Just another FYI on some progress, although slow for most folks, it is progress. 

Crafting Update

Greetings! Here is another update on our progress with TR's new Crafting System.
A month ago, we posted the details of how we plan to update Crafting in TR. During the development cycle for D12, we accomplished our goals of building the foundation of that new system. When the next D12 iteration goes to PTS, the new system will be up and running and ready for a preview! We'd like to invite you to connect to the Public Test Server and experience it for yourself, and offer your feedback on our progress.

Note that this system is NOT complete and it is NOT scheduled to be published to the live game with D12. We will be using our time during D13 to accomplish some important development tasks with the intention of previewing a polished, ready-for-primetime version of the system on Public Test, and publishing that system to live with D13.

The current D12 preview of the system has an unpolished, but functional, version of the new crafting UI. It has changed pretty significantly, and here's a quick rundown of how it works:

1. You activate the system by using (right-clicking) a Crafting Station in the game.
2. The Crafting Window appears showing the Main Menu.
3. Like before, it has an input slot for you to place a recipe or an item in.
4. There is a new type of item, called an Equipment Module, which represents a "loose" loot module removed from an item.
5. Once a recipe, item, or module is placed in the input slot, appropriate menu items awaken and can be selected
6. The menu items are:
1. Fabrication: used for paint recipes and recipes for consumable items
2. Salvage: used to destroy enhanced equipment to receive Mimeogel
3. Extraction: remove a module from the item without destroying it
4. Upgrade: upgrade a module to a higher strength
5. Integration: insert a loose module into a piece of equipment
7. Each submenu displays appropriate costs and requirements
1. These highlight red if the requirement is not met
2. Note that modules have special restrictions and attempting to violate those causes red highlights:
1. An item may only have 1 module of a type on it
3. E.g. only one "Body Bonus" is allowed on one item
8. Modules can only be inserted into the same type of equipment they came from
1. E.g. you cannot extract a module from armor and integrate it into a weapon or tool
9. Each submenu has one or more buttons to perform the desired action using the target item(s)
10. Once clicked, the costs are deducted and the new or modified item(s) are displayed along with a "Take All" button
11. You MUST take any pending outputs into your inventory before doing any further crafting
12. There is no longer a 12-slot crafting output buffer
13. There are no longer any skill requirements for Crafting

The new crafting UI is unpolished and we will be improving it visually as well as making further modifications to improve its usability.

Note also that the new crafting system obviates module upgrade recipes and the old crafting components (like Tau Conduits, etc.). This preview version of the system does not remove those items from the game, but we are planning for the live release to offer a migration path that will allow those items to be salvaged for Mimeogel or possibly to convert them into modules. Also, the crafting skills are still present even though the new system does not use them. In order to develop the new system for PTS while keeping the old system for now on Live, those elements of the old crafting system have to remain in the game until we actually do retire the old system and activate the new.

The cost structure has been set up with these things in mind:

1. At lower levels, crafting upgrades to your gear should be inexpensive and easy to accomplish
2. Crafting lower quality gear with fewer and weaker modules should always be fairly cheap and easy
3. Crafting top-end high level purple items containing 4x Strength-5 modules will be very expensive but well worth it

By allowing modules to be removed from items, this new system makes it possible to create customized items more easily than before. While you could always add modules to items and upgrade those module strengths, creation of a truly customized item required starting with an item that had no undesirable modules already on it. During D12 we will be collecting feedback about these changes and testing the new system not only for balance within itself but to see what impact on overall PvE and PvP game balance this will have.

This new crafting system is intended to become an integral part of ongoing character development. As such, it is intended to be easily accessible to all players without the need for skill point investment. Salvage creates value for green item loot drops. It should be easy for any player to obtain Mimeogel needed for lower level equipment upgrades. At the very top end, crafting "perfect" purples at levels 45+, will be a big achievement.

I like that there is no skill requirements needed for the new crafting. I just hope they refund skill points when this goes live. Well by then I should be high enough to respec and make a clone for crafting.

I don't have a problem with the crafting now other than costing skill points.

Originally posted by Sevenwind

I like that there is no skill requirements needed for the new crafting. I just hope they refund skill points when this goes live. Well by then I should be high enough to respec and make a clone for crafting.

I don't have a problem with the crafting now other than costing skill points.

You will not need a clone for crafting anymore. Now anyone can do it. TR crafting needed a huge overhaul, but from reading what they have here the system is not done yet. I was hoping for something more in depth where crafting characters had a use, now it looks more like crafting will be done by anyone and everyone.

The crafting now has major issues, the biggest being you can not remove mods from weapons. It would be nice if you could get a blank weapon and make what you want through crafting and the new system seems to give that a chance to be. Still needs more work but it is getting better.

the need for a char dedicated just for crafting is very bad gamedesign imho. the new system looks promising, we'll see how it turns out in the end.

I don't think they'll refund skillpoints, but you can "buy" a respec for 600 prestige.

Originally posted by LeGray

the need for a char dedicated just for crafting is very bad gamedesign imho. the new system looks promising, we'll see how it turns out in the end.

I don't think they'll refund skillpoints, but you can "buy" a respec for 600 prestige.

You did not have to have a crafting alt. You could have sacrificed points in skills to have a crafter. TR makes cloning so easy that making a crafting alt was just the easiest way to go.

For me I have always thought that having a crafter different from your main fighting type was the way to go. Just made sense to me that having a character both great at fighting and great and the crafting skills was not believable.

Since you will not need to put points in crafting anymore I would think the points will be refunded.

Sure, a crafter is usually not a fighter or anything else besides a crafter, but in mmo-terms a "crafter" can't even get the materiels without dying to a boar ;)
having a normal char with crafting abilities is just the way to go unless a very refined crafting system is in place. besides, this is the future, why can't I be both? :D

It just feels wrong somehow having to clone and create a char solely dedicated to crafting.

Originally posted by LeGray

Sure, a crafter is usually not a fighter or anything else besides a crafter, but in mmo-terms a "crafter" can't even get the materiels without dying to a boar ;)
having a normal char with crafting abilities is just the way to go unless a very refined crafting system is in place. besides, this is the future, why can't I be both? :D

It just feels wrong somehow having to clone and create a char solely dedicated to crafting.

Crafters should be able to gather their materials I will agree with that. In TRs future you will be both and now TR has made character development even less interesting to me. I was hoping they were going to build a crafting system like UO or SWG or something good. This adding modifiers to weapons and armor in a game where you can  solo with even average weapons is just not thrilling.

Sure for some people there is the goal of building the perfect modified equipment, but do you really build an entire system for all 10 of them?

I guess I was hoping that a game like this would use crafting better, instead like PVP it is an afterthought tossed into the blender hoping it makes things taste better.