AlexDaParrot
Legacy Supporter 5
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2011
Part 1: Recognizing The Problem
The current crafter system allows for many amazing feats to be accomplished, such as creating working parts [Gates, Bridges], refining redstone size [ICs], creating hard to obtain or unobtainable items [Cauldrons], or even repairing those old diamond tools [Smith]. However, what the crafter experience does not have is the larger issue. While the entirety of these items are extremely nice to have to allow for better town security, aesthetic value, better circuits, and item utilization, what they do not provide is the most important point.
So what does one of the crafter specializations not provide? Well, that would be a truly game changing experience. All combat classes have abilities that are new, fresh, and change combat by large swaths, forcing players to adjust. However, crafter classes seem to be more of the recycled old server rolled into three divided groups with the ability to repair things paired into the last one. These abilities are nice additions to a town, but do not provide the working cogs and huge explosive abilities that combat classes have been seen to have in examples such as smoke [Disappear] or the wizard AoEs that will be showing up on the battlefields in the coming times. These abilities are game changers, and truly set the PvP game apart as something that will drop jaws. So why do crafters not have these jaw dropping abilities and what types of abilities would truly add viability and maybe even drop jaws that would not make crafters overpowered? Simply said, crafters should be able to PvP via their building.
Part 2: Defining Long-Term Ailments
So, crafter hope has not been completely lost, but indeed it needs to go a few steps further. As the game stands, the plethora of crafters is largely due to the fact that they are 'easy' to level, accomplish useful things that a forming town needs, and are highly favored by the community who does not enjoy PvP to the same degree the more PvP savvy parts of this server. While in the short-run this is gives the impression that crafters are a balanced and oddly even overpowered class due to its early game viability.
However, as the game progresses and crafter spec's start to become overridden with duplicate rolls, the broad inefficiency of this issue will be shown and towns will start to suggest to citizens to specialize in combat classes so that they are easily prepared to face tides of invaders and black torrents of arrows. As anyone who invests knows, time is best spent where it will benefit in the long-run, because short-run returns are just as easily lost as they are gained. Therefore, as more people invest in the long-run approach [Combat classes], the markets will start to buckle on obsidian and crafter work will not become rare, but expensive and secluded as towns attempt to secure there 4 crafters to accomplish the entirety of their crafting goals while also securing a plethora of combat classes to defend the gates which one crafter can create. This puts the crafter in a position where they will become scarce in the long-run, and thus leading to the class being largely mitigated by its overlapping uses as a secondary class that may be required for a fully functioning town, but not required in numbers.
The last, and probably most brazenly apparent ailment crafters face is that due to zero viability in PvP, and the large increase in combat classes which will occur during mid to late game, the server will see crafters being largely ostracized, pressured, and pillaged by the overbearing barbarian hordes. A successful crafter will need to employ trusted guards, buy numerous LWC's, and most likely become a donator to be successful. While this may sound like a positive experience for the server as it will increase community interactions, it will also breed dread, rage, and complete hatred. To add upon this, the amount of capital a crafter needs to LWC chests, region off areas, and hire guards is simply not logical for anyone not supported by a town, therefore towns could quite possibly come to be known as the last frontier for crafters as other areas become too heavily populated by combat classes looking for blood or too distant for a crafters achievements to be worth meriting a visit.
Part 3: Defining Solutions
The crafter problem has a few simple [theoretically] solutions that could easily advert people from going towards the side of combat classes at an exponentially increasing rate. The first, which is already implemented in the game, is the ability for all spec'd crafters to gain a resource that not other class can. Obsidian will be the signature of crafter building, and will be at a premium on the market due to its unique properties, decent visuals, and of course the ability to ward off any non-crafter invader who does not carry obsidian.
Now, as we move on I would like to note that the items I am going to mention are mostly dependent on coding, as well as further buffs towards crafter combat prowess and utility. If you do not believe in the entirety of the post above, I would recommend to skim this part and then move on, as you will probably not believe that these buffs would positively affect the server either.
That's really all I wanted to say; I think crafters are good, but they need to have more long-game viability in numbers as well as more passive combat ability. I understand that you want to feign away from giving them combat powers, but giving them the ability to do things that do not damage players, but instead aid teams would place them in a support role that they would nicely fit into.
TL;DR - Read it or your not worth the time of the other people discussing the topic.
@Kainzo
The current crafter system allows for many amazing feats to be accomplished, such as creating working parts [Gates, Bridges], refining redstone size [ICs], creating hard to obtain or unobtainable items [Cauldrons], or even repairing those old diamond tools [Smith]. However, what the crafter experience does not have is the larger issue. While the entirety of these items are extremely nice to have to allow for better town security, aesthetic value, better circuits, and item utilization, what they do not provide is the most important point.
So what does one of the crafter specializations not provide? Well, that would be a truly game changing experience. All combat classes have abilities that are new, fresh, and change combat by large swaths, forcing players to adjust. However, crafter classes seem to be more of the recycled old server rolled into three divided groups with the ability to repair things paired into the last one. These abilities are nice additions to a town, but do not provide the working cogs and huge explosive abilities that combat classes have been seen to have in examples such as smoke [Disappear] or the wizard AoEs that will be showing up on the battlefields in the coming times. These abilities are game changers, and truly set the PvP game apart as something that will drop jaws. So why do crafters not have these jaw dropping abilities and what types of abilities would truly add viability and maybe even drop jaws that would not make crafters overpowered? Simply said, crafters should be able to PvP via their building.
