As usual, I hadn't fully realized what I was getting myself into with this miniseries of articles on crafting in MMOs. Even though my plan was to only scratch the surface of what I felt were more contested and important areas of crafting systems, it's turned into a much deeper subject. I've had to cut back, go back over, and rewrite, cutting a few things each time. I could easily go into a dissertation the size of a book, but that's too much to read or write in this context, and it's not my goal to cover every aspect. We're dissecting a little, and looking at concepts a little. Kind of like cutting apart a frog to see how its major organs work, not breaking it down into all of the cells it's made out of.

Why? As the old adage goes “Knowledge is power.” Let's arm ourselves with axes and spades, fight for better crafting in our favorite games, or find games we know we'll love.

Last week I wrote briefly about player perceptions of crafting in an MMORPG. This time around, I'm going to take a peek at the first of three parts I broke crafting into.

1. Gathering
2. Refining
3. Crafting

When we think of gathering in an MMO, what's the first thing that comes to mind? I think of running around to level appropriate zones and scanning the landscape while periodically peaking at my mini map in the hopes of spotting some sparkling ore, colorful herbs, or noticeable marker on my mini map. I certainly don't think too much about what makes me keep looking. But there are more than a few important aspects to gathering.

• How many kinds of resources are there?
• How plentiful are the resources?
• What's there respawn time?
• How well can they be seen(in relation to terrain and distance)
• How much does each resource node yield
• One click? Or multi-click?
• Tools?

I think one of the biggest concerns for Sandbox Players is their perception of how much time they need to devote to gathering, and how much of that time “feels” worthwhile. Endgamers don't look so much at the time involved itself, but look at the end results first. Many times they see gathering as a natural part of working towards endgame and “put in their dues”. Crafters are usually pretty accepting of gathering, as it's part of what they like. Of course, all three player types want a good system, in the end. (To learn more about the three player types, read the first installment of Craft Soup - ed.)

I'm a Crafter in my MMOs; I love the motto “Variety is the spice of life.” when it comes to how many different resources are available. But it can be a hindrance if item recipes call for too many different resources, or those resources are so varied that they had to be separated into zones that are too hard, or too difficult to reach and obtain. On the other side, if there are so many different resources, and they end up being everywhere, they could be too plentiful, too easy, to obtain for use.

Respawn time, how well they resources can be seen, what tools may or may not be used, all work together and need a certain balance to create a system that Crafters, Endgamers, and Sandbox Players can all get maximum enjoyment out of.

Perhaps the most contested of these is deciding between one-click or multi-click systems. Should you be able to click once and obtain all that a single node of ore has to offer? Maybe it's better if you get one herb for each click? Examples of this would be the current gathering process in "World of Warcraft" and the free-to-play MMORPG "Runes of Magic." In "WoW," you click once to mine or harvest a node, getting a random amount, up to a set limit. "Runes of Magic" has a system where you can get upwards of six or so of a resource from a node, but it requires separate clicks.

I've read many posts on different game forums that seem to say most players perceive one-click gathering to be an annoyance. However this could just be a perception based on previous gaming experiences rather than any real consensus. Take the two MMORPG's I mentioned. While "WoW" lets you make one click and move on, the nodes have a relatively slow respawn time, and can take some work to find. "Runes of Magic" has a multi-click system, and the nodes are quite plentiful -- you can practically find a node every 10 steps you take, and the respawn time is quite fast. So the time it takes a player to find a node in "WoW" is eliminated, but replaced with taking multiple clicks in "RoM."

Ultimately, the amount of items a player decides to make at a given time, and the amount of resources the item's recipe calls for, has more to do with the amount of clicks a player puts into gathering than this debate over one-click vs. multi-click gathering -- but you can see how player's perceptions play the greatest role. I think the current perceptions are that even though it may take longer to find the node, the player could be leveling or hunting along the way to the next resource. Even though you could do that regardless of system, a player may feel less temptation to devote all the time to gathering in a MMORPG like "WoW," than in "RoM."

I may have concentrated mostly on the one-click vs. multi-click method, but as I will discuss later, a player's perceptions can affect any areas of gathering.

Next time I want to finish talking about gathering in MMOs, and hit on a slight variation of gathering which is found in professions like leather working -- Skinning -- before moving on to refining. Skinning is a bit different as you get the resource(s) from mobs that you also get experience and other drops from.

As I said in the first part of this series, I'm curious to hear from you, the readers. Am I boring you to death? Do you feel I'm completely off base? What do you have to say?

Posted by Jeremy Stratton
June 23, 2009

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