Future game feature: Learning subsequent tradeskills gets easier

[warrenn]

I don't think it's worth changing in EQ, but I was wondering if future games should make it easier to learn a 2nd, 3rd, etc tradeskill once you've learned one.

This sort of relates to real life. Someone who is skilled in a particular craft seems to be able to pick up another craft much easier than someone who does no crafting.

The way I could imagine this working in the game is that it could look at the difference between your highest crafting skill and the craft you are currently making. For example, say you have 200 in tailoring and 0 in smithing and are making a rusty spear. The 200 in tailoring would give a skillup bonus to your smithing.

Maybe being a master in one skill means it's 20% easier to learn a second skill. Being a master in two skills means it's 30% easier to learn a third, and so on.

I think that might be a way to keep people more interested in crafting. I know I really enjoyed the satisfaction of my first tradeskill, but the grind of the subsequent ones really turned me off. If it got easier to learn other skills, I might do them more.

You even notice the same thing with exp levels. Your first character might have taken a long time to level up, but subsequent characters level much faster because you're much wiser about how to level up. It'd be nice if crafting worked the same way.

[Nolrog]

Maybe being a master in one skill means it's 20% easier to learn a second skill. Being a master in two skills means it's 30% easier to learn a third, and so on.

The problem you run into, is that it's so easy (right now) to master brewing, and only slightly harder to do baking, that everyone would have a quick start on tailoring; in effect, making tailoring 30% easier for everyone.

[Roanne]

I think anytime you make something easier, you cheapen the value of the experience. If tradeskills only took a few days of spare time to max, everyone would max them and it wouldnt mean much to have them all.

If the difficulty of subsequent tradeskills drives you away, spend the time doing something you enjoy instead. Tradeskills arent required to get by in the game. Theyre just a nice perk to those whove sacrificed the time and effort.

Meanwhile, Id argue subsequent tradeskills already get easier in exactly the same way leveling gets easier the second time around. Youre more familiar with the processes, which practices are efficient and which arent, and there are sometimes new recipes to fill old gaps.

Ngreth has done a great job with tradeskills in EQ specifically. It may not be cutting edge game theory anymore but he has given the people what they want without giving them *everything* they want. Id say its the most game balanced feature in EQ and getting better.

[vorthoz]

Second is EASIER !!

Meanwhile, Id argue subsequent tradeskills already get easier in exactly the same way leveling gets easier the second time around. Youre more familiar with the processes, which practices are efficient and which arent, and there are sometimes new recipes to fill old gaps.

Not to mention that by finishing one tradeskill, you have opened up all those new recipes that had tricky cross tradeskill subcombines to do, not that there are too many of them, but they are out there. (ie using the sunshard dust/pebble/ore to skill up anything requires a modicum of jewelcraft skill)

[olhoss]

Making something easier isn't necessarily bad. Sometimes making it easier is because its being hard was poor design. Specific example would be the Sarnak Imitator mob for the enchanter 1.0...he looks just like a mob and had a 3-day spawn. So every time he bit it because someone didn't know what he was for, enchanters were hosed for 3 days trying to do hails or turn ins. They fixed that and made it easier. And take a look at how Ngreth is fixing cultural armor..Elves are going to have a much easier time to make master level stuff without having to farm Storm Volaas Hair.

As to the original point of this post, I think this is reflected in the aptitude for learning the skill...i.e. Int or Wis. If i have a high Int, I am more likely to learn these skills faster, because i have a predisposition for learning it. Showing an ability to learn one skill makes the others easier because you have the tools to learn it. Languages, computer languages and a host of other "Intelligence-Based" skills in RL work the same way.

[greblhad]

I don't think it's worth changing in EQ, but I was wondering if future games should make it easier to learn a 2nd, 3rd, etc tradeskill once you've learned one.

This sort of relates to real life. Someone who is skilled in a particular craft seems to be able to pick up another craft much easier than someone who does no crafting.

I disagree with the premise. My mother is essentially a gm tailor in RL but she would take much much longer to learn smithing than me who can barely darn socks.

In RL some skills are easily learned because of already known skills but not always even when seemingly related, for instance a silver smith can easily learn to become a gold smith, the reality of the situation was the money it took to startup. However, a blacksmith was usually not capable of becoming a silver smith and visa-vie because not only was the skill set so different but also because the tools were so different.