A look into the mind of a craft-a-holic!

[Piestro]

Image courtesy of Niami Denmother

With tradeskills being a frequent topic of conversation around the forums, and an area of EQII that I find especially fascinating, I decided to have a chat with EQTraders.com’s very own Niami Denmother to find out a little bit more about tradeskills and what makes her tick.

Piestro: What got you interested in tradeskills in MMOs?

Niami: I was invited to the final phase of beta for the original EverQuest, and ended up hooked the moment I combined items in my spit and came up with something edible!

Piestro: How did you get involved with EQ2?

Niami: I was already busy with our EQ tradeskills site, but the hubbyogre convinced me that we should look into EQ2 tradeskills as well. So, I hopped into the beta a couple weeks before launch, discovered the wonders of furniture, and got slurped in.

Piestro: What about tradeskills in EQ2 appeals to you? How many level 90 crafters do you have? Any level 92 yet?

Niami: What about EQ2 tradeskills appeals to me? That's actually a tough question. On some days, I just like being able to create something useful, instead of slaughtering everything in sight. Other days, I'm more in the mood for "combat harvesting". I enjoy having some variety - crafting quests when I'm in the mood, helping others with their crafted items needs, or even just curling up in my guildhall or home crafting for my alt-army.

I have six level 92 crafters on Test. Of my 13 level 90+ crafters on my home server, ten of them are 92, the other three are 91 and currently only leveling through apprentice runs.

Piestro: What was your favorite item you ever crafted? Why?

Niami: Wow. You want me to limit it to a single item? It really is a tossup between three items. First, there was the generic elm table that started me on my furniture addiction. Then there was the first DenMother's trail mix that my provisioner made, and all that it symbolized. It wasn't quite the "Straightjacket of Tradeskilling" that I'd been requesting for years, but it was still simply wonderful to see something named after me in both EQ and EQ2. (I still bring the "trail mix" that inspired it to Fan Faire every year.) Finally, there was the Blessed Coldain Prayer Shawl. It was absolutely fabulous to see a tradeskill heritage quest that borrowed heavily from the EQ version of the item, and it brought back a lot of lovely memories. (Between Test and my home server, I have a dozen shawls. I should do the rest of the 90+ crowd, but with everything else that has been going on, I need a bit of a breather.)

Piestro: How would you describe tradeskills in EQ2 to someone who has never tried them before?

Niami: You can create a variety of items for yourself and others, using harvested materials and purchased fuel. What items you will be able to make in the long run (armor, spell upgrades, food, furniture and more), will be decided by which crafting profession you choose once you sample the various artisan offerings.

Piestro: What's your recommendation for someone starting off with tradeskills? What's a good start and what resources should they check out?

Niami: I strongly recommend running through the crafting tutorial that is available in crafting societies in every major city. It will give you a good feel for the various crafting classes, teach you about crafting events that need to be countered, and so on. By the time you finish that series, you should be ready for level 10 and choosing to become a scholar, craftsman or outfitter. Then you can dive right into the New Halas crafting quest series. You will find a variety of helpful resources in both the Tradeskill Guides section of eq2.eqtraders.com and in the Quests section. If furniture is your great passion, you'll also find the Furniture Gallery to be filled with images of all the lovely crafted furniture. In addition, you will likely find the /crafting channel on your server to be of help, and those in the mood for decorating should keep an eye on /antonia_bayle.homeshow and the fabulous decorating community that can be found there.

Piestro: Have you experienced much GU 63 tradeskill content yet? Anything you particularly like?

Niami: Since GU63 only covers a 2-level increase, not a full tier, I gobbled through the crafting content pretty quickly. I really enjoy the new furniture, of course, and the short quest series that gives us our new recipe books also gives us some of the lore information for the area. (Getting access to a cloak that allows me to stay airborne out there without worrying about the dragon is a boon for those of my crafters who aren't also high level adventurers, too!)

Piestro: So a number of people who aren't tradeskillers themselves have expressed some interest in the various items obtained from tradeskillers. How would you recommend people approach tradeskillers about getting something crafted?

