devtrackers.gg
At this point I think it's fair to assume that becoming a Grand Master in any profession will be a very difficult achievement and require some hard choices. I would not be surprised if < 50% of the player base achieves Grand Master.
As I think about my potential path to becoming a Grand Master, I am confronted with some cold realities. This isn't a complaint, because I am all-in on the Ashes hype train. This game looks like a masterpiece and I can't wait to play. Rather, it's just looking for discussion.
Processing
For me, I highly doubt I will ever be able to obtain a Freehold, and honestly, I don't really want to make the time commitment to one anyway. Plus, I recall IS stating that the majority of the time spent in professions will be in Processing, which is also not too appealing to me. I could seek a family with a freehold, but the family system seems like it could be kinda annoying. At least it's an option, I guess.
Crafting
Are the legendary crafting benches in Scientific Nodes truly limited to node Citizens only? Such a huge bummer. I love getting rich trading goods in MMOs, buying and selling, the Auction House. An Economic Node is almost definitely going to be my jam. If the legendary benches are limited to citizens only, that would mean no Grand Master in Crafting for me. I am all about choices, but damn, that's a tough tradeoff. Now that we can have 2 Grand Masters, I would really like one to be a Crafting profession.
It's really hard to imagine that all Grand Masters in crafting MUST be citizens of Scientific Nodes. Boo. But that does seem to be the case, per the wiki:
"Upper-tier crafting benches within a node are accessible by its citizens.[13]" https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Crafting_stations
Gathering
So that leaves Gathering. That was fine when we were being limited to one Grand Master. But now that we can have 2 Grand Masters, I'd rather not be railroaded into 2 gathering professions. Another thought on Gathering. Is there really any doubt that the top level Gathering will occur within the absolute top level content? I suspect it will be extremely hard to gather the top level mats. Like herbalism. The most rare will probably need to be gathered at the end of the hardest raids, with very specific conditions and such. I like that, tbh, and I have no doubt I will be doing those raids. But I'm sure it will exclude a good chunk players.
I almost wonder if maybe IS needs to rethink the gates leading to Grand Masters now that we can have two. Specifically, I feel limiting Grand Master Crafters to Scientific Node citizens is not ideal. If we can have 2 professions, it sure seems like a huge portion of the population will want one to be a crafter. This seems like it would funnel a disproportionate portion of the population into Scientific Nodes, causing imbalance. Thoughts?
As I think about my potential path to becoming a Grand Master, I am confronted with some cold realities. This isn't a complaint, because I am all-in on the Ashes hype train. This game looks like a masterpiece and I can't wait to play. Rather, it's just looking for discussion.
Processing
For me, I highly doubt I will ever be able to obtain a Freehold, and honestly, I don't really want to make the time commitment to one anyway. Plus, I recall IS stating that the majority of the time spent in professions will be in Processing, which is also not too appealing to me. I could seek a family with a freehold, but the family system seems like it could be kinda annoying. At least it's an option, I guess.
Crafting
Are the legendary crafting benches in Scientific Nodes truly limited to node Citizens only? Such a huge bummer. I love getting rich trading goods in MMOs, buying and selling, the Auction House. An Economic Node is almost definitely going to be my jam. If the legendary benches are limited to citizens only, that would mean no Grand Master in Crafting for me. I am all about choices, but damn, that's a tough tradeoff. Now that we can have 2 Grand Masters, I would really like one to be a Crafting profession.
It's really hard to imagine that all Grand Masters in crafting MUST be citizens of Scientific Nodes. Boo. But that does seem to be the case, per the wiki:
"Upper-tier crafting benches within a node are accessible by its citizens.[13]" https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Crafting_stations
Gathering
So that leaves Gathering. That was fine when we were being limited to one Grand Master. But now that we can have 2 Grand Masters, I'd rather not be railroaded into 2 gathering professions. Another thought on Gathering. Is there really any doubt that the top level Gathering will occur within the absolute top level content? I suspect it will be extremely hard to gather the top level mats. Like herbalism. The most rare will probably need to be gathered at the end of the hardest raids, with very specific conditions and such. I like that, tbh, and I have no doubt I will be doing those raids. But I'm sure it will exclude a good chunk players.
I almost wonder if maybe IS needs to rethink the gates leading to Grand Masters now that we can have two. Specifically, I feel limiting Grand Master Crafters to Scientific Node citizens is not ideal. If we can have 2 professions, it sure seems like a huge portion of the population will want one to be a crafter. This seems like it would funnel a disproportionate portion of the population into Scientific Nodes, causing imbalance. Thoughts?