Combine crafting/blacksmith with a minigame

[Zakrei]

Hello everyone,
I have this idea for some time now in my head and I just want  to throw in it and ask others (especially other crafters and blacksmiths) what they think about it. If the idea has been presented already (i looked a bit through the search function, but haven't found anything), I apologize.

Right now, crafting is something like this:
Heat up your metal,
go to the anvil and use it
wait a few seconds,
get a blade with a somewhat random quality (dependent on skill)

What about using a minigame (maybe a kind of 'whac a mole') to have more influence on the quality ?
the better you play the minigame, the higher the quality of  your blade gets, the higher your skill  in blacksmith, the easier the minigame gets.
the game could be for example pressing the right numbers at the right time (like hitting the blade at the right spot) or pressing the right combination of numbers. I both cases there might be problems because of lags, so implementation would not be easy, I apologize to all devs in advance (i think you're doing a great job, and in the last months/years Planeshift  made huge steps  )

The crafter would have some kind of control (or maybe just the feeling that he/she has got the control) about the quality of his/her work, of course the
reading-the-newspaper-while-crafting wouldn't be so easy anymore 

As I said, just an idea.

[Earowo]

that would make crafting fun enough, to actually do it

[Tirion]

I also wanted this feature though, for this would change the boring crafting systems with fun minigames

[thob]

Hm..

actually I dont like this idea. There is just one, but I think a sort of important reason: This is a RPG.
So I could be a 65 years old men unable to hurt a fly. But I could play a young dermorian. A young one sneaking arround and killing... dwarfs?

So what I want to say: Dont mix the users and the chars skills. I am good at hitting a key so Thob is a good smith? No.

thob

(I am not 65 years old o.O but you may think about why chosed this number)

[Rigwyn]

How much fun will playing "whack the silly blade with the hammer" to the tune of "flight of the bumble bee" be 500 swords later ? 
Im not a crafter, but making weapons in my opinion is boring. I play to play - not to work.

* What might make crafting more fun is if the player had lots of freedom to customize the crafted item. *
ie.
 - Lots of different kinds of handles,
 - more variation in weight, dimension, and shape of the blade - resulting in varying weapon stats, and varying appearance
 - Ability to "name" the item
 - Ability to imbue the item with a glyph based spell, a curse, or blessing
 - Ability to disassemble and fix a broken sword ( might be a skill available to crafters only )  and reuse parts.
 - Ability to inscribe

[mickra]

My profound respect goes to Zakrei, but I would like to second Rigwyn on what he just said.

My 2 tria: attaching spells to weapons might be a bit too complicated atm, but the 'name' part is a must, it's realistic and can have an immense RP value. Actually, it's the very idea that has been haunting my crafter's brain for months by now.
- Let a maxed crafter/blacksmith make a named weapon once in a while (about 1 named for every 500 or more q300 ones he makes).
- Let this weapon automatically obtain its maker's strongest alignment: good, evil, chaos (and maybe magic ways, too).
- Let the alignment change in time depending on the owner's alignment and how long the owner wields it (keeps it in the inventory or, even better, equipped; storage should not count). Let it turn into a generic if it becomes 'neutral'.
- And let such weapons be restored back to their max quality, but only on the condition that the repairer has all three skills (making, smithing, repair) maxed and his alignment matches the item (if not, it turns into a generic again).

It would give us swords with souls and stories of their own, it would be thinking medieval and it would be possible to build some good RP around it.

[Bguy]

Couldn't an inscription work like how books work? Only the purchaser/creator can buy them and they can inscribe what they like? I'm not sure how much a convoluted step that is for the engine, but I think with some twisting, someone might be able to find a way without wasting too much time.

[DGMurdockIII]

i like this idea this would make it more fun

[Hangatyr]

I don't like the idea at all. Why? Plain simple.
I usually RP (if someone is around willing to) or chat with my friends and guild mates, or even write this reply whilst crafting and I don't want to waist my valuable time with 'wacking' what ever.
If you are bored, try something else like grinding your weapon skills.
Side note: Add a mini game to it, to raise the fun: "Whenever you hit the mole properly and in a decent time frame, the damage done to your opponent varies from none to a full hit." Yeah .. sounds fun to me.

- Let a maxed crafter/blacksmith make a named weapon once in a while (about 1 named for every 500 or more q300 ones he makes)

500 or more Q300? You can't be serious or just have no clue. I never sold that amount on Q300 weapons and believe me I sold a lot over the years.

- And let such weapons be restored back to their max quality, but only on the condition that the repairer has all three skills (making, smithing, repair) maxed and his alignment matches the item (if not, it turns into a generic again)

Maxed skills? It will take years for an average player to get there, not spending 24/7 online. Even I didn't maxed my skills yet and I am close to the given 24/7

Hm..

actually I dont like this idea. There is just one, but I think a sort of important reason: This is a RPG.
So I could be a 65 years old men unable to hurt a fly. But I could play a young dermorian. A young one sneaking arround and killing... dwarfs?

So what I want to say: Dont mix the users and the chars skills. I am good at hitting a key so Thob is a good smith? No.

thob

(I am not 65 years old o.O but you may think about why chosed this number)

Fully agree no need to add anything.