CUEmu - Thread Posts

LordMarr

Sun May 23, 2004 2:49 am

Idea about Ham Costs for all combat professions.

Well ive been playing SWG since it was released last year. The one thing that really irked me about the game was ham costs when u use a special. Especially as a carbineer. If do a special, u better have a medic nearby, cause u just incapped yourself. i dont think that is what was intended.With Buffs u can spam specials all day long. I dont think that was intended either. I try to play the game with out buffs as intended but sometimewhen u go to a certain place to play, u stand no chance even in a large group unless u are buffed, drugged, and drunk.

This is my idea: Get rid of ham costs all together. Whats the point of hurting yourself. Everytime i use crippling shot, i have to heal myself or be incapped. With 30 second posture change and knockdown timer, whats the point of ham cost anyways.

No i am in no favor of people just spamming at will, i got whacked a few days ago by a master rifleman, that was 3 meters from me inside a cantina and spammed Master head shot 5 times in 5 seconds and hit everytime and i was down. Im not complaining, hats off to him for using the game mechanics to his advantage. but i dont think that was intended as the game designers wanted.

This is my idea to replace Ham Costs. There should be major time delays in special moves. If u use crippling shot or master head shot, or what ever high damaging special move, You click or hit your macro, the move begins, and then you spend your time aiming, as soon as the timer is done, your special move is executed. You can move around as thespecial isattemptedbut cant do anything else. Movement should impact your accuracy as you execute for ranged classes, but melee classes should have no penaltyto theirspecials if they move around. cause thats what they do.

I know that therearedelays already attributed to some special moves. but i would increase the time drastically. make people think about should i do this. Should i use my cripplling shot, it takes 5 seconds or so to use? what if i need to heal or do a knockdown? Just an example.

As for knockdowns and posture changes, i would not time delay themat all or very little cause they already have a 30 second timer. leave em alone, just get rid of the ham cost.

The lesser moves i would make the delays not nearly as slow. The time delays can be adjusted accordingly with your speed with that weopon type. The weopon that your using also will impact it. This is working in the game already. I would also add that your secondary attributes play a role in the speed of your moves also. More armor you wear, the more time it takes to execute a move.

So even if your in the lower skill trees, since u have lower speed modifiers, u wont be able to spam all the time the low level specials until you get better. but by then u would have moved on to new specials since the low level ones arent as effective even though they are fast now, but your fighting harder stuff that makes them not as useful.

I think this would be better for the game, it lessens spamming, doesnt hurt your ham when u use it, and also works good for pvp.

Wonder what the rest of you think? is this just a nutty idea or am i on to something here?

black666label

Mon May 24, 2004 6:24 am

#2

Lord Marr Ham Costs don't even matter anymore since you should be hunting buffed. BUFFS=GOOD

and the rituals that fade away, and the roses that cease to be laid, and it's clear to me that we're one foot in a very shallow grave

Syrus Ardrax

~~ Master Bounty Hunter | Master Rifleman | Pistoleer~~

~~AoX~~

~~Art of Execution~~

~~44 Jedi Killed~~

Chilastra Novice Troll

Made by Lexxin

TAfirehawk

Mon May 24, 2004 7:46 am

#3

Since you asked what I think.....

It is too late to develop this much of a change. They are already going to POTENTIALLY handle the spamming of Specials with the HAM Revamp in the Combat Revamp....somewhere between Publish 10 and Publish 10,000

I don't know if they are still on this path, but the discussion was to make the HAM cost so you can't heal it, only TIME will. Personally if they took away the buffs to substats that would work easiest, but then most people couldn't wear this armor. Oh wait, they could nerf ARMOR that way, hmmm.....INTERESTING.... That could fix a whole bunch of things the Devs are looking to "fix". Of course the rich, hardcore types (myself included) would scream bloody murder and SOE could lose about $1,000,000/month

BTW, I have no basis in fact here as I am just pulling this out my arse So no rumor starting here please

Iebas Feania
Former Correspondent of the Former Profession, CARBINEER

jfang

Mon May 24, 2004 8:02 am

#4

Your idea of a special timer is exactly what the developers were trying to avoid. This is the game mechanics that Everquest, among other systems, was using and they wanted to change.

Furthermore, the situation you are describing (where specials make you kill yourself) is as designed, so that people don't spam specials. The problem is as you described, where if you are "playing the game as designed" (using HAM experimented guns, not spamming specials with heavy weapons, etc), the state of buffs and armor makes you right in that you can not compete. The problem isn't HAM costs, it's the strange way that HAM costs, buffs, and armor all interact.

Putting special moves on a timer would in fact solve the problem. But it would be fixing the symptoms, not the underlying problem. I rather like what they experimented with, and if they managed to balance it correctly, I think it will be a lot more fun and dynamic than clicking a "headshot3" button as fast as possible and waiting for the move to execute.

Then again, it's all about how the combat balance turns out... No matter how it turns out though, I hope they don't impose a hard cap on special moves. (I'd rather rifles take 30 seconds to fire, carbines take 20 seconds, and pistols 10, and reduce rifle's speed skill, such that nobody could fire at the speed cap.)

travenwatts

Mon May 24, 2004 8:41 am

#5

Whatever the combat balance brings, I just hope it becomes more of a thinking game. If you want hardcore action to just run in a room and fire till your bullets run out,then go play an action game, not a RPG.

I feel an RPG should require you to use your brain. Even action games suchs as BF1942 and call of duty classes are better balanced. For instance, there is no one uber profession in BF1942. You want to fire fast and not very accurate, be the assault class. If you want the ability to heal yourself and others, pick up the thompson which does less dmg than the BAR but fires quickly. You want to deal those one shot kills, pick up the No 4 and sit back and make every shot count.

Right now, the most damaging profession is also the fastest...aka Master Rifleman.

LordMarr

Mon May 24, 2004 9:19 pm

#6

thanks for the resposes. i guess most or all of you think its a nutty idea.

On the issue that i should always be buffed in order to play the game is not the intention of the devs. I get home at 1:30 AM in the morning from my job. not alot of doctors online on my server at that time at night. so i dont want to waste an hour looking for a doctor to buff me when i only want toplay for a few hours. SO i have learned to play the carbineer profession unbuffed. yes it is possible. Using buffs when i get them i can spam specials without much penalty all night. More challenging playing with out buffs and more inline with star wars. I dont remember characters in star wars getting buffs. unless u cant the time luke was on hoth and getting fixed up by the medical droid after that encounter with the wompa.

On the issue of lets not have timers. The timing delays are already coded in the game. If your arent at the speed cap. u will notice that if your just default fire, u will fire at a constant rate, but if your do crippling shot then you will notice a delay after it goes off until u start default firing again. alot of other carbineer specials have delays. I am saying is slow down the speed cap a bit more for specials.

If your still get the ham cost down to a reasonable level then people will spam all the time. but if your adust the time delays of the specials it will suffice and limit spamming master headshot every half a second.

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Thread: Ham Cost...DEV, Players Read! Tell me what you think?