Niami: Crafters will have different access to recipes based not only on their crafting class and level, but also based on faction recipes obtained, what recipes they have had their apprentices researched and more. Because of this, the first thing you need to know is exactly what you want, and to be clear about that when requesting an item to be made. A request in /crafting that reads "Looking for someone to make level 91-92 scout experts", for example, is more likely to get the attention of a crafter able to make what you need, than would "Can someone make some spells for me?" This is especially true for newer content, where even the crafters are getting used to items and terminology.

Also remember at payment time that they have expenses as well, in the form of resources, recipe books, time invested and so on. (It is always a good thing to discuss the cost up-front, to prevent misunderstandings.)

Piestro: Is there a good resource you know of for non-tradeskillers to learn about tradeskills enough to be informed before they start looking to get something made?

Niami: This covers a LOT of ground, based on what they're looking to have made.

Are they looking to have Mastercrafted gear or Expert CA/spells made? If so, knowing what different rares are needed for their class is a must, and they might find the rare guides for fighters, mages, priests and scouts to be of use.

Are they looking for crafted battleground gear, void shard armor, mark of manaar armor, Thurgadin or Ry'gorr gear, or from special Velious 1 dungeon drops? The level 80+ commissioned gear guide should help them know what they're going to need. Are they looking for gear made from reactants or from the elite Velious apprentices? Different crafters will have access to different recipes, so it is good to know a bit about the basic apprentices that research reactant recipes and the two elite apprentices that research recipes that require Skyshrine drops. The latter is especially important, because that lovely drop you found from the heroic or raid instances in Skyshrine will need several other drops before you are ready to have something made. Are they looking for crafted "white" adornments or tier-appropriate food and drink?

A lot of crafting information, of course, can be found over at eq2.eqtraders.com. However, there's only so much information one halfling can pull out of her brain to help folks along, so it isn't going to cover everything everyone will want to know. Also, there are times when a bit of rewording can also help make more sense to one person than another, so remember to also make use of your server's /crafting community.

Piestro: Anything else you'd like to share?

Niami: Crafting in EQ2 has become very rich in detail. Gone are the days when there is "just" Mastercrafted and Handcrafted gear. There are recipes from quests, from various factions. Ones that need special drops. Ones that even need special crafting equipment. No-trade or heirloom items that require the commission crafting system. The above-mentioned apprentice recipes, where each recipe takes a certain amount of time to research, and where it might be a bit harder to find a crafter immediately available who has researched the specific item that you desire. Have patience when asking, as it might take a crafter a bit of time to finish up a timed writ (or the fight that they're in while out adventuring), before they can respond. Remember to be as specific as possible when making the request, as it helps the crafter(s) who see the request know if it is something that they can help you with.

And, for goodness's sake, if you're just starting out with crafting, choose a profession that you enjoy. Otherwise, you are likely to put a lot of time and effort into it, only to give up at some later date. Even if it doesn't immediately rake in the wild money on the broker, a determined crafter can always find some items that have value, especially in the higher tiers with the variety of special recipes that are available from quests, faction, and so on.

Thanks Niami!

[NiamiDenMother]

Thank YOU, sir, for the excuse to babble! 

~Mum

P.S.  Crafty tip for those who have tired old eyes like mine.  There are a lot of links to relevant topics buried in the interview, especially down near the bottom - mouseover is your friend!

[Arabella]

Huzzah for 'Mum!

p.s. I'm glad you mentioned the mouse-over, as I could not detect a difference in the text whatsoever!

[Celline-Layonaire]

Nice interview, mum  =)

Always enjoyed the infoz on your site and always will !

[Enna]

*salutes Denmum*

Good interview, of course...

Looks like "Niami" got a new dress? Last time I saw her, she was wearing a different color.

Happy crafting, from one Craft-aholic to another!

[Katz]

I've loved your website from the first week I started playing EQ2 back in 2008.   I do believe that the crafting that carpenters do has kept my playing consistently.   Thanks for all that you do for the EQ2 community.

[Cyliena]

Great interview! Crafting house items sucked me into the game originally as well.

