Armorsmith Archive

I want to just update the list of issues in a new thread, so that the Devs will be more likely to read it. I feel that there is still a lot of work to be done on the CU, and we still have time to effect these changes.

1: The new experimentation system.

It is extremly over simplified, and now is too easy to use. There is now no reason to become a 12 point smith anymore, in fact not even a reason to hold out your experimentations for amazing succeses. Since about 90% of the player base hardly notices armor condition, it is doubtful crafters will also, and only put it into them as an after thought. Every crafter will put as many points as possible into resists, and then if they have a point left over, throw it into condition and yawn. This now gives very little difference between one type of armor to the next. Again, this totally negates the FS Experimentation and FS Assembly lines. Long time smiths who have invested multiple millions of credits into +20 AS experimentation suits find themselves at a loss, having paid so dearly for something that will now be useless

The best proposed idea to change this, is to return to the system of seperating base resistances, and special resistance. This time, special resistance in armors is energy/kinetic. And base would be all other damage types. How about we split resistance experimentation bar into two seperate bars, Experimenting into the base bar lifts all elemental damage types, experimenting into the special protection bar lifts energy and/or kinetic based off of the type of armor it is. I think the best way would be a 75/25 distribution for armors that are supposed to have a bonus to energy or kinetic. And than a 50/50 distrubition for armors that are supposed to have equal resistances. This idea still keeps in the encumberance limits that you have implemented upon us, which I doubt there is very little leeway.

2: Resources, Resources, Resources.

Resources in the CU are all over the place. I can understand the need to change some things here and there, howerver there are two very large problems that need to be tacked. First, the huge increase in the requirement of organic hide. Especially with the lack of any attention given to ranger, organics are going to become more and more expensive as they are harder and harder to aquire. That means that the price of armor is going to sky rocket after the CU. It's already fairly expensive on live servers, but I would expect prices of armor to jump up at least 25% if not 50% when the CU hits live. Also, a lot of our named resources are not having as much use as we'd hoped. Some are starting to feel that the devs just wanted to make a clean wipe on our crafting profession because of the many vast changes. Named resources, some of which are extremly rare, are being found all along the layers, making one wonder if layered armor is even going to be a possibilty.

The resource requirements have been reduced from the original numbers, which is a start, but the total resource requirement is still more than double what it was before. Creature Resources in segments/cores reduce the ability to create factory runs of cores, even if the final combine is done by hand. This makes armoursmithing a lot harder, because more time is spent organising factory runs.

4: Factory Production

It looks now with a huge variety of enhancers at every stage in armor, that it is the goal of developers to inhibit mass production of armor. Yet mass producing is the only way we can keep up with demand. There's half a dozen types of armors available, which can all have identicle stats. So players decide what type of armor they want, that's great for the players. But there's no color customization kits like we thought there would be, this means that either players are all going to have the same colors of armor as the next guy (remember when you would go to the starpot and see everyone in comp, and in the same exact color). Also, with enhancers all across the board in every stage of armor, players are going to want armor that uses all these new thingies. Players have come to expect the best from armor on a regular basis. We where able to mass produce armor, and give it to players en mass. Now we can only mass produce sub par products, while players that really play the game, and expect to be uber leet (see: PVP'ers, hardcore gamers, Hard core PvE'ers, power grinders, and anyone that plays the game more than two hours at a time) will expect armorsmiths to bend over backwards to utilize all this new loot system that has been implemented.

While it is nice that we can have a customization level like weapons, we are in fear that people will expect every piece of armor to be like this. Just like people only use krayt/acklay/gorax weapons when they pvp. This could become a logistical nightmare, especially in chest pieces, which require a huge number of components now, which will mean a huge number of loot components.

5: Armor Certification system

This is a nail in the coffin to some members of our community. Telling players they can't wear this armor because they don't know how to shoot that type of gun. We could have lived with wearing armor and accepting large encumberances if you whern't certed, and have less resistances, but to outright say you can't wear your armor, even armor you crafted yourself, is a slap in the face to us. And I have a feeling crafters of other professions feel the same way. I have a suit of RIS I made for myself, one of my finest achievments that I am hugely proud of, and wear on a regular basis to big events, that now all I can do is let sit on the mantle. Further, I wear padded armor for decorative purpouses, because I think it looks good, that I will never be able to wear again. It's like the devs are telling us nobody is supposed to be an all crafter, and that this game doesn't really want us around.

6: Faction Armor

Well player crafter armor is all going to be pretty similar now that the expermintation line has been simplified, and if we have the same resources, will be completly mirrored. And getting faction armor takes as much FP as before, possibly taking more FP to get armor bio linked than it is to buy it in the current system if your side has enough of a discount on a certain planet. Soon players are going to wonder why we even made it craftable, when it's just turned into a huge faction sink that nobody is going to pay for when another type of armor is available, for cheaper, that doesn't require any FP to get bio linked. I can expectoto pay probably hundreds of thousands to get the fp from a smuggler so I can buy the schematics. Which I am going to have to add to the price, which is going to be put right next to pieces of armor with identicle stats at a lower price, which if a player does pay more for same quality items, will cost the player a large amount of FP to use. And then someone else can't wear their armor once it's bio linked if they say decided to switch profesions and give their armor that they are no longer certaifed for to someone else.