Development Cycle Archive
Thread: Weekly Rountdable Discussion (Week Ending 1-25-04)
Droid Handler.... the worse thing to hit Star Wars since Greedo shooting first.
Droid Handler.... the devs first knee-jerk reaction in 2004!
personally i could care less about DH but the DE's will make out anyway because they will be able to make them. However, If they are not up to par with a BE created creature then they will be about as good as a Load Lifter.
What other skills besides USING a Droid is the DH gonna get:
-will they be able to reprogram a droid or add new commands (eg:CH training)
-will they be able to pull out multiple droids at a time based on the droid level.
-will Droids have DOT attacks or AOE attacks.
-can i 'hack' or train droids in the wild?
To create a profession for the sole purpose of one skill set is completely ridiculous, remember the miner profession from beta??? The DH profession cannot stand on it's own
aaaaaaarrrgh wrote:
Thunderheart wrote:
Vehicles have to autostore.
Do they have to autostore when I've driven 10k out into the middle of &%^*&'in nowhere and gotten off for TEN *@#^*(!*!&^$ING SECONDS topay maintenance onone of my harvesters?
Just a quick note: you dont need to get off the bike to pay maintenance!!!! 
Ellesa, yet indignated
Ill be doing it this week. I had to push it off until some of internal discussions were finished. The timetable was changed because the Droid Engineers were very clear in telling me they wanted Droid Engineering and Droid Handling as two seperate professions.
We were WHAT? Hop over to the DE forum and ASK us. Look at the polls. We would prefer that everybody could use droids in the same way that everyone can use armor and weapons. If you need to include droid certs in combat classes, that is acceptable.
Thunderheart wrote:
Could you drop a hint when we will see the post about the DROID INVASION, please?
Ill be doing it this week. I had to push it off until some of internal discussions were finished. The timetable was changed because the Droid Engineers were very clear in telling me they wanted Droid Engineering and Droid Handling as two seperate professions.
Their argument makes a lot of sense too. A good balance is akin to Bio-Engineers and Creature Handlers; BE's make em and CH's use them. Its really two different playstyles. One is crafting and one is combat/exploration. Adding a class of combat droids to the game has to be similar. Combat droids themselves have to stay level 10 or under for the general population otherwise everyone would rush out and get the better pets. That leaves a wide range of powerful combat droids that needs to be in the game, but to get those droids, players have to spend the time and energy to earn them.
So what we'll have is a Droid Engineer profession and a Droid Handling profession. All players will have access to combat droids up to level 10 and DH's will get a wide range of heavy combat droids to handle.
NO!
One profession, not two!
How many skill points you going to add? If none, you are proposing ruining the dreams of many dedicated engineers/crafters.
Haven't you spent the last 6 months doing enough to us?
Do you see the multi-page poll in the DE forum with a resounding negative to your idea?
Do you even play this game anymore?
1. Weapons- In the beginner professions we get tons of weapon certifications, but as an elite we get 1 more. This seems crazy to me. Why don't we get weapons through the elite professions, or at least a new weapon for master. Another problem with it is, that the best weapons are usually found in the beginner profession certifications (Laser Carbine and FWG5 are just two examples).
2. Droids- What is the purpose of a Droid Handler profession? I don't understand that. A Droid Engineer programs a droid, that is all one should need. You shouldn't need special skills to be a Droid Handler. I do understand the problems that it presents without a specific class, but come on, look at the movies. Phantom Menace and AOTC had Droid Armies, but didn't have a bunch of Droid Handlers running around with them.
3. Jedi- They have real bugs. I am not a Jedi, though I am trying to be. They are supposed to have high defense/reflexes, powerful offensive moves, great strength, and amazing speed. They are reduced to crawling up hills with no terrain negotiation. Their Dizzy/KD defense sucks. Their light sabers do Kinetic damage (How does Qui'Gon Jin destroy a blast door without swinging at it if it is kinetic) when they should be using a combination of heat and energy damage. Their Apprenticeship XP needs fixed. The visibility stuff needs to be better explained, though some are figuring it out. They shouldn't be "reported" if one of their friends sees them. Han didn't go ratting out Luke for being Force Sensitive. They also need some type of recourse on Bounty Hunters that hunt them and fail. If the BH fails when they attack then the BH should be VISIBLE to the Jedi (meaning the Jedi can attack the BH the next time they see him).
4. Specials- Specials need to be fixed period. There are so many broken specials in combat professions it is mind boggling. Two Handed Area Attack 2 does not work right. Chargeshot2 does not work. Bodyshot 3 does less damage than Bodyshot 2. Legshot 3 does less damage then Legshot 2. The list goes on and on, and I am sure more people with more experience can give a more complete list.
5. Resources- Rare resources are something I can understand but some of it is getting out of hand. The Gallinorian Rainbow Gem Crystalline Gemstone for the T21 rifle has NEVER been on Tarquinas. The only way we can get a T21 on Tarquinas is from a loot, and they are pathetic compared to the player crafted ones on other servers. I understand the need for rare resources, but some of it is out of hand.
