Is it really worth it....seriously

[Quinbus]

I've made it to 200 on almost all tradeskills available to me, including trophies....

I do admit to a certain satisfaction in the puzzle solving aspect of tradeskilling....

But are these tradeskills ever REALLY worth it otherwise?

Given the amount of plat it costs to train I can personally buy all I need and more directly from the Bazaar.

In addition, post 70 levels there is little of consequence to be made (it seems to me) that can't be more readily acquired by quests, etc.....

Before I sink even more time, plat and energy into these vocations I am just curious whether any of you have found that tradeskilling 'pays off'....and 'why?'

Quinbus, 73 Wizard.

[Maevenniia]

If it's not worth it to you, don't do it. It's that simple.

Yes, it may indeed be much simpler just to farm the plat and buy teh finished product in the bazaar, but Tradeskilling is not just about the end result, for most of us.

I tradeskill because

-I like being able to make items that I can use, and/or that are useful to others, to give or to sell in the bazaar

-I like variety, and just killing mobs for exp all the time would bore me to tears.

-figuring out new recipes can be fun, esp. new Research and recent things like the Bristlebane Challenge recipes....

-gives me something to do when I don't have a lot of time and exp'ing or raiding is not an option

-I love gathering componenets, by farming and vendor-diving, and I am a total pack-rat in RL, and in EQ

Basically, its another form of character advancement, and adds longevity to my EQ play time, because if I had concentrated on exp and raiding, I'd probably be maxed out on AAs and bored right now....

[GrimwoodCT]

Its worth it. Definetly worth it for several reasons. The same reasons may not apply to everyone but to me its worth it. Why?

1) Sheer narcissim. I have two solid level 75 toons, nicely equipped but no uber guild will ever want me and that's fine. But almost everyone on the server knows my enchanter for cutting augs, making cultural, having the most up to date new jewelry. Her name is on everyone's lips when someone /oocs in the bazaar "Who can do XYZ?" Being a really good tradeskiller (not just max skill, but someone that knows their product, keeps prices low, deals fairly with the public) is a form of distinction taht you really have to work at and maintain. When someone /tells me "I heard you were the person to see on this server for jewelry/gnomish cultural/augments" it really makes my day. When I get a new tradeskiller coming to me for advice and I can set them off in the right direction it fills me with a snese of sdatisfaction.

2) Money and the pursuit of said money. Yeah, you do have to spend it to make it but tradeskills offer a persistent stream of income that will eclipse most people's method of acquiring in-game wealth. Yes I have spent millions upon millions of plats for my skills (and I continue to do so) but once you have achieved your place at the top of the heap you havea little bit of money coming in alot of different ways. Beyond that, I love scouring the bazaar for deals, brokering large purchases from stingy sellers, wringing every last plat out of a buyer, palying the numbers game, farming hard to get materials, doing the combines, handing over a batch of GM augs and undercharging the guy and watch his reaction as he sprints to the "birdbath" to aug up his new GM armor.

3) Distinction. You gotta be smart to be a tradeskiller. It sets you apart from other players. EQ has a learning curve to it, no doubt, but many times its just mashing keys and looting. But tradeskillers need to be using all the muscles, especially the most important one; the brain. It takes panache, it takes will, it takes savvy to be a tradeskiller. You need to be able to research, compute, market and still have good, solid toons to back it up.

4) Style. You can bring a sense of whimsy or style to the game by the way in which you tradeskill. It takes no imagination to "/auc GM Augs made to order."
Pfft, why bother? But a catchy /auction will make people remember you. But "/auc Squeaky's Secret is now open, the finest purveyor of gnomish silken lingerie and metallic fetish wear. We also have cultural augments for the taller folks. You bring it, I'll bling it!" will stick in anyone's mind.

Beyond that, its just plain fun. YOu can't quantify fun by the pixels in your bank but when you connect with someone, develop a business relationship with the person typing on the other end of the screen, its a great moment.

So without a doubt, the answer to your question is: Yes, its worht it. Seriously.

