I see folks in the general chat offering to craft 27 enhancements/mods/barrels/hilts, usually with a message like this:

 

crafting <insert_end_game_item_modification> 27 free with your mats

 

Are these folks legit, or do people send them their mats and they take them and you never hear from them again? Would the better way to handle it be to only do trades with folks who have pre-made items?

it may be legit if they're hoping for a crit and get x2, so they would get to keep the proc, but I would not trust a crafter with expensive mats unless he's part of a reputable guild and you've asked his GM if he's part of their regular roster.

In general it is legit. They are hoping to take your mats, and get a critical. Then sell the extra one.

 

There is quite a bit of trust involved in this arrangement though, and potential to get screwed. To prevent fraud, have them pre-make one and just swap it immediately for your mats.

Edited December 5, 2012 by Infalliable

I see folks in the general chat offering to craft 27 enhancements/mods/barrels/hilts, usually with a message like this:

 

crafting <insert_end_game_item_modification> 27 free with your mats

 

Are these folks legit, or do people send them their mats and they take them and you never hear from them again? Would the better way to handle it be to only do trades with folks who have pre-made items?

 

ideally the latter is a better option all around. You get what you want right away with zero chance of being ripped off.

 

That being said there are ways to protect yourself:

 

- get a clear/definitive response from the crafter through chat as to what the transaction will entail (preferably in a chat window separate from everything else - create a new chat window and set it up to only view whispers). The more detailed the better.

- friend that character so you can see when he/she logs in

- note the legacy name (if available)

- you can get take a screenshot of the chat (printscreen or windows 7 snipping tool)

- save that screenshot and if you get ripped off, you can submit a request to Customer Service for a return of your materials.

Thanks everybody! I hadn't thought about them wanting to possibly get a x2 return as to why they were willing to craft. Makes perfect sense! But I will probably just hold out for those who already have crafted the items that I want and just trade them my mats.

Back when I played another MMO this was the most common crafting set up. You didn't hope for crits to get 2 of the item, but rather you expected a tip. It's a fairly routine setup in online games.

Back when I played another MMO this was the most common crafting set up. You didn't hope for crits to get 2 of the item, but rather you expected a tip. It's a fairly routine setup in online games.

 

Yeah, I've seen some people say "Your mats + tip", or they even specify the amount (usually 100k-200k).

Sometimes the crafter has one ready that he will trade for your mats on the spot. But, if you have to wait for the crafter to make your item, take some screenshots. Make sure to screenshot the conversation, and the trade of the materials. That way if you do get hosed, you can get your stuff back.

I don't really see any complaints about people ripping anyone off. You'd basically only get to do it once or twice before you got a bad reputation. The people who work hard to get those schematics aren't going to resort to that behavior.

Apparently scamming has gotten to a decent point with this... So much so I've noticed more and more crafting adverts mentioning specifically that they have pre-mades.

 

As others have mentioned, the Primary goal is a 2x crit. Also, people tend to tip "free" and it's easier to get business with "free" and hopes of a tip, than advertising a set in stone high price.

I liked the commission crafting in EQ2. There was no exchange of mats, it was just so much easier to hire someone to craft for you. All you did was stand next to them by a crafting station and start crafting, the mats automatically came out and you auto got the product. They need to implement something like that here.

Its pretty legit if you keep seeing the same person advertising it day after day. Its how i got my armorings, and from 2 different people too.

If the crafter doesn't have a pre-made to trade with you, you can always ask for collateral against your mats in the form of credits. Either send the mats through mail with a COD requirement, or get the money up front during the trade.

I liked the commission crafting in EQ2. There was no exchange of mats, it was just so much easier to hire someone to craft for you. All you did was stand next to them by a crafting station and start crafting, the mats automatically came out and you auto got the product. They need to implement something like that here.

 

I never got into EQ2 enough to see this, that sounds like an awesome feature! I'm shocked more games haven't borrowed the idea.

I believe I was just ripped off. What can I do about it? I didn't take a pic but friended the person and noted the time of transaction.

Some of the server forums, The Harbinger- for example, has threads on who to trust and who is a crook. it isn't perfect, but does help.

 

Other than that, Try to keep your crafters either within your guild or to those who you know personally. Barring that, swap your mats for pre-mades.

As a rule, free or not, I don't do any crafting for mats with a crafter who doesn't have premades. Also, ensure that you inspect the crafter's actual crafting plans list (you can do it by right clicking them) -- more than once I've seen hucksters offering to make 27's that didn't even have the plan for such a thing.

I liked the commission crafting in EQ2. There was no exchange of mats, it was just so much easier to hire someone to craft for you. All you did was stand next to them by a crafting station and start crafting, the mats automatically came out and you auto got the product. They need to implement something like that here.

 

Yes, this was an awesome feature!

EQ2 had a lot of great features that sets them apart from other MMO's. (never played wow)

I liked the auction feature in Rift, and you could also put up a stack of mats and set an individual sell price, this way the buyer can buy 1 or more pieces if they wish, or even the entire stack. This would eliminate the need for everyone to flood the GTN with single item crap.

Sometimes the crafter has one ready that he will trade for your mats on the spot.

If you're at all concerned or don't know the person, just insist on this. If he or she is an actual dedicated crafter, they will already have a stock of the items they sell ready made for this purpose. Just offer to trade mats for the finished item only, and if they say no, find someone else; it's not like there is any shortage of people spamming this 24x7 on fleet.

I believe I was just ripped off. What can I do about it? I didn't take a pic but friended the person and noted the time of transaction.

 

All you can really do is open a ticket and pray.

 

And this is why I prefer to go through the GTM. I would rather pay a little more in credits and KNOW what I am getting and get it right away. I also make more credits by selling everything I can make on the GTM so it balances out .

Sometimes the crafter has one ready that he will trade for your mats on the spot.

 

This is the only reasonable option for dealing with a stranger.

One of the things you can do is to click on the player portrait and check their recipes to make sure they can actually make it. Also there are people that are known to be trustworthy on the server, generally if you ask in General on fleet for a crafter that can make something for you, people will volunteer the names of people they have used and you will notice that the same people tend to get mentioned over and over.

depending on which server you are on there are usually crafting threads on your server that tell who can craft what and if there is a price for it or not. I know on the jedi covenant server we have a huge thread just for crafters to post what they can craft. They give their character name usually both republic and sith so both sides can order what they want.

I don't really see any complaints about people ripping anyone off. You'd basically only get to do it once or twice before you got a bad reputation. The people who work hard to get those schematics aren't going to resort to that behavior.

 

Yeah as soon as someone rips someone off, you will see 173 forum posts calling that person out as a scammer, and advising others not to trade with them.

I've never had any problems with this but if you like to be on the safe side, demand to see their schematics (they're not always on the character that has the schematics when advertising it) or some of their listed products on GTN. I've handed over mats for 6M a few times without any real guarantees.