Development Cycle Archive
Thread: In-Concept Open Discussion (6-28-04)
Psykeman420-HS
Mon Jun 21, 2004 2:13 pm
#14
Is publish 10 still including the combat rebalance and is it on schedule?
fkania
Mon Jun 21, 2004 2:17 pm
#15
Here's a thought.....
How about you actually get some hardware capable of handling the large amount of players on Eclipse to allow things to actually spawn???
There is no reason in the world that I should have to change my play time to be late late late at night eastern time to actually see spawns, or get a night job to where I can play during the day when others are at work.
Two nights ago, I drove with occasional stops on Dathomir over 7km to only see ONE SINGLE Brackaset Male, this is ridiculous!!!! I've reported this about 4 times to the CSR's only to be told to hunt closer to the cities! WTH! Why should I have to fight Nuna's or Gorg's for fun, (which I cant call that fun at any level)???
CSR's have come out to the wild and have actually done areatracking, and not found ONE SINGLE mob in range. Then they tell me that they will report it. Well months of THEIR reporting have passed, and you know what, the problem still is there!
My account is expiring on July 27th, and if you cant make it where I can go out and actually kill things for fun since there is really nothing else to do, I will not be renewing my account.
I've done the themeparks on both sides
Have completed all non-circular NPC quests on ALL planets (with the exception of some of the badge quests i.e. hermit, altruism, etc.)
Did all the quests for Padme's sister
Did the Nightsister Quests
Did the SMC quests
Did all the imperial prison quests
Jabba
Valarians
Killed many many many A'aukuans and Nyax, and all the other various encampments
DWB
Corellian Corvette factioned and non-factioned
Opened my FS
Mastered practically every profession in the game
Killed at least one of every MOB in the game
Particpated in the destruction of at least 20 player faction bases in various roles, SL, Smuggler, Commando, etc.
Performed a ton of regular PVP play.
I've particpated in player hosted events, and have held a few of my own.
I've participated in Role Playing Events.
Basically there is nothing left......
The past 3 months, its been really hard to just go out and kill stuff. I'm not into doing missions, because those stupid lairs only spawn 5-6 creatures, and they usually get blown up before I get to them, and I shoulnt have to rely on missions, I thought this game was supposed to emulate a world, well the world on Eclipse is pretty vacant and will lose another soul soon.
TestCenter - Ciale/Riale/Eragi
Eclipse - Ciale
Tstorm
Mon Jun 21, 2004 2:24 pm
#16
This isn't exactly an in-game issue, but there doesn't appear to be a way to give input into the forums we all use.
Is there a roadmap for the forums? I realize there was an "upgrade" recently, but in my eyes the forums are no better as I still have to re-login every 5-10 minutes. These forums are where I come to find out about new ideas for SWG and if I can't login, it's a pretty big turnoff as it reflects on SWG as a whole.
I understand a 3rd party company is involved here, but it would be nice to see some more communication so that we know what is going on, what is an awknowledged bug, and what we can look forward to in the future with the forum system.
Is there a roadmap for the forums? I realize there was an "upgrade" recently, but in my eyes the forums are no better as I still have to re-login every 5-10 minutes. These forums are where I come to find out about new ideas for SWG and if I can't login, it's a pretty big turnoff as it reflects on SWG as a whole.
I understand a 3rd party company is involved here, but it would be nice to see some more communication so that we know what is going on, what is an awknowledged bug, and what we can look forward to in the future with the forum system.
annelid0
Mon Jun 21, 2004 2:43 pm
#17
I'd like to request that when new wookiee armors are added they include some equivalent to the ubese shirt, ubese bandolier, and mabari belt. That is to say, I hope there is at least one item that's wearable with all of the armors that does not decay. Alternately, why not make the belt and bandolier equippable by wookiees? We can already wear belts and bandoliers in non-armor form.
One point often brought up when pushing for wookiee armor to be added is that we were excluded from the ability to use armor attachments to enhance our skills. Without a non-decaying item, we're still at a disadvantage. Our skill enhancement will be short-lived while all other species get to keep theirs permanently.
