[MUD-Dev] Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population

[Allan Hill]

--- John Buehler <johnbue at msn.com> wrote:

> Be sure to give him and the crafters other options.  Assuming that
> crafters are the source of his goods and that crafters must sell
> goods might impair the ability of the game to provide players with
> the experience that they're really after.  Crafters might well
> just forage to obtain raw materials and then give away what they
> make.  As a merchant, Damion might use some black box
> manufacturing technique (e.g. NPCs) in order to produce the items
> that he sells.  And the sets of goods in each pool may be
> disjoint.  Factories may only produce practical items, while
> crafters may only produce vanity items.

An alternative to black-box NPC crafters is to support PC crafting
guilds that contain both "crafters" and "merchants".  Within the
guild, the merchants handle gathering materials and selling
products.  The crafters make the items.  The guild provides a tight
structure for both types to interact, so that they don't have to
spend time looking for strangers to meet their needs.  Advanced
supports could be devised to bring even more diverse types of
players together.  (i.e. Add guards to the mix to protect the guild
and allow merchants and crafters to work in peace.)
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