CUEmu - Thread Posts

Thunderheart

Wed Jan 21, 2004 11:29 am

Halmet wrote:

Hey TH, I was wondering if you could visit the commando boards and give us some info on the new fire extinguisher. A lot of commandos over there, myself included a little, are worried that this will effectively nullify our only truely working weapon, or in any case a major part of it; the DOT.

Since this probably effects us more then any other profession we would like a little info.

Also if you could give us a time frame for when we can expect the commando profession to be redone; that would be great as well.

Thanks.

Will do.

Today, my focus is:

Runesabre was pulled away on personal business so I am putting the in dev post together on droid handling now (because I know how important it is).

The Smuggler Revamp in -Concept post

Patch Notes for Publish 6

As soon as I can outline it, I will post on it. With that being said, remember that its going to be weeks before its even addressed.

Kurt "Thunderheart" Stangl
Community Relations Manager

Hillslayer

Wed Jan 21, 2004 11:38 am

#327

TH, on the idea here http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=droid_engineer&message.id=54270you said the SP cost was too low and I agree.

I know my numbers were a bit low and need tweaking. If the SP cost were higher would it probably be acceptable? Also for your comment about xp, the players skills are based off thier highest combat/hybrid profession. As for the droids, well it all depends how long the droids last. I figure it'll take quite a sum of xp to raise a droid's skills or, as one of the replies to the other threads said, maybe even your xp.

The main reason for my post wasn't to give exact numbers, but to point to a path that would be different enough from CH that it would attract a different type of player and market. Also I know that this would take time to develop, but we have some great non-combat ideas brewing and according to a poll it seems that over half of us would rather see some new non-combat modules first and give more time for the development of a good, solid, andnew combat setup. The problem with the original DH class was that if would draw the same people as the CH profession. Then there would be split and profession numbers will go down, or if any side was proven better, that profession would be flooded with the other abandoned.

-Jaramar Hillslayer
Ex-Chef Ex-Squad Leader Ex-Pikeman Ex-Rifleman Droid Engineer

SOE's favorite SW quote - "I have altered the deal. Pray I do not alter it further."

Hillslayer

Wed Jan 21, 2004 11:43 am

#328

BTW, the poll is here. http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=droid_engineer&message.id=54308

-Jaramar Hillslayer
Ex-Chef Ex-Squad Leader Ex-Pikeman Ex-Rifleman Droid Engineer

SOE's favorite SW quote - "I have altered the deal. Pray I do not alter it further."

Kyntaro

Wed Jan 21, 2004 11:50 am

#329

I'm not sure if it was posted, but PCs and NPCs that enter the "closed down" Battlefields cannot be attacked.

Players that enter these areas go from red to white.

Noob Saibot
Renraku {R}

Renraku... We put the IMP in PIMP!

Animi

Wed Jan 21, 2004 11:57 am

#330

Thunderheart wrote:

Today, my focus is:

Runesabre was pulled away on personal business so I am putting the in dev post together on droid handling now (because I know how important it is).

The Smuggler Revamp in -Concept post

Patch Notes for Publish 6

The smuggler revamp post should take all of two seconds. All the in-concept posts are just cut-n-pastes.

Trost Bemin Profession Undecided
Tsort Nimeb Munitions Trader Extraordinaire
- Back with a Vengeance. (1) (2) (3)
- Bemin Industries Armor - On Sale Now!
- How to Fix the NGE

blaisedinsd

Wed Jan 21, 2004 12:03 pm

#331

Droids need to be different from metal pets. Droids need to be available to all professions to a certain extent.A droid handler profession is a bad idea. This thread has many good ideas, http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=droid_engineer&message.id=53337&page=1

but also has many off-topic posts. I think droids need to be done right and think it is a good idea to just get DE fixes and some new CL 10 droids while something better is developed.

The basic idea of that thread is to GIVE DROIDS A SKILL TREE SEPERATE FROM THE PLAYER.

To keep with the requirements TH posted the player would have to spend his own skill points on his droid's skills in order to upgrade the droid. The skill tree would work just like the players skill tree and would require experience and a Droid Engineer to upgrade/train the droid when it qualifies for new skills.

Transfering of a droid would automatically cause a memory wipe that would cause the droid to lose all skills if traded.

