Rash of smithing on Stromm - any clue?

[Aethia]

I was minding my own business in PoK, fishing at the Barbarian pond. And in my quest for fresh fish, I of course fish the wonderfully, exotic Rusty Dagger. Being an economical smith (thanks for a great guide Zeralynn), I head upstairs to the forge to sharpen and convert my daggers. But sadly, it's occupied. So I head across the way to the other forges. ALL of them were occupied.

So I banked my daggers, continued to fish and during that time, in /ooc several people were 'complaining' that there were no forges available. In fact, the one by the fishing pond had 3 people waiting to use it (they even had a system going so they could accomodate each other).

I was frustrated, of course, since all I wanted to do was sharpen and convert my daggers. The best I could figure out was that the majority of these individuals were starting on the path to GM smithing (they were on plate armor).

I don't know if this was just a fluke on Stromm or if there is some hidden message in the wind from the upcoming expansion. However, since I tradeskill during the day (GMT), I have noticed in PoK that often the forges are occupied. Anyone have an idea, or is this just a weird coincidence (designed to keep me from making metal bits )

[Lling]

Smithing is the first step in the Aid Grimmel quest. When friends express interest in the quest, I tell them to start with that and tailoring - if they can handle those, they can handle anything. Lots of epople are also working toward their shawls and such, so it seems logical that many people would be working on trade skills. It is also a money-maker in the long run for whoever gets there first.

I am sure there are other reasons - I just cannot think of any at the moment.

[Danka]

Hmm...

First, hi from Stromm /wave , I play and smith there too (****ae).

PoK forges were really busy first few weeks on Stromm, but lately I always find them unoocupied. The activity you saw seems to be either
an anoumaly, or maybe there is really something in development
that got leaked. Is it folks from same uber guild all the time? I'll
go check it out for myself I guess...

Danka MT/****ae Stromm