It's entirely possible that the three items suffer from a bug and were supposed to decay, but at the moment they do not. Any non-wookiee can throw armor attachments into these items, equip them (all at once) with any armor, not lose any protection, and never have to worry about their skill mods being destroyed. Currently, the only option for wookiees is to put armor attachments into actual armor which will decay and render them useless.
If it's a bug that these items don't decay then it needs to be fixed, if it's not a bug please remember to grant the wookiees their own non-decaying items to hold armor attachments.
One point often brought up when pushing for wookiee armor to be added is that we were excluded from the ability to use armor attachments to enhance our skills. Without a non-decaying item, we're still at a disadvantage. Our skill enhancement will be short-lived while all other species get to keep theirs permanently.
It's entirely possible that the three items suffer from a bug and were supposed to decay, but at the moment they do not. Any non-wookiee can throw armor attachments into these items, equip them (all at once) with any armor, not lose any protection, and never have to worry about their skill mods being destroyed. Currently, the only option for wookiees is to put armor attachments into actual armor which will decay and render them useless.
If it's a bug that these items don't decay then it needs to be fixed, if it's not a bug please remember to grant the wookiees their own non-decaying items to hold armor attachments.
Hawk1138
Mon Jun 21, 2004 3:02 pm
#18
I was discussing SW:G with a friend who doesn't know anything about gaming at all, but, enjoyed the films so much, he's seen each one 14 times (even the new ones. O.o) and we got around to missions and quests. The discussion was really a compare and contrastconcerning the films vs. the ACTUAL mission and quest immersion. What really struck me was a suggestion to make certain types of quests Hero Quests. In these, the player accepts a quest and the NPC remains along side the player for the duration of the quest. The player would need to provide protection, transport, crafted itemsand specific choices to guide the adventure. The quest type could vary depending on faction, group, profession, etc. The motivating factor would be Hero Rewards: Faction Reset. (for grouped members of the opposite faction I.E. Imp player helps a Rebel Wookie to get to Endor) Wearable Medals. (as in ANH) Faction Pets. (for factioned members helping same factioned NPC) Faction Rank (as in RotJ/ General Solo). The idea is have the Hero Ceremony at quest completion. Which is essential to the idea. The idea is to provide a badge of honora rank only attainable by a hero and sense of server story. These missions would only be available to masters who have a maxed out their xpor faction points and would spawn as NPCs that are specific to that player, as sort of way to instance the doorway to the mission without having the nightmare of having to code the mission instanced itself. Of course, the factioned missions would carry a TEF so, overt players would effect the quest as well.
Anyway, it seemed like a good way to encourage participation on the GCW for those who's template is complete and a way to include others who would want faction reset and maybe a neat wayfor groups to adventure withjedi who turn from the light or dark side of the force.
Hawk
Zonnend
Mon Jun 21, 2004 3:05 pm
#19
I would like some sort of a creation of a Jawa droid trading community.
A good way to involve Jawas is to be able to sell droids to them at (negligible) credits, and to buy random droids from them (for entirely too many credits). This would:
a) make the act of getting rid of droids more realistic -- instead of deleting them, you sell them to a Jawa,
b) increase immersiveness,
c) create a small market for novice DEs,
d) create a point for the Jawa Trading Camp POI.
e) Buying droids for too many credits won't destroy the DE economy if, say, the droid you got were truly random and you had to pre-pay something like 40k credits for them.... would create a sense of adventure.
Dapper_Dan
Mon Jun 21, 2004 3:09 pm
#20
ArjunThakur wrote:
THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. DO NOT LEAVE ANY ISSUE YOU CAN THINK OF OUT OF THIS LIST. IF YOU WANT TO MOAN AND GROAN ABOUT THE END OF THE WORLD CALL A FRIEND.
I NEED GOOD CRITICAL FEEDBACK FROM PEOPLE NOW
I need a quick glance over the following items, please add anything I'm missing. I'm still updating this list but I want to get things rolling asap.