I also like the idea of making combat droids only capable of attacking of creatures. Faction pets can only attack People ( maybe change to attack more than just faction NPC's). And CH pet's can attack everything.

The droid then becomes unique, and customizable. It would require experience and skill points to advance to higher levels which would slow down the players progress if they use it all the time.

Georb79

Wed Jan 21, 2004 12:31 pm

#332

Georb79 wrote:

Upgraded Protbots here we come. Seems like no matter what we say nothing will change. I will not argue points anymore about DE's. Let us see what you propose in the TC or live, and let the subscribers decided what is the best for this game.

You say the developers are busy, TH I understand the postion you have been put in. You are the door between Devolpers and Us. Its a very hard job to do what you do. I myself would not want it. But this is a insite into the future. This game was created for fun and for the most profit making MMORPG to date. Plain and simple. money runs the show, and the older crowd understands this all to well Some of us have been playing and paying for quite some time now. So we understand what really makes Developers listen...subscriptions. If the Devolpers release another broken or usless part to this game I would expect a major decline in revenue aka subscriptions.

Its time to be proactive against losing asubscriptions rather then doing something to add another 20000 accounts for 2 months. That math doesnt work in the long run. Most of the devolpment team understand what that means to have a galaxy completely empty out. Ask Dave G. From Planetside how it feels to completely ruin 2 games. Tribes2 and Planetside. Both of those games had great following and fan base but have long since died. Consumers are no longer the idiots the suits think. People are becoming aware that this game isnt worth it. I dont wana lecture you guys on business eithics or policies I am sure you guys have enough of that already.

Right now I do like playing this game. But for how much longer. I dont wana control a probot I want a 2 legged combat driod without being a DH. I am a master chef and a master Merchant with some medic and TKA, why do I need to go up a tree to get a nice Combat driod? Can you explain to me why a driod a robot will not take my orders as its owner? If you can come up with good reasoning then I will accept your decsion and deal with it. Right now it looks like your just going to giveprobots just a upgrade in attack power and leave everything else the same.Aprobot doesnt need logic, I am the boss. I tell it whatto do and when to do it. I say attack, it better go attack, I say Guard it better guard. Thats itacombat driod should in no way belike aanimal in reaction or instinct. They are driods plain and simple. I want my driod to be completely obediant. Not sit there when I tell it to attack, like a pet would and not run away just like a scared animal. If I tell it to die then it better stand there and fight until its head pops off. Period

I would also like more content and a walk through in the begining for new players who just get dumped off the imperial starcruiser sitting there in shuttleport not knowing what do next. Maybe you can have a Imperial and Rebel recruiters Guide them for the first few missions something to get them familar with the game mechianics.

If you wanted to aviod this situation right after coding then you should have let the correspondents test your ideas. They are our voices, focused. If you really want a honest opinion the correspondents should be your internal testers and should be privy to your concept ideas. That way to aviod all this mess you are having now 1 week before a publish and release into Test center. You are getting this reaction and wondering why. Why dont you use the correspondent like they should be used as a insite into the game itself and how it is playing out now, and as testers and creators of ideas. Sheesh If I had all these people helping me for free I would be asking them questions everyday how the game is working. Not assuming by your 10 hours of gameplay. Most of these correspondents play the game 20+ hours a week. They know more about this live game then you do. For a fact.

I am ranting now. Stopping but Remember this The devolpers do not support this game. The suits dont ask you for your opinions they look at Numbers plain and simple. You start staying in the negatives, and we will all be losers, Developers and subscribers.

Q did you or someone on the Dev team read this when you decided to post this.....

http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=Announcements&message.id=178#M178

Seems like something is goingon here. I myself have gone through something like this where I used to work know what is going to happen next. I hope you guys are able to get through it in one piece. Best advise I can give you is listen to your PAYING customers if you need to rethink do it. Remember its not your game anymore its our game treat us like we are part of the proccess. If some of our demads or request dont seem workable. Then please let us know and try to come to a compromise.

Your marketing Department is doing things wrong. Trust me there is mis marketing and mis information in almost ever add you place in places like EBX and Bestbuy. Dont make the same mistake you dont want to attract a huge amount of people and then to have them cancel their subscriptions within weeks of playing the game. I am stating this because I like playing the game right now how it is I know work needs to be done but its fun for me and would like all additions to the game to be equally fun and keep me hooked.

