In his latest column about Star Wars: The Old Republic, MMORPG.com Community Manager Michael Bitton takes a look at the recently detailed crew skills and crafting. As the title says, Mike is most impressed by what he's learned and has a few thoughts to share about it. Check out Mike's column then leave us your comments below.

The player and his crew uses his starship as a base of operations, as a form of player housing, a vehicle to travel from planet to planet, and to conduct a majority of the crafting features available as part of the Crew Skills system. Crew Skills are broken down into three categories: gathering, crafting, and missions, and you’ll have three slots with which to assign skills from the aforementioned categories to your crew. All three slots can be filled with three mission or gathering skills, however, you can only have one actual crafting skill assigned to your crew at a time. The different members of your crew will all have their own specialties (for example, Vette is an excellent Treasure Hunter), so some crew members will be better at different tasks.

Read more SWTOR: Crew Skills: Impressive, Most Impressive.

I thought they had made a good choice in the crafting system aswell. I was surprised at how unique it is, and it is quite interesting. Can't wait to try it out.

For once I'm excited to craft.... woah felt weird just typing that.

Originally posted by wolf11223

For once I'm excited to craft.... woah felt weird just typing that.

 

Scary, isn't it?!

Originally posted by MikeB

Originally posted by wolf11223

For once I'm excited to craft.... woah felt weird just typing that.

 

Scary, isn't it?!

Count me in as well.

After hearing about the crew system I was actually looking forward to hearing what Mike had to say about it.  Sometimes I like to craft,  but in this instance I think I'd spend much of my time utilizing the mission skills.  I think this system is really a great idea, I can't wait to try it out.  I'm even more interested in finding out what kind of stuff the crafters will be able to make.

I'm a half-hearted crafter by admission...I am very interested in the way SWTOR is handling it though. I like the idea of strategically plotting out work for my crew. Like a well oiled machine, my crew will define who we are in the galaxy and I am the spokesman.

Well it's an interesting route to take.... but in one sense it seems to reinforce the general feel I am getting of SW-TOR.... that of the game playing itself....rather then the PLAYER playing it.

I've never been much of a crafter myself....and I expect this mechanic will make crafting appeal a bit more to players who traditionaly haven't been interested.

At the same time, I imagine it's a big dissapointment for the folks who ARE traditionaly into crafting in games.... as it basicaly minimizes thier direct involvement.

It'd be kinda like telling combat oriented players.... "Don't worry about fighting...you just tell your companions/bots to go out and do that for you (off-screen)... you just worry about making gear from them..... Oh sure, you could go out and fight yourself once in awhile if you REALLY want to...but it's not actualy important that you do...as your bots can easly do that as well as you can."

I've always loved to craft, but i've never been really good at, always asking others for help.. This system, at least thinking about it, makes me feel like I have the help whenever I need it, so it's not so daunting to think about diving right in there.

Originally posted by GrumpyMel2

Well it's an interesting route to take.... but in one sense it seems to reinforce the general feel I am getting of SW-TOR.... that of the game playing itself....rather then the PLAYER playing it.

I've never been much of a crafter myself....and I expect this mechanic will make crafting appeal a bit more to players who traditionaly haven't been interested.

At the same time, I imagine it's a big dissapointment for the folks who ARE traditionaly into crafting in games.... as it basicaly minimizes thier direct involvement.

It'd be kinda like telling combat oriented players.... "Don't worry about fighting...you just tell your companions/bots to go out and do that for you (off-screen)... you just worry about making gear from them..... Oh sure, you could go out and fight yourself once in awhile if you REALLY want to...but it's not actualy important that you do...as your bots can easly do that as well as you can."

 

Pretty much the exact same way I feel about it.

Removing the player factor is a big put off in an MMO for me.

Originally posted by GrumpyMel2

Well it's an interesting route to take.... but in one sense it seems to reinforce the general feel I am getting of SW-TOR.... that of the game playing itself....rather then the PLAYER playing it.

I've never been much of a crafter myself....and I expect this mechanic will make crafting appeal a bit more to players who traditionaly haven't been interested.