Punchlist. In no particular order
1. XP loss will greatly effect the abillity for a Jedi Knight to change their template. There should be a way to retrain skills at the Knight level so that:
A. You don't have to do the trials again just to change a skill
B. The immense amount of negative XP that will happen in PVP will not gate you from retraining.
2. Accuracy with a lightsaber is below that of all other melee classes:
Master TKA: +205
Master Fencer: +150
Master Pikeman: +150
Master Swordsman: +120
Master Lightsaber: +110
We should at least be on par with Fencers/Pikemen if not TKA as these classes can gain an additional +25 from tapes.
3. Lots have not been addressed, it was specified by Keldarin that the main character/secondary will share 10 lots. Many Jedi have structures in their name by using the /transferstructure command which has not been labeled a punishment. Please check on what the conversion might do to existing structures.
4. When toughness was modified to not work vs. sabers, it is actually not working now at all if you equip a saber yourself vs. anything. If you unequip your lightsaber then it works properly.
5. The changes to the defense tree have made it very undesirable. There is literally nothing in the entire tree until Master when you get avoid incapacitation which is overall pretty useless.
2 Options have been asked for:
A. Add Melee Mitigation to the Defense tree to make it not only worth taking, but to give us a better chance against melee professions and PVE due to the fact we (at present) are not getting armor mods. I think this is a very practical solution.
B. The Jedi community would like to see the entire Defense tree removed and the state and melee/ranged defense mods spread across the other trees. This will do several things:
- Addresses the concern that Jedi do not have enough skill points.
- Fixes the issue that Jedi Toughness does not work
- Removes a tree that no one is going to take anway
I really don't expect B. to happen, but if it did....well you would have a party going on in the Jedi forum for once
6. Meditation is the core of being a Jedi. It is the first thing every Jedi does in canon. Meditation should be moved to the Enhancement Novice box, with +meditation mods up the Synergy Tree along with Power boost EXACTLY like the TKA meditation line.
Ideally this power boost should function like a average Doctor buff, and can be scaled down during the combat balance when buffs are curtailed. Focusing ones thoughts before combat is a huge part of being a Jedi, and this simple change will affect not only the "fun" factor of not having to run a doctor alt, but also is easy content that mimics real jedi behavior.
7. The voting terminal needs a timer so people don't have to sit around it all day clicking, very frustrating.
8. If you initiate a force power while still, you are then locked in place
9. Instead of "block" as the Jedi's only ranged defense, Jedi should have a small chance to "counterattack" exactly like carbineers. This will let Jedi deal a small amount of damage back to ranged attackers and would easily fix the request for "reflection."
Bonus would be the animation actually returning fire on the attacker. I think this would be very easy to implement (of course what do I know)
10. 2 hand saber has no blocking animations
11. XP loss should have a decay timer. Negative XP should decay some amount every week to help people get back on their feet.
12. The skill points granted for the Apprentice box needs to be tweaked, its not giving anywhere near the amount of points it deserves.
13. Jedi Padawan who are just starting out in the world could use a Robe with some resists.
Ejosispo
Mon Jun 21, 2004 3:09 pm
#21
K Jedis, space expansion, combat revamp, then GCW. As the SWG team attempts to bring together at last what I expected from a star wars game it is my view that it should tackle as quickly as possible the Bounty Hunters role.
My view is that BH's services should be purchased by either the Empire or the Rebellion to assasinate the opposing sides most powerful members (jedis). Of course jedis should always be the most powerful and elite class of all, so how can we expect BH's to compete?
How about making BH the ultimate one on one profession (behind jedi). Take out all their areat attacks and give them mega defenses only if its fighting one enemy (be it player or npc). If it were possible i would make their defenses go way down to almost nil (what it is now lol)if the BH suddenly found himself fighting two or more people. Is this possible to do?
