Development Cycle Archive
Thread: SWG Changes Part 2: New GCW Bases and the Planetary Control Meta Game
Rougenndrews
Mon Feb 07, 2005 8:18 am
#391
I should be able to place a base wherever I want to!
Whether it's in town, in the valley round the corner, or outside the cantina front door if I wanted to! and why should I deserve to have it destroyed? I think we have the right to defend out teritory and our bases, and now for a lot of them, we won't!
And I don't think that someone who takes on opposing factions NPC should be able to get away with it without fear of being attacked from real players.
I remember reading in the previous thread a Dev saying NPC will open fire on opposing factions on site, after all this is war! yeh great, it's war, so we can't attack people who attack our faction.
It ingenious.............
ZebStokes
Tue Feb 08, 2005 12:25 am
#393
Community.. Hello again. Please read my old posts if you are hearing ANY of what I am saying here. I have to agree with many of the people who have posted before me. I feel I and many others have offered innumerable ideas only to feel as if they have fallen on deaf ears. This post might be a little disjointed (as I write my ideas down on tiny post-it sized pieces of paper), and I am sorry if I repeat a lot of what I have said in earlier posts. But, once again, allow me to give u some background. I pushed this game on every sympathetic ear I could find since it’s announcement. I have been here since launch. I have endured all of the birthing pangs of the game with many others. I AM frustrated with the game, but I believe in what it can be!! There is an entire Galaxy to explore here!!!
Content, content, content. The game needs individual/group missions ranging in difficulty, that consist of something OTHER than killing a certain type of thing, or delivering the mail. I have been running the same TYPES of mission s since launch… BOR-ING! Multi-tiered solo and multiplayer quests should be available. Missions where I am bribing or blackmailing Imperial officials.. missions where I have to decipher puzzles, etc There is a Universe of stories out there… hire some content creators who are writers/filmmakers/cartoonists...
Random encounters with stormtrooper squads/reb squads commanded by REAL star Wars chars… Piett (on his way up??) Nyen Nubb, General Madine (on his way up the ranks) whatever… and npc voices for those encounters as well
Doctors and Medics should be called to distant starcraft/speeder crash/rampaging war-driod sites where they MUST heal a certain percentage of the wounded before they can leave. (perhaps suffering damage themselves… forcing them to choose between healing others or themselves...??)
Pistoleers should have missions where they have to “gun down” characters from the Star Wars Universe… or go gunning for a troublesome bounty hunter… Pistoleers should have dual wield as well. I mean… think of what images “Pistoleer” conjure. We should have John Woo-esque… Quentin Tarintino-ish moves and flourishes!!! Over the shoulder!! Dual Targeting! Through the legs! Each should have it’s own animation, and combinations of pistoleer moves should open up special COMBO moves!! Pistoleer should be a very flashy, exciting profession.
Music, music, music. John Williams has given us a LIBRARY of music to fill in the background of this game. I don’t care if you have to release a “Galaxies only” MP3 disc… We should have PHENOMINAL musical transitions between locations, events, mission types, and activities.
Give the player character musicians something else to play already. Musicians should gain single note control over their instruments. I would like to hear someone “compose” original music in a macro. NPC voices!! MORE voices for PLAYER characters as well… I want to hear my character’s voice on occasion!!
As a factional PC You should “attract the attention of” REAL Star Wars NPC chars with every attack on a trooper base/factional leveling or whatever… When you LEVEL you should have to defeat Piett.. or whoever.. to advance. (the “Big Boss” system) That way.. by the time you reach general.. or admiral or whatever… you are dealing with Vader or Mon Mothma to get your missions, and battling with Star Wars NPC’s you recognize from the films… at the low levels.. you should only deal with low level rebels/imperials.. nobodys.
