I also apologize I was a little testy at the time of my response and took it out on you.Let me try to see if I can get this back on track and reply:

1. enough said
2. Im proposing adding new titles and new recipes in a nutshell.
3. goals would be reaching new tiers of crafting (only available to the highest lvl crafter whether it be gm or legendary or whatever for each skill). tiers(specialist or master) are obtained through continuous crafting of items within that specific tier. Skills are independent at this point as crafter has already attained the highest lvl in said skill through normal gains.
4. Recipes are "unlocked" as you reach said tier lvls (specialist or master). These titles and recipes are available for anyone willing to put in the time and effort. If your not willing to do it then don't. It's really that simple.
5. Not only does it burn up stockpiles but it gives those who enjoy the gathering aspects something to do and it creates an income for them again (we all know scriptors will love this idea but its really not that hard to figure who they are and not use their services, its a choice we all have to make). One of the "rewards" for spending the time following this path is the ability to "waste" less resources (after all by the time you reach a certain "proficiency" level you will have failed so many times making items your dues so to speak have been paid.
6. this is the point....the crafted items would have to be superior to whats currently available or at least on par.
7. And just to prove the point...how many people spent countless months in Doom trying to get arties. What really is the difference between spending months in Doom or spending weeks and months crafting items? To many crafting just suxs and is boring whereas Doom at least is exciting and challenging right? well I for one and I know several others who can spend hours and hours crafting and never get bored! So whats really the difference? Its a matter of perspective I enjoy crafting others enjoy fighting this is dedicated to the crafter and the fighter benefits from their wares once again.
8. where I was trying to go with this was you are correct when you say many people will just bot their way thru this process and before long there will be Masters of all tradeskills making the arduous task of reaching master level a sham so to avoid this what can be done is as you reach a specialty level your total skill points goes down by say 100 so for instance a plate specialist will only have 620 as opposed to 720 total skill points (they must choose upon reaching specialist level what skills to drop) upon reaching Master level they would only have 520 total skill points allotted to them and must choose another 100 to drop. Its basically a give and take relationship..if you want the perks you must give up something for them.

Do I think this will revitalize the game..No! Do I think it will help the stagnating population..No! Is it the answer to EA's problems with UO...No! It's simply something new for the crafter player to do and strive for. A total revamp wont sell. Too many veterans hanging onto accts would be in an uproar. EA's not going to pour anymore money into this game and why should they? They have lost multitudes of customers already and more are in the process of packing up and going to other games (including EA's other games. why should they pour more money into a game which is clearly making a profit still with minimal effort put into it. Why revamp this system when you can dedicate the same money and time into a completely new game and thus pull existing customers and new customers into that game and still profit from them. And for that matter how many people will still pay for this game and another as well?

Hey Merth... Well, I've been digesting all your stuff and I still say it is very similar to MrTs proposed "Proficiency" system...

and if you want to go down the same trail with differant names, its just another series of Lotteries to go through...

To me, a Lottery is anytime the dice are thrown to determane an outcome... AoS took dice throwing to an all time high, by placing several High odds system in place to craft all items... everything has a % chance...

The way I'm understanding your vision is:

-Once a crafter reaches GM-100, they now have the option to seek out a "Proficiancy" trainer/Quest giver/whatever... The reward from this would be a Tallisman of Proficiency in Smithing, Weapons for example...

-the 1st tier of Tallismams is GM-100, 2nd 105, 3rd 110, 4th 115, 5th 120

-These Tallisman come with the standerd % increases for Quality/Success rate But are Specialized for Weapons classes, Armor classes, leather classes, Studded classes, etc... Example: a Tallisman of Smithing, Bladed Weapons +10% chance to put on: Damage Increase (or +10% chance to put on SSI or these stats are Randomized)...

-As you aquire each Tallisman, it opens up a new set of Quests for an additional set of recipes, related to the Specialization or maybe like 1st of 5 total... something along the lines of the most Uber Bladed weapons set to date...

Am I following you so far, Merth? I adlibbed some of my own...

Let me continue with my Vision:

-I am only seeking more control over the odds of placing a particuler Property on an item I craft, my example was for smithing bladed weapons at 1-5 levels...

-The five recipes metioned earlier are NOT new weapon, but rather Abilities to ad particular properties I feel are very usefull...

-1st ability modify the property of Durability...
-2nd ability modify the property of SSI...
-3rd ability modify the property of DCI...
-4th ability modify the property of DI...
-5th ability modify the Property of Luck...

-Since these are all Tallisman, you can only have one equiped at anytime, if we are lucky, they may give us all tallisman slots... I guess I can dream, this IS a vision... hehe.... Right?

-These Tallisman may or may not have charges, meaning they may need recharging but its np...

-When crafting bladed items, the Tallisman only pre-ordains its property in a Random intensity onto the item... stacked on top of anything a Runic tool would also place on the item, along with stacking, with material intesities... although I don't think material adds SSI...

-my 6th and final mod deals with Enhancing, its also a Tallisman, but only aquirable after getting the 1st five...

-This Tallisman only eliminates "Beakage" when Enhancing an item... It does NOT garrentee success, just no breakage...

-The 5 recipes for this Tier are for +5%, +10%, +25%, +50%, +75% chance increase of success, to Enhance an item....