Another area is of course offense. How about giving the BH one special shot that incaps or very nearly incaps almost any player (not necessarilty npc's) no matter what buffs or defenses they have BUT this special shot needsx secs of uninterrupted time to fire ONE shot successfully (20? 30 secs?). The Bh would have to be within shooting range, without moving at all and hope the target will not see him/her during the x secs. Any fighting or whatever will cause the shot to fail... this is to attempt a true "assasination" by trying to hit ur target while they r unaware.
If BH becomes such a one on one force (but sucks against a group) then Bounty Hunters should be allowed a third option of selling their services for targeted "hits" against either imps or rebels without regard of whether the BH is imp or rebel. The BH would be neutral but with the capability of quickly switching sides of the GCW in accordance with who pays them more cash hehe.
An alternative to switches is then simply allowing BH's to target non-jedi players (never giving the BH the choice on who to target... this choice should be made by other players or npc's... this would fit in nicely with a smuggler revamp perhaps giving the smugglers a reason to hide. The system would have to be well thought out .we dont want BH's to be able to grief.
Lots of stuff, i could continue talking.... this is a road i would like to see this game take.
Ejo
Matsubaa
Mon Jun 21, 2004 4:01 pm
#22
Oh... hmm... changes not already planned by the devs... ummm...
Finish with the Ranger changes we were promised in August of 2003.
Finish Publish 5 with the new babies that were supposed to be spawning.
Make wookiees viable for PvP.
Make the /forage command useful, or at least, changeover foraged foods so they show a "filling" stat and a buff timer.
ShimAntillies
Mon Jun 21, 2004 4:25 pm
#23
Some suggestions for cities:
Allow the mayor to alter the geography slightly to allow for more usable building space with city limits, especially since the number of the higher city types is limited and has been reached on all planets.
Add road and plaza tiles for the enhancement of player cities.
Lower the maintence costs of city structures so that a town (i.e. with less than
General ideas:
More craftable furniture and plant options.
Allow architects to color furniture.
More custimazation options for weapons, these need not have any in-game effect, but for ashetic purposes.
Add more color options for armor.
ShimAntillies
Mon Jun 21, 2004 4:49 pm
#24
Something I forgot...
Dead OR Alive BH Missions. Why do we always have to kill our quarry? Let us capture the marks on occasion.
HighT3chR3dn3ck
Mon Jun 21, 2004 4:58 pm
#25
It's really rather simple. Only Master Bounty Hunters will be able to take the player bounties. Furthermore,
a minimum will be set on how much a player bounty will cost, but of course no maximum fee. 200k sounds
abounty right. Then a fee will be taken out of the money and will be a "fee" for the use of the Spynet Operatives.
The "fee" will be given to the "Spynet Operative Fund." The "fee" will be exactly 20% of the price agreed upon, as assuming
that the more money given to the BH the harder the mark is. This will help to reduce friends of BHs from just
placing BHs on anybody. There will be a way for money to drip out the drain of the economy there also.
Furthermore, a person can only place a bounty on someone once a day and they must be able to find a master
bounty hunter. Just a loosely concieved idea.
AgonThalia
Mon Jun 21, 2004 5:46 pm
#26
I started my path on being a Master Ranger with the idea that I would be an elite hunter of animals, an explorer who's knowledge of the galaxy would allow me to travel to unknown paths, face unknown dangers and combat with the deadliest of animals with cunning and skill.
With that in mind, I became a Master Ranger.... and loved almost every minute of it. I then had an idea to start a Ranger Collective, where rangers in the server would sell their organics in one localized place for the benefit of all of the crafting professions. However, in order to do that, I had to drop either my weapon skill, or my Ranger skills.
Knowing that Rangers have no inherent hunting skills, I decided to drop ranger and keep my weapon skills...
My current template is.
Master Pikeman
Merchant 1444
Carbineer 1104
Medic 1000
What set me off was how little Scouting skills had to do with hunting and killing. My long-held idea that Rangers being the elite hunters of the galaxy was shattered. I was far more useful in a group hunt with this template than I ever was with my Ranger template.
