[quote="senlusan"]
ask yourself this question.. people that also play WOW because i know there are alot of us here.

When was the last time in WOW that a total stranger - not a guild member - gave you for free, a weapon or armor that was viable and necessary to your progress? ... never?

now ask yourself how often that happened in SWG when you were a noob? all the time?
quote]

It's not really fair too compare those two mmo's on items/ loot. Mainly cause WoW uses the bind on pickup / equip system. In SWG it was possible too give away your previously used gear to help other players.

Although I see your points. I think it was more the community by beeing mature and willing to help you.

Why is SWG crafting system still a unique occurance amongst all the MMOs?

1. It is complicated and simplicity is the fad of the day. No-one would be able to sell a game as complicated and complex as SWG these days.
2. It is a major part of the game. "It's a game where you are a weaponsmith and you search for rare materials to improve your products." is another hard sale since it is thought unless it involves explosions, blood or mutilation it will make a dull game.
3. Any WoW player would be horrified by the thought of losing their hard earned Epoxies. Yet for a player driven economy to keep functioning items must be constantly exiting the world.
4. Additionally money must enter and exit the game world at approximately the same pace or the economy will suffer inflation.
5. It makes shopping around take time as (almost) every item is unique. You can't just decide that "I'm willing to pay X for quality class Y".
6. If the crafting system is to be relevant the best gear must come from them, otherwise they're left in the sidelines as everyone goes off to farm. Some people seem to feel that an item you got from a shop was somehow "cheap", compared to a quest reward for which you had to Adventure!™.

Mortal Online has the most advanced crafting system I've seen in awhile. Multiple types of the same resource (7 or 8 version of ore) and then refined and then the ability to be refined again.

There are no hard numbers to look at, which I sort of like. All the numbers in SWG sort of took some of the magic away for me. A lot of equations and formulas to apply and memorize. Now thats just me, I know others love it as it allows for the perfect armor, etc.

MO will have 143 million combination possibilities, since there are different facets to a single item.

For example, a one handed sword:

You choose the sword type -1H ...
You choose what material is inside the handle - refined ore (Steel)
You choose what material covers the grip of the handle - firmwood
You choose what type of blade it is - (one sided, double sided, great blade)
Choose the material the blade is made of - gold (horrid choice, looks shiny though)

And you can have a number of combinations for that. I could make a totally gold sword. Useless since gold is very malleable and heavy. The resources mimic real life properties.

Also, the devs have said that every single item in game is craftable, so I'm assuming houses/furniture/etc as well.

Just FYI.

Mortal should release in the next few months.

ive heared great things about mortal online, the one problem with it is the first person perspective...going to be interesting to see howthat works out.

The only crafting system out there that is even as complex as SWG's was is EVE Online. You mine, process and then use minerals to build ships. For Tech 2 class ships you need special components which you make and gather from "lairs." When building Capital Ships you need to build the docking bay, hanger bay, engines and such. Blueprints are the heart and soul of the crafting in EVE Online. Blueprints can be researched (less time to create the item/less materials to make the item), copied (for 1 - 100 runs) and much more.

I never got big into the crafting or, building system that was in EVE Online but I did enough of it to understand it.

This is why I play EVE Online actually. It has the complexity of SWG but without the limitations of Skillpoints. Of course you can never achieve a certain profession or anything, but your combination of skills is endless.

Goddammit, now Darkfall looks like fun. Grr. I can't afford to be buying more video games right now.

There was a thread somewhere long ago about how long it would take to learn every skill to rank 5 in EVE. It was finally settled to to be in the aproximate area of 27 years to learn all of them.

Oh, I'm sure it's more now, with the last couple of expansions.

While yes it takes skills to research and build T2 T3 and Capital Ships you can make Frigates-Battleships, Modules and Ammo with only basic skills. You only need the Blueprint and the minerals beyond that.

I can't comment on Eve. I haven't experienced it. Every other game though pales in comparison to SWG when it comes to crafting and resource gathering...character development as well come to think of it.
Every game I've played ante SWG the "best" players mourn the loss of SWG.
No company is hated more than SOE.
Hated because they destroyed SWG.
Simply amazing that a profit focused company made the idiotic changes they did. Sadly corporations aren't quite the efficient machines that some would like to imagine.
Some Corporations (most?) are run by those who would be better suited to hunting snipes during a full moon.
Somehow kiss asses seem to stay at the top of the corporate food chain, and the rank and file watch, shake their heads and wonder why.

The crafting system isn't bad, it's the economy around it which is really remarkable in EVE. I still think the crafting system in Star Wars, despite a few faults, was/is the best around.

The crafting was the coolest part of swg

I agree fully. MMO's are made for the average consumer and the crafting system was well beyond the instant gratification crowd. MMO's fail to recognize crafting as a profession, but always treat it like a secondary skill (except of course the one we all know