CITIES
City functions!!… city militia. Cities should be attacked every so often by planetary factions (Dralls or whatever DECLARED Reb cities should be attacked by Imperials, planetary NPC factions, and vice versa) and the call should go out to all that are signed up as city militia… come defend our city!!! … those who do not respond (and are online) are demoted or financially punished.… City should show graphic damage… smoke, etc.. until HUGE amounts of money are paid into it for repairs…. (could help ease the
City functions!!… city militia. Cities should be attacked every so often by planetary factions (Dralls or whatever DECLARED Reb cities should be attacked by Imperials, planetary NPC factions, and vice versa) and the call should go out to all that are signed up as city militia… come defend our city!!! … those who do not respond (and are online) are demoted or financially punished.… City should show graphic damage… smoke, etc.. until HUGE amounts of money are paid into it for repairs…. (could help ease the
galactic economy problems)
Every planet has so many wonderful NPC factions… let’s give them a purpose!! We should be able to fight for or against them!! Their overall victories or defeats should factor in to whether that planet is a Rebel or Imperial one!! You could conceivably “tip the balance” of the struggle to control the planet by helping the Ewoks… or killing all the Gungans.. etc. Imperials should HAVE to go on patrol every so often, or face demotion… they are the galactic fascists, after all.. and they need to hunt down the rebs. We need droid stealing Jawas!!
Wookie Life day should be abolished next year… the Empire would never stand for it. Maybe celebrated in some remote sectors, but NOT on Naboo or ANY Imp dominated planet…
Give Rebs a reason to go into hiding… but also a PLACE to go into hiding… Troops (whichever side of the Galactic Political fence you straddle) should take money and loot from you if defeated!! This would deter people from carrying large sums of cash… and would inspire people to use the banks. You should be able to BRIBE Imperial officials, tho.. The Empire IS corrupt, after all.
Where is the concept of DOUBLE AGENT!!?? That should be looked into as well.
More controlled events (by SOE DM controller) ONE person per server should be hired to act as the “Galaxies” DM ..hosting events, and making the game more spontaneous…
More NPC Races! Nogrhii, Ymilsarii (sorry about the butchered spelling) Ugnaughts, Lobots, CYBORGS!! NPC VOICES!! I want to hear MY character say something as well..
We need more sectors of space, and PRONTO. The space expansion is a great addition to the game, and should be used at it’s greatest potential. Let’s fly the Kessel Run! (although this should be VERY difficult (even to the most seasoned pilots) it should still be there.) It should be next to impossible, costing most of those who try BUCKETS of money in repairs!!!! There should be more types of space missions as well. i.e. Flight skills.. DIFFICULT navigation missions where you must navigate an asteroid field… if an asteroid hits u more than 10X.. you cannot complete the mission.. (or something) There should be sectors of space that are just.. space as well.. places to host combat, places to mine spices, places to explore the icy tail of comets…. There should be planetless sectors.. but those sectors could hold massive asteroid belts… black holes?? Supergiant suns?? Etc
Where is the Aalderan sector?? I want to fly through the debris… and explore the atrocity committed by the empire. Secret Imperial Depots!! The Rebel Fleet should exist!! (but move around constantly from remote sector to remote sector!)) HOTH!! (AND.. on Hoth… you MUST wear cold weather gear, or suffer damage and die. Shelters should be made available for NIGHT on Hoth. If no shelter at night… again, you die. Some planets should be VERY hard to explore in this way!!
Go to the old MARVEL Comics!! Plenty of source material there… “the Wheel” was a rough space station where many pilots would pass through!! Look to the comics for OTHER great ideas… “Riders in the Void” or “the Last Jedi” (…the droid hating Cyborg Bounty Hunter!!) The garbage planet! all great stories.. There should be sectors only reachable by being grouped.. perhaps a delivery mission to the Rebel Fleet (which should take a while to FIND to begin with) This should involve detective skills… diplomatic skills… and a good deal of combat It should take quite a while to find them… or delivery missions to rebuild damaged Star Destroyers!!
There should be sectors that are only reachable in groups, or certain types of starships.
Asteroid fields that are very difficult to navigate… asteroids I can BLAST!!
Asteroid fields that are very difficult to navigate… asteroids I can BLAST!!
Mynocks should drain the power on your ships if you are in deep space.. or unexplored space too often… or high risk areas of space.. your ship could fall prey to their power hungry appetites. if they are not “cleaned off” at a space station…(more maint fees) you could suffer total systems failure in your starship. There should be a way to check the exterior of your ship for these troublesome critters before you take off.