6. GCW- I know there are many changes coming. I just want to send out a shout to please make rank worth something. I had also posted a relatively well received (though not widely received) idea on the GCW forums about the rank of General being implemented.
7. Badges- Some of the badge quests are broken, and many of us have completed badge quests before the badges were given out for them. We cannot, nor should we have to complete them again in order to attain the badges that we should have gotten to begin with. Please make these as well as profession mastery badges retroactive.
8. Bugs/Bugs/Bugs- The bugs are being worked out, and kudos to the teams for doing it. Many of the old ones are cleared up and it seems more are soon to be cleared up. There are still a great number of them, but at the very least they are not game breaking right now. Keep up with the bug fixes, we all appreciate every one of them that gets fixed.
9. Marriage- Yeah a small and simple part of the game, mainly for RP Purposes, but can we make this kind of cool? I mean we could really do some stuff with this. It is after all about sharing. Let married folks have joint bank accounts. Let them have joint residency in houses. Two residents in one house limits database space used, helps lower the clutter on planet surfaces, and has several other advantages. Surnames should be able to be adopted by either the husband or the wife in marriage (not a huge thing but fun nonetheless). Want a money sink? Have the couple in love have to go to a city hall (player city or NPC city) and buy a marriage license. The possibilities here are endless. And for those of you looking to utilize your Theatres or Cantinas, and has several other advantages. Surnames should be able to be adopted by either the husband or the wife in marriage (not a huge thing but fun nonetheless). Want a money sink? Have the couple in love have to go to a city hall (player city or NPC city) and buy a marriage license. The possibilities here are endless. And for those of you looking to utilize your Theatres or Cantinas, how about renting them out for wedding receptions. Have a bartender on duty for it.
I was going to put 10 things down, but it is too long already...lol. All in all, despite some of the complaints that I have, I do enjoy the game, and do get the most out of it. With a few more fixes, and some of the great ideas that I have read in place, it would go from a good game, to a great game. I look forward to the future of SWG and the many cool things to come.
atjtennis wrote:
Thunderheart on the point that Faction pets are suppsoe to be used only in GCW. I still see imperials out hunting krayt dragons with thier At-St.
No you don't.
Faction pets will not attack anything that is not factioned. Even if they had their AT-ST out next to a Krayt dragon (or a little Krayt dragon) and told it to attack, it wouldn't. It's not possible.
Neither of my computers withSWGcrashes.
Halfblood wrote:
Like everyone I play with crashes NOW. When will this be fixed?
How about fixing a TOTALLY BROKEN PROFESSION BEFORE CREATING A NEW ONE.
BOUNTY HUNTER IS BROKE. FIX IT.
1) SOE and the Dev team have their own ideas as to what is called 'fun'. There are many things you have called imbalance that a vote would have revealed the people did not want it to change. The questioning here from these people basically rolls around to, why are saying you want better communication when you refuse to listen to our pleas? If the game is meant for us, let us have final say. If the game is for you and the Dev team, explain to us why we are being treated like children. You may not see that as an idea of how we are viewed, but everytime you change something we don't want changed there is a 'for your own good' type of answer to follow. How many people do you have to drive away from the game before you actually start 'listening'?
2) You say you want input, but you are not asking for input. You are asking for ideas. We are not being paid to create SWG, you are. We are not receiving hardly anything we ask for, you are doing as you see fit. Close test center down to the general public. It is a fake. You are luring people in to do your jobs. Your team is paid to provide content, fix bugs, and improve game play. Unless SOE is prepared to start paying each and every person on Test Center, this needs to stop. You say it is necessary to see how the game environment will react, I say you are getting free workers blinded by the idea that might actually have a say in something, and we both know that isn't the case.
3) Limitations and ceilings. You say the are for balance. What I say is not printable on these boards. This is another way for you to control what people call 'power gamers'. Your idea is to discourage them, and to get them to move on. I see you want this game to be different, but you have missed it. Power gamers are how games survive the long haul. EQ wasn't great because of all the people who played less than 4 hours a day. EQ wasn't made great because of all those mid-level players who couldn't touch the power gamers characters. SWG will be judged by those who know games because they play them, not by those who know games because they make them. remove your idiotic and controlling limits to cap marks of XP. THis does not do anything other than add additional lines of programming, and additional lines of frustration. If I quit the Rifleman tree with 280k XP, that is mine. I earned it. I should not lose it when I decide to start the Rifle tree again from a marksman rifle 1 box.
