Development Cycle Archive

Hereos as nothing more than mercenaries?

If there were a stronger narrative in game would there be as much reliance on giving material rewards for mission completion? I recall having very strong motivation to finish dungeons in AC2 to see the little movies that played when finishing each one.

It would be interesting to see the enviroment reflect missions completion.

For example, make mirrored missions in a town that both the Imp and Reb would like control of. Sort of a cold war or clandestine mini-game for players to compete in. NPCs in this town give kill and deliver missions to faction memebrs. As those missions are completed the game tracks the number of successes on each side and has some sort of local bonus for the side that achieved more. All being PvE therefore not covered in the base stomping exercize of the PvP GCW.

First off let me say that after being a crafter in UO for 3 years I'm glad to see that you want to keep this an important part of the game. That being said I still believe you can have "UBER" ( I prefer Rare ) items that drop. Items such as segments, parts of weapons, add-ons for weps that would be perminent if a wepsmith were to add it to your weapon things like this.I would also like to see more badge type quests such as the ever elusive badge of intel. I have heard of this but not seen it. I think there should be varying degree's of this type of item. Some should be easy and everyone should know of them and others should be much more difficult. Taking some times months to complete for one badge. You know... the right place at the right time sort of thing to start it, then you have to be on at a specific time to meet such and such to get the next part of the quest ( also incurages more game time which I'm pretty sure you would love ). And I would love to see some other things for decorations too.... IE.. Mandalorian Armor ( I don't think this should be wearable but as I am in a PA of Bounty Hunters I would love to have one on display in our PA hall ). I also like the idea of special furnerature and stuff.

Going back to the badges, how about having missions that give you trophy's to put up in your PA hall... ( A trophy case would be nice too ).

I also think the drops are too rare as it is. Some times I don't even bother cause I know the NPC will have nothing on them. I figure I get a lootable item about one out of every 20-30 kills. Why should I even bother to check them all? Especially if I know they drop crap any how.

More skill enhancers!! Of course you have to fix the way they work first.

Crafters still have to make the armor or clothes to use the enhancer. Something like a requested skill enhancer item. For example, upon completion the npc will ask you what type of enhancer you would like (pistol, rifle, medical, creature handler, etc) and you'll get an enhancer that fits your needs. Randomizing it would be BAD since after completing a long quest you'd possibly end up with a skill enhancers you won't ever use.

Its not a matter of rewards...its a matter of things to do.

Take a look at EQ, the main goal of that game is to get the ph4t l3wt by killing very hard mobs in very hard places and getting very cool gear for you character. The thrill of the fight and the chance of getting that very rare item is what drove people to go on raids and work together for a common purpose.

Now take a look at DAOC, that game was driven by the PvP system and the main goal was to build up your character so you could take the opposing forces relics and hold them for your own realm and earn bonuses by having them. It also had quite a few static dungeons (that were different mind you) that had cool mobs that were difficult to kill.

I think the main problem with SWG is the lack of the end game. Once you have maxed out all your skills and bought all the items you need there is nothing to keep you driven. I do feel that adding unique schematics, "uber" resources, and many of the other things mentioned above will help SWG be a better game and not just the eye candy it is right now.

SWG needs more static places of interest that are actually unique in and among themselves that have well developed layouts and hard to reach "bosses" that if you are victorious you are rewarded with FP or items that give extreme bonuses to existing crafter made items. Faction specific dungeons would be a cool idea in my opinion. Being able to raid a large base where you have a chance to sit and plan you attack would be awesome. As it stands now, whenever you attack a faction base, the battles are chaotic and quick and the rewards are not worth the end result. Having "boss" mobs at different points in a base will certainly add to the enjoyment. Also, the bases need to be different, having the same cookie cutter formula for all the bases gets old very quickly. It would be so cool to raid a rebel base and work down to HQ of the base and take out a very hard to kill admiral, general, or a battle tank/droid of some sort. Hell you could even have areas that there are actual battles between factions where NPC controlled soldiers, tanks, vehicles, ATATs, etc are already fighting and you could assist which ever side you are on(i keep reading that these exist but I have yet to actually see any of them in game). The current BF need to be fixed and the rewards for completing them need to be increased significantly. Getting only 25 FP for successfully completing the BF sucks.

The problem with quests the way they stand now where you run to such and such point and kill such and such mob and run back get very very very old after you do about three of them. Having a place where you can go and just hunt for fun and not have to spend all your time running back and forth would add alot to SWG.

Title and/or Badge

House Decorations

Rare one time use schematics for crafters.

Maybe armor than can be worn under certain types of clothing, or vice versa.

Here are a couple ideas, some of which have been mentioned already:

- crafter schematics. And make them like factory schematics, in that they only have limited uses.

- crafter components. Just like the Krayt stuff. Or armor layers with special properties. Or weaponsmith components.

- trophy items. This can be furniture or other items for your house. Or unique pieces of clothing.

- badges.

- weapon/armor powerups.

- skilltapes

More nearly impossible to get items such as mandalorianarmor.