Your best ideas never come from internal sources they come from your player base. 1 mind shouldn't be the only concept well you guys have use the free ideas and information from the people who use this website everyday.

Georb
Master Chef
Tarquinas
The Tradersguild -2171 -6220 Tatooine
www.Tradersguild.net

Sketh

Wed Jan 21, 2004 12:33 pm

#333

I know this isn't exactly in the main flow of the topic here - but I would like to bring the following to the dev's attention somehow -

Thunderheart announced that there would be some changes to where you can call a pet here:

http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=csystems&message.id=2024&page=2

Now, in general, I think these are great - except for one thing.

Droids are lumped in with pets.

Many people use droids for crafting.

Where do they craft? In their house.

There are stairs in many houes.

Droids don't do stairs.

End result: you won't be able to use a droid to craft in many houses, and crafting droids are the biggest selling droid out there - a lot of people would rather have an R2 unit with a crafting station, storage, etc than an arch made crafting station.

______________________________________

Sketh Rial - Acting CEO CGZ Enterprises - Trade Minister for Riverveil
Master Droid Engineer - Master Artisan - Propagandist - Novice Carboneer
Visit Sketh's House of Droids (Tent) -3814, -1683 Riverveil, Corellia, Chilastra
Droid Owner's Manual - Version 4

Dex1138

Wed Jan 21, 2004 12:33 pm

#334

kayxfour wrote:
will it take another six months for them to start fixing them? I don't think most people can wait that long, right now everyone is grinding like hell to get ther slots...

Just think how many more people have been waiting for fixes in the 6 months before Jedi were around...

Tol "the Travelling Tailor" Doneeta
* Threads N' Things *
Fine Clothing and Furniture
Master Tailor | Kauri
(no relation to Tott Doneeta)

CarLBanks

Wed Jan 21, 2004 12:53 pm

#335

I would like backpacks to count has 1 item in banks and inventory instead of all objects in general. Like I could have 5 backpacks full of clothing instead of being limited to how much the ENTIRE bank and inventory can hold.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alyk - Bria - Imperial Sergeant - Master Entertainer - Master Musician - Level 0100 Teras Kasi Artist

mmaughme

Wed Jan 21, 2004 2:03 pm

#336

Keiyla wrote:

Thunderheart,

I know you and the teams are very busy, and there are a lot of other issues, especially the DE one right now. But ANY information you could spare on the broken Hermit/Hero/Courage/Honor/Intellect/Altruism quests, and the broken location badge for the Aquilish caves,would be VERY appreciated by a HUGE chunk of readers. Even if the only response is that you can't respond to bugs. We've been waiting patiently for 6 months to hear ANYTHING about this. Two months ago in the Test Center thread, you said you would be looking into it, but we haven't heard anything since.

Hear, hear! I've finished every location badge except the Aqualish, and I don't want to go anywhere near that cave until the badge is finished. And I've spent days on end exploring Tatooine trying to find the badge spawns, and haven't found a single one of them. Are they not spawning at all?

Further, I'm seriously unhappy about being unable to finish certain quests (specifically Huff Darklighter), because I lost Pappy Darklighter's gun to Huff's guard while the quest was still broken.

mmaughme

Wed Jan 21, 2004 2:16 pm

#337

Sir_Voor wrote:

Answer-1:

Have the gifts based on number of characters on your account. (Not counting FS characters) You can have anywhere from 1 to10 characters, so if you have only one character it will get the best gift, and if use all ten characters they will ALL get cheap gifts. And character’s age not a factor.

For example using the up-coming holiday Valentine’s Day.

1 character = Rose covered Archway with lighted roses

2 characters = Rose Bush covered Archway with lighted bases

3 characters = Hanging Lighted Rose Bush

4 characters = Potted Lighted Rose Bush

5 characters = (2) 2 dozen Roses in tall lighted vise

6 characters = (2) 1 dozen Roses in lighted vise

7 characters = (2) 1 dozen Roses in glass vise

8 characters = 1 dozen Roses

9 characters = Long Stem Rose

10 characters = Long Stem Rose Bud

Disguise Rebel Terminals

With the up-coming crackdown by the empire, the Rebel mission terminals should disguise as broken droids or something.

