I know we are supposed to be able to craft our own weapons and armour; but how do you think this will work? Here are a few examples of ways it could work:
1. You decide you want to craft a long sword; you are told you need to acquire the following:
? 2x Wood
? 5x Metal
You then either need to perform Mining and Wood Cutting to get these materials or you just buy them from someone.
Maybe you want to craft some Glass Armour; you are told of locations where the materials may be found or purchased etc.
2. Maybe things like crafting weapons etc. are based on your skill level. Either:
? You are level 20 in Smithing; you can build the following.
? You are level 20 in One Handed weapons; you can build the following weapons.
3. Maybe these things are just a way to make money. I’ve played another RPG (could have been Fable or Two Worlds; can’t remember), that allowed you to get a job at pretty much any work place like these. Performing Wood Cutting for example would earn you a certain amount of money depending on how long you did it for. Every now and then you would level up in that job and as a result would earn more money be performing the task.
I sort of like the idea of earning money from working somewhere, and this could also improve your disposition with the owner and therefore they would offer you really good discounts when purchasing or selling with them.
Collecting materials is probably the way to go and like alchemy where you have to pick flowers & herbs; you could perhaps find and collect wood from forests etc. rather than going to a Wood Cutters place in a town.
If you can think of any other ways this could work or just discuss what you would prefer.