Guild Wars 2

This is mostly meant at the devs to consider their approach to crafting. Before I get started on this complaint, I just wanted to explain that I absolutely love the discovery aspect of crafting. I’ve found this to me one of the most exciting and interesting parts of the game, and I hope they further develop it so that even more recipes can be discovered.

That being said, I cannot say I like the crafting system in general. Although I understand that they wish for crafting to be an accessory to the rest of the game, it feels as if you cannot craft and keep up with your level without grinding or heavy out-of-pocket expense.

There’s an.. issue here with the gear grind. Where the team has worked hard to prevent the ‘grind’ as one levels, gear does -not- keep up. It becomes increasingly more difficult to find level-appropriate gear without spending large amounts of money. Karma rewards are infrequent and Karma vendors often only offer two or three piece of level-appropriate gear. By the time I have enough Karma to get said gear, I’ve leveled to the point where it matters considerably less.

Take crafting. In an efficient crafting scenario, basic crafting should be able to keep up with my character. I should be able to get the mats to craft without heavy amounts of grind and be able to get access to level appropriate basic gear. Crafting spectacularly good gear for the level should be more grind-worthy, as appropriate. I’m left wishing they applied the same mindset for the rest of the game to crafting.

So, this is a consideration to devs to consider revamping the crafting system at some point in the future. Perhaps include a different set of level-tiers. Allow people to access level-appropriate gear without passing through the ‘rarity gates’ that they provide. Make the grind its own reward with better, more customizable gear at each ‘level gate’. Let artisan crafters feel that way, and the casual crafters not feel left out in the cold.