Development Cycle Archive

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Thunderheart wrote:

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mythronde wrote:
TH, can you kindly answer on which professions, if certs will be added, will be able to use mandalorian armor? BH's would love to have some lovin' sooner than later if you know what I mean

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Certs for Mandalorian armor will be: Bounty Hunter, Commando, Ranger and Squad Leader

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BAH!!!

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Thunderheart wrote:

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mythronde wrote:
TH, can you kindly answer on which professions, if certs will be added, will be able to use mandalorian armor? BH's would love to have some lovin' sooner than later if you know what I mean

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Certs for Mandalorian armor will be: Bounty Hunter, Commando, Ranger and Squad Leader

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What about the professions that make the armour?

so many people still beeching. i thought that was well written and informative. thanks for your efforts.

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Ackis wrote:

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Thunderheart wrote:

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mythronde wrote:
TH, can you kindly answer on which professions, if certs will be added, will be able to use mandalorian armor? BH's would love to have some lovin' sooner than later if you know what I mean

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Certs for Mandalorian armor will be: Bounty Hunter, Commando, Ranger and Squad Leader

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What about the professions that make the armour?

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While it sucks there is little arguement in this since a weaponsmith can't use any of the stuff he makes unless he has the appropriate combat profession as well.

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Thunderheart wrote:

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mythronde wrote:
TH, can you kindly answer on which professions, if certs will be added, will be able to use mandalorian armor? BH's would love to have some lovin' sooner than later if you know what I mean

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Certs for Mandalorian armor will be: Bounty Hunter, Commando, Ranger and Squad Leader

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At last ...the Ranger sees some love. Thank you TH ...we deeply appreciate this. As a master ranger who is sticking with it until we finally see our fixes ...this goes a LONG way toward helping me with patience. This was totally unexpected, but very cool.

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Ackis wrote:

What about the professions that make the armour?

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DarthDominus wrote:
At last ...the Ranger sees some love.

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Yup, but it looks to me like the same kinda misdirected love that thought smugglers somehow know something more about strapping a stack of C4 to a mouse droid's behind then almost every other profession in the game. Random new toy meet next profession in line to get a bone.

Enjoy it, I know I'm gonna enjoy these explody bombs things.

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lifeisdeath wrote:

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meeuki wrote:

did you read the response? obviously not. high offense medium defense is a great objective. the point is IT WONT WORK. why? for the reasons thunderheart wrote in his own answer. oh and try thinking a bit before you go off and call someone a dumbass.

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The point of discussion we are at with the BH Correspondent is that a High/Medium would be better for a BH to accommodate for the lack of variability in their skill sets and skill point allocation options and will be some of the first changes to the BH skill set in the CB sandbox.

he didnt say it wont work. he said it will be one of the first changes in the BH CB. maybe you should read a little more.

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if you are going to quote him, why not quote all of it?

Further complicating the balance of Bounty Hunters is that while their flexibility is severely limited they can still benefit greatly from the acquisition of additional combat skills that share prerequisites with the Bounty Hunter profession. If we balance the power gained for the 217 skill point cost to reach Master Bounty Hunter to be the same as spending 217 skill points in other combat professions like Commando and Teras Kasi then Bounty Hunter may be overpowered after purchasing additional Pistol or Carbine skills. All things need to be considered when determining the proper balance of a profession.

here TH offers no solution for a problem that has plagued the bounty hunters since release. it's the reason they are inadequate now. there are a lot of options, one being removing scout. ANOTHER i mentioned in my original post was totally redesigning our weapon lines. you've offered no solutions except 'trust in the combat balance' and 'i make bank from selling to doctors'. what if, in the end, it's inadequate? what if players cry out at the influx of bounty hunters now that they are the fotm? if they are nerfed again do you want to go through another 8 months like the last?

roll the dice though, sure. we'll see how it turns out.

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Thunderheart wrote:

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mythronde wrote:
TH, can you kindly answer on which professions, if certs will be added, will be able to use mandalorian armor? BH's would love to have some lovin' sooner than later if you know what I mean

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Certs for Mandalorian armor will be: Bounty Hunter, Commando, Ranger and Squad Leader

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good news .

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Thunderheart wrote:

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DeQuosaek wrote:

Can anyone verify?

Also, shouldn't the issue really be something like, "Combat Medics have no reduction in damage in PvP?"

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The correspondents are helping me verify the details now....