What hit me for the first time yesterday was how weak of a hunter, and a killer of animals we Rangers truly are.
I did not throw a trap
I did not miss /areatrack
I did not use a camp
I didnt notice the lack of Terrain Negotiation
This is my problem and I belive the crux of the Ranger issue. I am far from negative, and I love being a Ranger, (read most of my other posts, I am almost always positive) but for the first time ever, I was a better HUNTER than I ever was. Being a Ranger has nothing to do with being a hunter.
Now, my question is...
How can we translate being a Ranger into actual, tangible hunting skills.
Weapons?
A ranger specific weapon would be nice, not good, not bad... just nice. I would still mainly use my main weapon to take down the beast. A support weapon certified for Rangers, like a high powered trap gun (not dissimilar to the US Army grenade launchers). Imagine a Master Ranger, loading a phenacine dart into an armor piercing ballistic housing (made by a WS) then loading that into the grenade launcher. The shaped charge blasts through the Krayt Dragon's tough hide releasing the poison into the beast's bloodstream. I fully support a Ranger Specific weapon, (there are ideas such as a high tech compound bow as well... but whatever weapon is suggested, it must support both the melee and ranged Rangers.)
Camps:
There is a lot of potential for camps. However, at the moment they are merely an experience point obstacle to overcome to gain the title of Master Scout or Master Ranger. Ever since droids/ pets/ mounts/ speeders can be pulled out in the wild, I can count the number of camps I have pulled out one one hand.
Traps:
The Ranger traps are honestly not very good. Most Rangers only use the scout traps, the sonic pulse creates and area of effect dizzy status, however, the effect of dizzy on creatures is nothing. Creatures dont trip and fall like NPC's, they can still use special attacks when dizzy. The other Ranger trap causes an area of effect stun. Something that most weapon profession's specials can do as well, and damage the target too. Traps really need more creativity and lethality.
So... with that said, how can Rangers actually become the hunters that we all really want to be?
1: Critical Strike
2: +Accuracy to melee and ranged vs. creatures
3: +Speed to melee and ranged vs. creatures
4: +DMG to melee and ranged vs. creatures
5: +to Melee & Ranged defense throughout the skill trees.
6: Creature Dodge
7: Survival Instinct (a pre-emptive ability that enables the Ranger to have heightened resists to poison/ disease/ state effects)
8: State effect dealing traps, dmg dealing traps (poison/ disease/ bleed)
9: Stationary Traps: lay the trap, engage the beast, as he crosses the laid trap, a claw snaps and immobilizes them (already proposed, but still very nice).
10: Creature Damge Toughness (similar to a melee profession's toughness).
11: /rescue should either cause damage, or create a status change in the target. It makes no sense that a rancor determined to have my friend for lunch, stop and think, wow, that ranger is much tastier.... Something must happen to draw it away from the target.
12: This one is tough.. Creature Knowledge is most useful at novice scout, where you know what the resists and protections and vulnerabilies are. However, the ranger knows the vulnerabilities and can search for the weak spots. All protections are reduced 5% per level, and 10% at master ranger. The vulnerabilities become even more vulnerable to the Ranger.
13: Misdirection: This would make one creature engage in combat with another creature in the area... a failure means it attacks you.
I have been a Master Ranger for a very long time, and it is very disappointing to me that I am a much better hunter without being a ranger than I ever was when I was a ranger. I am a much better harvester (combat stacked + novice scout + harvest droid + veghash) Than I ever was when I was a ranger.
I realize that JTL, CB, Jedi, Smuggler, SL all need attention... however, I wanted to let the community know that there are some great ideas in the Ranger community that will benefit many other professions.
thank you for your time.
With that in mind, I became a Master Ranger.... and loved almost every minute of it. I then had an idea to start a Ranger Collective, where rangers in the server would sell their organics in one localized place for the benefit of all of the crafting professions. However, in order to do that, I had to drop either my weapon skill, or my Ranger skills.
Knowing that Rangers have no inherent hunting skills, I decided to drop ranger and keep my weapon skills...