A couple of interesting suggestions. I always thought it was a bit odd to find Rebel recruiters and mission terminals standing about in major cities -- even if the planet is, in general, supportive of the Alliance.

Regarding character gifts, I can see limiting the gifts for many characters, but there are a lot of folks who have a secondary character so they can play should their primary server be down. My Tempest character, for example, hardly ever gets played. He used to be played more often, when Kettemoor was having trouble a couple of months back. Frankly I'd rather not have my primary character punished because my backup character is active. Just because we have multiple characters doesn't mean we're trying to exploit the gift system.

Similary, I have a couple of friends who have characters on other servers simply because they know peoplein RL who play on those servers, and who have established characters. Again, these folks, legitimately having characters elsewhere, would be disadvantaged byyour suggestion.

So I'd amend it to say that, for example, the character which gets played most often gets the full holiday gift, while secondary and tertiary characters get lesser gifts, while the others get minimal gifts -- if anything. Certainly SOE has a means of determining which characters are played most often...

Ragemaster9999

Wed Jan 21, 2004 2:20 pm

#338

Ic3m4n wrote:

That said, I think it is a GOOD idea to make CH obsolete and phase them out of the game. They do not belong, and I personally believe that instead of putting so much effort into creating CH and DE for the original release, the development team should have not even bothered.

Phase them out of the game? You know how many people would quit the game after the super long BORING grind it took them? All that time put forth... and now gone because its "not starwarsy enough"?A profession the devs worked SO hard on and went through SO much balancing shouldnt be suddenly taken out of the game. I agree, its not "starwarsy" but its interesting and different none the less.No other class in a mmorpg iv played has this much support and this much balancing that CH have gone through. Yes it IS popular! One of the main reasons is it was very powerful... add to the fact that most other professions at the time of release were very broken.Worthiness (hint hintimage designer) andusefulness(wink wink chefs)vs endless grinding and fun factor is the balancing force here I would say.. .atleast for me.If, SOE for some random reason, were to suddenly, "destroy" the CH profession, as in remove it from the game, I would EXPECT to be able to instantly become a master inANY SINGLEprofession of my choosing, assuming I have enough skill points. To take away what tookme a month ofboringgrindingwoulddevastate me... and this games populairty. End of story.

__________________________________________________________________________

They should have put all their efforts, and creativity into making droids USEFUL.

To be honest, your probably right. The devs should have made the droids the pets, but they didnt. They made animals the pets. You cant repeat history, and the only intellegent thing to do would be to leave CH pets as "hard earned" pets, and make DE easy to get, expensive, but not as good pets. I never said droids shouldnt be useful. Droids have a place in SW, and they NEED to be in the game. Just NOT in the form of Droidic rancors.

Personally I would love to see droids in the game, perhaps as an alternative tothe long very boring grind to get master CH. ( which is the only viable options it so seems ) Another reason I forgot to mention as to why those go for CH, is because of tanks. Yes, many laugh at the idea of a big meatshield. However, if the majority of creatures in the game were killable by people who had high skill level in combat professions, then things would be much more balanced. As it stands most creatures have too much HP, for the average person to take. Now there are exceptions here and there...but you must remember that CH are a profession, and that they need to stay.

Oh and, for any of you who have spent the endless hours grinding, and I mean REAL grinding like I did... im talkingnewbie creature kill after newbie creature kill manuallyNOT afk macroing, having a big cool mean looking rancor follow you is afeeling of accomplishment, a sign that says " I did it. I survived. I did not cancel my account, make a new character, or start playing WoW" (or whatever mmorpg it may be)

It shows to everyone that your hard work and dedication have payed off... despite a few minor things.

Thats it, and as I said before im sorry to offend the DEs that may have read my post. I know your profession has been broken or underpowered since day 1 and I offer my sympathies. All I ask is the devsput somthing to compete with CH... not remake them.

Oiwik Kalmor the Rodian. Final profession pending.
I love the NGE... don't you?

Development Cycle Archive

Thread: Weekly Rountdable Discussion (Week Ending 1-25-04)