Crafting

Crafting - ability to make items. Crafting in Camelot Unchained is unique and more than a little BSC. Here is a BSC video that describes it:

The Guiding Principles

• We must support both “popcorn” crafting (simple crafting/repairing available to all players) as well as a full-time “pure” crafter class that doesn't need to engage in combat in order to play the game
• We MUST create a vibrant economy that ensures a key role for the crafter class in the game’s economy
• Economic support systems must be robust enough to replace an Auction House
• Crafting is magic! Embrace magic at the core of all crafting
• Use a consistent interface for all crafting, but customize it for each Realm
• Use of this interface cuts development time and resources overall, but allows us to “go to town” on the main interface
• System must be designed with a long-term view
• Crafters must be able to make a profit throughout their lifetime
• Need to prevent or at least slow down “MudFlation” through use of time and money sinks

What does “Crafting is Magic” really mean?

• All pure crafters use magic
• Crafters can be treated as combatants for progression purposes
• With downtime, recovery time, etc. they will not be able to craft 24 hours straight. This will slow progression, and prevent flood of items from well-funded crafters
• Players will use a “Vox magus” in a similar manner that mages use their spellbooks
• Crafting becomes more challenging, interesting, and visually enjoyable as crafting can become a “performance piece” that people can watch and enjoy

Popcorn Crafting

• Basic crafting system available to all players
• Based on simpler actions that require little magic and a small time commitment
• Can engage in low-level mining, harvesting, gathering, etc.
• Can repair their low-power weapons and most armor
• Can create basic arrows, repair kits, and other such items
• Can create potions (Stretch Goal)
• Allows a greater sense of self-sufficiency for the non-crafter, so that they don’t have to run back to town every 30 minutes to find a crafter
• Frees up pure crafters to focus on their own special skills

Popcorn Crafting – Repairing

• Minor damage to armor and weapons can be repaired, but heavy damage requires the help of a pure crafter
• Combatants can carry around whetstones, repair kits that allow them to do some basic work themselves
• Sitting down after a battle or two with your mates to sharpen your own weapon or repair armor adds to immersion
• Archers can fletch their own simple arrows if they have the components

Popcorn Crafting – Gathering/Harvesting

• Wandering around and picking up stuff scattered throughout the world is the perfect example of Popcorn Crafting
• Players can gather or harvest from any field or plot that is either:
• Unowned
• Owned by yourself
• Owned by an enemy Realm
• Owned by another person or entity which has granted you permission
• Combatants can have their own fields, but they are limited in size

Popcorn Crafting — Mining

• Unlike fields, many mines are owned by the Realm, which then allows all members of the Realm to mine there
• Realm-owned mines also come with a limit on what can be taken out per day
• Access to mines works in a similar manner to fields
• Combatants mine slower than crafters, due to crafters’ skills and access to higher-level equipment
• Combatants can mine most minerals, but lack higher-level equipment for some minerals

Crafting for Crafters—Design Goals

• Treat the “pure” crafter as a mage: A crafter has stats, crafting points, and downtime
• Crafters are split into three sub-classes, though each can access all three
• Takers (they take from the land), Shapers (they shape the raw materials) and Makers (they make the finished item)
• Ensure that the system does not require macro-ing to succeed!
• Crafters should not have to create 10,000 arrows to see their skill tick up one tiny bit
• Use downtime + crafting time to remove the need to make 10K arrows
• Reward the player for crafting without the penalty of inducing carpal tunnel!
• Crafters should have stat progression similar to combatants
• Open issue: Should there be special “crafting stats” or should we just reuse current stats?
• Crafting an item is not automatic; each item takes time and drains resources
• This helps to prevent rapid-fire crafting of items by guilds
• Helps slow down the supply of any crafted item

Crafting for Crafters – Continued

• The Vox Magus (crafting station) is a magic focus object with lots of customization and power options that the crafters use to make their items
• Allow the Crafter to control almost every aspect of the final item
• Integrate the blueprint system from building with crafting
• If crafters can be treated more like the architect than the laborer, crafting will be less drudgery and more fun
• Allow the Realm to buy items from players
• Sets a floor for the item, and guarantees that low-level crafters can still make money
• Encourages Realm pride, as crafters’ contributions are apparent and rewarded

The Vox Magus

• Based on our world’s pipe organ
• Pipe organ is a widely known and instantly recognizable item
• Replace keys, stops, etc. with gems, runes, and other fun stuff
• Players sit at the VM and use both sound and magic to interact with the materials that are placed within the VM
• You don’t have to read music or understand music theory to play as a crafter. Sounds come from the Vox based on your actions as the crafter
• Each Realm has its own version of the VM, but they work in an identical manner
• This reduces the amount of time and resources we have to spend on the interface and effects, leaving more time to work on the system’s items
• VMs scale in power and appearance. It is a fully customizable device, which will grow with the player over time

The Vox Magus

Vox Magus – Part II

• Crafting now becomes a very visual and visceral process, which can be shared with others
• Easy to learn, difficult to master, as the combinations are nearly limitless
• Ways to shape and make an item will vary both inter-realm but possibly intra-realm as well
• Guilds can have their own Vox that can be customized for multi-crafter use
• Money sinks (cost, upkeep) will prevent guilds from dominating the crafting system. Small VM’s are more cost-effective to use for small items, and require a cooldown time
• Lots of potential for Easter Egg moments when certain music is played

Souls and Crafters

• Crafters can use bits of their own (or captured) souls in crafting an item
• Like combatants’ soul shards that are captured in battle, soul shards are limited in duration and number
• Crafters can only use a certain number of shards at any one time
• This limits the amount of powerful items one crafter can create
• Souls can grant additional power to items, and can also make those items more resistant to wear, breaking, etc.
• Captured souls can act as a beacon to the soul’s owner in RvR
• Souls can be used to power spells that are engraved in very select items
• The cliché “Fireball Wand” would be considered a very powerful item, rare and expensive

Summary

• The crafting system of Camelot Unchained will cater to both hard-core and casual crafters
• The Vox Magus takes the familiar MMORPG concept of a forge to an entirely different level
• The use of souls in crafted items, while not a unique twist, is being done in an original manner that will allow master craftsmen to make very rare and powerful items
• This will allow crafters to charge premium prices for these items, and rarely will two of these items be the same

The Depths

Little information has been released regarding the depths, but it will include special crafting equipment and unique resources.

Videos

• Kickstarter Crafting Presentation

• BSC Crafting Presentation

• Crafting Q&A Part 1

• Crafting Q&A Part 2

• Crafting Q&A Part 3