More Veteran Rewards!! I have been here from the beginning..
Couldn’t you make “blue” space, and do Underwater sections of already existing planets. I believe you asked how to expand what is there already?... Well, let’s see the Planet Core of Naboo, and Gungan City for that matter. The interior of Rori or maybe it was Talus… Hmmm Anyhow isn’t there supposed to be some HUGE INTERIOR section of the planet that is like a giant starship?? … A Cloud City you can fly to!!! Land on!! BESPIN!! You could have vehicles that operate in water only, and a few that operate on land/sea … sea/space… and a few that are truly amphibious and can survive the rigors of Space, Sea and land travel. Again, from the comics, there was a waterworld.. not to mention Mon Calamari and the Clone planet.
DISTRACTIONS
We need more in-game games. Sabbac, Pazzac, Holo Chess!! Dice games, silly bets, etc. That’s just for starters. I believe players should be able to own their own hotel’s/gambling establishments in player cities. It would give the Galactic economy a boot in the pants. These should also offer off track betting on races (perhaps the swoop tracks currently in place as well?) All of the NPC “Gamblers” would then have a purpose. If you beat them all you become a “Master Gambler” or something. Perhaps each NPC gambler you beat increases your gambling percentages.. your “luck” so to speak. There a million different roads to go with this, but the Gambling side of SWG has never been tapped.
We need more in-game games. Sabbac, Pazzac, Holo Chess!! Dice games, silly bets, etc. That’s just for starters. I believe players should be able to own their own hotel’s/gambling establishments in player cities. It would give the Galactic economy a boot in the pants. These should also offer off track betting on races (perhaps the swoop tracks currently in place as well?) All of the NPC “Gamblers” would then have a purpose. If you beat them all you become a “Master Gambler” or something. Perhaps each NPC gambler you beat increases your gambling percentages.. your “luck” so to speak. There a million different roads to go with this, but the Gambling side of SWG has never been tapped.
THE GAMBLER as a separate non skill point using sub-class. You must “beat the house” by a certain percent, or you could “break the bank” if very good. Perhaps you must beat the house 5 X at different casinos to open the tree. Different casinos have different amounts of cash in their BANK… Coronet, Theed, and Mos Eisley should have the most elaborate. Perhaps they could offer games not available at other casinos. You would have to work yer way into a place like that tho… “High rollers” only
Player loans?? Loansharking? (Within the hutt faction??)
I love the idea of having more cutscenes for this game… There should be cutscenes for missions, cutscenes for events in Galactic news (accessable from new terminals?? Different perspective on the same news from Alliance and Imperial POV?? ) AND I would go so far as to say if you character becomes imfamous enough… they would make the Galactic News, or the Alliance Underground Report. There should be different cutscenes for each type of spaceship taking off and landing from each indivigual city!! Who cares if it takes 2 minutes longer or whatever to load… it would bridge the scenes well. (Look at the beginnings of Star Wars RACER for good cutscenes and more planets!) Personally, I don’t care if the load time is increased… as long as it gives the game a more “cinematic” feel. It would “bridge the scenes” well.
STARPORTS
Starports, as vehicular staorage places… should CHARGE player characters for every day their ship is stored there. The more populated a starport.. the more expensive it should be. Player City starports should be in the game, offering a free starport for the payer character. Long term parking at starports “out of the way” should be very cheap. Faction starports should not allow opposing faction landings. You may choose to “blast your way” out of a starport and avoid your docking fees, but if done frequently… you will have planetary forces chasing you down before you can make it safely to Hyperspace.
Flight suits that mean something…Perhaps boosting your in flight reaction time, etc.
I also believe that the “travel” option should cost you money too. In order to avoid being attacked… you are having your “flight plan” mapped out FOR you… it is a service. It should be a nominal throw away fee.. but it should be there. Owning a ship should be expensive.
I also believe that the “travel” option should cost you money too. In order to avoid being attacked… you are having your “flight plan” mapped out FOR you… it is a service. It should be a nominal throw away fee.. but it should be there. Owning a ship should be expensive.