"Mandalore itself is a temperate, albeit desolate, world located in a rather overlooked and inconspicuous area at the edge of the Inner Rim. Making a living upon its surface took on a battle of survival, and thus, the Mandalorians know no other way of succession. Most importantly, however, is the metal that is only found on this planet to date. It is called Mandametal, and is the only known metallic substance that can resist the focused energy output of a weapon such as a lightsaber. Indeed, it takes an enormous amount of power to punch a hole through it, and the armor that nearly every Mandalorian began wearing is comprised of it. For their own single combat engagements, blasters and other firearms were forbidden; they were useless anyway. It came down to either finding a seam or soft spot in the armor and stabbing, or bludgeoning the opponent to submission or death. In addition, the metal is so dense that it actually can blunt a Force impression through it. No Jedi, Sith, or other Force user can project or receive thoughts through its mass. This was, through hundreds of years of use, unknown to the Mandalorians, but was discovered by the Sith. "

--starwarsmush.com

Ok, so we dont have planet mandalore in star wars galaxies.... .... but we have smugglers!

Smuggler or Bounty Hunter quest to obtain the armor should be very difficult such that only a handful of masters would succeed.

Personally, I am tired of everyone walking around trying everything they can do to become FS just because it is the ultimate goal in the game. We need more 'ultimate' goals.

I made a suggestion earlier about making weapon certifications and a weapon/armor schematic to go along with that certifcation as arare reward. But I have a few other suggestions as well. Perhaps it would be possible to reward a player with new combat skills, or for an even rarer reward, unlock a new profession. If it were possible to unlock a new profession, make it a requirement to master the profession which corresponds with the new one.It should also be one that doesn't require skill points to advance through the new profession, just experience and money.

On a side note... I was thinking the other day that there should be some sort of reward to the first person to become a Master Jedi. Perhaps something like adding their character's name in the new SW movie, or even allowing that player to have a small speaking role in the movie. But I definitely think there should be some sort of reward for the person who masters Jedi first.

Faction points, l

arge amounts of cash (100k credits),

Unique trophy items,

skill tapes and power ups

UBER resources (with quantities in the thousands)

how about a few things i've thought of, but i must admit i havent read the whole thread so they might be here somewhere too :

Experimentation point, - one use only tradable experimentation points, so a master weaponsmith say could buy them and use the to truly over crank a weapon

Skill points. i for one know that i'd spend three or four weeks on a quest (i'm a casual player) to get just ONE extra skill point - so i could keep my fwg5 and get a laser rifle too (can you tell i'm maxxed) these would have to be quests that could only be taken once and there would have to be a maximum of say six or seven of this type of quest in the game

as others have said, limited use schematics and or rare laterials would be great, as would cashes of rare resources, it would make my day to find 5k of high qual reactive gas after a hard days questing (yes i'm a doctor too)

also loot that leads to other quests would add to a sense of immersion, like the trasure maps, or better some communication that goes in your datapad and at its simplest gives you a "mark" like a BH or at best gives you effectively a "key" to a more complex and difficult dungeon so there is a "chain" of quests leading you through a story.

i think i better go, i just got in from work and even i can tell i'm ranting

Clarification on my post. I was just using mandalorian armor as an example. It does exist in game and is very rare. Just need more items LIKE mandalorian armor.

The krayts dropping stuff is a great start. I've always heard that there was a planned Mando Armor Quest, but I have yet to see or hear of it. I'd like there to be cross-planet quests, much like BH Missions. Something that would cost me, but reward me in a way that I could never buy.

Really like the epic schematics. Dunno whether to provide a limit or not. I'd be kinda mad that my Mando schematic would have a limit to how many I can make, especially if the current minerals out were crappy.

Here's an idea: Make it so that for the Epic schematics are only useable by Elite Masters of their craft with their experience capped. As in a Master Armorsmith can only make Mandolorian Armor if they have reached the cap for Armorcrafting xp. That would provide an end-game for Armorsmiths, since once you hit Composite, you really only need to make it for money. This could extend the life of a master crafter character, since you never know when you may find that schematic, and you want to be ready and able to make it.

I think all of the idea put forth here are great

I see quite a few in favor of schematic drops, which I agree with

Also the idea of some unique or different items to decorate houses and pa halls with, such as paintings, trophies, furniture, RUGS.

Resource caches.

I don't know how possible it is to make it so we could paint houses (at least on the inside), but if that were a doable thing then you could include loot into dungeons such as pigments and dyes etc... that could be give to a crafter to turn into paint. ( I realize that might be pipe dreaming)

Badges or titles are good.

How about factional quests where completing a rather lengthy quest or multiple quests, give you some sort of recognition for helping the cause. Such as a promotion in rank, your name mentioned somewhere, a medal, maybe some npcs talking to each other about your accomplishments etc..

The biggest thing about loot for me is, I want to find something different. I don't want "Uber" loot, I want things that are interesting, some useful, some decorative. Something I can whip out for show and tell with my firends and say look what I got.