[Zacatac]

To me, repeatedly killing mobs just for the xp becomes insanely tiresome. I need variety. I need to have goals that are being met, like a quest reward to work on and not simply "LFG for XP group!" all the time. In fact I have often logged in for an hour or 2 and did tradeskills the entire time without giving any thought to trying to go find a group.

Unlike being an uber raider and trying to be on a leaderboard somewhere, being amongst the elite tradeskillers is a reward that I can do, on my own time, whenever I feel like working on it. It doesn't take a raid, or even a group, for me to make progress.

Of course all those hours have meant me having less xp, and less AAs than many others. But that's the way I play EQ, and enjoy doing so.

The other night I went out to Wakening Lands to wipe out holgresh for furs. Then, just for fun, I went into Plane of Growth and ran out to Tunare's tree and snapped a photo of me standing next to her. Had fun, gathered 10 furs, and zero xp for the night (was only on for hour or so).

[Quinbus]

Well, like I mentioned. I certainly understand the sheer 'fun' aspect of trade skilling. I just cant figure out how to make it worthwhile as part of my character development nor will I ever be able to make anything from it that I cant readily get when doing a quest or grinding. My leveling always seems to out pace my trade skilling, and, as such I always find better loot (for use or resale) just hunting, etc.

It also doesn't appear to save 'grinding time' because you need to farm for either materials or plat to get anywhere...yer just grinding greenies instead.

Its also obvious that LOTS of plat needs to be spent to get to the upper ranks. Frankly I wonder if its really possible without buying Plat from third parties? If I have a neverending amount of plat than its not such a big deal. Is the little secret that people buy their plat from third parties? If I'm going to have to kill a bazillion mobs anyways--to get the plat--I'm still going to be spending oodles of hours hunting instead of trade skilling, I'm just not getting exp/aas for it.

So, when we talk about it 'developing ones character', its seems to me that many of the trade skills are like learning 'begging' --so what if you max the stat?

I do want to stress that my points are NOT to take issue with anyone's sheer enjoyment of trade skilling. It is fun. Period. I'm not asking anyone to justify the fun the have. My questions/observations are really directed to SOE.

Essentially what I want to know from SOE is: why can't trade skillers make things that rival advanced quest items or raid loot?? There is almost nothing listed on the EQquicktrival lists that cant be more easily acquired directly.....

If, at level 70, I've spent all my time maxing my trade skills, why can't I outfit myself with the same type of great gear and augs and spells that I might have found hunting in the game?

Anyway, please remember this is the Primal Scream room. I'm just frustrated that I can't seem to find the upside to trade skilling, which is a major part of the EQ world.....

Quinbus.

[Nolrog]

But are these tradeskills ever REALLY worth it otherwise?

What is your definition of "worth it"?

It's worth it to me, because of personal satisfaction. I'm working my way through all the trades (restricted ones as well) and I intend to max every one of them out. The pride that I will have when that title appears above my head would make it more than worth it for me.

Its also obvious that LOTS of plat needs to be spent to get to the upper ranks. Frankly I wonder if its really possible without buying Plat from third parties?

You may spend a lot of plat, but you don't have to do it in a short amount of time. I'm working my trades up, and I'll get there, eventually. I tradeskill now and then for a nice break, and I tend to farm my own components, so that makes the cost much less than buying in the bazaar. I also tend to choose recipes that are cheap rather than going for the quick and dirty (aka expensive) method.

As for buying plat, well, that's not my thing. I think it just ruins the game, and should be banned completely. You don't need to buy your plat in order to get it. There are plenty of legitimate ways to get plat and lots of things you can do to reduce the amount spent on tradeskilling (choosing Shadow Scream over MCS for example, or vendor mining the gem studded chains instead of making them yourself.)

[Maevenniia]

Essentially what I want to know from SOE is: why can't trade skillers make things that rival advanced quest items or raid loot?? There is almost nothing listed on the EQquicktrival lists that cant be more easily acquired directly.....

If, at level 70, I've spent all my time maxing my trade skills, why can't I outfit myself with the same type of great gear and augs and spells that I might have found hunting in the game?

