Is It Possible

[Lao Tsu]

Is It Possible

Is it possible to play GW2 primarily as a skiller rather than a PVE or PVP player? RuneScape2 is an example (disregard the redundant grinding) of an MMO that supports players who prefer to "craft" as it's more commonly known.

GW2 looks absolutely beautiful and I'd love to become part of the community. If there's insufficient information released to answer my question well enough, perhaps those of you who've played GW in the past will be able to give me a rough idea based on experiences from the original game.

Thanks for your time, and take care!

[Centaur]

Hi Lao Tsu, welcome to these forums.

First: crafting in Guild Wars 1 is completely different from how the system will work in Guild Wars 2, so that will not give you an idea of the new crafting system. Crafting in Guild Wars 2 (see also this article on the official blog) will play a major role in the game, but in order to craft, you will need to explore the PvE world and gather crafting ingredients. In addition, the experience system used to level up your crafting skills, is separate from the standard experience system used to level up your character. So you will need to participate in some PvE activities/events to level up your character (though with GW2's flat leveling curve that should go relatively fast even at higher levels... no need for the usual grinding). But other than that, if you want to, then it's entirely possible to spend most of your time crafting and trying out all the possible recipe combinations.

PS: see also our Trading & Crafting section for more discussions on this topic. Do you mind if I move this thread to that section as well?

[Lao Tsu]

I wouldn't mind at all! Thank you very much for the information. As for the things players can make: can they be traded for wealth/as gifts and can they significantly improve your PVE or PVP experience?

Edit:
Never mind, I read the article! Forgive me for wasting your time! I think I know all I need to know now about crafting. It's definitely not what I was looking for, but it seems like an interesting part of the game nonetheless!

[Centaur]

Thread moved. And don't worry about 'wasting my time'... that's what we're here for! imho it would be more of a waste if you didn't ask the things you want to know, and are left with wrong assumptions about the game.

As for significantly improve your PvE/PvP experience... you will be able to create a wide variety of equipment. The stats will not be any different than what you can otherwise find in the game, but through crafting you will be able to create items with unique looks/skins. So yes, people who want to have armor or weapons with different looks from the mainstream will definitely be able to achieve that with crafting.

Also, this is what Lead Designer Eric Flannum said on crafted items:

Our goal with our crafting philosophically is that you’ll never make an item that is a throwaway item. You’ll always be making something that is going to be valuable to someone. Whether it’s for yourself, whether it’s to put on the auction house, whether it’s a consumable that people want, there’s never a time when you’re just making something to increase your skill and then you’re just going to vendor it or chuck it or whatever else you’d do with it afterwards.