Development Cycle Archive

Been reading how alot of people want Corellian Corvettes for the Space Expansion. While they are known as "Blockade Runners" informally, they also require asizable crew! Around 40-45 minimum.

While we don't exactly know what the mechanics of SE will be, there will have to be alot of expense to that ship for one person.

Now a "Guild Ship"! That's an idea that people might like. These ships would only operate with a certain number of people on board.

As coolasit may sound to some to have your one character single-handedly manning a Nebulon-B Frigate, it is verrrry cheesy

Keer "Tell-Phone" Tregga

GORATH

Ritualistic,

I like your idea for buying tickets for the whole journey. If nothing else, let us buy the tickets for the shortest-distance, least-cost route to our final location. This would require no additional screens to be designed, and I suspect minimal code.

To those who suggest apartments in cities... I'm a Master Artisan on the Ahazi server. I surmize that I was probably one of the first dozen, having been in beta and logging in knowing the ropes to grinding. Also, I was something like the second to put a MA item on the bazaar for my server. I also have the goggles and signed manual of a Limited Edition box.

How would you feel, if either of these, combined or together, got me a 100% advantage for selling over someone who started even One Week after launch?

How would you feel, if every Dev's cousin, best friend, and significant other had a Coronet apartment, but there were no more to be had?

How would you feel, if the current mass of 3rd-party-script AFK-looters, AFK-Force-Crystal-Hunters, and the like had a lock on these properties? (This assumes you are not one of these.)

How would you feel, if the barely D- passing near-college-dropout on a LAN, who can play 16 hours a day because they cut class, had such a marketing lock, but you, a 9-to-5er with a mortgage, couldn't manage enough hours to play if you gave up sleep, to even consider such a slot?

If there are apartments in the cities, the number of apartments has to be virtually limitless or ONLY the 2% at the top, TODAY, would have a chance.

Now, this COULD be done. Anarchy Online has instanced apartments in the starting cities.

The Bazaar system could be opened up, by quest or some other, infinately repeatible, manner, so the player could post post 6k products on it, or link his merchandise to it from his own vendor, (provided there was no cover charge on his structure.)

SWG was designed so a casual player could play well, (though with notable flaws). SWG was designed so the first people to walk into the wild wouldn't become robber-barons, with a tight, and permanently maintainable, lock on resources. SWG, except for the twin problems of only master-crafter gear being truly worth buying, (when both can charge the same, a novices work is worthless in comparison,) and insufficient FAIR money-sinks, which results in inflation, unchecked, is still a game that a person can start a new character on, and pull themselves up by their bootstaps to become one of the pillars of industry, the GCW, or anything else they wish to accomplish.

Although premium in-city apartments would certainly be a fair money-sink, (on the grounds that only the wealthy would be able to afford them,) they would provide a persistant unfair advantage to the ones who got them first.

Although an access fee on public structures would be a potent money-sink. It would, by percentage of wealth, hit the weaker player harder, as they have less earning capacity. a 100 credit access fee to a cantina means less to someone who routinely picks up several thousand in a couple missions, on loot alone, as compared to a newbie who is still killing meatlumps for exp, and pulling missions that cap at about 600 credits for 900 meters of running.

Houses provide the most fair limit, so far, as they cost to maintain, (but it isn't enough,) and aren't necessary to any mode of play but marketing. Vehicles provide too much utility to be truly a trophy item. Furniture, currently, makes a handy trophy, in that it has no utility but is still desired, but the lack of decay makes it a one-time thing. There is no tax on a chair. This is fair to the casual player, but limits the effectiveness of it as a money-waster.

The best money-sink, so far, is the customization kits. They cost to make. They sell well. NO ONE NEEDS ONE, but EVERYONE WANTS ONE. A grungy orange and grey speeder is no less effective than a hot red and black one, but everyone can see the value sunk into the red and black one. That it will eventually be orange and grey again makes it repeatable.

In some ways, the current badge-rush, be it for location badges or profession badges, makes a handy money-drain as travel and new equipment, and ocassionally training, costs money.

Cities are unfair, except that the city is an institution. A person can join a winning institution, (one that has gotten to level 4 or better,) if they aren't satisfied with living in a no-place-on-the-map outpost.

If the devs want money sinks, they should look here. Each streetlight is a money-sink, and a trophy. No One NEEDS a park, but how many towns lack for one? Statue? Streetlight? Such cost money to upkeep, but the cities gladly pay to do so.

Such non-critical to balance, yet cost-to-maintain solutions are what are needed as money-sinks. They don't penalize the new player, in in-game effectiveness, yet squeeze the avaricious and proud for credits they don't need.

I've ranted long enough. Recap.

Any money-sink that gives an advantage to one play-style, one identifiable group, over another, is unfair and should be avoided. If a player can't reliably start from scratch, on a mature server, and have even chances at success, compared to an entrenched player, then the game is broken.

A money sink that makes it harder to stay rich is fair, as you can get rich again. A money sink that makes it harder to get rich, but relatively easy to stay rich, is unfair.

Smug-Druggler,

Agreed. On the other hand, how many storm-trooper-wannabes in a "Squad"? If the ship requires 3-5 people to operate, it is probably appropiately scaled from the projected real-world truth.

Come on, a "Metropolis" with LESS than 100 people? That's a village and probably wouldn't rate a post office.

I also think the things should be persistant, and take lot space. Perhaps a placeholder item, one lot consumed, that if enough guildies place, then the guild can own a ship. This should probably be done from a terminal, allowing a guildmate to, until they undo it, sign over one or two lots to their guild for guild structures, including ships and the guildhall itself. (Why should the leader bear the full weight of the lot limit?)

---

JDFormersim wrote:

I was thinking about a similar idea. The static cities on Starsider are ghost towns, unless you go to Theed or Coronet. So many buildings which are not used, why not rent them out to vendors or even as small apartments?

---

---

Ritualistic wrote:

Not sure if this has been posted before, the search function in the forums seem to be lacking...

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has felt the pain of arriving at the Ticket Terminal, buying a ticket, then running to the shuttle in the starportjust in time to see it leave.

---

StriderNI, now THAT would work. One building, with a "ticket collector", that looks suspiciously like a turbolift terminal, (in the appropiate curved closet,), with no timer. One "travel terminal", that looks like something else, (a 3PO would be good), works more like an NPC merchant,and is listed as a building registry, and doesn't chargea credit for the ticket. Tickets that don't dissolve, (no point, if they don't cost anything.)

Only problem is, this cuts architects out of the loop, but if the architects provide the deed, and this is installed to start the apartment, so the deed determines floorplan, it could work.

Redeeding could be problematic. I say, don't allow it. Leave it as an option for buildings placed freestanding in the wilds, but disallow it for in-city structures.

Allow a modified "floorplan" room for the installation and maintenance of factories.

CLEAR THE GAMING MACHINES out of the turbolifts in the hotels, and MAKE THIS the apartment front end.

Move the gaming machines to a more appropiate location. The cantina would be appropiate.

By using the existing shuttlecraft mechanics to define which room, (or at least floor,) you are seeking, you avoid making a system unweildy to the user. Intuitive.

Additional points.

Structures built using my modification of StriderNI's idea need to EITHER open into a public hallway, OR have a turbolift terminal where the door belongs.

Structures that have a balcony should probably be disallowed, or the balcony areablocked off/enclosed when used in another structure.