Part 2: Defining Long-Term Ailments
So, crafter hope has not been completely lost, but indeed it needs to go a few steps further. As the game stands, the plethora of crafters is largely due to the fact that they are 'easy' to level, accomplish useful things that a forming town needs, and are highly favored by the community who does not enjoy PvP to the same degree the more PvP savvy parts of this server. While in the short-run this is gives the impression that crafters are a balanced and oddly even overpowered class due to its early game viability.
However, as the game progresses and crafter spec's start to become overridden with duplicate rolls, the broad inefficiency of this issue will be shown and towns will start to suggest to citizens to specialize in combat classes so that they are easily prepared to face tides of invaders and black torrents of arrows. As anyone who invests knows, time is best spent where it will benefit in the long-run, because short-run returns are just as easily lost as they are gained. Therefore, as more people invest in the long-run approach [Combat classes], the markets will start to buckle on obsidian and crafter work will not become rare, but expensive and secluded as towns attempt to secure there 4 crafters to accomplish the entirety of their crafting goals while also securing a plethora of combat classes to defend the gates which one crafter can create. This puts the crafter in a position where they will become scarce in the long-run, and thus leading to the class being largely mitigated by its overlapping uses as a secondary class that may be required for a fully functioning town, but not required in numbers.
The last, and probably most brazenly apparent ailment crafters face is that due to zero viability in PvP, and the large increase in combat classes which will occur during mid to late game, the server will see crafters being largely ostracized, pressured, and pillaged by the overbearing barbarian hordes. A successful crafter will need to employ trusted guards, buy numerous LWC's, and most likely become a donator to be successful. While this may sound like a positive experience for the server as it will increase community interactions, it will also breed dread, rage, and complete hatred. To add upon this, the amount of capital a crafter needs to LWC chests, region off areas, and hire guards is simply not logical for anyone not supported by a town, therefore towns could quite possibly come to be known as the last frontier for crafters as other areas become too heavily populated by combat classes looking for blood or too distant for a crafters achievements to be worth meriting a visit.
Part 3: Defining Solutions
The crafter problem has a few simple [theoretically] solutions that could easily advert people from going towards the side of combat classes at an exponentially increasing rate. The first, which is already implemented in the game, is the ability for all spec'd crafters to gain a resource that not other class can. Obsidian will be the signature of crafter building, and will be at a premium on the market due to its unique properties, decent visuals, and of course the ability to ward off any non-crafter invader who does not carry obsidian.
Now, as we move on I would like to note that the items I am going to mention are mostly dependent on coding, as well as further buffs towards crafter combat prowess and utility. If you do not believe in the entirety of the post above, I would recommend to skim this part and then move on, as you will probably not believe that these buffs would positively affect the server either.
- Buff One: Allow crafters more viability on the battlefield and in towns by being able to erect walls, traps, and other gizmos without the need of manual construction. Being able to construct a 4x2 wall in combat does not directly effect the other player damage wise, it simply changes the seen of battle in a sense that it creates a more diverse, well thought out, and innovative level of game play. Creating traps that are things such as a 2x2 box of water that has a roof on it would have the ability to be offensive, but would need to have an activation time so that it is not instantly usable as a direct source of damage. A horde of crafters now would be viable in erecting limited battlefield structures that could stop an impeding advance to allow for a regroup, or to simply trap a player in a box. I'd like to note the main advancement of this buff is that it gives crafters viability on the battlefield that does not directly correlate with damage, as well as making more than one crafter viable.
- Buff Two: The second buff that crafters should receive is the ability to create more useful items and structures across the board. Allow crafters to construct limited use herogates, spawn points, and warps [Limited use, 2-3 uses then recharge] that would be able to give crafters behind the line combat viability as well as aid members in their everyday travels. Creating structures like these that are limited use also gives a reoccuring need for crafters that means they do not lose their viability to a person after their first objective is achieved. While the items do not need to be as powerful as herogates and spawn points, they should be a usable resource that does not degrade in usefulness as the server progresses without great effort [Example, railroad track degrading usefulness of herogates]. Other items that could be created entail more of a combat viability. Creating a healing 'turret' [Constructing a 5x5 set that has a certain block structures with a sign attached to it that grants a 5 minute healing region or something to that effect] would allow for healers to be able to act as behind the line medics, as well as add building to combat in that people are trying to construct structures that aid them as fast as they can to buff there team. This would also correlate into a defenders advantage as the township plugin grants block protection because one team would be unable to construct the turrets. Other turrets with attacking or more damage based offensive abilities I am unsure about, but I definitely believe in things such as this. Even a turret that teleports someone to 'void' area for 10 seconds so that they are out of the battlefield would be seen as a major 'holy shit' moment and would really add to the excitement of battle.
- Buff Three: Buff three should be quite apparent to anyone who was around when the crafting reloaded plugin was installed. It allowed people who mined a lot or chopped wood a lot to gain extra blocks. Something like this would further a crafters ability to gather items to craft items and thus give them an edge in the economy more than just being able to use diamond picks, increasing their viability to a town trying to boost their coffers.
- Buff Four: A buff to the non-combat prowess of crafters would also be much appreciated. Giving them the ability to level areas easier [By being able to make any dirt within a 4x4 area disappear, being able to use tree trim, or to have faster mining speeds] would be much appreciated. Currently crafters non-combat prowess is in kind of an odd spot because it adds viability to the non-preparatory parts of crafting. While everyone wants to build, not everyone wants to tear down that mountain to build their structure.
That's really all I wanted to say; I think crafters are good, but they need to have more long-game viability in numbers as well as more passive combat ability. I understand that you want to feign away from giving them combat powers, but giving them the ability to do things that do not damage players, but instead aid teams would place them in a support role that they would nicely fit into.
TL;DR - Read it or your not worth the time of the other people discussing the topic.
@Kainzo
