Problem: Tradeskills are not very equal in profit/personal benefit. Additionally, it could be argued that tradeskills do not have similar impact in the game - if that is a concern. The bar by which all other tradeskills tend to be measured is Herbs. While for certain race/guild/tertiary combinations there are other preferable trades, Herbs seems the de facto standard for its combination of profit potential and personal benefit.

Hence, I'm thinking we should brainstorm ideas to improve the other tradeskills. I think that forging, enchanting, and alchemy should probably get their own thread. While they do fit into this concern, they have other factors which could skew their net value relative to the 'generic' tradeskills. Also, the concept of highmagic having it's own tradeskill isn't particularly gemane to this thread.

Some ideas I had -

Cooking:
Profitability is highly dependent on shop ownership. So as not to reduce the benefit gained from people who have bought artifact shops, changes focus on self benefit.

1) RefinedDiet, self-only, doubles effect of stat-boosting foods. Gained between Wine and Cuisine.

2) Ambrosia, self-only double duration herofete. Gained at Trans (along with Herofete). Artifact spatula doubles this duration again.


Tailoring:
Likewise, profitability is highly dependent on shop ownership. Consumption of these goods are slow, hence limiting profit potential. Changes focus on game environment alterations or personal benefit.

1) Greatly increase availability of cloth and silk by a set factor, reducing their price by same factor. Multiply materials requirements of greatrobes/splendor robes by same factor. End result, clothing becomes much cheaper (save armor robes, which stay the same). People become more likely to buy clothing beyond basic necessity.

2) Alter proofings such that every article of clothing is allowed some amount of proofing. Alter potion 'sips' consumption to scale proportionately. Leave total proofing capacity relatively unchanged. This results in more clothing being purchased due to need to proof more items for full defense, and more importantly, more tailor proofing services, which happens outside of shops.

3) Allow tailors to embroider symbols (a la runes, sigils... we need a new word for mystic writing) on leather armor pieces, which can then be enchanted similarly to robes for a very minor defense boost - overall bringing leather armor in line with proofed greatrobes (after batting). Alternatively, have this embroidery double the efficacy of proofing, resulting in leather armor having slightly less physical DR but having the proofing DR of splendor robes (for variety's sake).


Jewelry:
This trade is as middle of the road as it gets, in my opinion. Most sales happen in shops, but a fair amount happens person to person. Profitability exists, but nothing compared to herbs. Personal benefit is debatable - some swear by tierstones, some swear at tierstones. Ideas focus on increasing the 'necessity' of jeweler-made items for other tradeskills (in conjunction with Artisan, below). Also, providing an alternative to the tierstone.

1) Gearworks: create gears, springs, levers and other fine, meticulously crafted parts used by Artisans. These items are 'set' and not designable.

2) Worrystone: through a lengthy process that eats 50p from personal reserves, transform a tierstone into an uncharged worrystone. A similar process can reverse the worrystone back to a tierstone. A worrystone has 'charges'. By rubbing a worrystone, the owner is randomly: healed of health/mana/ego of a small amount (less than scroll of healing), healed a moderate amount of willpower/endurance, cured of one random affliction, does nothing, or does nothing and expends a charge. The worrystone does not use or require balance or equilibrium, instead having its own balance. Recharging the worrystone involves polishing it with jeweler's rouge. Jeweler's rouge is made by alchemists, requiring sulfur in large quantities (along with a small amount of other materials as deemed appropriate).


Poisons:
Poisons are sometimes hard to find. The people who tend to choose poisons do so for personal benefit - the immunity effect, or the frustration of needing poisons and not finding any for sale. Some few choose it for RP or guild/org needs. Ideas here work to make the product desireable to a larger playerbase, or increase personal benefit.

1) A new class of poison substances, which are sipped to gain some benefit along with a related drawback. These would show up as defenses.

2) Slight (10% at trans?) increase to shrugging rate of poisons as skill in Poisons increases.


Artisan:
So very necessary to bards, and generally ignorable by everyone else who aren't looking for a money sink. Ideas here focus on creating new objects useful in other trades, mostly requiring gearworks created by jewelers to fashion clockworks or other simple machines.

1) Implements - create tools and machines which are highly valued by other tradesfolk.
Examples,
Diamond scissors (diamonds, steel, spring) - Tailors have a 50% chance to reduce the cloth, silk or leather costs of an item being sewn by 10%.
Sewing Contraption - Increases base durability of an item sewn by 10%. Periodically requires oiling with machine oil, created by alchemists.


Bookbinding:
This trade has a high focus on self-benefit, due to the languages learned. This may serve sufficient reason for some, but it nonetheless remains a poor skill in terms of profit. The combat benefit offered by this trade is also of no use to those guilds which require other objects in hands. Changes include one-off effect items and a modification to the trans skill.

1) A new class of item, the Dictum. A dictum is essentially a piece of paper bearing a single powerful spell, having ties to the Divine language. It requires paper, glowing ink and some amount of power directly from the bookbinder's personal power reserves. Before use, the dictum must be enchanted (one new enchanting ability, essentially 'activates' the dictum). Reading a dictum causes it to burn up, a la an overused scroll, and results in some moderate to strong effect lasting until the next dawn. Examples include: immunity to tides/earthquakes, flight, etc.