Shuttle wait times and prices shoud flux with the galactic Civil war!! If the Rebels are ahead, the Empire would punish the masses by raising taxes and prices… and increasing wait times.
CANTINAS
Pilots should be able to pick up CHARTER MISSIONS here. These missions should involve piloting skils. (Navigating an asteroid field… gravity well.. “sneaking” through a sector. Etc.) Other mission types to be found here are SMUGGLING missions, and new DELIVERY missions.
Pilots should be able to pick up CHARTER MISSIONS here. These missions should involve piloting skils. (Navigating an asteroid field… gravity well.. “sneaking” through a sector. Etc.) Other mission types to be found here are SMUGGLING missions, and new DELIVERY missions.
DROIDS
Droids should be able to wield weapons. You should be able to name ALL droids, and make them call you whatever you wish. Droids should have more personality. In fact droids should develop personalities over time, requiring “memory erasure” every so often as maintenance. Droid personalities could vary in nature from “effeminate priss” to “psychotic schoolmarm”… it doesn’t matter. If you like the personality.. u keep it, if not, you get the memory erased, and the whole process starts over. There should be a MASSIVE variety of personalities. Droids with developed personalities should be able to do things others cannot do. (wield weapons, drag incap players.. heal… etc. ) However… if the droid personality is “psychotic schoolmarm” the droid should run a risk of “turning on you” Every so often you will get a stable, pleasant, protective, LOYAL personality… Someone you might like to keep.
Droids should be able to wield weapons. You should be able to name ALL droids, and make them call you whatever you wish. Droids should have more personality. In fact droids should develop personalities over time, requiring “memory erasure” every so often as maintenance. Droid personalities could vary in nature from “effeminate priss” to “psychotic schoolmarm”… it doesn’t matter. If you like the personality.. u keep it, if not, you get the memory erased, and the whole process starts over. There should be a MASSIVE variety of personalities. Droids with developed personalities should be able to do things others cannot do. (wield weapons, drag incap players.. heal… etc. ) However… if the droid personality is “psychotic schoolmarm” the droid should run a risk of “turning on you” Every so often you will get a stable, pleasant, protective, LOYAL personality… Someone you might like to keep.
Vehicles should be upgradeable… with booster systems and whatnot… We should be able to fire from out land based ships as well. “I used to bullseye Womp-Rats with my T-16 back home… they’re not much bigger than 2 meters” Firing from vehicles might provide a group attack option against such tanks as AT-ST’s.
Lower level aggressive creatures should not attack you… and low level NPC PEOPLE should actually FLEE you, if you are a high level character. You should get NO XP or LOOT for killing low level critters/NPC’s if u are an advanced character.
LANGUAGE
Here is another area that is untapped. Everyone speaks common… fine. But if 2 Zabracks are talking… I as a human should only SEE Zabrack words in their chat bubble. I shouldn’t understand them. Now if they CHOOSE to teach me their language… I should only see a FEW “common” words in with the Zabrack until I have logged X number of hours using the language… Then I would advance to moderate understanding.. then conversational, then translator status. This kind of concept would make languages good for covert conversations.
Robes, capes, cloaks, rain gear and other items should be wearable OVER armor.
COMBO MOVES!!
More character specific animations.
More house, lighting, clothes, armor options…
Jedi as NPC party members.
Imperial “Identification” needed?? Forged ID’s could be a new smuggler skill. This could give Rebel players a chance to escape from Imperial searches, and through Imperial checkpoints in certain INFILTRATION missions. We could see these in the more lawless outer rims..
We need more virgin planets… unsettled WILD, hunting planets.. plantes for the explorers in all of us.
Why is this game not available in 800 X 600 yet?... sheesh.
If any of these issues or ideas has been addressed already I apologize. Let’s make this game all it can be. Thanks for listenting… let me know what u think.
Zeb
Fremen_Feyadkin
Tue Feb 08, 2005 7:40 am
#394
Wow thats a bad idea.
Thunderheart wrote:
Base Vulnerability
All existing bases will be treated as PvE bases.
