An Analysis of a Feedback System/Loop in a Video Game: Crafting Talismans in Warhammer Online

Positives:
+ Some talisman ingredients can be purchased from a merchant or Hedge Wizard. This means they are always available.
+ Creating the talisman is easy. Once you have the necessary ingredients you put them in the correct slots in the Talisman window and click “Fuse”.
+ If the talisman created is a critical success then you are told “You made something better!” and the power of the talisman is increased by 6. If you achieved a super-critical success then you are told “You made something awesome!” and the talisman’s rarity goes up one level.
+ If you achieve a super-critical success using ingredients that are of the highest rarity then the fragment used will not be consumed and you can use it again.
+ Easy to level up Talisman making skill. Each successfully created Talisman contributes

Negatives:
- No recipes in game. It is easy to use up your resources by experimenting with ingredients to find the recipe for a basic talisman.
- Once a recipe is discovered there is no place in game to record it. You either record it yourself out of the game or try to remember it.
- Failure destroys the container and ingredients so they cannot be used again.
- Essences can only be obtained through the auction house or by the magical salvaging skill.

Thoughts:
~ The crafting process can be done anywhere as long as the player has the necessary items. This frees the player to quest or RvR while making Talismans.
~ Warhammer attempted to make the crafting process more fun and contain less grind. Sadly, this didn’t happen because all crafting components aren’t readily available. If a player needs a rare component they will have to grind out the gold to buy it in the auction house or grind out kills to gather it themselves.
~ Failure is expensive. Failure also introduces grind into the crafting system because you’ve got to get the gold to buy ingredients somehow.
~ Apparently Talismans only last for a certain amount of time. I’ve never seen any proof of this in game but if this is true then this makes the guesswork in creating them all the more stressful.

Would Like:
* A recipe book. In whatever form it takes it would be lovely to have a place where discovered recipes are gathered for future use.
* A notepad or similar function so that the player can note down where certain hard-to-find ingredients can be found.
* Failure to not be so expensive. Instead of all the ingredients being destroyed upon a failure, it would be nice if one (randomly chosen) was spared. So, even though you fail there is a chance that your container, fragment, or other ingredient remains unharmed and can be used again.
* Talisman effects to last indefinitely. This removes the need to constantly experiment with ingredients in an attempt to recreate the Talisman in order to replace the spent one.

Credit where credit is due:
Serapis. (2011, January 30). Warhammer online talisman making guide. Retrieved from http://home.comcast.net/~serapisphoenix/warhammer/talisman.html

Various. (2008-2011). Talisman making. Retrieved from http://warhammeronline.wikia.com/wiki/Talisman_Making