Development Cycle Archive
Thread: September 30th Update
Don't mean to beat a dead krahbu here, but the #1 thing I would like to see is the stinking patches released when we're told they're gonna be released. I understand that stuff needs to be tested, etc. HOWEVER, if you are going to START testing the patch on Sept 30th, then it really isn't a Sept 30th patch is it? Why not call it June 26th or whatever day you started working on it--that will make it sound all the better.
The only reason I say this (and I'm pretty peaceful about this stuff in general) is that we were first told about a great new big Sept 23rd patch--Sept 23 came and went, no patch. Then on Sept 30th we're told about the SAME patch--although now it's called the Sept 30th patch. And it's still on test.
Believe me, I want them tested--but don't give note them by the date they leave alpha (which, essentially, is what you're doing). Give them any other name--the Sandwich patch, the Player City patch, the Kick in the Nuts patch, heck call it the Nicotine patch for all I care.
I mean, you didn't tell everyone you were releasing SWG when it entered beta, did you?
Did you?
Koheo
As usualu spent a long time trying to log into Eclipse today, after the server down, then it goes to Loading and you have zero chance of getting in.
I love this game but due to the daily downtime and practical impossibility of getting back online within 45 minutes of the server coming up I will always remember it as very poorly executed on a technical level.
Q, Pex, Holo, whoever...I want to say that I do think this is (in my opinion) the best run MMORPG out there (with EQ running a close second).
However, given the state of MMORPGs, that's not saying much.
"Oh, ho...look who knows so much. It just so happens your friend is only [i]mostly[/i] dead..."
Anyway, if you're wondering why someone who claims to like this game is starting to grow irritable, I'll tell you.
It's because these bugs that the 'update', 'publish' or 'patch' is supposed to fix are not just causing minor problems. These are relatively big deals. I find it considerably more than discouraging that I can search an entire galaxy and only find 1 house for sale, that there are a handful of BE or DE on any server, that everyone and their mother has a rancor or AT-ST trailing behind them (despite the fact that droids outnumbered pets by about 5:1 in the movies) and yet devs are focusing on pressing matters like 'mob AI against creature handlers'.
Perhaps--and this is just a suggestion from someone who is only part of the audience (you know, the people you made this thing for? Remember that?)--perhaps you guys could focus on getting the base, core game working before we get carried away about intelligent pathing for Boffa treats or some such.
I know you guys want to get going with new and amazing things, and I know tha announcements of new and amazing additions draw more customers than announcements that long-standing bugs are now fixed, but there is some good stuff in here if you'd just stop, take a deep breath and look at it.
For example:
-the economy is collapsing, in part because nothing is wearing out. I have yet to break anything I own, or have it fail, tear, wear out or anything of the like. I have not replaced a single item except when I found a better version for less. Perhaps if we doubled the decay rate on items, we would do better.
-it seems like the whole point of food was to be a less powerful, less expensive and less damaging version of spices. But--no one cares about the effects of spice--not that I've seen. That's why people are hawking them on the street corner. Why not make possession illegal in some places (Coronet, Imperial cities, etc). This might give Smugglers something to do, and cut back on the spice abuse.
Likewise, it seems like it would be worthwhile to up the effects of food and decrease the wait time between 'meals'. If you create a market for the stuff, they will cook...
-It seems to me that it's a tad too easy to have a pet. How many people in the movies have a pets? One in 300? More to the point, how many people in real life have a dog that can stay, much less one that can run in a carefully prescribed pattern, sit, speak, perform tricks, heel and attack on command? Also--if you had a pet rancor, would you really ever let the thing wander freely behind you? What if it stepped on you? Is there a charge if it relieves itself in teh streets of the city? If you didn't feed your rancor, wouldn't it be likely to eat the nearest carbon-based lifeform (ie. you)?
Don't get me wrong: I'm all for the creature mounts/vehicle updates (since we were kind of promised those ummm....before launch?) and the player cities. We need to be able to put some shuttleports in, for goodness sake! (On a side note, the two most appropriate complaints of this game I read in reviews were that the reviewer 'didn't remember so much running in the movies' and that 'this game is a top-notch jogging simulator'. So maybe we could focus on these before we try to create a secondary version of the game of life in the mobs?
And, you know, what about some of those other little things--getting some more in-game CSRs to answer reports of problems. You really do want to plan to have more than 2 CSRs per 10 servers. Would you want to visit a grocery store that hired 2 people for every 10,000 customers? Can you imagine the lines at the register?
Anyway, there's some thoughts. Ignore them, heed them. Whatever. Just my $15.02.
Koheo
I first would like to say that overall I have been pleased with the game although frustrating at times I feel it is an amazing advancement in the world of on-line entertainment.
Things that I feel need to be looked into and affect my game play-
The market and the way that the economy is run and used. Do you have anyone on your staff that has actually run a Business? Maybe you have someone who works for the U.S goverment running your economic area thats why it's disfunctional? Not sure but either way may i Quote "scareface" "First you get the money then you get the women" Fix the economy and the rest will follow...
Broken charcter classes-I am bio-eng that kinda says it all
Changing the color of titles on building's- I personaly feel this is ugly im running through anice valley on Naboo and out pops this huge chain of purple,green,red,ect..ofletters not cool please disable it.
All in all I am sticking with it for those of youwho threaten to leave well go ahead I dis-like whiners anyway and those who whine about leaving are the ones who will more than likley never leave anyways.
Thanks and waiting for more fixes.. Pinwha Island owner kauri server Keren, Naboo
Wow. Nothing in that update helped me at all. I am a master smuggler almost master pistoleer. And yeah, neither of those got touched. Pointblankarea2 doesnt work. This is not hard to fix at all. Just copy and paste pointblankarea1, but up the damage. Maybe your Smuggler designer was a little too approriate for the job and is just selling all your secrets on ebay while doing no work at all.
And there was nothing about loot other than it being lessened to 10 items, which only happens on krayts as far as Im concerned. How about addressing the fact that soloing fort tusken isnt worth my ammo?
Smugglers arent all that hard to fix. Just give them some pistol stats so a master smuggler/master pistoleer can be as good with a pistol as a bounty hunter. Also some dodge and range defense would be nice. Make last ditch dizzy.
Well, hopefully my character will still exist when the space expansion comes out. See ya then.
Q, when are u goign to tone down player pets more? I read holo's old post about there hams being brought into line with players stats.
Today I got hit 3 times by a lvl 30 pets and died. They are 3 times as fast as us walking and hit hell of a hard 300 plus damage. Its a no win situation unless you can kill the pets, but normal players can not do.
And killing the owner is to hard with the 75% reduction in damage, just its just a mater of time before that pet kills u because you sure are not going to kill the owner in time.