In-game crafting tutorial

[Aschbart]

This idea just came to me when skimming the forums and I thought that it isn't all that bad and I should share it to see what others think (including, maybe the devs?). Actually the basis of the idea was laid by some guildies an hour before server down, when one of them, after TRing, exclaimed that he'd received a new uber weapon - he then linked the moldy quarterstaff. Someone else then asked how much time he'd been spending farming to be able to craft it. Gave us all a laugh.... and got me thinking:

What I'm thinking of is some minor crafting introduced right at the end of The Grotto. Or, alternately, at the end of Misery Peak. All it would take is add some kind of collectable (only one type to prevent inventory cluttering), that would drop from breakables.

If introduced in The Grotto, maybe some barrels should drop these at 100%, to make sure there will be enough collectables to actually do sth with it. Then, instead of offering an ember weapon at the end of the quest, let the newcomer chose between several 'greeniron blanks', which are, effectively, just masterwork weapons of some type, but with the additional property that they can be upgraded with a minor enchant, at an altar. The altar could be placed in the boss fight room. With the help of the collectables, the greeniron blank can then be infused with a selection of minor bonuses, such as frost touch, acid touch, ember, etc.. (player's choice). This would also be a good option to counter the current see of flame that is Khorthos right now.

To make this tutorial-style, tips could be added to explain the process, or Celimas could offer dialog options to explain it.

If introduced in Misery Peak, it could work in a similar way, maybe by using the shattered remains of the mindsunder crystal as ingredients. The players could then for instance use their ember weapon of choice to add a minor upgrade, for instance a +1 (psionic?) bonus to will saves. Maybe in this case, since the player is about to leave Khorthos, Heyton could advise the player to go to the Stone of Change in Stormreach to perform the actual crafting.

Maybe adding both crafting steps would be a good idea - the first done right within the grotto, the second done at the Stone of Change, after leaving Khortos.

The reason I think this could be a good idea, is that so many people ask about dragonshards and what to do with them, and need to be told about the stone of change and how to use it. Often the information provided in the general channels is lacking, or even false. It would be very nice to get the essential information in-game, from tutorial tips and/or NPCs along the way.

[Bacab]

I like this idea. Would be a nice pre-cursor of things to come (Shroud and Greensteel).

[Lordress]

i think this is an excellent idea! You seem to have really given this some thought and i hope it comes to pass.

I can say, as a newer player, i am still trying to figure out the crafting stuff and didn't even know about it until i just happened to ask the right random person who was kind enough to explain.

Developers, please, give this idea some consideration. Newer players will, indeed, appreciate it!

[Syntax42]

What you are proposing sounds just as complex as the Greensteel system. To be fair, though, the actual act of crafting isn't that complex. Finding the right recipe and figuring out where all the ingredients come from is the most complex part about crafting.

It would be nice to make some of the low-level P2P content more used, like Three-Barrel Cove. Adding a system for obtaining good level 4 weapons would attract players to the areas.

[Angelus_dead]

To make this tutorial-style, tips could be added to explain the process, or Celimas could offer dialog options to explain it.

It would be a big mistake to add a tutorial to a non-feature. Those characters do not have any real crafting available, so it would be dishonest to give them the impression that they do.

[Aschbart]

It would be a big mistake to add a tutorial to a non-feature. Those characters do not have any real crafting available, so it would be dishonest to give them the impression that they do.

I do not understand this comment. I suggested to add actual crafting at the end of the Grotto. So there would be real crafting. And to help the newcomers understand how this works I suggested that, additionally, Celimas would provide in-dialog advice. What is a non-feature here and who is dishonest about what?

Maybe I am just misunderstanding you. If this is the case, please explain.

[donfilibuster]

I do not understand this comment. I suggested to add actual crafting at the end of the Grotto. So there would be real crafting. And to help the newcomers understand how this works I suggested that, additionally, Celimas would provide in-dialog advice. What is a non-feature here and who is dishonest about what?

Maybe I am just misunderstanding you. If this is the case, please explain.

The Grotto or the whole Korthos is surely not the right place to have any kind of crafting.
Sure, Korthos is the starting area but first, getting started is complex already for newcomers, and second, crafting is nothing that low level toons need by any measurement.
This must be what he meant by it being a mistake, the starting area should be as basic as possible and Korthos is a well designed area.
Even finding gems and collectibles is left to the harbour area, along with features that are explicitly off newbie limits like the auction house, mailbox and bank.

Now the tutorial can at least be at the marketplace near the stone of change.
It would be a help to newbies if the collectors or the tutorial npc could tell them about recipes or at least which items to keep.
This is because new players tend to ask about it anyways before being directed to ddowiki, since this could be done in-game as would be fit to a tutorial feature.

[Angelus_dead]

I do not understand this comment. I suggested to add actual crafting at the end of the Grotto.

You suggested adding trivial crafting.

What is a non-feature here and who is dishonest about what?

The non-feature is crafting, which is not available to new low-level characters in any significant way. It would be a major waste of time for the new players to spend effort learning about it at the conclusion of Grotto, when they instead should be focusing on higher priorities such as passive vs toggled feats.

This is what's known as "bad training": teaching people something that's misleading. You're proposing to teach players that they'll be able to craft various useful item effects throughout the game, which is not the case for their foreseeable future.

[Aschbart]

Ok, I see your point now. Maybe I was too specific to suggest sth along the lines of greensteel crafting. All I wanted to accomplish is explain to new players that they might occasionally find a device (like stone of change) that they might be able to use in some way or another. In Stone of change you can mold fragments into shards, bind items, grind scarabs, etc.. Maybe then we should be talking about something more on these lines? E. g. more the Necropolis scarab style: collect several items, combine them, trade the results to get a reward.

Better?