whats the point of crafting...

[YuriRamona]

RMT Concerns

“What if high-item-level gear was made craftable with materials dropped in the Binding Coil of Bahamut?” is a popular argument. As I alluded to in a previous section, we believe that the prices for such gear would be high, forcing players to choose between sacrificing time to earn gil, or taking on the battles themselves.

It is nevertheless an understandable suggestion, and one which is of course possible to implement.
However, we stand by our decision not to have the highest-level gear available for purchase. One of our primary reasons is that such a change would encourage RMT. Our team is working tirelessly to stamp out RMT entirely, closing thousands of accounts and seizing massive amounts of gil every week—this even in the game’s current state, where many believe that crafted items are in low demand.

Were the highest-item-level gear made craftable and available for purchase, it’s easy to foresee a problematic situation where RMT abusers would:

• Overrun instances for item farming (monopolizing materials)
• Buy high-item-level gear at excessive prices to drive up value (market manipulation)
• More persistently solicit RMT gil purchases from players (increased spamming)

This would, in turn, lead to more players choosing to purchase gil, creating a vicious cycle that would feed further RMT abuse.

At one time, we considered the option of adding a more valuable, non-tradable currency that could be used to purchase these items on the market, but this idea was scrapped, as it made little sense from an overall gameplay perspective.

"They who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

Letting the elimination of RMT drive development by trivializing crafting (and, by extension, gathering) is ultimately a narrow-minded approach to design. By severely limiting the viability of the non-combat professions, it is true that RMT will be slowly pushed out of the market. However, because RMT will always value their time lower than regular players, they will always be present in the market.*

Trivialization of crafting and gathering has an unintended effect: a majority of players will value their time above the threshold that crafting and gathering yields, opting for other activities, which will they will eventually lose interest in. When players lose interest in those activities other than crafting in gathering, they may choose not to play the game or unsubscribe.

I would argue that not allowing newer or more casual players to invest and later trade in their time is harmful to the game's long-term health. RMT easily monopolize that market by offering services such as power-leveling, gil-selling, and full accounts. By making crafting and gathering a time sink that doesn't translate well into combat/dungeon progression, RMT will continue to enjoy their monopoly.

The developers may counter that some of the upcoming content, including PvP equipment and furniture, will offer crafters and gatherers meaningful things to do. While this is helpful, it doesn't get to the core of the issue, which is that the value of time invested in crafting and gathering will still be inferior to the value of engaging in combat-related activities.

*There is an exception to my argument.
Because RMT exist outside of this specific game, there might be a threshold at which they will find better value for their time in a different MMO, and RMT may actually be eliminated. I'm not particularly optimistic of this possibility, but others might be.

[Kallera]

*There is an exception to my argument.
Because RMT exist outside of this specific game, there might be a threshold at which they will find better value for their time in a different MMO, and RMT may actually be eliminated. I'm not particularly optimistic of this possibility, but others might be.

"If we become unpopular again, maybe they'll leave! Until then we'll just have to conform...."