Thank you for the crafting changes

[OJtheLIONKing]

Another example of how this system has an overly high barrier to entry, and through that is negatively impacting the ability of new players (which this game needs) being able to get into the game.

I decided to get a new axe for my marauder, after using the basic bought one. Now I thought the NPC price for a Bronze War Axe was a bit high, so I decided to try to make an axe myself. my blacksmith's at level 18, so it should be no problem right? So let's see, I need Animal Glue, an Elm Axe Haft, Bronze Axe Butt, a Buffalo Leather Strap (Black), and a Bronze War Axe Head (which I already made a few weeks ago for a guild task, a process that itself took a few tries because it's a level 18 recipe even though the axe itself is a lvl 5 one). I have Animal Glue, so next is the Elm Axe Haft.

Woops, no Elm Axe Hafts on sale, looks like I need to make that too. I'd better make it with Lumbercraft. My weathered saw is in kind of bad shape and I've already failed a few lumber recipes I probably should have succeeded at, so I look to buy a Bronze Saw to make that axe haft.

Woops, too bad there are none on sale, and the next lowest one is selling for 200k, and so forth until the first one I see for under 100k is too high for me to be able to repair with my blacksmithing, so I'd need to wait who knows how long to get it repaired or pay 30k for repairs when it quickly breaks with my underleveled Carpenter. That's fine, I think, I can just make a Bronze Saw first. It's only a level 10 recipe.

Woops! There are no Ash Saw Grips on sale, so I wonder what it'll take to make that? Level 17 carpenter? i can't make that! And that recipe also requires Iron Rivets and Iron Nails in its components, which are several levels higher than I can make with blacksmith. These, at least, are on sale for a reasonable price, the first material I've seen selling for less than 30k+ in this process.

I'll stop here before this drags on for even longer, but this is the trouble I end up going through to make one, level 7 weapon that someone might need a day or two after he starts playing. Although these are now sold at NPCs, I know I didn't have 18k when I hit rank 7, and even so that's not considering upgrades to armor, and I've already run into situations where the next weapon upgrade I need isn't sold anywhere.

Hopefully by now, you see my point. This kind of thing has happened almost every single time I've tried to make something, and I usually waste a few hours trying to track down all these necessary parts before I give up. The system as it is is ridiculously and unnecessarily convoluted, nonsensical, and emphasizes existing problems with the market wards, not to mention my inventory is bloated with metal parts and materials I've kept just to try and prevent attempting to make an item and there being none of a certain item in stock. This has worked exactly once, when I was able to make a level 38 Bronze Celata, which is a rank 25 recipe for who knows what reason.

This, in turn, impacts the ability of players who want to craft but can't or don't want to spend hours tracking down mats for one item or spend months upon months leveling all crafting and gathering classes to avoid that and end up with completely overloaded inventories. Meanwhile, players leveling combat classes often can't get the logical gear for their class and level because it's never in stock, because not enough people are willing to wade through the morass of the crafting system to keep supply up.

The change was a long time coming and completely necessary for various reasons. I'm actually kind of mad about the implications that it will stay this ridiculous at higher levels, because that still has the problems that have been mentioned, only for gear that people need to stay competitive at endgame. Still, for now, this is a very good change.

tl:dr change is good, this change is good and should be embraced as part of getting the game back on track to be a success.