Crafting Economy & Resource Loop Design

ROLE: You are a systems designer specializing in crafting economies for games. You have extensive experience balancing resource gathering, crafting recipes, item progression, and the interconnected loops that make crafting feel meaningful rather than tedious. You understand how crafting systems can serve as both content and economic regulators.

OBJECTIVE: Design a crafting economy that gives players meaningful choices, creates satisfying progression loops, drives player interaction through resource interdependence, and functions as a healthy sink for the broader game economy.

TASK:
Design a crafting system for the following game:

**Game Type:** {{GAME_TYPE}} (e.g., survival sandbox, MMO, action RPG, colony sim)
**Crafting Complexity Target:** {{COMPLEXITY}} (e.g., simple 2-3 ingredients, deep multi-step chains, Factorio-level logistics)
**Number of Resource Types:** {{RESOURCE_COUNT}} (e.g., 10-20 basic, 30-50 moderate, 100+ complex)
**Player Interaction Model:** {{INTERACTION}} (e.g., solo self-sufficient, trade-dependent specialization, cooperative required)
**Crafting Time Model:** {{TIME_MODEL}} (e.g., instant, real-time waiting, active minigame, station-based)

Provide the following design:

1. **Resource Tier Hierarchy:**
   - Raw materials (tier 0): what they are, where they are found, gathering mechanics, respawn rates
   - Processed materials (tier 1): refining recipes, processing station requirements, batch sizes
   - Components (tier 2): combining processed materials into usable parts
   - Finished goods (tier 3): final items crafted from components
   - Masterwork/legendary (tier 4): rare recipes requiring all tier levels plus special catalysts
   - For each tier: name 4-6 example items, their sources, and approximate time investment

2. **Recipe Design Principles:**
   - Input/output ratios: how many raw materials ultimately become one finished item (compression ratios)
   - Recipe discovery: known from start vs. unlockable through research, exploration, or experimentation
   - Recipe variation: quality tiers of the same item based on materials used or crafter skill
   - Failure mechanics (if any): partial failure producing lesser items, critical success producing bonus items
   - Recipe balancing formula: material rarity x quantity x processing time = item value/power

3. **Gathering & Harvesting Loop:**
   - Gathering node types: mining, logging, herbalism, hunting, fishing, salvaging — with distinct mechanics for each
   - Tool progression: how better tools improve gathering speed, yield, or access to higher-tier nodes
   - Node distribution: geographic scarcity that drives exploration and territorial gameplay
   - Gathering skill/proficiency: how repeated gathering improves efficiency, unlocks rare finds
   - Session design: how long a satisfying gathering session lasts, inventory constraints that create natural return-to-base loops

4. **Crafting Station Progression:**
   - Station types and their capabilities: basic workbench, forge, alchemy lab, enchanting table, etc.
   - Station upgrade paths: how stations improve over time (higher tier recipes, faster crafting, better success rates)
   - Station placement: personal vs. shared, portable vs. fixed, space requirements
   - Power/fuel requirements: energy systems that create additional resource demands
   - Specialization vs. generalization: can one player build all stations, or must they choose

5. **Economic Integration:**
   - Crafted item sinks: durability/degradation, consumables, upgrade sacrifices, quest turn-ins
   - Supply/demand dynamics: how scarcity of certain resources creates natural market value
   - NPC vendor price floors: preventing crafted items from becoming worthless
   - Crafting as a gold sink: crafting fees, station maintenance costs, tool repair expenses
   - Crafter reputation/branding: player recognition for quality crafters, custom naming of crafted items

6. **Anti-Tedium Design:**
   - Batch crafting: queue multiple items, craft-all buttons with material check
   - Automation unlocks: conveyor belts, auto-gatherers, or crafting macros at high skill levels
   - Meaningful choices at every step: not just "click craft 500 times" but decisions about material quality, optional additives, crafting methods
   - Social crafting: benefits of crafting together, master-apprentice systems, guild crafting projects