To soften the transition, for each existing base you own you will be rewarded X faction points
PvE bases are always vulnerable. When they are defeated, they will explode.
Danos
Tue Feb 08, 2005 11:40 am
#395
Hey TH, is there any chance that you guys could ADD a factional dungeon??? Like say for which ever side has control over the MOST planets in the game gets access to an super dungeon(it would reset twice a month so that both sides can vie for control of it and also so that one side cant control it for any long period of time), with High-level Mob's that drop factional loot, CA/AA's, and everything else that normally drops. Only make the loot all high level??? AND, worth keeping???? 
nefarious2
Tue Feb 08, 2005 12:16 pm
#396
This looks awesome, I've always wanted a base, but as a PvEr I really couldn't defend it.
I hope that the bases aren't like the missions where you have a few troops and one can clear it no problem, but more like having a squad and if they get attacked they call for reinforcements that come out of the base to help defend.
My other concern is the cost. I know that you get the PvE basses with the PvP bases, but what if you only want the PvE bases? Can you buy just those?
jphillips1868
Tue Feb 08, 2005 12:56 pm
#397
Good question. I would really like to know this as well.
nefarious2 wrote:
My other concern is the cost. I know that you get the PvE basses with the PvP bases, but what if you only want the PvE bases? Can you buy just those?
Crimsonsplat
Tue Feb 08, 2005 3:48 pm
#399
The fun part is you know folks are going to try to find remote locations to put their PvE bases down, so they'll stay up longer & contribute to control of the planet. Placement around cities or POI is just asking for them to be destroyed. So half the game is going to be finding the things. I also have one observation... If some players really hate the PvE bases because they think their providing "faction points" or whatever to the enemy, then us poor crafting types ought to buy them up. And when we go out into the wilderness to service our harvesters, we can drop our very own personal defense force for cover, and train "our" guards with the mobs that are preventing us from servicing the harvs. Of course, the devs could make the creatures NOT aggro the NPC's, but that would look kinda funny. Hm... of course that assumes an unaligned player or non-PvP player can place the bases.
Of course this has nothing to do with the evening I spent training the rebel base outside of Theed, at first accidentally, then so I could service my harvs, and later because it was fun to watch all the fireworks in the dark, and get cheesy rifleman xp at the same time!
I am disappointed in that the crafters were not involved in the war more, by making the bases or parts of them require the services of Artisans, Architects, Weaponsmiths, Armorsmiths to build/set up. In particular, Architects lack recurring business, and being able to sell to either or both sides would make for a booming market in stuff that is going to be destroyed, and need replacing. Also, if PvP bases can hold items made by various crafters (for decor), this would be a nice touch of flavor--and a statement by a guild that "We're going to spend money on this base, because you are NOT going to take it from us!" Gauntlet thrown and statement of pride at the same time. And again, crafters get business.
I hope that there will be some thought given to adding this later.
Of course this has nothing to do with the evening I spent training the rebel base outside of Theed, at first accidentally, then so I could service my harvs, and later because it was fun to watch all the fireworks in the dark, and get cheesy rifleman xp at the same time!
I am disappointed in that the crafters were not involved in the war more, by making the bases or parts of them require the services of Artisans, Architects, Weaponsmiths, Armorsmiths to build/set up. In particular, Architects lack recurring business, and being able to sell to either or both sides would make for a booming market in stuff that is going to be destroyed, and need replacing. Also, if PvP bases can hold items made by various crafters (for decor), this would be a nice touch of flavor--and a statement by a guild that "We're going to spend money on this base, because you are NOT going to take it from us!" Gauntlet thrown and statement of pride at the same time. And again, crafters get business.
I hope that there will be some thought given to adding this later.
Tiggs
Tue Feb 08, 2005 8:12 pm
#403
nogoodnamesareleft wrote:
I gotta admit, I thought it was stuipid at first, but then I read the rest of the post and I gotta give you a big WOOT! sounds pretty cool. Quick question, will the PvE base have a lower factional cost then PvP?
Yes PVE bases will cost less
Message Edited by Tiggs on 02-08-2005 09:41 PM