My current template is.
Master Pikeman
Merchant 1444
Carbineer 1104
Medic 1000
What set me off was how little Scouting skills had to do with hunting and killing. My long-held idea that Rangers being the elite hunters of the galaxy was shattered. I was far more useful in a group hunt with this template than I ever was with my Ranger template.
What hit me for the first time yesterday was how weak of a hunter, and a killer of animals we Rangers truly are.
I did not throw a trap
I did not miss /areatrack
I did not use a camp
I didnt notice the lack of Terrain Negotiation
This is my problem and I belive the crux of the Ranger issue. I am far from negative, and I love being a Ranger, (read most of my other posts, I am almost always positive) but for the first time ever, I was a better HUNTER than I ever was. Being a Ranger has nothing to do with being a hunter.
Now, my question is...
How can we translate being a Ranger into actual, tangible hunting skills.
Weapons?
A ranger specific weapon would be nice, not good, not bad... just nice. I would still mainly use my main weapon to take down the beast. A support weapon certified for Rangers, like a high powered trap gun (not dissimilar to the US Army grenade launchers). Imagine a Master Ranger, loading a phenacine dart into an armor piercing ballistic housing (made by a WS) then loading that into the grenade launcher. The shaped charge blasts through the Krayt Dragon's tough hide releasing the poison into the beast's bloodstream. I fully support a Ranger Specific weapon, (there are ideas such as a high tech compound bow as well... but whatever weapon is suggested, it must support both the melee and ranged Rangers.)
Camps:
There is a lot of potential for camps. However, at the moment they are merely an experience point obstacle to overcome to gain the title of Master Scout or Master Ranger. Ever since droids/ pets/ mounts/ speeders can be pulled out in the wild, I can count the number of camps I have pulled out one one hand.
Traps:
The Ranger traps are honestly not very good. Most Rangers only use the scout traps, the sonic pulse creates and area of effect dizzy status, however, the effect of dizzy on creatures is nothing. Creatures dont trip and fall like NPC's, they can still use special attacks when dizzy. The other Ranger trap causes an area of effect stun. Something that most weapon profession's specials can do as well, and damage the target too. Traps really need more creativity and lethality.
So... with that said, how can Rangers actually become the hunters that we all really want to be?
1: Critical Strike
2: +Accuracy to melee and ranged vs. creatures
3: +Speed to melee and ranged vs. creatures
4: +DMG to melee and ranged vs. creatures
5: +to Melee & Ranged defense throughout the skill trees.
6: Creature Dodge
7: Survival Instinct (a pre-emptive ability that enables the Ranger to have heightened resists to poison/ disease/ state effects)
8: State effect dealing traps, dmg dealing traps (poison/ disease/ bleed)
9: Stationary Traps: lay the trap, engage the beast, as he crosses the laid trap, a claw snaps and immobilizes them (already proposed, but still very nice).
10: Creature Damge Toughness (similar to a melee profession's toughness).
11: /rescue should either cause damage, or create a status change in the target. It makes no sense that a rancor determined to have my friend for lunch, stop and think, wow, that ranger is much tastier.... Something must happen to draw it away from the target.
12: This one is tough.. Creature Knowledge is most useful at novice scout, where you know what the resists and protections and vulnerabilies are. However, the ranger knows the vulnerabilities and can search for the weak spots. All protections are reduced 5% per level, and 10% at master ranger. The vulnerabilities become even more vulnerable to the Ranger.
13: Misdirection: This would make one creature engage in combat with another creature in the area... a failure means it attacks you.
I have been a Master Ranger for a very long time, and it is very disappointing to me that I am a much better hunter without being a ranger than I ever was when I was a ranger. I am a much better harvester (combat stacked + novice scout + harvest droid + veghash) Than I ever was when I was a ranger.
I realize that JTL, CB, Jedi, Smuggler, SL all need attention... however, I wanted to let the community know that there are some great ideas in the Ranger community that will benefit many other professions.
thank you for your time.