Anyway, please remember this is the Primal Scream room. I'm just frustrated that I can't seem to find the upside to trade skilling, which is a major part of the EQ world.....

Quinbus.

1st - this is a board for the EQ tradeskill community to discuss tradeskills, and while Devs do post here, this is not the place to address questions to Devs or SOE directly.

2nd - There are high end tradeskilled items, but they do take a lot of effort to get, just as those high-end Raid items don't simply fall in your lap either. To you it may seem "easier" to raid for drops, but from a Level 1 newbie perspective, getting to that point may appear to require too much effort for the rewards...after all, even once a newbie is high enough level to raid the 'good' stuff (70+, these days), they have to join a guild, earn DKP and may not get more than one piece of gear upgraded in a month (YMMV, depends on how often teh guild raids, how many of those raids the player can attend, etc)

Tradeskills can be done starting at level 1 (ok, there's a few that cannot be started til level 16 or such). Since tradeskills arent level capped anymore, a lowbie can get any one skill to 300. Level the character up to 51 and get 18 AAs and that character can level up all the skills to 300....sure, it will be a bit harder for some skills, as it's easier to farm components when your character is high level, but it's not required.

As for high end tradeskilled items:

The 7th and 8th shawls are still very nice shoulder items
There are nice JC items abvailable now, using Palladium, Prestidigitase, Taafeeite, HArmonagate...
The DoN cultural items are great at almost any tier.
BAzu & Last Blood Seals, fantastic, even if they arent scaling up to level 75 (yet)
OOW augments are still good items up to level 70.
Trophies
Artisan Charm


EVERYTHING in EQ requires some effort, if you don't think the effort required in tradeskills is rewarded as well as other methods of acquiring gear, then choose the path you prefer.

[Zacatac]

I certainly understand the sheer 'fun' aspect of trade skilling. I just cant figure out how to make it worthwhile as part of my character development nor will I ever be able to make anything from it that I cant readily get when doing a quest or grinding. My leveling always seems to out pace my trade skilling, and, as such I always find better loot (for use or resale) just hunting, etc.

Yes, you get better loot in high end raids, that's just the way EQ works. SoE isn't about to give you a +300 hp/mana item that you can simply make with smithing, or tailoring alone.

However, my tradeskilling is a craft that I can do at anytime. And since I play rather sporadically, it suits my character.

Let's say you spend a couple hours in game one night, LFG. You get a group, some xp. Maybe 1 item drops that the group rolls on, so you have a 1/6 chance of walking away with some cash value.

I spend 2 hours crafting. I create over 100k in items to sell in the bazaar. I get no xp, but I have a considerable inventory of items to sell over time. I do this a few times a week until my seller mule has 80 items in stock worth over 500k total to sell while I'm AFK-trading.

As you can see, I have no need to "buy plat from 3rd parties". I have a route by which I can earn millions of plat on my own. The amount I make is only limited by the amount of time I spend on tradeskills. After all, I DO like to go out and raid or group somedays

[Zacatac]

Oh, and my best piece of gear is a combination of tradeskill made items and raid drops.

Grandmaster's Starglow Robes (Augmented)
MAGIC ITEM NO TRADE ATTUNEABLE
Slot: CHEST
AC: 60
Focus Effect: Fire of Anguish
STR: +22 DEX: +17 STA: +23 CHA: +23 Wis: +18 INT: +24 AGI: +17 HP: +325 MANA: +345 Endurance: +345 SV FIRE: +26 SV DISEASE: +20 SV COLD: +25 SV MAGIC: +25 SV POISON: +19
Regeneration: +1
Mana Regeneration: +3
Damage Shield: 2
Spell Shield: +2% Avoidance: +8 Stun Resist: +2%
DoT Shielding: +4%
Recommended level of 69
Required level of 70
WT: 2.6 Size: LARGE
Class: WIZ MAG ENC
Race: HIE
slot 1, type 7: Shadowspine Extract
slot 2, type 11: Grandmaster's Chest Symbol of Integrity
slot 3, type 12: Bazu Seal of Flame

[Rinikku]

I have friends that have asked me why I spend so much time tradeskilling and not leveling. I always say cuz I want to. And that's just it. Some people like taking the route of leveling their character up to the current max, joining a super raiding guild and getting all the loot they could dream of. Well, I'm not one of them. I don't like raiding. I like less stressful, more meaningful, and more fun than anything else.