The Dictum should be expensive to make and strongly limited by the power cost, thus reserved only for the very wealthy or for high priority activities. This should remain profitable, however, because the bookbinder is essentially selling their power allocation or power gathering ability.

2) The magictome can be written in two flavors. One is as current. The other can provide benefit while remaining in inventory, granting the one following advantage to the bookbinder: double efficacy of Scrolls of Healing.

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Please add your own ideas, or suggestions for improvement of the ones I've made.

That sounds like a really crappy idea. 50p for a weaker Scroll of Healing? With a chance of nothing happening? I wouldn't touch that with a stick. At least, your idea allows the jeweler to reverse it back to a tierstone if wanted.



I think that would kind of defeat the point. Poisons aren't supposed to give benefits, you know, being poisons and all.



I like your Tailoring, Artisan and Bookbinding ideas though.

I dunno. The 50p is a one-time thing (unless you revert back later), mostly put in place so no one would be tempted to pop back and forth between the two forms to gain both benefits.

Medicine bag (Stag) is often lauded for how nice it is, to compare.

Keep in mind the worrystone is on its own balance, so it's a benefit on top of sparkleberry and scrolls of healing. The advantage here is that it's relatively cheap to 'replace/repair/recharge' since it uses a potion made mostly of sulfur - which jewelers get plenty of.

Poisons... matter of perspective. I'll admit I was reaching here to find something that fit and would make poisons more useful to non-melee guilds. But there are poisons in the world used for their medicinal purposes, and even modern drugs have noted side effects. These poisons would essentially be 'risky' homeopathic medicines.

Bookbinding first of all needs to have it's gold outlay cost severely cut to be of any use to anyone. A letter, a single piece of paper, costs just 100 gold. A scroll, a single piece of paper, costs comms+1000 gold. It's the main reason bookbinding is not profitable-- no one wants to part with huge sums of gold for just a book (5000 gold) and if you want higher and fancier the price just goes up.

I like the idea of the magic tome being able to be used from the inventory. It will be utterly useless to someone like me who must use both hands to fight (if I ever get it). Then again, it could be argued that since I'm a warrior I shouldn't be taking bookbinding anyway, but meh.

I'd also really like bookbinders to be able to enchant their own writings more. Getting one charge is not enough to make it worth the while, IMO.

That's not the reason bookbinding isn't profitable at all. It's that your average person will need plenty of jewellery, but a whole 0-1 books in their whole lifetime. Almost all I sell is healing and protection magicscrolls.

I argue that if books weren't so expensive, people might find a use for more than 0-1 in their lifetime, even scrolls.

1. Bookbinding if you screw with my trans tomes i will endo you. I mean i honestly took Bookbinding for 1 single skill and im rather fine with that.
2. only trade skill that really needs looking at is artisans.

I like the tailoring and artisan ideas

Lets put this on hold till influencing is fixed, and the races are redone and ALL the monks are out?

Letters decay. Scrolls don't. Letters that don't decay cost a flat 2000 gold.

Solution: Scrolls that cost only comms but decay; replace letters with envelopes (So all writing needs to be made on scrolls).

Good idea!!


<-- my reaction to my agreement.

Make Art'ers be able to make letters with woodcraft. Letters just for writing - can't carry anything. Scrolls + envelopes for letters that last longer and can carry things.

No, I think it would be better to make scrolls something you buy enmasse and sell in shops. It would be good for the artisans. Your suggestion doesn't change anything in the economy.

If you want to make other tradeskills better, I sure hope you're going to come up with ideas to make herbalism less time consuming! Herbs is only "profitable" if you spend a significant amount of time doing it (multiple hours a day, if you're selling the things). No other tradeskill, except forging, has the same time investment.

What other tradeskill does herbs require to do the trade?

Alchemy. That's where most of the herbs go. Without alchemy, herb's profits would be pretty minimal.

Bookbinders, you mean. But the way scrolls tie into the library system makes this very unlikely. Making it so bookbinders could make letters, however, might be a good idea. Why stop there: eliminate the post office's ability to preserve letters and give that to the bookbinders.

This I would like. My note about one of the trades covering the ability to make letters was for convenience. Though, that's also my bias because I've a pet that delivers mail - and it's defeats the purpose when I have to run to the post anyway to get the letter.

That's a good point too, which would make Arts make more sense. But bookbinders need love.

How about this: Bookbinders make and preserve letters; post offices no longer preserve letters (but still sell them). If you give a blank bookbinder-made letter to a pet, it won't decay while the pet's carrying it. But only if it's blank and empty, and only if it was made by a bookbinder.

Of course, you still need to go to a desk to write the letter.

I'd prefer it the other way around. There are sometimes letters that you don't want other people to read, or are only for a small group of people. Giving it to a bookbinder isn't going to be a popular choice.

Unless the bookbinders prepare some ingredients for preserving, which can be sold in a store-- and a person can buy and use it.