Hello everyone,

The there was a lot of good feedback and a fresh ideas coming from the previous thread on this topic, but it was getting a little big and cumbersome, so we've started up a new thread to keep the discussion going.

To start this thread off, I am going to take some of the ideas that were mentioned in the previous one, and hypothetically hypothesize a hypothetical crafting system. Let's talk about the pros and cons of a crafting system that might work this way. Keep in mind that this is just a big list of "what ifs". Absolutely nothing has been set in stone. It hasn't even been set in wet dirt.

Reverse Engineering and Attachments
Traders could reverse engineer dropped or quested items to retrieve one or more skill, stat, or attribute modifier "attachments". These attachments might have one or more of the modifiers that were on the original item. Certain rare attachments might also be dropped as loot or quested.
Traders would craft basic objects that, when complete, would have a certain number of "sockets". The number of sockets on an item might depend on the quality of resources or skill of the crafter.
Traders could then apply the attachments to the sockets to create an item that is at least as desireable (power-wise; if not more so) than dropped or quested items, with the added bonus of being more or less customizable by the attachments.
Crafted items could also be reverse engineered to retrieve one or more of the attachments that were applied to them.

Decay
All worn or equipped items would decay, either through normal use, on death, or both. (I personally like decay on death, as it gives an incentive to not die.) If an item decays to 0% condition, it can no longer be used until it is repaired.
Items that are received from quests or dropped from rare/boss mobs could be fully repaired by traders with no loss of maximum condition.
Crafted items could be fully repaired by traders with a minor loss of maximum condition. If the maximum condition of an item reaches 0%, it can no longer be used, but it could still be reversed engineered to retrieve one or more of the attachements.
Traders could craft repair kits for adventurers to use in the field, or if no traders are available, but they would only repair an item to, say, 40% with a slightly higher loss of maximum condition on crafted items.

Mass Harvesting
Imagine if traders could acquire a harvesting "burrower" droid. A trader could go find a nice big pocket of resources, put down the droid which would burrow underground (disappear) and collect the resources which the trader would come back to retrieve at a later date.
This would work very similar to the way harvesters work now, except there would be no fields of decrepit harvesters scattered across the landscape, only diligent droids working beneath the surface.

Factories
Factories with this system would probably work very similar to the way they do now, but they can only be used to create the basic items.
Attachments would have to be applied by hand.


As you give your thoughts on this, remember that this is just a hypothetical system. Everything that we've discussed already is still in play. Nothing has been completely cut out, and nothing has been absolutely accepted. We still want to hear any and all of your ideas any anything trader, crafter, harvester, and/or merchant related. Don't be afraid to think outside of the box!

To start this thread off, I am going to take some of the ideas that were mentioned in the previous one, and hypothetically hypothesize a hypothetical crafting system.