Armorsmith Archive

I agree that the economy in SWG needs some adjustment. I would like to offer some suggestions for adjusting it (read the whole post before you make any judgements). The economy as it is has 2 sources for credits to enter the game, missions and loot. Currently the mission payouts for some missions are just too high. For example, I shouldn't get 4000 credits for carrying an item 300 meters and delivering it. The previous level of 40 credits is probably more realistic. Credits looted should be more appropriate to the level of the NPC looted. I shouldn't get 120 credits for killing an Evil Hermit then get 90 for killing a Tusken. It should be more like 12 credits from the Evil Hermit and 900 from the Tusken. The point I'm trying to make here is that every credit should be important to a player. These things would make if more difficult to afford 'durable' goods. Those 'durable' goods like armor, weapons, harvesters, factories, houses, etc. should all be major purchases. I'm an armorsmith so I will use my profession for an example.

The way the economy is structured now I have players that come to me and ask, "how much for X armor". Well I think about what they are asking, it's a major pain in the hind-end so I say, 500k. Much to my amazement the response I get is, "I want 3 suits, where can I pick them up". The response should be more like, "wow, that's a lot". Players shouldn't be buying a suit of armor every week, they shouldn't be able to. However, to get to this point a number of changes need to be made.

Armor should never be considered a disposable or expendable item. Players should not only 'need' to retain their armor, they should actually 'want' to retain it. When a player decides to upgrade to a better suit of armor he/she should be anxious to get some credit for their existing armor. An armorsmith must have some reason to give credit for the customer's old armor.

The maximum condition of armor should never be reduced. Armor repair should be automatic for all players, however, the level of repair should be appropriate to that player's likelihood of having the necessary knowledge. A TKA master who's life depends on his armor should be able to make minor repairs, while an Entertainer wouldn't be able to make any because he/she has no experience with armor. For example: Say you have a piece of composite armor with a maximum condition of 42341. It's current condition is 12000. The TKA master should be able to purchase an armor repair kit and repair perhaps 500 points. An armorsmith might be able to repair 5000, a master armorsmith 15000. Beyond this amount, the armorsmith would have specialized means of repairs. Perhaps an item similar to a factory (call it a resynthesizer for purposes of this), I put in the damaged piece of armor, the Resynthesizer analyzes it and reports what resources must be supplied to the instrument. The quality of the resources added would affect how long this instrument takes to repair the piece of armor. Armor should ALWAYS be repairable even if it reaches 0 condition.

Armor needs to be more versatile. This can come in many forms, replaceable layers, armor powerups, additional enhancements. For example say player X wears padded armor, it currently contains one layer to protect against energy. Player X finds that he often runs into NPCs that do stun damage. He takes his armor to his favorite armorsmith, the armorsmith, for a fee, adds a stun layer to his armor. Later player X decides he needs protection versus acid, so he goes back to the armorsmith, the armorsmith removes the energy layer and installs the acid layer. Even later on player X comes into the possession of some Rancor Hides. He takes these and his armor to the armorsmith. Assuming the armor has had no previous enhancement added, the armorsmith installs the Rancor Hides (which cannot be removed).

Player X has decided he really wants a suit of composite armor. He saves up his credits. He goes to the armorsmith. The armorsmith gives him a tradein credit for his old padded armor. The armorsmith can either repair, refurbish, redesign this armor or he can salvage resources or components from it.

I would like to see templates added to venders. There could be any number of these. These templates would have prefined slots to plug items into. The template for armor would have a slot for each piece of armor. This would facilitate selling entire suits or portions of suits of armor in a way that allows the customer to see exactly what he/she is getting. You would browse the vender just as you do now, the template items will show just as a normal item does. The shopper can select 'details' and view the stats on each piece.

In the above scenario (salvage, repair, etc.) armorsmiths will not just make armor and sell it, they will perform a valuable service. To prevent this 'service' from becoming an SWG job, venders need a check-in/check-out feature. For example, player X would like to get his composite helmet repaired. He brings it to my vender, checks it in with a note as to what he wants. The armorsmith later checks his vender, sees the armor, assesses the time and cost of the repair, emails player X an estimate of the cost. Player X approves the cost and the armorsmith repairs the armor. Once repaired the armor is placed back on the vender, only player X or the armorsmith may retrieve it. Player X must pay the fee to the vender.

This is only indirectly related to armorsmithing but I want to say it anyway. I would like to be able to purchase an enhancement that allows me to qeue schematics for my factory, perhaps a droid? I would also like to be able to purchase upgrades for my harvesters, say I have an old medium with only BER6, I could take it to an architect and have it upgraded to a BER10. It would be nice if I could purchase an interface for it that allowed me to monitor it's status from my datapad.

This is a loose outline of a system I think would work nicely. It obviously needs much more detail. What are your thoughts?