LordCove's post
here got me thinking. Again. Though his post in in reference to crafting in the current version of Layonara, the content can be reworded for the MMO and retain the same feel.
I believe the MMO requires a functioning background world of NPCs and a more complete economy. That's why I mention it so often. I also believe non-combatant PCs should be possible and even encouraged, with a potential for progression as robust and complex as the progression of more traditional adventuring PCs. That may be asking a lot.
Now to tie the first and second paragraphs together. Instead of "All the stuff my character can craft is available as drops," as the primary crafter's lament, imagine it is "All the stuff my character can craft is available from NPC crafters." The background world needs those NPCs, though, and it's silly to think that none of them would interact with PCs ever. From a certain point of view, crafters in the MMO may feel somewhat like they do in NWN when it seems everyone is a crafter. How do the PC crafters differentiate themselves from the NPC crafters and earn a more desirable place (and some profit) in the market?
Skill choice is a possibility. Imagine smithing. The average smithy (in my little imaginary world) may have four or five smiths. One is the boss; he knows a pretty good deal about shaping iron and steel and maybe even some other metals. Then there are a couple of journeyman smiths who work for the boss, making the iron and steel things people in the community need. Maybe there is one smith who specializes in copper and bronze and brass, because there is a demand for items of those materials in the community. And then there is an apprentice, learning the trade. These sorts of smithies would be all over the place. Most would be making horseshoes and plowshares and basic things like that. A few would be on contract with local lords to make weapons and armor.
Basic weapons and armor - plain ol' steel blades and chain mail and such.
Besides the typical smith, there would be more advanced masters. These are the folks who can make magical weapons, and who almost certainly have exclusive contracts with someone important. How do they make magical weapons? By combining their smithing skills with their
magical skills. How does this help PC crafters? Because almost all NPC crafters who can make magical gear are under exclusive contract to someone and can't sell that magical gear to adventurers.
There's no guarantee of buyers, though. There should probably be places PCs can buy better-than-basic gear from NPCs, though not necessarily the really top-end, fancy stuff. That doesn't mean there aren't NPCs who can make it (who else would the first PC smiths apprentice to?), only that they can't or won't sell to just anyone. Also, some NPC enemies have their own master smiths, so there should be drops of the sorts of weapons and armor PC smiths can make, though only from those sorts of enemies, generally. While a sword is a sword, basically, that armor may require some adjustments to make it fit (if it was close - no Human is going to be able to wear Gnoll armor), so there could still be work for the smith.
Balancing the crafters seems harder than balancing the combatants, really. The PC crafters shouldn't be so prominent that they
are the economy, like now, but they shouldn't be overshadowed and lost in a sea of NPCs, either.