Development Cycle Archive

Based on the fact that most Force-Sensitive people didn't have the slightest idea that they were Force-Sensitive. I think the path to becoming Force-Sensitive should be Mysterious, personal with a twist of randomness.

People who have discovered there Force-Sensitivity, should be guided by those familiar with the ways of the Force, but enhancing your attachment to the Force, should be a long and hard journey.

Si-Gen Kyneris

Europe-Chimaera

Professional Profession Grinder since January 2K4. (22 professions mastered and counting)

Sopublish 9 was forPadawan to master stuff, patch 10 is gunna be FS-Padawan, I know that we are now discussing how we get from say MBH to FS but seen has this is been discussed in the concept forum which publish are we gunna actually see the stuff that gives u force sensitivity.

I was under the impression from the Jedi archives one two and three that when publish 10 arrives my (almost) MBH would be able to start on the path to padawan (the 24 FS skill boxes).

Also if I have donesay 15proffessions how will I get credit for them on the way to Jedi.

I totally understand what we are discussing I am just a bit confused on where this sits in the time frame.

What I mean by that is if the holo grind ends with publish 10 will I be able to go from BH to FS with the stuff that comes with publish 10.

Clouded the future is.

Dith Windwalker
Rebel.
MBH.
4442 Carb.
1111 Pilot.

If you don't make it known then you will have lost my 30 bucks a month. It is unfair to the casual gamer to change the rules of the game just befor they are able to finish ie changing the current system to the new one. This question has made me very bitter and I can tell right now that you have already made your decision. I hope I am wrong but I should prolly start looking for a new online game to play

Jaxom Bladerunner
Imperial Col. Inf.
IRGN
Dark Jedi Sith

I'll start with my opinion on what the force sensitivity path should not be, and then I'll give my opinion on what it should be. In the process I'll suggest a solution to the jedi population control issue.

On one hand, the force sensitivity path should not be perfectly charted. In particular it shouldn't be based on fixed quests given by static NPC's. On the other hand, it shouldn't be a game-design trick like the holocron-based unlocking system either. It should not reward tediousness, like searching an area for hours for a random spawn or conversing with every NPC on a planet.

So, what should the FS path be like? Ideally, the player should not know from the start how to gain FS points, but after acquiring some FS points he should think: "Yes, that makes sense".

In my opinion, whilethe FS pathshould be mysterious, it should also be based on a known logic and known principles from the Star Wars mythology and the jedi and sith codes. It should also rely on normal gameplay. How fast you become force sensitive should just be based on the way you play the game--that is, on the way you interact with the environment and with other players. The FS path should reward values that characterize the light and dark sides of the force: valiance, gallantry, compassion, cruelty, ruthlessness. (Note that this raises another issue: the light and dark paths should diverge very early on). More generally, exceptional behavior and achievements should be rewarded with FS points. This applies to "bad" as well as good behavior, and to crafting as well as fighting. For example, if you're the first one to locate a patch with exceptional resources in a remote corner of an adventure planet, and the first one to craft an exceptional item with this resource, you should be rewarded with FS points.

Such a system could also provide a solution to the jedi numbers issue: certain types of behavior would make youloose FS points, not just to gain FS points. Some "values" should give you neither light nor dark points but, on the contrary, make you to loose FS points. Material greed could be one of those values, since neither light nor dark jedis are characterized by material greed (lust for power is a different thing). For example, a master of an elite profession who decides to spend hours killing green or blue cons just because they drop avian meat that he can sell for 120 CPU should loose FS points.

There already are several ideas in this thread on how to model "values" in the game. See the posts by BabyRancor, Flynn_Nomad, ToppDof, lund0529, bioshock2, or Stooby for example. Some values are easier to model than others.

Valiance is an easy one. Say you have the choice of getting 10000 XP by killing either 10 blue con creatures for 1000 XP each, or 1 red con creature for 10000 XP. What do you do? Also, do you choose aggro creatures, or yellow dots?

Tracking other types of player behavior may be more difficult, but in the course of routine everyday gameplay we often face defining dilemmas that should have an impact on force progression. I'm sure we could come up with a sufficient number of ideas that wouldn't be impractical to implement.

Cartouche

Make it simple. With Publish 9 you've forced everyone who wants to participate in PvP to be a Jedi. If you make it hard and timeconsuming, people will leave out of sheer boredom. They're too weak to PvP and getting jedi would take too long.

Colonel Malachon Draco, Imperial Army
Commander of The Imperial Order
Starsider

What to do should be known. How to do it should have to be figured out. For instance, it should be known that you have to speak with character-specific random NPCs and do their quests to advance through stages of a larger quest toward Force Sensitivity. Where the NPCs are located for each character (can be a different NPC for every player, in a different location, or one of say 500 quest-giving NPCs scattered throughout the galaxy that may randomly work for one or more characters) should be up to the player to deduce with given clues. Such as a holocron suggesting that your first quest NPC may be located on Dantooine by saying (in a mysterious voice, of course) "a farmer on the Arissi plains seems to be in need of some help."

Players could follow the clue-given quests to unlock their Force-Sensitive status by playing out such story-driven quests of epic proportions, quests possibly with multiple light-dark outcomes to determine how far, if at all, the outcome of the quest moves them toward Force Sensitivity.

In a scenerio like that, it would be important for there to be many static NPCs added to each planet giving out these epic quests, but only a set number of them (say 5 out of 500 new NPCs created system-wide) are randomly selected at character creation to be the ones who advance your character toward Force Sensitivity. Anyone therefore could do any of the quests from any of the NPCs and gain whatever material reward they offer (new deco stuff, whatever), but only gain points toward Force Sensitivity by doing quests for those NPCs randomly selected for your character's story path.

So I guess my answer to the question is yes and no. In the days before the holocrons, no one had the slightest idea what they had to do in order to become a Jedi, and the results were obvious: no one made it. Once the holocrons came into play, they not only told players what they had to do, but how they had to do it. The result of this was a flood of Jedi and holozombies. So I think it's important that players know how to unlock their Force Sensitivity (ie, quests must be done for pre-selected NPCs in an epic story arc), but shouldn't be lead by the hand to each one. It should be up to the individual player to seek out and discover the particulars in a way that can't be "grinded" or camped in power-gamer fashion. Force Sensitivity and Jedi characters should be rewards to those who play the game and better the community, not to who can do x feat in as little time as possible; smart players rather than powergamers with clever macros.

Aucka - Eromi - Ecaro
Widowmakers
Test Center
New Aldera, Naboo
Officer - Jedi - Engineer

I think you guys already know what our new "system" of becoming force sensitive will be. If I'm right, then all you guys want to know is whether or not WE (the players) think YOU (thestaff)should tell us what the system is, or if it should remain a mystery, like last time.

Well, it depends...

If you told us what the system is, would we cry and moan about how long and boring its going tobe to become force sensitive?

If you told us what the system is, would we all get gitty and excited about how much fun it will be to become force sensitive?

______________________________________________________________________
Thetiba Osau
Master of whatever i feel like respecing to today lol

/sign

This should be kept a secret and a mystery

This poll "Should Force Sensitivity be a known path or a mysterious one? You decide!" should be posted to the long in screen and not the forums.

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Plateau Mall located @ waypoint 980 -4100 behind the shuttleport in Mesric Sanctuary on Tatooine.

Mysterious.

Too many Jedi are swamping things...on Eclipse 15 Jedi were grouped in Theed, slaughtering everyone and anyone.

4Colonel Griffin Shade
4Combat Upgrade Tester Team Kick to Face
4Real men wear Marine Armor
4"Never stop fighting till the fight is done."
- Elliot Ness