The long halls of the old temple radiated heat from the flowing veins of lava streaming under them. The soft hum of motion seemed to bring Lin to a trance as she hefted her bag of fine materials down towards her goal. Long had been the journey and although her body trembled with excitement, she was almost hesitant to pick up her steady gait towards it's conclusion.
Regardless, like the inevitability of a fate predestined, the path opened up into a circular room. A wide, open chamber that was as grand as the creations that had come from it. Lin was not the first adventurer to have made these steps, but that did not take the breath of local away from it.
Littered along the ground were the remains of broken tools, abandoned after their work had spent them. Bits and baubles from items the craftswoman had never seen also lay in broken pieces, they too lending their strenght to the things made here. Soon Lin too would add her own parts to the pile.
In the opposite corner of the room was a large bowled furnace - the place of making. Setteling in, the Lancer and craftswoman set down her pack and began to remove it's contence. Each item a tale told on it's own in the possessing:
The long shaft of wood her long friend Galliano had cleft from the Elder Treant, which she had spent all the following night crafting into the lean form it held now. The claws taken as a trophy from the Fallen Garuda, large, tallon like, which would have likely ended her life if it weren't for the steady shield of her Guild's head Paladin Kayle. A shard of a crystal, taken from the Labrynth of Bahamut, blast from the body of a Golum by the raging storm of the mage Neelia. Meteria pristine to the point of glowing, picked from the countless spears exhausted to make them.
And the scattered tombs of learning all representing long sleepless nights of training for this very moment.
After a moments reflection on each piece, Lin Celestine began the process of bringing these small tales, these legends of her own life, together at the forge, taking the steps passed down both from the ages and between other adventuers, untill finally it was complete. It was her masterpiece, her Magnum opus. A spear built to her own specifications after long trials and study, powerful enough to rival the great Gae Bolg in combat, but tailored specifically for her own hand to aid her in her own adventure.
Marveling after the completion of ages of work, Lin allowed herself a moments rest as she smiled at her achievement. The journey of making her own weapon of legend was complete, but the journey of making the legend of the weapon had only begun.
She had only to give it a name.
Thank you if you read all that bit of flavor text there. I figured a bit of a story would do well to relay the feelings I had behind this idea.
The one thing that has kept me from taking up crafting in most MMOs is that there is a glass roof to what I am going to be able to achieve as it. That no matter how much effort I put into crafting, the best my character will ever be able to achieve is an 'ingredient' to some legendary weapon that someone with the same amount of effort could just buy on the auction house with gil and turn in to some NPC to make a superior 'Relic" out of it and a handful of other achievements.
I want to be able to craft something glorious, something good enough to give Relics a run for their money, but is mine, down to being able to name it myself. I'm more than willing to take the time and effort needed to make this long term goal as hard as or even harder than achieving a Relic if I were allowed to custom tailor it.
That's why I want to pitch the long term idea of a "Magnum Opus" system. For a quick overview.
Maximum level crafters once meeting certain quest requirements, would be able to embark on a journey to craft a powerful weapon to be their own personal masterpiece.
Depending on the stats they want to have, the craftsperson would have to gather specific materials (likely Untradeable.) from differing beasts of choice for each part of the craft. For example, if the player wanted to create a spear with more emphasis on attack, they would go gather a horn from Ifrit, however, if they wanted to focus instead on critical attack damage, they could go after the Talons of Garuda. Such decision could be made for things like the head, the pommel, the shaft and grips for spears, and other components for differing weapons and armor as well. Specific meteria could also be used for further customization, and could be used as components of the craft, rather than at risk of destroying the weapon itself.
There would also be other trials to complete. For crafting these components, tombs learned through crafting guild points could be purchased, and specific locations in dungeon areas could be a requirement for crafting these Magnum Opus items.
The end result would be a masterpiece built for the player, and a true endgame for players with a love for crafting. It would be an alternative persuit to a Relic for similar performance (of course the Relics might end up being the ultimate weapons overall, but in this manner, a player can make the best weapon for their particular playstyle)
I hope this idea can get relayed to the development team for a long-term idea.
Also, what is everyone's thoughts on this? Do you think it can be done, and would you use it? Thanks for your time.
(TL;DL Custom built 'relic'-strength for crafters to make with the same effort it would take to have an NPC do it, that they could name themselves. Would you want it?)