At the same time, I imagine it's a big dissapointment for the folks who ARE traditionaly into crafting in games.... as it basicaly minimizes thier direct involvement.

It'd be kinda like telling combat oriented players.... "Don't worry about fighting...you just tell your companions/bots to go out and do that for you (off-screen)... you just worry about making gear from them..... Oh sure, you could go out and fight yourself once in awhile if you REALLY want to...but it's not actualy important that you do...as your bots can easly do that as well as you can."

 

 Funny since it is very similiar to swg crafting, but with companions instead of machines and droids.

SWG had one of the best crafting systems to date. I think the majority of hardcore crafters will like this system.

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Originally posted by sungodra

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Originally posted by GrumpyMel2
Well it's an interesting route to take.... but in one sense it seems to reinforce the general feel I am getting of SW-TOR.... that of the game playing itself....rather then the PLAYER playing it.
I've never been much of a crafter myself....and I expect this mechanic will make crafting appeal a bit more to players who traditionaly haven't been interested.
At the same time, I imagine it's a big dissapointment for the folks who ARE traditionaly into crafting in games.... as it basicaly minimizes thier direct involvement.
It'd be kinda like telling combat oriented players.... "Don't worry about fighting...you just tell your companions/bots to go out and do that for you (off-screen)... you just worry about making gear from them..... Oh sure, you could go out and fight yourself once in awhile if you REALLY want to...but it's not actualy important that you do...as your bots can easly do that as well as you can."
 

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 Funny since it is very similiar to swg crafting, but with companions instead of machines and droids.
 
SWG had one of the best crafting systems to date. I think the majority of hardcore crafters will like this system.

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In what regard?

Similar to how driving a car is like flying a plane?

Originally posted by uohaloran

 

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Originally posted by sungodra

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Originally posted by GrumpyMel2
Well it's an interesting route to take.... but in one sense it seems to reinforce the general feel I am getting of SW-TOR.... that of the game playing itself....rather then the PLAYER playing it.
I've never been much of a crafter myself....and I expect this mechanic will make crafting appeal a bit more to players who traditionaly haven't been interested.
At the same time, I imagine it's a big dissapointment for the folks who ARE traditionaly into crafting in games.... as it basicaly minimizes thier direct involvement.
It'd be kinda like telling combat oriented players.... "Don't worry about fighting...you just tell your companions/bots to go out and do that for you (off-screen)... you just worry about making gear from them..... Oh sure, you could go out and fight yourself once in awhile if you REALLY want to...but it's not actualy important that you do...as your bots can easly do that as well as you can."
 

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 Funny since it is very similiar to swg crafting, but with companions instead of machines and droids.
 
SWG had one of the best crafting systems to date. I think the majority of hardcore crafters will like this system.

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In what regard?

Similar to how driving a car is like flying a plane?

 Well, think of your companions as your mineral harvesters and factories pretty much...   It's the same system almost but I don't know bioware did it their own way, which seems pretty interesting.  Can't see how people will find the negative in something that seems to me as a positive turn for this MMO.

I like crafting as an alternate play experience. In EQ2, I loved to craft in the morning while I drank coffee and woke up.

I think I may be the only one that feels "meh" about the crafting in TOR. I think it's a bit of a cop-out to say watching a bar fill is the boring part of crafting, so have your companions do it. Why not make it more interesting than watching a bar fill by making a game of it?

All this said, it is disappointing but certainly not a deal-breaker. Just not impressed.

Did not think would see a crafting more interesting than Fallen Earth, but looks like this could well be the one, mind you SWG when first came out, liked the fact that not all weapons was same. all depended on the raw mats stats

Originally posted by sungodra

Originally posted by GrumpyMel2

Well it's an interesting route to take.... but in one sense it seems to reinforce the general feel I am getting of SW-TOR.... that of the game playing itself....rather then the PLAYER playing it.

I've never been much of a crafter myself....and I expect this mechanic will make crafting appeal a bit more to players who traditionaly haven't been interested.

At the same time, I imagine it's a big dissapointment for the folks who ARE traditionaly into crafting in games.... as it basicaly minimizes thier direct involvement.

