In most basic form, this amounts to "why don't we have smithies in castles?" It was one of the most fundamental features present, simply because the more armed men you have around, the more work there is on their equipment that may not be feasible to do without specialist tools.
With that out of the way, why can't we, as players, invest in making these something more special than just the "NPC-blacksmith-owned" smithy currently implemented for towns alone?
Would be nice if this was an upgrade chain allowing various specializations. Armor/weapon/ranged as a quick example. Even better, offer further opportunity to specialize - light armor, medium armor, heavy armor (and perhaps provide, on top of basic bonus for upgrading in own settlement, a significant reduction in troop upgrade costs - something which should be much higher than it is right now!), or one-handed weapons, polearms, bows or crossbows, whatnot.
On top of that, let us build facilities that don't just passively offer certain amount of crafting resource according to upgrade tier (charcoal, iron, steel), or applicable tier of made weapons, but also allow us to park a companion (or several!) in designated "smith" role to produce not just raw resources, but also equipment pieces (can we get "made to order" long-term smithing projects, while at it?), all the while earning smithing points?
I like crafting. I think it's a very nice expansion of previous mechanics, and one that offers alternative playstyles. But I would really like to see it expanded so that we can engage in it in our own non-town fief, as well, much less be able to invest into making it an even more beneficial area as described above.
Also something to go along with the idea of making troops only upgradeable in settlements with a smith, not in the middle of nowhere.
With that out of the way, why can't we, as players, invest in making these something more special than just the "NPC-blacksmith-owned" smithy currently implemented for towns alone?
Would be nice if this was an upgrade chain allowing various specializations. Armor/weapon/ranged as a quick example. Even better, offer further opportunity to specialize - light armor, medium armor, heavy armor (and perhaps provide, on top of basic bonus for upgrading in own settlement, a significant reduction in troop upgrade costs - something which should be much higher than it is right now!), or one-handed weapons, polearms, bows or crossbows, whatnot.
On top of that, let us build facilities that don't just passively offer certain amount of crafting resource according to upgrade tier (charcoal, iron, steel), or applicable tier of made weapons, but also allow us to park a companion (or several!) in designated "smith" role to produce not just raw resources, but also equipment pieces (can we get "made to order" long-term smithing projects, while at it?), all the while earning smithing points?
I like crafting. I think it's a very nice expansion of previous mechanics, and one that offers alternative playstyles. But I would really like to see it expanded so that we can engage in it in our own non-town fief, as well, much less be able to invest into making it an even more beneficial area as described above.
Also something to go along with the idea of making troops only upgradeable in settlements with a smith, not in the middle of nowhere.
