Development Cycle Archive

I seem to recall reading a dev post stating that this was s'posed to be a fair distribution of mounts across a wide variety of planets. That having multiple mountablecreatures from the same planet would be a can of worms theydidn't want to open up, initially. Those creatureswere, however, on the list of things to beadded as the months progressed.

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"Hey, Herb!I just saw that FFXI has chickens - er - chocobos ... Add carrion spats and kaadus to the mounts list quick, before we lose our subscription base!"

On another thread it was mentioned by the Thunderheart that the Bio-Engineer would be getting a new ability to scale down the level of pets...thus, they could scale back a Dewback or Bol to level 10 so a non-CH can use it as a mount.

As a Bio-Engineer, I think this rules. For players not wanting to "ride a chicken", it should rule as well.

-Lazar Eikiam

Naritus

I just hope that the Kaadu that I already own will be ridable.

Either that or I wanna ride a dwarf nuna once the devs get around to expanding the mount selections.

In the meantime, DEVS you're doing a great job!

ok, sorry to post a message with a simple question such as this, But i need to know, its so freaking important, ok here goes it.

First Question - Mounts!!!!! Will i be able to mount a Mountain Dewback or just a dewback?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok that is my question lol, told ya it was a simple one.

Muhah Dracon <Prodigal Exiles> Rebel - Pistoleer - Creature Handler Yada yada yada

I will have my revenge! Revenge for all the suffering, all the pain, all the trauma that was caused, how dare they shut down the servers at 4am

Yo, If you look next to my name it says Crature Handler, yes thats right Creature Handler, Now if somebody that actually knows what i am talking about, i would very much appreciate an actual answer.

Muhah Dracon <Prodigal Exiles> Rebel - Pistoleer - Creature Handler Yada yada yada

I have to say that it is hard to get excited about creature mounts, knowing that as a non-CH, I will not be able to use most of them. I don't really see the point in putting all this work and hype into a feature which only benefits the already overpowered CH profession. The proposed CH nerfprimarily hurts non-CH players, and this just adds insult to injury.

Oh well, maybe the vehicles will be better. Or will we need to be a Master Vehicle Maker to use those? If so, please let us know now, so we know where to spend our skill points!

Is anyone listening to me? Helloooo?

Bio-Engineers are going to be given the ability to scale back the creature level of pets, thus allowing things like the Dewback to non-CH players.

Now Im a (almost) total newbie to these boards, and to SWG in general <had the game about 2 weeks, and played maybe over a 5-day period of that>. I dont know if even some of this submission is in the right place, but I just felt like adding my two-penneth.

What I found - and am still at the mo' -finding frustrating, is the constant running about when you cant get a shuttle somewhere. Call me lazy (go on I know youre going to), but I find this detracts from the game, especially when youre running into mobs that you just dont WANT to or have time for, and those that you just cant handle. And with the lag, you cant avoid accidentally running into them btw. It just takes SO much time when you could be doing other things with your char'.

Anyway, I just tried on the Test Centre tonight, the creature mounts - I love 'em. They can move (some of them at least) at a pretty decent rate I feel - in relation to just running around. And add to that the /gallop, and wey-hey! youre away. And it was fun too.

However, I did find a couple fo what I thought were bugs:

1

Im a relative newbie at this game ( and a total one to these posts), so if you could please have a little patience with this post.. (Had the game about two weeks, played about five days worth in that time). Also, I hope Im not posting this in entirely the WRONG place.

One of the most frustrating aspects Ive found in this game is the constant running about in large areas - ie. somewhere youve GOT to go, but where you cant get a shuttle to get you close enough without this traipsing to. Call me lazy ( I know some may) but I find this a bit of a time-wasting activity (when I could be doing more interesting things to develop my avatar) and also a threat to that very same development.

An example of which is - say youre on Tatooine, travelling to a location, and having to do so through open desert. Fine, I can handle the odd creature mobs if I come across them, or avoid them altogether, but say they are - desert demons - theyre somewhat sneakier, in gangs, and tend to be much tougher than my poor lowly start out character. And by God are they persistant. I inevitably end up incapacitated, and hence the waste of time, and detraction from them game. Yes, I know theyre a part of the game, and yes I know its a risk that someone travelling through the Tatooine desert would be susceptible to. But sometimes, you just dont WANT to have to be constantly running into them, or if you do, at least have a fighting chance (say white or yellow markers against them, instead of red all of the time). And due to the lag sometimes, youre on top of them (or vice versa) before you can do anything about it.

Anyway, this brings me to my point (yeah, phew! lol). The creature mounts. After hearing of these, I thought - "cool, thats a good idea!". I tried the mounts on the Test Centre.. again - COOL!! I found they were just the thing I was hoping for.. almost. They were easy to control, had a great turn of speed (especially the Kaadu, and Carrion Sprat), and also it was a lot of FUN riding these things around. Others seemed to be having a good time plodding (or loping, or strutting) about. And the /gallop command was a useful, and granted, logical command to have at hand. After having experienced them, I can't wait to have one (or more) of my own on my regular server. And this also holds great promise for when the vehicles arrive (::crosses fingers:: "Please, and soon"). Maybe it was just the experience of something a bit new, maybe its because Im a noob, but at the very least, I feel that they will be better than just having to run about.

Then the "almost" comes into play. I noticed a couple of what seemed minor issues that would seem to need improvement, or at least clarification:

1) When using a ranged weapon, I tried to attack a random mob. I couldnt, and the message "You cant see that target". Is this a bug, or something by design, so as to stop you firing from your mount. Would that be too easy - i.e. your mount taking the brunt of the damage? (Maybe this would encourage players to dismount, and fight on foot, so as to preserve their mount - I know I probably would.) But firing from a mount could also be a positive game aspect, along with its own set of challenges, i.e. accuracy mods to it. I personally think it would just be a blast (no pun intended).

2) As I moved away from the Jawa, out of the city I was in (The retreat on Corellia - cant remember the name), And AFTER the message I got when I tried to attack a mob - I tried to dismount, and got the similar message "You cannot see that target" (referring to my mount). I had to return to the vicinity of the Jawa before I could get off the thing. This seems more like a bug to me. Also, Im sure I could mount/dismount anywhere in the city before the non-attack message that was later displayed. To test this, I tried different mounts too, with the same results. Cant have it all it seems.

I do realize that these are IN TESTING systems. And thats really why I set this message out. Id like to know if these are bugs (which are going to be removed before application to the servers), or whether deliberate design ideas.

However, I must stress how much I appreciate and enjoy the creature mount idea, and experience, and offer all my encouragement to the guys doing the work on these and future game concepts of this sort. Well done and, thank you for your time.

Ragnaz

(PS - any idea yet when the mounts are going to be making an appearance on the main servers, and how to go about getting one - if any different to the Beta method?)

Oops, sorry about this - I was typing it, and accidentally hit the post button while part way through, but then hit the stop button and thought I had caught it... Obviously I didnt.

Told you I was a noob lol