Crafting

Crafting is a central part of the player-driven economy in Crowfall and the primary way that items are created in the game. The goals of crafting are to enable players to create items that tie into the different systems, such as equipment, city building and sieges, and to create interlocking behaviors that drive players to engage with other players.

The closest crafting model to Crowfall is probably EVE Online. The recipe system is heavily inspired by the designs that Raph Koster created on both Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies, and the randomized enchantment system resembles the one designed by J Todd Coleman for Shadowbane.

Crafting is very likely going to be a decisive factor that determines whether a Campaign is lost or won.

Profession
Every character has the ability to craft some items from the beginning of the game. However, further crafting requires the accumulation of recipes via diverse gameplay mechanics. Crafting is a full and independent game system that can be the central focus of a character and a viable profession. It is an exploration game that implies testing and tuning.

The benefits of crafting include building a reputation by creating products that other players can rely on, selling items that are sought out far and wide and getting incessant requests from other players to craft new items. Crafters will be able to craft unique items, explore new recipes and profit from the results of this exploration, create customized items for all styles of play and affix their mark to their crafted items.

As players in Crowfall can and will lose their items, the crafters in the Campaigns will likely be in very high demand, while in the Eternal Kingdoms they will have to rely on other players to provide them with the resources they need to build and craft. The import and export rules also mean that there will be localized demand for crafting throughout the game universe.

Recipes
Crowfall’s recipes are fluid and the ingredients are not strict, which leads to a higher degree of system exploration. The player can choose which tiers of the resources to put in the slots and as long as the slots are filled with something valid, the recipe will craft. This reduces the recipe count significantly and every recipe in the Crowfall player’s book remains useful.

Additives that are dropped by the creatures can be added to alter the item in a significant way. While the recipe list is shorter, the possible outcomes are greater than a standard crafting system. Additional stages that can enhance the item, such as refining the alloys, forging the weapon and enchanting it with Thralls, increase the possible combinations. Ores from all resource tiers are used throughout the entire crafting tree, which means that no ore becomes obsolete. Any metal, leather or cloth can be used to fill the corresponding slots.