There was an interesting question on the official forum on how you actually learn to craft items. The simplified answer is that you first learn the specific skill, and with each skill level you gain more knowledge which gives you the basic ability to craft more item types. Now the success probability in crafting the item and the eventual quality of the finished product have to do with the skill level of the crafter. The items you buy from vendors are of average quality, but a skilled crafter can make the higher quality versions of these items. Perfect versions of specific items are theoretically possible. Crafters can further specialize in advanced skills to craft the more elite items of varying qualities. What I've explained to you here is a perfect example of one of those things we don't like to talk about because answer makes it sound simplistic, when the design goal is to make it straightforward. In practice it's challenging enough and we don't feel that we have to come up with something too complicated in order to make it interesting.
Another poster wondered why most large MMO battles degrade into chaos with everyone running around doing their own thing. Darkfall helps in this with the collision detection on players and with the friendly fire, making formations and picking your ground very important. The full loot makes preparation necessary. The lack of radar and the inability to select and cycle targets using the tab key makes tight formations necessary as to avoid someone breaking in the middle and creating chaos. The fact that even starting players can be dangerous in a small group makes everyone a factor when used correctly. So what it boils down to is good leadership, preparation, and practice. Those who have it will force those who don't to adapt in order to remain competitive.
We had a few questions about what degraded the wall in our latest siege screenshots. It was various cannon types used against them, plus Warhulks which are not shown in the screens. Finally, can ships sail against the wind? The wind affects the sailing speed but we've simplified the model quite a bit as to not make it impractical to use ships. Tacking (zig-zagging) can be used to move faster if your heading is directly into the wind.
Thanks for reading.
