Development Cycle Archive

To start off, I have unlocked my FS slot, and play my jedi as much as I possibly can. I have just gotten married, and have a child on the way, so my free time to play has somewhat dwindled compared to the 40+ hours a week that I use to play. Before the flames come on how only power gamers and people with no life unlock jedi, I unfortunately had this free time due to a severe clinical illness that kept me out of work and at home for 3+ months. With not much to do, I played SWG. It was during this time that Holocrons were first introduced, and I ‘ground’ through all my Holo professions, and spent the next couple of months working on the after Holocron professions until I unlocked. As I am now back at work, my time to play SWG is a few hours a day, if I am lucky. Anyhow, I digress from the main point of this thread.

I agree that the holocron grinding to unlock has got to stop. Before the holos I was a simple CH/BH, so I admit I added nearly nothing to the global economy except the few creatures that I sold to people and the occasional armor or weapon buy. I always knew who the best crafters in the area were, and seeked them out when I needed something. When the holos came, it was a crapshoot trying to find good crafted items, as most of the long standing masters abandoned their careers to try to unlock. There was a glut of money introduced as more missions were taken, and no items were bought as very few were of quality. Prices rose dramatically as every scrambled to make a buck to afford their next profession.

Anything that is done with the system must try to cater to the players, but also keep in mind the need for long standing and experienced crafters. Sure someone can grind to a master crafter in days (or hours in some cases), but they will not have the knowledge and abilities of someone who has played the crafter for months. The global economy depends on these people to remain, to pass on their knowledge, and supply the player base with quality items.

The quest method that has been thrown around should not only take months to complete (and by that I mean for someone playing 8 hours a day, 7 days a week), but must also encompass everything that SWG has to offer. The one thing that I learned from grinding the professions is respect for all the other professions in the game. I now understand why entertainers and doctors pray for tips, and how annoying it is to have a master smuggler tag on and be searchable going into Coronet on a Saturday afternoon. I have taken on some of the most powerful creatures in the game, and have lived to talk about it (well, most of the time). I have tamed exotic creatures, went on quests from one side of the galaxy to the other, searched under the scorching sun of Tatooine for days for the elusive hermit and his quests, killed rebels by the dozens charging through Coronet with my PA, collected rare items, sold my wares in every city, seeked out and visited all of the POI’s (and more that don’t give you a badge), experienced everything the game had to offer.

The quests should not only be fun, but be challenging as well. Instead of having a waypoint to go to and deliver an item to, have a vague description ( a smuggler in Theed) and no waypoint. Have different professional checkpoints along the way (you must deliver a large house deed made by your own hands, kill this creature using nothing but last ditch, etc.) Create a quest system that allows a person to explore the world of SWG, to enjoy it, and have fun, while at the same time working towards unlocking.

I think regardless of what happens with the jedi profession once a initiate becomes a knight they should be obligated to take on a padawan learner, same goes for the dark side

I had an idea last night. You all know how theres NPCs scattered throughout the galaxy, well make each person have a unique NPC they have to talk to. At first you won't know the NPC is going to give you the quest for the Jedi slot, he/she will give you these search and rescue missions or something (usualy NPC missions) but at the end of this specific NPC, you either get a hint as to the next person to talk to or you get a new quest for Jedi.

Just an idea.

"The path of the Jedi is barred by many gates. You are approaching it's first. If you pass it, you still have only begun the long march. DESPAIR! For the path you attempt is known to few, traveled by fewer, and may never be complete."

When I started playing SWG, the path to the Jedi was totally, undeniably, unknown. There were hints, many of which involved everything from strange, addled hermits in the wilderness, to the now-discovered drudgery that is Hologirnding.

The current path is about as far from what I'd imagined as possible. Since the Developers have asked for our comments, I will try and outline for them what *I* thought would make a rather well-done system.

The first thing you should know about my system is that it is very continuity intensive. By that, I mean that it will STRICTLY follow the timeline in regards to many things. As such, a few ground rules are nescessary.

1. Jedi are RARE. By rare I mean any one server may have as few as five FSCS characters in the WHOLE GALAXY, at one time.

2. Jedi will be attainable by anyone, and the path will be TOTALLY independant of any skills you currently possess.

3. The main reason this system may never be in place is that Jedi should NOT USE SKILLPOINTS for skills. More on this later.

'Unlocking Jedi Powers'
Jedi Potential finds a randomly placed Master NPC, who apprentices said Jedi. The Jedi will learn all the basic skills from the Master Jedi.

