10-06-2005, 11:15 PM
Here's an odd idea that may very well help the situation, though it might not seem obvious at first: make CRAFTING worthwhile.
Think about it - theoretically, crafting can be done just as easily by the casual player as by the hardcore player (it just takes longer; no different than leveling). By making very good gear available from player-made sources, you essentially alleviate the need to grind PvE content for that oh-so-rare drop, and likewise make PvP grinding not so necessary (doubly so if you're sole PvP goal is to get gear without having to PvE grind). How to balance this? Doing exactly what they have done thus far: rare item reagents required to make the best gear. Although, they shouldn't make all the best gear require RAID rare drops - not even half, I'd say, or not much more than half. 5-man instances can be made well-difficult enough to make soloing impossible, but still worthy of a strong reward. And let's not forget: even if you DO get the reagents, you still have to know someone (or be someone) with a crafting level high enough to make the items for you. This in itself helps balance the whole process, too, by adding another layer to it.
It's not a perfect solution, not by far, but it would help. It would also solve a grievance that has been plaguing players since day one: worthless crafting. I'm confident Blizzard COULD pull this off. I'm not confident they will, espeically since it doesn't seem that they even want crafting to be worth anything. Sad, really... makes you wonder why they even bother implementing it at all.
Think about it - theoretically, crafting can be done just as easily by the casual player as by the hardcore player (it just takes longer; no different than leveling). By making very good gear available from player-made sources, you essentially alleviate the need to grind PvE content for that oh-so-rare drop, and likewise make PvP grinding not so necessary (doubly so if you're sole PvP goal is to get gear without having to PvE grind). How to balance this? Doing exactly what they have done thus far: rare item reagents required to make the best gear. Although, they shouldn't make all the best gear require RAID rare drops - not even half, I'd say, or not much more than half. 5-man instances can be made well-difficult enough to make soloing impossible, but still worthy of a strong reward. And let's not forget: even if you DO get the reagents, you still have to know someone (or be someone) with a crafting level high enough to make the items for you. This in itself helps balance the whole process, too, by adding another layer to it.
It's not a perfect solution, not by far, but it would help. It would also solve a grievance that has been plaguing players since day one: worthless crafting. I'm confident Blizzard COULD pull this off. I'm not confident they will, espeically since it doesn't seem that they even want crafting to be worth anything. Sad, really... makes you wonder why they even bother implementing it at all.
Roland *The Gunslinger*