Development Cycle Archive
Thread: Desired Rewards
Some of the things i would like to see,
1) Some kinds of unique pets. Doesnt have to be high level or even combat related. Just something really neat looking. Perhaps has a complex and unique animation when you do trick1 and trick2.
2) Along the schematic idea. How about one shot schematics for new floorplans of new types of houses? And maybe a new kind of droid.
Q-3PO wrote:
What reward would motivate you to do a long, hard quest or dungeon?
Components. I think possibly the easiest way to make rewards very worth while and keep crafters involved would be to make the rewards component based, requiring a crafter to put them together. For example, if you want to make a weapon a reward for a long quest, then make the quest have several steps, during which you pick up a variety of resources / components - and the last stage of which would be a single use schematic.
Set these quests to be completeable only once, and set the durability on the items high - two or three times normal. Make the stats the equivalent of a perfectly crafted item made with perfect resources. This way it's worth doing the mission, but it won't imbalance the game.
I like the Idea of a new title, maybe one that is hooked into faction as well.
e.g. You go on this uber-quest for Vader, which also raises your Imp faction, as a reward you unlock the title 'Vaders Personal Lackey'.
But the catch is if you let you Faction fall to far into the negative it would re-lock the title so it can no longerbe used. That way you couldn't have a whole bunch of rebels running around with the title. This would also make those factions have a bigger impact on our gameplay.
Irkath Farsight
Lowca Bounty Hunter 2/2/2/2
This post got me thinking - what's really at the heart of this question is "How to Keep the game interesting?". The game is terrific, but we all know folks are beginning to hit a wall.
Any MMORPG needs to always have "Something waiting over the next hill". You can do this in about 3 different ways.
1.) Bigger better loot - they are adamant about keeping crafters viable, but they'll need to fuel the crafters. Give them new, bigger, better things to make on a regular basis. New and different weapons for the weaponsmiths, different styles of buildings, powerups, clothing etc. etc. Right now in the "Desired Rewards" thread on the official forums that seems to be the consensus. But they still need to work it into the game.
2.) Bigger better content - We'll see more content with player cities as they are introduced, and more factional stuff as people rack up the points. But they still need to add new, static content on a regular basis.
3.) Change the game. This is the only one of the 3 that they are tackling seriously. They'll add player mounts, vehicles, and the space expansion.
On the very first quest in the very first movie, Luke gets a lightsaber just for starting the quest. It was his father's, who presumably "had another one crafted," since clearly Luke's father still had a lightsaber.
On the notion of Epic Quests dropping... schematics: "boring" (to paraphrase the Great Homer Simpson).
There seems to be a fundamental conflict: the quest should reward those who complete it with something worthy of the accomplishment, yet not negatively affect crafting in any real or imaginary way.
Ironically, a guy on Bria last week looted an extremely powerful rifle from the Tusken King at the bunker: one that did poisoning and mind bleeds, I believe he said. I've never seen one of those crafted... and he was being offered 250k+ credits for the thing.
So... uber loot is dropped now and then. Super-tough quests that only give badges/trophies are okay, but once in a while they should also drop uber-loot. That way, people are tempted to do them more than once for the chance that the uber-loot will drop.
Most obivious would be player specific items, No more of this here is a reward for your trouble and i get Imperial boots, Im a wookie you blank npc i cantwear boots, And Yes we want items that you can only get as loot, and YES WE WANT THE OCCASIONAL USEABLE ITEM THAT IS BETTER, or EQUALTHAN A CRAFTER CAN MAKE. Make weapon and crafting enhancement items drop more often. From a greater number of mobs and missions.
What do you mean the missions are working. Every quest i have gone on not one has worked or been able to complete. Krayt cave, all of the night sister missions, imperial guy under the tent in bestine. you complete the quest and go back to them and they try and send you baack on the same quest, without accnolging completeion of previous quest. The only one that has worked is the one where i got the boots at the imperial retreat on naboo.
