Feedback: Crafting for Profit

[Kakurenbo]

Something I've noticed very early on is that the game seems to punish you for investing in blacksmithing.

For Example:
Iron Ulfberht Sword sells to vendor for 12 coins.

• Iron Ore = (4 coins X 8 ea,) = 32 coins
  
• Wood = (3 coins X 3 ea.) = 9 coins
  
• Leather = (3 coins X 2 ea.) = 6 coins
  
• Total = 47 coins

Yet, you are required to invest valuable Knowledge points in these patterns if you want to have even the slightest chance to keep up with enemy damage, armor, and guard values. Using basic starting equipment for any enemies over level 2 is an exercise in attrition. You'll wreck all your gear and sustain many injuries, neither of which is cheap to repair or heal, especially early on.

The solution is simple: make crafting worth the cost in materials plus some. If you look back historically, a suit of plate armor cost its wearer the modern equivalent of a month's pay, about 2-4 thousand dollars. Wealthy knights rode into battle, including the horse, in half a million dollars of modern day money!

In game, the money bottleneck is quite real. Between increasing wages, hiring more soldiers and pack animals, equipping everyone, feeding everyone, and incidental expenses, there have been several times I've found myself galloping back to town to turn in a quest just to pay my troop. I even reloaded back a couple hours because I pushed through exhaustion and my best soldier died!

With crafting the way it is, the player is greatly disincentivized to actually make anything other than consumables (including throwing weapons) and just sell the raw materials. This is contrary to reality. A sword would be a valuable piece of equipment and the time and skill of the smith should warrant a significant markup.

[WingT74]

Originally posted by Robin of Spiritwood:

Originally posted by Reften:

Well, I can say crafting for a profit completely ruined the experience in Mount and Blade Bannerlord....so I'd be against it for that reason alone. I like the money generating mechanics in the game. Can really make a good gold taking quests to simply deliver goods from one town to the next, then hit up any rat infestations/assassinations between the two towns. It's actually...kinda fun.

Sure, but what about people that like to make stuff?

I hear ya, but, as soon as you crack the code for min. amount of materials to get the maximum amount of profit, suddenly, it's just grinding that one item over and over to make coin. Sure you can not do that, but, always feels silly to intentionally nerf yourself...

[Robin of Spiritwood]

Originally posted by Gregorovitch:

I'd say if you're looking for a money exploit just load a cheat engine and award yourself some gold, save yourself some bother.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2829076785
This is one of my recent playthroughs, with a secondary party design. This set has 86000 Krowns. At 120 hours, the party generated 716 Krowns per hour. But that is only our cash holdings, the remainder is in cached supplies, captured weapons etc.

What's the point?
I don't need a money exploit.
I simply understand this game relatively well. This isn't even my main group, just an experimental build. It's the Good Guy group that does (relatively) no crime.

That is not what crafting is/should be about. Making things within a game environment is simply fun. It helps verisimilitude.