Item
From Neverend
Items
Item distribution is handled by the item server. Once a month, the server analyzes a list of all items in the game from the entire item list, and adjusts their drop rate according to the population of that item. Every non-artifact or non-rare item has a surplus, median, and deficient population number. If the tallied population is:
- Equal to median, then the drop rate is kept the same.
- Greater than or equal to surplsu, then drop rate is lowered.
- Less than or equal to deficiency, then drop rate is increased.
For example, Orc armor drops off orcs steadily. During a monthly poll, 11000 Orc armors are counted in the world. The median for Orc armor is 10000, so Oc armor drop rate is reduced 12%.
[edit] Generated items
Items with random properties are usually balanced enough to account for intended level against other monsters, but with a limit on how great something can randomly be, and enough variety to keep one from dominating another, giving a deeper sense of variety to all equipment.
Issues with this include just how random it should be. If it's very balanced (zero sum, in other words) then one plus will be a minus somewhere, such as +1 strength -1 dexterity, or +1 defense -1 durability. This may be too predictable, to the point where an easy formula is found.
Too random, and freak occurances may yield powerful equipment with no penalties. This may be okay if it happens very very rarely, such as having an expected bonus "par" or average for a weapon, with any higher being exceptional, or ranked like level 1, level 2, level 3, level 4 quality (but transparent to the player).
This can create problems if players only will settle for the highest quality, crafting thousands of "junk" swords just to get the best quality sword, even if it takes them five hours. Of course, randomized penalties of equal/greater values can discourage high bonuses.
There are also low bonuses, which may be easily thrown away and unused. This could be helpful in armign newbies, and NPCs, who both need some equipment.
Then there is the variety of random bonuses. Eventually you've "seen it all" with creative names such as "Icy Sword of Stabbing" or "Greater Shank of the Fox," which start to lose all meaning.
Individual equipment with actual names may still be desired just to have a baseline, so that one could where the standard named armor, or go for something random. Rare and artifact equipment can also be named, or random.
Crafters will ultimately decide what types of items should be crafted, such as having magical components to give random magic properties, rituals to give occult properties, science to have physical properties, or higher skill to give better results, minimize penalties, or have a "minimum" bonus that raises with skill. The issue with this is that low level crafters will be screwed over, unless they still have a chance of producing a rare high quality item.
The player economy in FFXI works well, as there are normal quality items, and high quality items that have a rarer chance of randomly being crafted. Starting players pay for the normal quality ones, while veteran players with extra cash will pay for higher quality, usually having a couple extra defense points or stat bonuses. Since all monsters drop materials needed to craft some item, there is a demand for all the random monster drops usually, including common and rare drops.
Asheron's Call seems to have a good system for randomizing items, making each piece seem somewhat unique and diversified.
There is also player based customization, such as Materia in FF7, adding bonuses, stat bonuses, spell effects, elemetnal properties, monster weaknesses, etc.
Of course, this all has to be balanced to the game you're playing, without having the Uber Leet Lava Ice Death Poison +Damage +Strength +Agility +Magic damage +Extra damage +Cast spell: Fireball +Random damage 1-20 +Kill everything ability all at once. You'd need proportional negatives, such as + STR - INT, or +Damage -Defense. Also, some limitation on the max number of bonuses or bonus types present, and a cap on how high they can go.
Also, what type of system would work best for Underworld, when it isn't based entirely on huge sets of chromatic platemail, helmets, and giant flaming swords all the time?
[edit] Crafting
What if someone found a recipe to make some very good sword, not a random powerfull thing but really good. now maybe the crafting could rely on other forms to get the things needed to make it.
- weaponsmith obvious reasons
- tailor for the handle wrapping
- jewler for the gemstone handle
- leather worker for the scabbard
- alchemist for the special oil needed to consecrate it