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I would say it's because the Devs have already answered that question (and that was also a quetsion by the CM Corre and since the CMs don't generally agree that damage is the issue, although there are other issues which make it SEEM like damage is the issue, I wouldn not expect to see that question from him. Maybe if it were a GCW question, but not a CM question.

At any rate the response can be found here:

http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=combat_medic&message.id=21393&page=1

Bravo. As always EN, you've hit the nail on the head. I just wish the truth of the matter was that we were getting a great revamp with the key issues adressed. Assuming they don't re-think what they're going to doand makechangesin a satisfactory manner, god speed and may you find something out there that suits you and that you enjoy.

Devs, you know the score, you've heard from Caylin and others that what you're proposing simply doesn't cut the mustard. Time for the employees of LA to show their quality.

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electricnomad wrote:

That plan for a Smuggler revamp is as weak and as worthless as the most cynical Smuggler could have devised on the rainiest of days.

I'll post in orange for old time's sake.

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Thunderheartwrote:

Smuggler

What will smugglers gain in the upcoming revamp in regards to actually smuggling?" where you could go in detail about how you are making missions and such, giving an XP system it seems, or other things that will be good for them to know.

We are in the midst of putting together the design doc and looking at the alternatives now. The current plan to increase the fun-ability of the Smuggler Class is to enhance the existing skill onion. Since the communities focus is the desire to increase smuggling, the focus of the revamp will be on the underworld tree. We want to start with specialized delivery missions that provide both monetary and itemized rewards, but also special favors from the travel system NPCs. This would make smugglers an important hub in smuggling people from place to place by helping them get around the 10 minute Star Port wait, generate some cash flow and create a real value for Smugglers. The other edge of that sword is that tying into the travel system and creating new missions is a huge effort. Once that is accomplished, we will tweak the spices (and hopefully add a couple of new ones). After that the priority hits the Smuggler’s melee abilities. We want to increase the smuggler’s ability to use melee to move in and around superior forces and be able to work his or her way out of a tough spot. We can also further tweak the Smuggler’s combat role in the combat balance. That’s a pretty good overview of the current approach.

I’ll offer you some more details here, but ultimately, they will create more questions to which the answer is, “that work is in progress”. Some of the details for things we want to include are:

• Slicing features that would be a kind of equipment buff programs
  
• Datadiscs to further adventure similar to treasure maps
  
• Ethical decisions that effect the smugglers reputation (basically, the new smuggler missions would be XP based and focused on…well…smuggling So the smuggler would have to “smuggle” phat loot from one NPC to another without getting caught and if the smuggler chose to deliver the item, the get the XP. If they didn’t, well, it would be an XP hit, but they would keep the item…)
  
• Adding new spices.
  
  
  
  • Glitterstim: (Master Smuggler); Boost to Health, Strength, Action, Quickness, Mind, Force Power Max Force Power Regeneration
    
  • Liik: (Spice III): Mind Poison Mitigation
  
  
• Slicing: Adding a vehicle durability slice. / A smuggler mission loot item might be required.

This is a peek at what we are working very hard to get into the game….

http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=in_live&message.id=13305&page=1

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So there you go - the Smuggler revamp plan. Yep, Caylin the Smuggler Correspondentsays that's most of it right there.

Let's go over it piece by piece and evaluate the utility of those additions, and whether they count as Smuggling.

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1) Slicing features that would belike "equipment buff programs" ==> Not so specific, eh? Doesn't seem much different than slicing as it is right now, since they are equipment buff programs. No reason to get terribly excited for this.

==> VERDICT = NOT SMUGGLING; BUFF BOT STATUS

2) Datadiscs to "further adventure like treasure maps" ==> We all know how exciting it is to run 500 meters from town, use a disc, get aggroed by two generic thugs, and loot some CDEF loot. It's interesting for the first one or two times and then you usually destroy the treasure maps. Be very afraid that the Devs want to stick us with treasure map-style "adventure."

==> VERDICT = NOT SMUGGLING; CDEF RECOVERY FOR JAWAS

3) Delivery missions where you can steal the loot ==> So instead of "Slice Monkey," we earn the name "Loot Whore." Ask yourself how many missions in SWG have EVER been genuinely exciting and worth repeating. I can think of a handful. Running the same "Should I steal this or not?" mission will get old after a day or two. This does not sound like it will offer much in the way of longterm satisfaction, and will turn into a loot grind rather than anything truly enjoyable.

