Interesting idea: Your very own crafting supplies NPC

There's a compelling idea over on Adele Caelia's EQ2 blog concerning crafting in the comfort of your character's home as opposed to the -- assumed -- cold crafting halls. The concept would be that for the fee of some status points, a player could hire a butler (NPC) who lives in your home and sells you crafting supplies for a slightly higher fee than out at the less convenient crafting halls. Status points are a bit harder to come by in EQ2, so buying a 'butler' would be a decision that carries a bit more weight with it.

We think it's an interesting concept and one that could would be nice to see in other games as well; like Lord of the Rings Online. Often times, finding basic crafting materials requires players -- especially ones who participate in crafting often -- to waste a lot more time than is truly necessary.

Crafting often becomes discouraging to do over long periods of time because of the constant running around to grind enemy NPCs, selling the useless loot they drop and then running around buying various essential raw materials. So having a dedicated NPC right in your home for the sake of convenience -- even at slightly raised raw material prices -- would be a nice option to have.

Although it could be taken too far, if say, developers added in more of these NPCs in an effort to ease various needs of players. Part of what makes a good MMO is finding the balance between killing player time and keeping players entertained and interested. Finding the balance is always the hardest part in developing a massively game, though.