i dislike griefers as well(pitiful when a pker sucks so bad that he has to kill chars weaker than himself) and i like moogie\'s idea.
(im just recapping in my own words here) a pc smith could make a weapon that can accept x amount of jewels embedded in it which can then be taken to a jemcutter to have y amount of \"refined\" jems placed into the weapon. after that, the weapon can then be taken to an enchantress to have the weapon imbued with magical properties.
first of all, the jems being used should be cut or of a high value(to promote economy) and not just some transluscent rock found on the ground. enhancements should be closely related to the jems that are in the sword(IE: 1 ruby allows for fire enchantment whereas 3 diamonds would allow for a +3 enhancement bonus). maybe there could be very rare jems that would allow more powerful enchantments to be cast on a weapon.
maybe even allow these enhancements to be done to some armor pieces as well such as the shield or the chestpiece.
fox, are you saying that there would be a difficulty with correctly assessing the value of a weapon after modification? first of all, costom weapons shouldnt create that much more lag than its base wep would. secondly, each enhancement should have a value that it adds to the base weapon value when it is put into the weapon. finally, i dont see much of a problem with multi-faceted system like this, in fact, i see it as economically more advantageous than just having a single job/skill that can be used to make uber-weps. its in this way that the flow of currency can flow into more hands than otherwise and if you\'re worried about losing your weapon to someone whom you have given to work on, well, thats life. you take the same risks when taking your car to a mechanic or to a shop for repairs and maintainence. you would most likely shop around to find the most reputable smiths, gemcutters and enchanters available now wouldnt you?