Hi,

For a theory based idea for a mmo crafting system, trying to allow player generated content into crafting.

When a blacksmith creates a weapon they can choose what type of model/skin to apply to fit that type of weapon.

Vetoed artists (approved artists, if they supply penis swords, their permissions can be revoked), can charge real money for models of weapons, so a blacksmith might want a certain theme with their crafted item or someone might want a one of a kind weapon. (can be used for other crafting, swords is an example, but it could be anything from swords to furniture)

Now the issue is I wanted to talk about it, a blacksmith buys a highly detailed model, but they don't put it on one of a kind weapon, they instead put it on a basic sword, that they supply for a cheap rate to every new adventurers.

Now they brought the model, its theirs to do as they please with (assuming the artist has given permission.), so in that regard its okay but in terms of the game does it break it to much? potentially having every player walking around with legendary looking weapons.

One solution that just occurred to me, is checking how detailed the model is, applying a rating it to, and then the ingredients used have to have a higher rating then the model, or you can't apply it, and are stuck using a default model or another model you own that's rated lower.

Any suggestions for how this could work? or if you don't think it would work.

make material cost relate to the volume occupied to the model. This'll keep cheap weapons small, expensive weapons can be bigger.

or allow artists to add a level requirement to their models, which can't be changed if the model changes hands. Although this doesn't stop unauthorized reproductions from being handed out to newbies, it allows artists to decide how legendary their model should be.

make material cost relate to the volume occupied to the model. This'll keep cheap weapons small, expensive weapons can be bigger.

or allow artists to add a level requirement to their models, which can't be changed if the model changes hands. Although this doesn't stop unauthorized reproductions from being handed out to newbies, it allows artists to decide how legendary their model should be.

Volume is a good idea, I wonder if between that and poly count, would be enough to judge via an automated system..

I don't think the artist could decide how legendary their model is, since it goes back to the original problem, they create a highly detailed model, and say it can be used for any weapon regardless of weapon strength or materials used.

Happy for the artists to specify, if the model is single use, can be made in bulk, or sell the model outright the buyer can do as they want.

looking after the artists rights would be a high priority.

Just realized, in terms of the artists specify if its legendary or not.. who species if its a sword or a bed.. you would hardly want player beds to be looking like a sword, lol.

I'm assuming you're talking about ORPGs or other MMO-ish games.

An interesting point, as a few pointed out I suppose there are a few major issues to resolve with the primary being that the better looking models also need to be more rare/expensive to keep them feeling "special".

Why? That just seems like it'd lead to a escalating war of one-upmanship of making weapons look more and more "impressive", which can rapidly become a downward spiral of tackiness.

I got a sword! Now I have a sword +1 with spikes on it! Now I have a sword +11 with blue energy or fire coming out of the spikes! Now I have a sword +27 that has other swords sticking out of it!!!!!!!!!

And let's not even get started on the bows...

Why are weapons just +1 increments of each other that rapidly get obsolete?

Why not make weapons be more unique gameplay tools with balanced tradeoffs, that have different usages in different circumstances or enable different styles of gameplay?

It seems the war of tackiness is an attempt to try to make players be impressed by the visuals to distract them from realizing the weapons themselves aren't any more impressive. We try to hide the '+1 extra damage' behind fancy glowy effects and intricate designs, so the player doesn't realize that the actual item is gameplay-shallow.

So instead, why not invest the effort into making the weapons gameplay-diverse and gameplay-enabling instead?

If you have 271 different swords, but the player doesn't have to do anything different regardless of which one he has equipped, is it really adding to the gameplay, or is it merely a content grind? And if it's merely a content grind, what do you do when the players run out of that content? Race them to try to create more, despite them always consuming faster than you are creating?

The same can be applied to your dungeons, spells, and many other things. Do players get it, get use it, and discard it? Why? Maybe it's because the 'content' isn't actually adding to the gameplay?

Look at World of Warcraft's dungeons. People play them, beat them, and forever leave them (until they create a new character).

Compare to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare's multiplayer arenas. Players play the same level, over and over, and over and over, for a thousand matches or more.

Look at the wildly popular League of Legends.... they have (basically) one level. One level. That 25 million people have played for more than 100 times each.

It's not the content that's the problem, it's the fundamental design of the game that the content is in.

Thanks for the replies, defiantly a tricky thing to try to add to a game.

I am not looking at a gear system based on throwaways, Id rather a player chooses a look, and that's the player, you see them and you know who it is, I want to make something where every player has that option to have a unique outfit/setup, I figure the best way to get all the art for it and closer to what the player wants, is to let them talk and bargain directly with the artists.

In terms of the artists, and human resources to review all the art, and see if it meets guidelines.

Have a artist level, and goes up based on their artwork, constant good artwork within the rules, and they can move up levels, high leveled artists are not checked as often

level 1 artists can't post items without it being checked by a staff member, before player voting

level 2 artists is checked randomly, and then goes upto a player vote.

level 3 artist is checked less regularly, and goes to player vote

level 4 artist is checked rarely, does not need to be voted in.

level 5 and the highest level, is the only one that can make individually crafted designs.

In terms of money, perhaps the cut taken by the game is reduced at each level, and if someone goes against the rules, they can be lowered in rank or banned.

we now have level 5 artists that can make one of a kind looking items

levels 4 or 5 can guarantee a design in game, since they don't need player votes

Using a reward system should in most cases stop bad entries before they make it into the game and can do damage.