It'd be kinda like telling combat oriented players.... "Don't worry about fighting...you just tell your companions/bots to go out and do that for you (off-screen)... you just worry about making gear from them..... Oh sure, you could go out and fight yourself once in awhile if you REALLY want to...but it's not actualy important that you do...as your bots can easly do that as well as you can."

 

 Funny since it is very similiar to swg crafting, but with companions instead of machines and droids.

 

SWG had one of the best crafting systems to date. I think the majority of hardcore crafters will like this system.

They said themselves that it will not have the depth of SWG's crafting system.  As a hardcore crafter, I'm sure I can speak for most of us when I point out that any system that can only claim "some of the best items" will come from crafting and any system with loot drops is automatically not that attractive.  I still plan to play the game, and I plan to craft, but I don't expect it to be much more rewarding than WoW crafting.  

Originally posted by uohaloran

Originally posted by GrumpyMel2

Well it's an interesting route to take.... but in one sense it seems to reinforce the general feel I am getting of SW-TOR.... that of the game playing itself....rather then the PLAYER playing it.

I've never been much of a crafter myself....and I expect this mechanic will make crafting appeal a bit more to players who traditionaly haven't been interested.

At the same time, I imagine it's a big dissapointment for the folks who ARE traditionaly into crafting in games.... as it basicaly minimizes thier direct involvement.

It'd be kinda like telling combat oriented players.... "Don't worry about fighting...you just tell your companions/bots to go out and do that for you (off-screen)... you just worry about making gear from them..... Oh sure, you could go out and fight yourself once in awhile if you REALLY want to...but it's not actualy important that you do...as your bots can easly do that as well as you can."

 

Pretty much the exact same way I feel about it.

Removing the player factor is a big put off in an MMO for me.

Lest we forget, nothing happens until players themselves initiate it. If you do nothing, your crew will do nothing. It's not like hitting the activate button and waiting for your crafting skills to build while cranking out items. That would be factories and harvesters from SWG. But wait...we are talking about a system that gives you the illusion of having a automated system but in reality it just makes it more immersive. I find no fault in that.

Originally posted by Senadina

I like crafting as an alternate play experience. In EQ2, I loved to craft in the morning while I drank coffee and woke up.

I think I may be the only one that feels "meh" about the crafting in TOR. I think it's a bit of a cop-out to say watching a bar fill is the boring part of crafting, so have your companions do it. Why not make it more interesting than watching a bar fill by making a game of it?

All this said, it is disappointing but certainly not a deal-breaker. Just not impressed.

 I don't know. I think the crafting in FF14 was boring. This is more like an swg style crafting. So , it's something I can deal with... Send my companions out to do the work, much like I would drop a harvester, or a factory in swg.. let them do the work for me..

Nothing is more annoying than games like aion or wow or any of those crafting systems where you have to scour the landscape looking for the resources you want... 

I guess you will always have somebody trying to point out negativity where none exists, but w/e.. I hope people like you do not get your way, because you would be ruining what appears to be an epic system.

Originally posted by Senadina

I like crafting as an alternate play experience. In EQ2, I loved to craft in the morning while I drank coffee and woke up.

I think I may be the only one that feels "meh" about the crafting in TOR. I think it's a bit of a cop-out to say watching a bar fill is the boring part of crafting, so have your companions do it. Why not make it more interesting than watching a bar fill by making a game of it?

All this said, it is disappointing but certainly not a deal-breaker. Just not impressed.

I kind of go both ways on that one.  I think the best crafting system I've ever seen was Vanguards crafting system,  however I thought that the "mini-game" portion of it was extremely tough to get used to,  and the grind was even worse.  Crafting 2 pairs of gloves for a crafting quest,  not so bad.  Crafting 6 swords, a little lengthy in the crafting department,  especially with all the things that could go wrong during crafting.  It was fun and detailed and enjoyable - in the short term.   In the long term it was boring, repetitive and exhausting.   I'm hoping this system will be more of a cool medium where its simple to get into, but it takes dedication to master.

I think it is going to be fun doing crafting in this game. Looks good.