense of a WoW system or EverQuest system, sure we can throw a twist or two on it, but it would still be the same basic system. I don't think there is anything wrong with those systems; I just wanted to do something different.

Second, in terms of grinding, I think there are two terms that go with grinding. The first is something that is not considered fun. If you look at, and it doesn't matter if you are talking about WoW or Camelot, there is an element of grind to all those games. If the grind is fun then you really don't consider it a grind. It is when the grind does not become fun then it becomes the grind in every sense of the word.

The other part is that when you have to make one thousand of one thing or five hundred of one thing before it felt like they were advancing. That is an old mechanic.

The third part, and I know I said there was two, I lied. There are three parts, which is how you get to do what you want to do. So let's take a classic recipe based system. You get the recipe to make the Unholy Sword of Monster Slaying; well you might have to make one thousand Unholy Swords of Monster Slaying before you get the next great Unholy Sword of Monster Slaying + 1. You kind of feel grinding when you have to do that, right? You say "Oh my God! I have to make all these things." If you were the only one on the planet making those things and you can actually sell them then maybe that is okay. But generally in these games, there are actually other people playing. They're making the same Unholy Sword of Monster Slaying and they are making the same one thousand that you have to make. This means you can't even make any money off it, which just reinforces the fact that it is grinding.

So when you look at this system, it is supposed to be the exact opposite. One, you don't have to go out and look for these recipes or do a thousand things to get one. We don't want you running an instance fifty times hoping that one recipe will drop. Nor do we want to make you create a thousand items so you can go back to your trainer, and he can pat you on the head and give you the next recipe. Either way that can feel grinding and our system does not work that way. You don't need a cook book. You don't need to know exactly what these things do when you put them together. So when you get the ingredients, which you earn just by doing questing, you will have a lot to work with. You could make that system grinding; we are not going to do that.

Once you get these items you can immediately begin experimenting with them. And that is a fun thing.

So Mark's idea for crafting is to make it less repetitive, encourage experimentation and most importantly... make it fun! I think Mark is on to something here!

In the second of 3 articles TTH and Tony ask Mark three more questions.

Tony Jones: What is the game impact of the crafting system? Are these items something that will affect the overall battle or just primarily benefit the individual?

Mark Jacobs: Well of course. It has to have an impact of there is no point in having the system. You want something that can impact a battle. Can it turn the tide of battle? No, it shouldn't’t. But will it affect it? Of course. It is no different than buying potions that will affect your character. Is it that you have to stock up on your 500 "Potions of Power" and the other guys have to have all his stuff to fight you? No we’re not doing that. The fact that we don’t have armor and weapon crafting in the game right now should show that we don’t want it to impact the game in that heavy sort of way.

Tony Jones: How will crafting impact players on a personal level? For instance, can you use items in a Public Quest?

Mark Jacobs: You can certainly use them in a PQ. If there is a potion that can help you of course you can use it in PvE. We want the sort of stuff that is very balanced. We do not want players saying that if you go out and get that potion you are going to beat me every time. That is not good in RvR especially. We are staying away from that. At least we’re trying too. We don’t want people to feel that if you don’t immediately gear up on potions you won’t have a chance. That would be bad for the players.

Tony Jones: Are there going to be any restriction points on crafting like tables and machinery?

Mark Jacobs: Other than NPCs being around that can fight me, there might be, but that is not the core of the system. We wanted to do something really cool that you don’t have to go to different places to do. You don’t have to go to the forge or the fields. You are doing it all yourself. There has to be a bit of suspension of disbelief here. We’re going to stick with that idea.

In the last of the three articles on crafting, Garret Fuller has a chance to ask Mark some questions.

Garrett Fuller: Mark, are the Talismans going to be designed for specific classes like casters and tanks? Will they affect spells or is their primary impact going to be on player stats like Strength, Toughness, or Intelligence?

Mark Jacobs: If you say that "Yes it is going to be for tanks," then the hybrids get upset. If you say it is going to be just for healers, then people say, "but I thought there were no straight healing classes." I think it is safe to say we are trying to cover all the bases with Talisman Making. It is going to be useful but it is not suppose to be game breaking.

Garrett Fuller: Every MMO has crafting bots. It seems like your system is going against the use of bots?

Mark Jacobs: We all know that based on other MMOs that you can create a crafting bot that you may not use so often. It certainly inspires people to have alts etc. It also helps people to stay in the game. I don't think there is really anything wrong with that as long as the bot activity cannot be automated or macroed out.