==> VERDICT = HALF SMUGGLING, HALF THEFT, ALL BORING

4) New spices ==> Two new spices. Not a whole lot to look forward to. No real mention that the other spices are mostly worthlerss and need a dramatic overhaul, not just a "tweak." And if this is the Devs' answer to overpowered Combat Medics and an over-emphasis on Mind damage, this does not bode well for the game itself.

==> VERDICT = NOT SMUGGLING; MORE METH LAB

5) Adding a vehicle durability slice ==> This is shrugworthy at best. Of all the interesting things to do with vehicles -- speed, cornering, etc -- this is probably the least interesting I could think of. And of all the possible things we have wanted to add to sliceable status, this would be a pretty low priority on most Smugglers' lists.

==> VERDICT = NOT SMUGGLING; TURTLE WAX

6) Helping peoplebypass the 10-minute Starport wait ==> Interesting enough, but depending on how easy it is to do, this could easily be a dumpster-tossable ability that people stop performing soon after it's available. This makes no mention of the TRULY desirable ability - point to point shuttling to anywhere in the galaxy. What's the true value of avoiding a 10-minute wait to move to another port? One minute of time? A few thousand credits? This is low-rent stuff no matter how you think about it.

==> VERDICT = NOT SMUGGLING; ALLOWING PEOPLE TO CUT IN LINE

7) Increased abilities to move around and avoid enemies ==> Interesting, and potentially useful, but step back and ask a question - how do you ever get XP if all you ever do is avoid fighting? There's a systematic problem with this that the Devs haven't mentioned, and it's the fact that running is almost never in your interest in this game. It's certainly never rewarded in any way.

==> VERDICT =POTENTIALLY USEFUL IF THERE WERE EVER REAL SMUGGLING

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Now that we've reviewed what HAS been mentioned, let's get to the even more important list - what HASN'T been mentioned. If the Devs have good news, they typically like to toss it all out for people to see. Considering that in another thread, Caylin noted that "that wasmost of the revamp doc," you shouldn't expect that the Devs have any Aces up their sleeves that they aren't playing, and what you see is what we're getting.

Let's consider the big issues on which Thunderheart is silent:

1) Player-Based Smuggling ==> The number one request that the community has had since Beta was player-based smuggling, and it was recentlydismissed by the Devs because they think it would be too much trouble to code. I mention it only because this is the ONLY thing that will ever give Smuggler lasting content, and without it, this profession will never have a real focus. And the Devs have said they won't implement it.

2) Spice Experimentation ==> This has been one of the top community issues since launch. Not only was there any mention of seriously overhauling spices, there was no mention at all of any experimentation. Without experimentation, we will be stuck with the current situation where any crafter uses castoff resources to make spice, allowing them to pawn off their trash and undercut the community. The current spice system is fundamentally flawed. Thunderheart makes no indication that it is going to change.

3) Missions to acquire spice rather than just make it ==> This has been another big request since we saw it happen in Deadeye 3. This would eliminate the "100 unit schematic" undercutters and put Smugglers back in control of the spice market. It is not mentioned.

4) Slicing Options ==> No mention of allowing a pick-o-slice option or adding experimentation to the process. No mention of a "super slice" for a Smugglers' own weapons. No mention of anything at the top of our lists since launch, in other words.

5) Contraband and the community ==> There was no mention of adding significant penalties for being caught with contraband. There was no mention of pulling contraband off of vendors and the bazaar. There was no mention of ending Imperial Immunity or the Droid Loophole. In short, the flawed Crackdown -- the prototypefor what SHOULD be land-based smuggling -- is being left in its broken, useless state.

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I could go on and on. There are 10 months of live posts and countless Beta posts that the Devs have to fall back on. They have culled the least useful ideas and put them into our revamp document. They have addressed none of our core concerns. They have clearly not understood the desires of the community or the priorities that we had for a revamp.

A revamp proposal as fundamentally worthless as this makes makes it clear that yes, the Fred Sanford Trashman minigame fits perfectly into the Devs' "vision" ofthe Smuggler profession.

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*sobs* I'm a smuggler and i just want to be hunted by another player! Please come on make me feel like a criminal! I'M THE MOST TRUSTED PROFESSION IN THE GAME!! people give me 3 million worth of armor to slice and i just give it back to em. it's stupid....make me feel like a criminal...please.