I think you may have missed the point of why people are upset. Barkeepers are, as you say, easy enough to get. However, the barkeepers people are upset to have lost are barkeepers they had named and ābonded withā (and in some cases gone to the effort of levelling up) - it is not the loss of āgeneric barkeeperā it is the loss of ānamed character they had begun developing a story forā. If you only care about the game mechanics, then any barkeeper is the same as another, but if you care about more of the experience than just the pure game mechanics then the loss can be more meaningful.
To give a different example - I have never (and will never) forgiven Funcom for the first major pet nerf I experienced several years ago - because suddenly my constant companion and protector through the first months of my playing this game was taken from me and could never again safely leave the base. Just a basic Hyena - in game terms possibly the easiest thing in the world to replace, mechanically almost āworthlessā even levelled to 20. But even now, seeing the little wrecked boat outside the Crevice in the jungle reminds me of that little Hyena standing between me and several enemies I could not yet fight, protecting me as I tried to heal up and help him through it. I remember desperate runs across the map, because I had died and had to get back to him. And I remember having to retire him, because suddenly he could no longer go to the places I needed to go. For some players itās not just about the game mechanics.
I guess that is so hard of a point to understand that even Funcom hasnt got that memo when developing companions.
They could have taken the much easier route, which would save among other things, the Barkeepers, and put the companion mechanic to be built over the thralls we already have.
Most people who cares about such things already had them as such, they could just āmake it into the gameā and be done with it. But we had to have another ādisturbance in the forceā by adding another layered system over.
So I dont really think people are to blame for forgetting that is a thing.
Myself ? One of the first mods I had was for customizing npcs and saving such customizations, ideally off the game, so in the eventuality I lose them, I can just pretend I never did and move on.
If you are meaning to really build up things, and that was what I thought was the plan on the Age thing, you should develop things on the grounds of what you already have.
But I see now that the Age is just a fancy name for āfree expansionā, and carries no bearing on any innovation on what that means.
But still, they could have been more judicious on how much of the game to change each time.
And yet your answer here suggests that you still havenāt understood at all. No one here is claiming that Barkeepers (or any other thrall) is āneededā for game reasons. The irritation is an emotional response - it has nothing whatsoever to do with usefulness. As I explained (I thought quite clearly), I am still irritated over the nerfing of a basic Hyena - perhaps the easiest follower of all to replace (except maybe a basic shaleback). That has nothing to do with how hard they are to obtain or how āneededā they are - it is purely about the emotional connection. If you are only capable of viewing followers/crafters for their in game mechanical value, that is your choice, but that is not the only way in which they can be viewed.
No polls that I remember seeing, but there were at least sporadic requests to make crafter thralls dressable. As well as requests to make NPCs more āaliveā. So itās not like Funcom got this idea out of their stetson.
Give her time. Tell her youāll be there for her when she needs you. Be supportive. One day she may find the inner strength to open up, and you may find out that your relationship is stronger than ever.
Without reason to argue and derail, you donāt need armorers too when it comes to pve. You can defeat everything naked and easier than having an armor .
I need a tier 3 blacksmith to make me cheaper steel reinforcement and a tier 3 alchemist for cheap oil and whatever else.
After age of war, a bar woman is giving me mead for my pork feast and thatās all the crafters I really need, none other!
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