05-30-2009, 10:30 AM
I have problems with rare/unique loot. We'd have to think of a way to do it in a large, randomly generated "living world" scenario. We don't want to go around populating individual dungeons with individual items, IMO, because I think that defeats the true focus of the game (at least as I envision it).
However, maybe something like...
Enchantments are a rare commodity. To make them, you have to have an enchanter with enchantment skill and access to a variety of rare components. Quality enchantments will basically be out of reach of solo crafters, but crafters who are part of a strong faction and have access to that faction's resources have a shot.
NPC factions will tend to have their own NPC enchanters, subject to the same rules as players. They will automatically take resources from the faction stockpile, make an enchantment and apply it to some gear in the faction warehouse (which may be picked up to wear by NPCs or put on the vendor for sale, depending). The longer that particular NPC enchanter lives, the more enchantments he creates, the higher his skill becomes and the better his enchantments become.
So you come across the Red Court Vampires, who have actually been alive since day 1 of game launch, with good access to resources, and their NPC enchanter is the most skilled enchanter in the entire world. Players CAN reach his level but none have because they haven't been doing it for as long with so much access to resources. So you kill his boss and that boss is wearing gear with "skill 800 enchantments" in world where most other people have "skill 300 enchantments" or worse. (But of course, you might end up having to try and assassinate the enchanter. Maybe his enchantments are so good, it's causing the Red Court Vampires to kick everyone'e ass.)
So the path is there for a crafter to make a rare, valuable item, just as good as any NPC drop, but they may simply not be as good at it as some NPCs, so going out and fighting can tend to get you some good stuff.
However, maybe something like...
Enchantments are a rare commodity. To make them, you have to have an enchanter with enchantment skill and access to a variety of rare components. Quality enchantments will basically be out of reach of solo crafters, but crafters who are part of a strong faction and have access to that faction's resources have a shot.
NPC factions will tend to have their own NPC enchanters, subject to the same rules as players. They will automatically take resources from the faction stockpile, make an enchantment and apply it to some gear in the faction warehouse (which may be picked up to wear by NPCs or put on the vendor for sale, depending). The longer that particular NPC enchanter lives, the more enchantments he creates, the higher his skill becomes and the better his enchantments become.
So you come across the Red Court Vampires, who have actually been alive since day 1 of game launch, with good access to resources, and their NPC enchanter is the most skilled enchanter in the entire world. Players CAN reach his level but none have because they haven't been doing it for as long with so much access to resources. So you kill his boss and that boss is wearing gear with "skill 800 enchantments" in world where most other people have "skill 300 enchantments" or worse. (But of course, you might end up having to try and assassinate the enchanter. Maybe his enchantments are so good, it's causing the Red Court Vampires to kick everyone'e ass.)
So the path is there for a crafter to make a rare, valuable item, just as good as any NPC drop, but they may simply not be as good at it as some NPCs, so going out and fighting can tend to get you some good stuff.