Bio Engineer Archive

I think this is the best of the potential solutions to the issue of creating a pet deed that displays a desired CL, and having it changed to something else when tamed, called or whatever trigger is used at a later date.

First of all, include the "Validity check" at the point of crafting the creature deed itself. We don't need to be given a list of acceptable maximums or the formula for a CL 10, or 22 or 35 or even a CL 70. What we need is to have the pets we DO create assured of being the level they report as a deed when tamed. If the pet "validity check" code is run against the creature at the time we do the "skin combine", the result should be able to be "trusted" to be that level and usable by those with the appropriate skill. This would resolve the issue without releasing any proprietary or game-breaking information, and would eliminate the single most annoying issue we have at present.

Secondly, to the development/management team; forget about the existing TAMED CL 10 pets. These are already self-limiting in that as they lose vitality below 75%, they will become a non-issue. There are likely not enough of them in game to create a significantly unbalancing effect, and the negative customer sentiment from the BE community and the players whose pets seem to have been arbitrarily rendered useless just is not worth the minimal impact that leaving them alone will have.

If the unsold deeds that do not for some reason pass the "validity check" and are "re-levelled", the BE community may grumble a while, but to be honest, we'll live, if we never have to replace another angry customer's pet that has just been repackaged as a paper mache replica of itself. If from this point forward, a pet deed IS WHAT IT SAYS IT IS, then the issue will be written off as growing pains and the process of checking at the time the pet is created will resolve it quite adequately.

So, my recommendation is to do the following:

Make the Validity check part of the creation process for the pet deed, so that the deed has been 'vetted' as the level it shows when we select the color and complete the pet.

Do a ONE-TIME validity check on all existing pet DEEDS, and adjust levels as necessary according to the formulae you have established "somewhere", so the BE that is selling and the customer that is buying sees the level the pet will indeed be before the sale is completed.

FORGET THE EXISTING TAMED PETS. Things in game wear out. There are a few "artifact" fusion generators with 22 BER, a few "pre-nerf" FWG5 pistols with high damage, and a few Non-CH pets that have 6k or 7k or whatever health. SO WHAT! They will wear out, be used until they are below repairable or reach a vitality level that permanently lowers their stats, or simply continue to exist, and they will not damage the game anywhere near what after-the-fact nerfs will in terms of customer satisfaction.

Give us a pet creation process we can depend on, even if we don't know all the parameters, and our customers the security of knowing what they purchased is what they will have. That will resolve the issue for all sides at least to an acceptable level.

LLan Farseeker

Message Edited by Akelan on 03-18-2004 07:53 AM

You can make new invalid pets. Even after the new check is in place.

The check is not in place during crafting, and needs to be - that was the point.

EXACTLY!!

I agree and will take a lot of time to say so

I was just signing in to post pretty much the same thing. Obviously the equations are out there and active in the retrieval process to check pet stats vs level. Why not just incorporate whatever mysterious algorithm they use into the creation procees when you create create the deed? I think the DNA should create the stats normally through experimentation and only the CL be affected (an automatic "Adjust the Level" option) in the process. If you get a pet that is too high or low, resample it and try again.

The truly frustrating part isn't the final level or stats of the pet created. It's that when you create a pet deed, the CL on the deed IS NOT the CL of the final creature.

agrees completely. that is why i submitted the following bug report.

Bug Report: Craft Station Intermittent Failure

Steps to reproduce:

1. Sample any creature in game to obtain DNA.


2. Use Food/Chem Crafting Tool and Craft Station to make Template.


3. Use Template to make clone deed.


4. Sell clone deed to player.


5. Have player Tame the clone.

Result: Sometimes player will have valid, legal pet. Other times, pet will be invalid, illegal, and be "adjusted" to legal specs.

Expected result: That valid DNA, Craft Tool, and Craft Station would make valid clones 100% of the time!

Architects never make invalid buildings. Chefs cannot make food that requires "adjustment" to be used. No other craft station produces invalid, illegal products.

Obviously, the Food/Chem Craft Station is bugged. Please repair this and let us know when we can reliably use this important tool in game.

The whole idea of crafting (new) invalid pets is bad code in my opinion. If we can't use it, don't let it be created in the first place. Make the crafting system consistant and well defined. Why is our system so much different than, say, weaponsmithing? Sure we have different stats on our materials, but why can't you use them the same way?

Can you imagine any other professiongetting this?

"Sorry, I made your gun too well, I have to destroy it. Get me some more Krayt tissue and I'll do the next one left handed."

With weapons, players have a cert. No matter how the final weapon turns out, the crafter knows it will be a T-21 before he puts in the first ingredient, and that only a rifleman can use it.

Our "cert" is on CL, or maybe CL and ferocity for CHs.They could let us set the CL we're crafting (or a window), and hard-cap the stats under that such that you can't max out an experimental bar more than 14% (CL10 is 14.3% of CL70) for non-CH pets, for example. That way, the best crafters with the best materials could make the most out of their pets, but not make them above the intended system... They could even get lazy and give our crafting tools (crafting windows) a "Safety Override" button that would bypass any checks and allow full free reign to create >CL70 pets. (Error Message on tame: "ThisBio-Engineered beast is a crime against nature and cannot be allowed to be unleashed upon the world... )

This would let us craft pets for our intended audience too, much as a WS can craft weapons for intended skill sets.

Obviously none of us wants to be restricted within artificial crafting limits. But we already are with invalid pets. The only difference would be that we wouldn't have to guess wherethe boundaries are. We could craft right up to the walls.