4) Player interaction. You know, it sounds like such a great idea. In a Utopian society, this might actually work. Instead, you have people scrambling to find a way to get around this without having to wait on someone else. People create second accounts, third accounts, or even more. They develope all their own chaarcters necessary to not need anyone else. Your restrictions to make Master of the professions is terrible. There should be other choices on how to get to Master of a profession. It is unfair for us to have to stand around in starports begging for someone to let us train them, offering to pay them for letting us train them. Additionally, it removes a great money sink from the game and would slow some people down in their progression if they actually had to pay for training. Drop the apprenticship idea. Make politician a basic like everything else that costs 15 skill points to start with no previous XP required, or make it an elite profession obtainable by mastering any other profession.
5) Communication. Is this what you REALLY desire? Many don't believe you, and that is not your fault. You can't read and respond to every post made. You're only human. What it does show, however, is that lines needed to keep communication are not, and have never been, put in place. Our correspondents can't do it by themselves. The CSR's can't do it or won't do it, we aren't sure which. If this is a mirage, some snow job to make us think we have a say, you need to remove it. Be honest. Tell us, we know what you want, but you aren't going to get it. We at SOE have deemed it not condusive to enjotable gameplay. Even if we get mad, we will be in a better position than we are now. In the dark.
SWG is lucky to still be running. Your job concerning this game is being saved daily by the loyal followers of a galaxy far, far away. SOE's reputation is going nowhere but down. I don't know if you will read this. I hope you will. I hope you will actually respond to your accusers for once to dispell myths. There is a time to ignore those that flame. There is also a time to answer the call. For three years the Bible says Jesus told people who he was and why he was here. This not a sermon, just an illustration. At the end of that three years, faced with his own execution, he stood silent before Pontious Pilate. He would not answer his accusers this time. Now is not the time for you to remain silent, TH. It is the time for you to tell us who you are, and why you are here. We know what you have insinuated, but we don't believe you. Too much has happened to the contrary. You call the nerfing part of balance. Balance is a mirage. It can never be achieved, so stop chasing after it. Give each profession it's own strength. Let players figure out the angles. Remove the mod caps. Let everything be stackable in the mod department, it would be in real life. Make the game fun for those who are really going to play it. A person who plays for 8 hrs+ a day is not a power gamer... he/she is a dedicated gamer. These people make your base. Your foundation. If you lose too many of them, your game will crumble. You need to be focused on making this game better than what EQ2 will be. If you don't, the galaxy will crumble, and the GCW will be over. The customers will have defeated the Devs.
I am usually very quiet on the boards but I have to speak up for once.
I dropped Master DE after the last BIG ANNOUNCMENT had many of us waiting over an hour just to find out that it was nothing but a big insult. Constantly pressing the refresh button to find that they wanted to turn MSEs into rolling bombs and give R2s (among all other chassis) combat modules.
After mastering BE, the CH nerf hit and that pushed me completely out of the game to Horizons (which was a great game with NO dev communication).
I came back and started back up the DE line because I missed making droids. No other reason. And it was easy to pick it back up because they had done nothing to fix the whole DE class. It is the same as when I dropped it.
Now this BS. A new DH class.
No one has asked the one question that hit me first. I am assuming that the current droids will be in the L10 and lower class. How many NEW droids will they put into play to make the DH class worth going up. I hate to compare the two but I need the example. How many different creatures can a CH control? Now, that number will probably be equal to how many droids a DH can control. So you are going to have that many droids added to the game when the current ones arent even completely working!!!! There are so many DE issues and this will just add to it. Fix us!! Fix the other classes before adding!! You guys are good at adding eye candy to keep people interested in a game. We arent going anywhere. Just take the time and fix us before making it worst.
This is a waste of breathe. It has been proven again and again that what we say doesnt matter. But to stay silent is to agree with the proposal. Which I do not.
I thank those who took the time to read what I feel. It is a small voice in a thunderstorm.
Stormnight
Droid Engineer-Gorath-Rori
IMHO Adding another professions for DE's is dumb.
It's a group of people that are stuck up and they think exising DE profession is written in stone.
And no it does not make sense to make 2.
Basically they just nerf themselfs skill points wise.
About one of the dumbest ideas I have ever seen in SWG. Oh well I am not DE I was just lobbying for them to get combat droid. They want to act stupid and nerf themselfs then so be it...
Not everyone Reads the Forums, Can someone Please UPDATE THE DEV CYCLE. In testing is showing DEC 4. If you want people to play on the test server post whats being tested cause why do i care about CH testing if i have noo interest in being a CH. There was a post on the forums about what was though of the AT-AT, I am sure if alot of people knew it was being tested more would of joined just to see it.
If you post it they will come.
Flynn_Nomad wrote:
I seriously dont need to see the objects in my inventory spinning around in 3D. That MUST put a little demand on our systems and/or the servers... Everytime I open my inventory, or a new window for that matter, I get a huge slow down, untill all the items are displayed.
Could we get an option tho shut off 3D rotation in object screens?
Like the other guy said... I think the option is in the game. Look under options
BUT, it makes absolutely no difference at all. None. It's not the spinning, it's the fact that the objects are 3D. If you turn off the spinning, it doesn't help the fact that the objects are still all rendered in 3 dimensions.