10-10-2012, 11:42 AM
I've come to a simple conclusion.
Crafting is abysmal.
Imagine WoW crafting, but about three times as needlessly complex. You spend hours gathering raw materials, which you then refine down into resources, which you then craft into parts, which you then create items out of. It's all very well when you start a tier of skill, but when you approach the end of that tier skillups are so infrequent that- Okay, here's an example; I was levelling Huntsman on my ranger, and I converted several day's worth of resource gathering into 14 rifles (which my class can't use, but that's okay because she's massively overlevelled for the level of gear I can make right now) which equated to... about two levels in the trade skill.
I'm at a level where I should be gathering tier 3/tier 4 materials, and I've yet to level a crafting profession beyond tier 1 (lvl 50); yet I get the feeling that once you hit the top level you're going to need to craft in some way to get top-tier gear. The problem is that it's far too grindy and pointless to consider at the lower levels.
Seriously, they lifted WoW's crafting system; added in the option to switch either of your two professions for a fee without losing levels gained for another (which is nice, I grant you that.) then threw on an insane levelling curve that requires vast amounts of resources that would require either weeks of resource gathering or buying in bulk from the auction house. Except the items you can manufacture aren't as good as random drops, and chances are you'll be overlevelled for them until you stop levelling.
In short, WoW's crafting is: You gain five or six skillups to produce a single piece of gear that'll hold you over for a level or two unless you get a lucky drop or quest reward, and you can make this out of the resources that you've already gathered in most circumstances. Until you get to the top-tier of crafting, in which case you do have to grind mats. It's a system that grows alongside your character and rewards you with pretty powerful equipment at the top levels in character and trade skill.
GW2's crafting is: You manufacture dozens of obsolete pieces of equipment to gain a handful of skillups, and to do so you pretty much have to exhaust your entire stock of materials that you have amassed. Now go repeat the process a few dozen times, and try not to lose interest when you hit the point that's about ten/fifteen points before the next tier in which case it'll take a dozen manufactured items to yield a single skill point.
I'm enjoying every other aspect of the game except crafting; the problem is that in order to progress in crafting any further I've got to constantly farm out the lowbie areas (anything that's level 1-15 and 15-25) over and over and over again to farm enough for those last few points. I am going for 100% exploration on this character, but the point is that I've cleared everything below level 35.
Crafting is abysmal.
Imagine WoW crafting, but about three times as needlessly complex. You spend hours gathering raw materials, which you then refine down into resources, which you then craft into parts, which you then create items out of. It's all very well when you start a tier of skill, but when you approach the end of that tier skillups are so infrequent that- Okay, here's an example; I was levelling Huntsman on my ranger, and I converted several day's worth of resource gathering into 14 rifles (which my class can't use, but that's okay because she's massively overlevelled for the level of gear I can make right now) which equated to... about two levels in the trade skill.
I'm at a level where I should be gathering tier 3/tier 4 materials, and I've yet to level a crafting profession beyond tier 1 (lvl 50); yet I get the feeling that once you hit the top level you're going to need to craft in some way to get top-tier gear. The problem is that it's far too grindy and pointless to consider at the lower levels.
Seriously, they lifted WoW's crafting system; added in the option to switch either of your two professions for a fee without losing levels gained for another (which is nice, I grant you that.) then threw on an insane levelling curve that requires vast amounts of resources that would require either weeks of resource gathering or buying in bulk from the auction house. Except the items you can manufacture aren't as good as random drops, and chances are you'll be overlevelled for them until you stop levelling.
In short, WoW's crafting is: You gain five or six skillups to produce a single piece of gear that'll hold you over for a level or two unless you get a lucky drop or quest reward, and you can make this out of the resources that you've already gathered in most circumstances. Until you get to the top-tier of crafting, in which case you do have to grind mats. It's a system that grows alongside your character and rewards you with pretty powerful equipment at the top levels in character and trade skill.
GW2's crafting is: You manufacture dozens of obsolete pieces of equipment to gain a handful of skillups, and to do so you pretty much have to exhaust your entire stock of materials that you have amassed. Now go repeat the process a few dozen times, and try not to lose interest when you hit the point that's about ten/fifteen points before the next tier in which case it'll take a dozen manufactured items to yield a single skill point.
I'm enjoying every other aspect of the game except crafting; the problem is that in order to progress in crafting any further I've got to constantly farm out the lowbie areas (anything that's level 1-15 and 15-25) over and over and over again to farm enough for those last few points. I am going for 100% exploration on this character, but the point is that I've cleared everything below level 35.
When in mortal danger,
When beset by doubt,
Run in little circles,
Wave your arms and shout.
BattleTag: Schrau#2386
When beset by doubt,
Run in little circles,
Wave your arms and shout.
BattleTag: Schrau#2386