Orion just posted this on the LoTRO forums
here...
Best Laid Plans Gone Awry
When The Lord of the Rings Online launched the Vocation system years ago it was meant to inspire social dynamism; by restricting intermediate ingredients to certain Professions not available to other Vocation groups we hoped players would trade socially and use systems like the Auction House to exchange ingredients. In practice, players often created additional characters instead, or just avoided the Crafting system entirely. As we approached level 105 we instituted longer and more difficult advancement paths for Crafting meant to keep Crafters working toward their cap for an extended period of time. We've added additional tiers since then, but these additions highlighted the frustrations these longer advancement paths caused.
We've taken a look at Crafting to identify the most impactful changes we can accomplish within the scope and timing of our wider development efforts, and the results are outlined below:
No More Tier Restrictions
With the release of Corsairs of Umbar, Crafters will be able to execute and learn any recipes available from the Umbar profession trainers without having to previously complete intervening tiers. No more slogging through earlier tiers to get to the newest tier of Crafting!
Over time we intend to move backward through the game removing the earlier tier requirements. Those earlier crafting tiers will logically tie into the expansions where the initial Crafting tier released. This means you'll need the corresponding expansion to interact with these Crafting tiers, but it also makes these tiers more accessible as we continue development.
No More Vocations
The goals we had for Vocations are largely obsolete these days, and we think Vocations and tier requirements negatively impact the auction house economy. Players with multiple characters and years of work can corner the market for lower tier ingredients, which has the effect of driving newer players out of the Crafting system.
If you are currently a Crafter with Vocations of any tier, the only change is the removal of Vocations. Your professions and tiers remain untouched. If you've never engaged with our Crafting system you can now choose up to three Professions of your choice when visiting a Master of Apprentices. If you have three Professions selected and want to replace one with a different Profession you can simply remove the old profession and start a new one. Advancement in a Profession you remove will be permanently lost. We also want to let people pick a fourth profession, likely through the expenditure of Mithril, although we do not yet know when this work will be ready for release.
Gathering and Tracking
We are excited to share changes to Tracking and Gathering! These changes do not require an expansion purchase, and will simply happen when Update 38 arrives.
Most importantly, you will be able to track more than one resource node at a time! If you have only one of these skills you will only see the skill for that specific gathering Profession. The moment you train a second gathering Profession, your skill will change into Track Resources, and you will begin tracking all nodes you can see through your trained Professions.
Once you train a gathering Profession you will be able to harvest any node of that type regardless of tier. Gathering ore, wood, and relics is something you just understand, so specialization and advancement are instead focused on refinement of the materials you collect. This means you can harvest and collect any node you find when traveling!
If you can track the resource, you can gather the resource.
Top End Crafting
For a while now we have been listening to your feedback that newly-released Crafting tiers were not as appealing as you would like, and crafted gear was lagging behind rewards coming from quests and other sources. Top end Crafters tell us they feel required to engage in end game experiences that do not suit their playstyle. We want you to play how you like!
We plan to expand the places where Crafters get needed materials to make top-end gear and items. This may include things like Guild-based daily and weekly quests, landscape quest rewards, accomplishment rewards, vendor purchases, and missions. We will maintain drops in raids, Featured Instances, Delvings, and other end game content so we don't exclude any method someone may use to get the recipes or items they want.
Evergreen Resources
We are designing upgradable items that use a new evergreen resource to create enhanced versions of these items. This new resource is called a “Luck Stone Settting”, and it recently debuted with Update 37 as part of the Combe Forester Event.
We'll have more information about these upgradable items in the future, but “Luck Stone Settings” are stored in your Wallet, unlike other Crafting materials, and they are intended to have a limited ability to stack in your account to ensure that the usage and flow of upgrading items with them remains fluid long-term. Obtaining a Luck Stone Setting requires effort, but it also has multiple ways to get it.
You'll get Luck Stone Settings from:
- Crafting events like the Combe Forester Event, and as we add events for other Professions you'll get them there as well.
- Guild trade with Umbar and traditional Guilds. When Corsairs of Umbar is released only Umbar Guilds will offer this item, but there will be a set of story quests that bring fabrication of these settings to other Guilds throughout previous crafting tiers, regions, and areas of the game.
- Barter and rare drop rewards in Featured Instances and Delvings.
- Accomplishments like Allegiances and Factions.
General Resources and Advancement
We intend advancement along Umbar tiers to be slower than traditional crafting to represent learning the new techniques of a foreign region. We also intend to expand this Crafting tier as we tell the story of Umbar and complete the epic story in the region.
We hope to establish a new paradigm in which we can operate and expand Crafting inside of the game consistently for years to come. This means the amount of basic materials needed to complete many recipes will be increasing to ensure a healthy economy. It is possible that in the future we may permit players to convert upper tier raw materials downward to help get through earlier tiers, although no formal decision has been made on this idea yet.
Guilds
We are separating Crafting Guilds in Umbar since the new Crafting tier no longer requires previous tiers of advancement. You will join the craft guilds of Umbar separately, and they have their own advancement path. Traditional Guilds remain relevant since you'll use some of your Crafted materials in the Umbar Crafting Guild to advance your traditional Crafting Guild as well.
We also intend to bring back Missions, Quests, and Instances created solely for Crafters to help them advance within the Craft Guilds of Umbar. Some of these will arrive after the initial release of the expansion, and development will continue as we move into the future.
Conclusion
We want Crafting to return to a more relevant and exciting place with Corsairs of Umbar and we are excited about these changes. Crafters will be able to make some “best in slot” items if they dedicate time and resources to the effort, and we can't wait for you to see and experience the future of Crafting in The Lord of the Rings Online!