I like the idea of advanced schematics, although it seems silly that everyone is running around with schematics. It does fall within the overall direction of development though.
I would reaaaaalllly like to just have the quests be interesting, beyond the standard format. We see this in every mission we do...be it from an npc or terminal. How about some quests that involve thought, cooperation, storytelling. That is my one true wish. The journey itself could be the reward.
Much better than running 2k each direction to kill a light blue mob to recieve a loaf of bread.
~Tsi
Well. I don't have anything like enough time to read the entire thread, but...
Speaking as a crafter, this persistent idea of 'Uber Schematic Drops' is just horrifying.
Keep the crafters involved, goes the theory behind them - But that seems like an idea based on a complete misconception of what crafting is all about. We're not in this business because we really like dragging resources into the crafting interface: Being a crafter is all about running the business, gathering those resources, working out what will sell, and building and selling those things.
If schematics for super-weapons start to be findable as loot,that will kill the player economy just the same as if the weapons themselves were dropping. Why? Because the market for regular, crafted weapons will vanish within a couple of weeks. It doesn't matter if those schematics are one- or two-use only, the people who want the weapons will do the quests to get them - That's the whole point of the system. And we, the crafters, will find that nobody wants to actually buy the things that we manufacture as part of our preferred playstyle: All we will get to do is sit around the starport advertising our abilities to assemble schematics for people. Worse yet, anyone who's not a Master will be getting no customers at all (already a problem, arguably, but this would make it worse).
Dropped loot has to not intersect with crafted items at all, ideally not even as things that crafters think they ought to be able to make, but mysteriously can't (droidekas, faction helmets, 'unique' potted plants, whatever). Instead, give cash. Give experience. Give faction. Give titles. Give badges. Give extra skill points, if you must.
Just don't smash the only worthwhile player-driven economy in any modern MMORPG...
Sorry, I didn't read all the replies, just to many :-) Got a couple idea's myself.
1. I think what everyone really wants in the game is more skill points. I'm talking about doing a very difficult mission (way harder then the dead-eye) and even that only get a couple of skill points, that might make a big difference after playing for a long time, but would still be something to look forward too.
2. Heard someone mention a droideka. How about dif droid parts that can be assemled by anyone if they collect them all to make uber droideka or something that cannot currently be crafted.
I too like getting rare items from missions and it's more of a feeling of accomplishment then anything else.
I don't envy the office intern who's going to have the job of culling this thread. 
People want unique rewards, not neccesarily uber rewards. I think the development staff should find it very interesting that players have figured out, and actively compiled lists of, quests where the quest item being delivered is MORE valuable (read more interesting) than the actual quest reward!
I really liked the idea that someone had for a special house schematic. Especially if the creation of that house deed required the collection of rare ingredients that were also loot-only items. The result would be a showpiece that any guild or private owner would be proud of.
There's an amazing amount of creativity in the game in regards to housing decoration. I think you'll find that players will go to great lengths to get a real "collector's item". Granted, that like all game activities some people would be ecstatic to get a one-of-a-kind trophy while others would feel "ripped off" by a reward that was for looks rather than for use in killing things. You need to consider the desires of the game populace as a whole.
My best suggestion - Find the developer(s) who did the quests for Mos Taike. That town is the best example of good quest design in the game. The quests are all interesting and/or funny. They give decent rewards, either as cash or interesting unique items. It's even home to one of the better known of the "abort because the delivery item is too cool to give away" brand of quests. Ask that person(s) the same question you asked at the beginning of this thread.
What reward would motivate you to do a long, hard quest or dungeon?
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Well rather than asking for uber loot. How about arare crafting schematic. This way crafters will still be a part of the item creation. Stuff like arare droid or a weapon that a weaponsmith wouldnt be able to make normally, ect...
Im not sure if this was suggested yet but im not reading all these pages to find out.