Tradeskills can be frustrating when you don't skill up after hundreds of combines, but that doesn't come until your at the high end close to "beating" the tradeskill. It's kind of like a mini-game. I won at alchemy, lol. Now I can make all the potions my alts desire or my hubby's chars. I can make augments to put on my lower toons. My beast is about as uber as a level 56 can get without ever attending a raid. She's got on at least two Radiant cut XXXXflowstones of XXXX. The effects are good up to level 65 and they have +12 to some stat of her choosing. I've also sold several of the augs (however they don't sell as well since TSS came out) in the baz for a nice amount of plat. I also made plat along the way with the POK potions. My guild would hoard Nodding Blue Lilys for me, so I could pretty much make back the money I had spent of skilling up until about 250 skill. My little shammy may not be uber equipped but I'm very happy with her and the skills that she has in the game, plus her Alchemist Charm has way more stats than most of the charms I've ever seen.

Basically I think it's nice to be able to make the things that I need and not have to buy them from someone else. I think of my characters as a family and the shammy has to provide for the alts some way or another, so I chose tradeskilling.

[Elyssanda]

Its also obvious that LOTS of plat needs to be spent to get to the upper ranks. Frankly I wonder if its really possible without buying Plat from third parties?
Quinbus.

Third party plat buying is insane as far as I'm concerned.. Play smart and you don't need it. RL $$ goes to feed my 3 teenagers..

Example from my last night -today baz trader:
Overnight I made 49k off of tradeskilled items where the HIGHEST trivial was 140. Yes most stacked to 20.
Today, I made another 6k while at work, but I didn't restock before I left for work so had ALOT of empty bag space that could have been earning me PP.
In the last week selling items with trivials under 150, I have cleared, that's net profit, not gross, 200k. I've then turned around and taken my drakkin tailor from 190-217 on solstice robes... and I succeed way more than I wish, but it's still cheaper than alot of recipes. and what's left over, Ive used for buying Rk. II spells for both my main, and my Husband's. Oh and the few Storm Volaas hairs that have become available in our baz recently. for which I've paid 1500p-2000p each..

[Qaladar Bragollach]

No... it is totally not worth doing tradeskills. You should definitely quit bothering and give them up.

/em removes tongue from cheek and cackles all the way to the bank

[olhoss]

Probably something hunted at here but thano one has come right out with...

Some of us are obsessive. I know I am. I started out on JC because that's what enchanters did. I worked on the others for my Coldain Prayer Shawl. Then it galled me that I had these skills that weren't maxed. Honestly, I worked on all my languages before I even knew there was an LoY charm for them just because I wanted to max everything I could. (Currently I am working on 1H Blunt with my chanter cuz it suxors to see it with room to grow...like I am gonna use that in Ashengate).

To me, I would define worth it as the satisfaction of knowing that in my quest to have every tool available to me to be the best enchanter I can, I have finished that part of the game. I feel better knowing that lack of skill will not keep me from crafting any item that can come along, no matter what skill it requires.

[Bara]

No... it is totally not worth doing tradeskills. You should definitely quit bothering and give them up.

/em removes tongue from cheek and cackles all the way to the bank

But not untill they give me all their TS supplies from their bank.

[Dea]

Yes tradeskills are worth it, I will never be in a "raiding" guild, nor do I want to be (something about herding wet cats just doesn't appeal to me O.o). I wear what I can make I know I am not the best geared out there but with very few exceptions I made everything I am wearing. Heck I made everything all my alts wear also (at least until they start tradeskilling)

Honestly I have turned down rolls on 'upgrades' simply because I prefer to create my own gear. I know I am a little insane but I think most of us tradeskillers are to a certain extent. Oh and as far as spending tons of plat sure I spend it but I make it as well the trick is finding things that sell fast and consistantly even if it doesnt make the 100k price tag for on item.

Dea