[Middleone]

Thank you for that.  My current obsession is adorning.  I don't think it's nearly as hard as it's made out to be, but the online guides are all wrong and refer to old systems that no longer apply.  I do wish someone would write a new one.  I would, but this is the first adorner I've leveled and I'm not by any means an expert.  I did notice that Lambent seems to be the level where you get the cool stuff like hate gain and swift casting tho.  And I don't think it's a good idea to level with level 1-9 mats, you don't learn anything that way.  Anyway.  Thanks for the great guide to adornments and the insight into other crafts.  I have two level 90+ crafters, a jeweler and a provisioner.  I noticed the denmother trail mix and now I know what it refers to.  :)

(edit to remove signature, dunno how that got there in the 1st place, I never set one I think)

[corax74]

ok nami your good.... but i think i beat you as a crafting nut.  over 18 90+ tradeskillers on eq2... 1 ts on eq 1 but he's into everything could tell you how high... haven't done eq1 in years.  but you want to see my master work i made... well making still needs touch up... a tool for home decorators on BB sever.  it's listed in meduim houses as "The Bronze Age Bazzar"  it has just about ever player made house item spread over 2 prestege houses.  The only things not in it at this point are the frostfell stuff(but wait till xmas) and the dracoinian research stuff but thats in the works as well. It can also be axcessed through the ant guild hall bronze age.

Yeah it's kinda an add but i hope it will help people other then me.

[Pipsissiwa]

A great interview Mum!  Love your site too, I discovered it early and it has been a key resource ever since.  And I agree, realising I could be a carpenter and make furniture was amazing, even when all around me said I should be a jeweller (as a rogue). 

The tradeskilling and especially the player housing of EQ2 is un-matched in the MMO world out there and makes the game very special.  Came for the adventure at launch, stayed for my friends and my houses.

[General_Info]

Pipsissiwa wrote:

The tradeskilling and especially the player housing of EQ2 is un-matched in the MMO world out there and makes the game very special.  Came for the adventure at launch, stayed for my friends and my houses.

While i'll agree the player housing and decorating of EQ2 is great i still miss galaxies where any piece of junk you looted could be used in your house if you desired. I remeber a creative fellow took some lounges and make it into an x-wing.

The only real differences between both games housing is that in swg you could place anything at all and eq2 you can change the wall/roof/floor textures in qeynosian houses and the placement system EQ2 uses as in galaxies when you placed an item it would be dropped at your position at it's lowest hight so you'd ether have to write the commands by hand or create macros for each movement type and distance.

For me at least niether is better then the other, just different.

[Resstful]

Great Interview! Traders for EQ and EQ2 are the 'go to' places for my family.  We are a goup of crafting, er, fools who love your guides and more.

Have to admit your articles on events are priceless. We always look forward to your, sometimes, side-spliting commentary on aspects of crafting.

Thank you for hanging in for all these years and giving us gobs of assistance!

PS Therendil (sp) writes a pretty cool article too. Hope to hear more from him.

[Cloudrat]

  All hail the Queen of Crafting!

I am sorry  I didn't get here and post sooner.  It was a delightful interview and they couldn't have picked a better person. Your tireless work has made the years of crafting in this world so much nicer and I am pretty sure  I would have given up long ago if it hadn't been for you.

Kudos  and thanks and hugs and jumjum pies!

Love You!

Cloudrat

[Middleone]

Occurs to me now that I forgot to mention something important.  With all the new crafting going on, would you consider giving us a better way to search for recipes?  I mean, we end up using external websites to research our abilities to make stuff!  And the only good guides are for the raid gear and house stuff for some reason.  Just try to find a provisioner who knows some factoid like level 70's has food with intelligence and drink with strength!  You won't find many.  Or try to help a guildy that needs level 80 wrists as a jeweler...  hmmm...   should i make reactant, que'lule, mc? and they're all mixed in with everything else!  At level 90s, add the new new research assistants, and it's even more confusing...  HELP!

(edited to remove signature, gawd that's annoying, i really did go and disable that in my profile, but it obviously ignored me)