In general, how important is “crafting”? Does it vary from MMORPG to MMORPG? I read a bunch of web comics and blogs, and some of them are MMORPGers, and they talk about stuff like “I worked on my knitting craft last night and managed to finish this lovely sweater” (ok, that’s not quite right – it’s usually gloves or boots or something). But to me, the only thing more boring than actually knitting or fishing would be to sit in front of a computer watching a simulated “me” knitting or fishing.
If I decide to spend all my on-line time questing instead of doing boring crafting stuff, will I find myself unable to reach higher levels or to afford decent arms or otherwise held back?
Depends on the game. Star Wars: Galaxies, for example, had entire crafting professions. There were people who never fought anything – they were just tailors or weaponsmiths or armorers.
In general, you don’t usually have to craft, because the people who do craft will sell you the things they make. When you do, a good game makes it as painless as possible.
Crafting varies between MMORPGS – it’s not a big deal in WoW, but used to be in Star Wars Galaxies. At least in WoW there are UI addons (the entire UI is written in Lua) that will do the same action over and over again. Crafting can be a source of money, but so can grinding mobs. You shouldn’t be held back by not crafting, except of course in crafting levels 😉 – any decent economy will let you buy the results of other people’s crafting.