Upon taking an Artificer Contract from your local Merchant Alliance representative, you collect a crafting crate. (In essence, a portable crafting table with storage)
You then receive several "blueprints" in your quest radial, which will tell what you are building, several materials you will need to collect to do so, and who it needs to be delivered to.
For example,
Product: "Measly Compass of the Minor Merchant" to be delivered to Grog Soaked Ed at Shipwreck Bay
x5 Palm Wood (collected by slashing palm trees with your sword)
x5 Stone (collected by shooting any rock)
x3 Skeleton Bones (collected by defeating emergent skeletons)
Store all materials needed in the Crafting Crate
Craft the item using an interface with the crate, then deliver it to the recipient listed on the blueprint.
Once built, items cannot be destroyed, but can be stolen and delivered by other players or sold to the Reaper's Hideout. (Similar in model size to the Gold Hoarder relics)
As quest level goes up, blueprint recipes will become more elaborate, and top level items (much like a gold striped pig or golden chicken) will require region specific materials.
SoP: Plentiful Sunstones (found by interacting with stones at high altitudes in the Shores of Plenty)
AI: Ancient Arrowheads (found by digging near ruins in the Ancient Isles)
W: Wildgrowth Roots (found by digging at dead trees in the Wilds)
DR: Devil's Glowstone (found by interacting with the glowing rocks in the Devil's Roar.)
This is only a concept, so there are plenty of other ways to flesh this out. Perhaps use the already present wood planks as a crafting element, or cannonballs for crafting metallic artifacts. This could provide new ways to collect and manage resources in-game, as well as add another option for gameplay with the Merchant Alliance. Adding in new ways to interact with the environment would also be an exciting addition that would make the world feel even more alive. Of course, making every single natural surface a possible harvesting point could very well be a programming nightmare, but using the current supplies as crafting materials would fit as well. Lastly, I feel like this kind of mission fits tonally with the Merchant Alliance, I can picture the Crafting Crate being this ornate little box covered in Merchant Alliance compasses and measures and gadgetry. The items themselves could also be a gold mine in terms of lore for the game.
Feel free to comment! I would love to know what other items y'all can think of that could be crafted or maybe even other materials. Just an idea I came up with and wanted to share.
Thanks for coming to my Merchant Alliance Ted Talk.