Arye tired of me babli'n... ok, I'm done...

ok let me see if I can clarify since this has gotten way off the original idea:

Garth is a legendary smith, he never surfaces except to make repairs now and again. He learns of the new crafting titles and decides to begin working towards this. (no trainer, no quest giver, nothing necessary after all why would a legendary smith need to see a trainer). He starts making katanas and after 100 successes he has earned the title of "Garth Katana Specialist" also when employing his smithing tool he now has the option of making the often sought after "Katana of fire","Katana of cold", etc. Warriors often ask if he is able to make other weapons of equal power so he decides to master all bladed weapons. After successfully making 100 of each bladed weapon he has earned the title of "Garth Master of Blades". Not only does he now have the ability to make any of the specialty weapons which are bladed (having specialized in each of the bladed weapons) but as a Master he can also make any bladed weapon with 100% success and a 10% reduction in materials. Taking his craft further Garth has decided Katanas sell really well so he decides to pursue this path and begins his journey of making 10000 katanas. After a successful crafting spree he becomes "Garth Master Katana Maker" This title gives Garth the ability to craft any katana with 100% success chance (including using runics) 25% reduction in materials needed and allows him to now make the most sought after "katana of Doom". This weapon can be made only once every 7 days. And last but not least there are no quests! this is a choice you pursue in your own time at your own discretion as you see fit. It is simply make the same item over and over until you become a Master of it type of system.


Is this clear? Far be it from me to determine item properties and intensities as you warriors out there are better at making those arguments, lets just say its nice. There are no trainers, quest givers etc. There are no lotteries as dice rolling has no bearing on anything I've proposed. Its simply a choice we make for ourselves as to which direction we want to go. New recipes are items which have preset intensites and mods. Taking specializations to this level is a choice based on individuals desires and possibly what the market needs. There are no talismans as reaching this level grants the abilities and recipes not a talisman. There is no changing/selecting mods or intensities involved.

Ahh, ok Merth Dude....

WoW, your only talking about a Title?

and just the fact that you have this Title, IS reason enough to grant lots of abilities...

I don't think so, I would never support such a simple change... That gives a player so much power, with so little input (skills/recipes/tools/etc)...

For crying out loud, we already have a Titles system in place, GrandMaster, Elder & Legendery...

Merth, I'm sorry I totally misc understood your idea... Making 100 Katanas (or even 10000 of them) is a NO brainer to most Smiths, I can do that with a 1 key macro and a weight, to hold the key down...

I thought you wanted to ad Adventure and Advanced Recipes/training/quests/whatever, work within our existing systems to make them much more appealing... So a advanced player has something to continue doing...

FYI, UO Crafting IS full of Lotteries (dice rolling odds)... and UO in general, How do you think the system works anywho?...

Its all Random x10 steps... AoS BS... Now I feel it can be Fixed, by allowing players more control... by using Advance Tools/recipies/abilities...

or by actually Lowering the odds...

Its been said many times, that ppl play mmo games for the graphics, which I personelly think is NOT true... ppl do NOT play solely for the graphics... at least MOST ppl, probly a small few ppl do... To have Good graphics only takes, a good clean/clear image that animates smoothly without jerking or getting fuzzy (outa focus)... Weather its life like (looks real) or a Toon chr, makes no differance to me...

So far as I can see, EAM has acted like any other company, trying to make money...

-They never admitt they ever make any mistakes in designing... at least not in public...
-They never Roll back any system that is already in place... they just move on to the next project... and deal with any flack (bad press)...
-and they never, ever admitt anything they introduced into the game to Gain subs, actuelly backfired and lost them subs... They (retailers) take a gamble every time they release a product... The gamble IS, Will it sell out, overnight or will I be left with 1 zillions leftover copies, sitting on the shelf....

IS it a Good Idea or a Bust...

Whew, finally we reached an understanding and thanks for taking the time to think about it and respond. Actually I'm fully aware of the randomness of UO in every aspect from loot drops to paragon spawns to crafting and cant say whether I really agree or disagree with it cause I do love this game so I must agree in some ways. I like many of your ideas, the talismans really made me think. I personally think at this point a revamp is needed but I dont believe its ever going to happen so I look for ideas that "could"and "might" happen. You are correct Im sure that EA is specifically looking at dollars and cents. And the reality is why should they pour money into a game that still makes money without putting much into it. Besides how many UO subscribers have bought Hellgate London for instance while still paying for UO? Thus they make double off the same people. Trust me when I say they arent stupid, they know exactly where this game is headed and how much money they can anticipate making upto that point, future endeavors are anticipated making even more money. My gut tells me they can salvage this game and regain many subscriptions but I dont anticipate that happening based on changes that have taken place in the last few years.

Isnt this pretty much what World of Warcraft has? If you say this would make people not put the time in, and end up just not playing, why are there like 10million people playing WoW? In WoW, you get 2 skill slots to do this. It doesnt go against your warriorability(like that eh?) They make it so that if you want to make badass smith armor, you compliment the skill with mining. Same goes for Leatherworking and skinning. You can be a specialist smith, and even better if you mine the stuff yourself.

This just sounds like how wow does it, and I like the idea. I say go for it. I think its completely unrealistic to imagine a smith who is also an expert tailor, who is an expert miner, who is also an expert scribe, who is also an expert fletcher, who just soo happens to be an expert alchemist.... and then has the time to learn chivalry enough to sacred journey around....