Business And Economy Archive

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Phaelyn wrote:

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lordsegan wrote:
This is not a game based on leveling a character. It is more like real life: it is a game based on having the best stuff.

Let me explain more. World of Warcraft is about leveling a character. That is, a level 60 character can kill a level 20 character in one or two hits. A level 60 character has thousands (?) of more hitpoints than a level 20 character. You have fun by leveling your character (and in the process complete quests and automatically buy/loot new armor/weapons.) As such, WoW also seems like a more linear game -- you follow a certain set path and just get the items you want as you complete quests. This is also why I dont like WoW.

Let me point out: In WoW, leveling can take a fairly long time. And until you hit level 60 it is NOT just about having the most uber gear -- just leveling makes you fairly "uber."

In SWG a character can level to master in hours or days or at most weeks. At that point it becomes ALL about needing/wanting the best stuff: the best house, the best gun, etc etc etc etc. I bet 90% of the characters on my server either are master professions or were or are alts. The point being -- this is not a game about leveling like WOW. Its a game about items. As such, we need/want as much cash and stuff as we can get.

That is why new(er) players are frustrated. They realize they are masters just like the older players. But they hit for 2200 dmg while the older player has the uber gun and hits for 3400 dmg.

And that's precisely why they are changing Combat. Buffs, Foods, Weapons and Armor are going to matter less, and skill of the player & tactics are going to matter more. Incidentally, when the game started, it WASN'T about items - It only became so the more that we the players went above and beyond the expectations of the Devs. We weren't meant to have 80% across the board protection, which you could augment with Synthsteak to make yourself invulnerable, and so on.

Message Edited by lordsegan on 03-21-2005 12:04 AM

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Agree completely. The problem was the DEVs had no idea how well the player crafters wher going to do. If you get a good slice you can have 30% stun and 90% base armor on your body and 40% stun 88% base on your head.

With the buffs taking ham to 4k now and stim Bs and blue milk and brandy you can make a tank that is nearly invulnerble to PVE damage at this point. Factor in the unreal looted weapons that are cropping up and now you have a subset of Toons that cant be hurt in PVP but can drop other players in 2 or 3 hits.

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Diorchas wrote:

I can't speak for anyone else here, but I'm pretty tired of hearing people say "Once you get your Master title, there's nothing else to do in this game except get phat lewt."

For everyone in this camp, I have but one thing to say:

This is a roleplaying game.

Message Edited by Diorchas on 03-22-2005 10:18 AM

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To each his own. Loot whooring and crafting have provided countless hours of fun. I guess I enjoy roleplaying a loot whoor.

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Milgram wrote:

I wonder what the early developement meetings were like? I wonder what the origional vision for the crafting system was. Did the devs just plain not think that players would ever hit the max on crafted goods? I guess SWG is really the first crafting game of its magnitude, so really, they shouldn't be faulted for not seeing what was ahead on a path they were blazing themselves. I absolutely love the SWG crafting system. Anyone who is a fighter only is really missing out. The crafting system is one of the fiew things that has been good since day one, and has only gotten better as i have kept playing (remind me to edit this when the combat nerf comes out).

The players who have started playing within the past year really have a lot to take for granted. The first 8 or 9 months were completely different from the golden age we live in now. Back then, you actually did need to shop around to find the rare guy with the rare resources to make the rare advanced composite suit, or advanced power handler pistol. I think that this is probably more along the lines of what the devs had in mind. Personally, I am very glad the devs underestimated the players. Playing with Demi-God (not god mode, I still die all the time) turned on is hella fun.

I really do think that the devs thought that people would craft armor using only resources that were either in spawn, or a month old tops. I don't think they planned for a powerful tool like SWG Craft to come about. If you think about it, swgcraft.com is probably to blame for 80% comp, maxed out buffs, and uber weapons. Once the resource hits, every man, woman and child with 10 harvesters sees it, thenthrows down their heavies so they canget in on teh ubah. If no such tool existed, only those brave souls who fly from planet to planet every single day would know when Dolovite Iron spawns on Yavin and Dathomire.

I really do think that the lesson for future devs to take from SWG is: Crafting systems are amazingly fun, but never, ever underestimate your players.

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Milgram wrote:

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Diorchas wrote:

I can't speak for anyone else here, but I'm pretty tired of hearing people say "Once you get your Master title, there's nothing else to do in this game except get phat lewt."

For everyone in this camp, I have but one thing to say:

This is a roleplaying game.

Message Edited by Diorchas on 03-22-2005 10:18 AM

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I can't speak for anyone else here, but I'm pretty tired of hearing people say "Once you get your Master title, there's nothing else to do in this game except roleplay."

To each his own. Loot whooring and crafting have provided countless hours of fun. I guess I enjoy roleplaying a loot whoor.

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