1. The Master NPC's are placed by Live Event Teams. This allows the Dev's to keep a solid grip on the number of Jedi in the game.

2. Master NPC's will not move. As long as the Master lives, the 'hut' or home that the Master lives in will be a static part of the Galaxy.

3. Master NPC's will be attackable by anyone who is not it's apprentice. This, combined with the fact that the Master NPC will only take one apprentice, will prevent players from posting the location of their Master's all over the Forums. In doing so, they are basically destroying their only source of training.

'A system available to all'
The Master NPC does not nescessarily have to be in a hut in the wilderness. They may be in a small building in a dark alley of Mos Eisly, or may be hidden in the mists of Moenia.

1. This will allow non-combat players a chance to find a Master without risking themselves in the wilderness.

2. Since the number of Jedi is set by the Developers, if they feel there are not enough Jedi on the servers, they can change Master numbers or locations.

3. Also, if a Master dies, then a new master should be placed for a new Jedi to find.

'Apprenticeship System'
If a Master is slain, his Jedi becomes a 'free Jedi'. Free Jedi may still practice the skills they gained from their Master already, but CANNOT learn new skills until they find a new Master.

1. Free Jedi must find an already-apprenticed Master to continue their training. This will encourage Jedi to seek out other Jedi, and also allow higher-level Jedi to easily find trainees for Apprenticeship Points.

2. In order to make finding other Masters easy, Jedi learn a Force Skill that allows them to sense other Force Sensitive characters nearby.

3. Jedi will also be encouraged to look out for each other. If one Jedi is not careful or secretive, he may blow the cover of all his fellow Jedi Students, and possibly get his Master killed.

'How to keep Jedi secret.'
A Jedi in this time period is a hunted thing. Secrecy is VERY important.

1. Jedi gain Notice Points for using obvious powers or showing a lightsaber in public. These notice points decay at a fixed rate regularly, so that a Jedi who has become to noticeable can lay low for a while and become harder to find

2. At fixed levels, Jedi get certain consequences for their actions. A rough example to give ideas:
At 100 NP: Jedi is recognizeable in Contraband Scans
At 500: Jedi is placed on Bounty Hunter Mission Terminals.
At 700: Jedi is immediately recognizeable by all law enforcement, and shot at on site
At 1000: Jedi's actions have revealed his master. Palpatine sends a specially trained Dark Jedi Apprentice to slay the master.

3. Jedi who has sufficient skill may 'trick' a contraband scan into not working.

4. Passive skills like Mind Trick, and Sense, do NOT cause TEF or incure Notice. Active skills like push, pull, lightning, and using a Lightsaber, incur TEF and notice penalties.

What I've outlined here is a rough sketch of the Jedi system. While I have more ideas to work with (Actually, I've mapped the WHOLE SYSTEM OUT, with all the bells and whistles) I don't want to make a single post over three pages long...

Just ideas. Don't like them then feel free to Flame.

I keep coming back to this thread to read the great ideas, and they only get better However, I really dislike the concept a few a put forward, that seeker of the FSCS is not to know what they have to do, that is should be an accident to accomplish it. Sorry, that's the worst idea I've seen yet. We need a challanging, jedi like, fun, quest based system. Something you can play through and enjoy, unlike holo grinding.

Way back a guy had a post about asssigning weight to the badges and achieving Jedi status by collecting badges, is the best I've seen. Easy to put into place and flexiable.

I had to cut my post short, and as there is no edit buttonm, I will continue it here. I posted several ideas early in this discussion, but really think going with the badge based system is the way now, and those ideas woulf better serve as added content for jedi players, as much of this sould.

There are two issues beign raised by a few of thr communities more vocal members, and I want to go on the record saying these views are the views of the vast minority. To ofen I've seen a few vocal players cause changes just bechause they keep posting big posts on the same issues until it begins to appear many, or most what what they are asking for. Keep in mind very few players read these boards, and fewer post.

Issue one: Jedi should be very rare. I keep hearign this from the same select group of players, and the majority does not agree, in the least. Many players want a chance to try a jedi in game, and the players are paying to play this game. There is no reason to limit jedi, that's how this mess got started. There should never be a cap, or a system that makes it harder for future players to open the FSCS, based on how many have already opened it, or are playing jedi now.

Frankly, making the FSCS the uber thing to accomplish is SWG has screwed up jedi, bad. If it had been left as a open choice, lets say after 90 days of game play, and had jedi hunted ruthlessly, with ungodly advancement requirements, there would be no FSCS or jedi problems today, adn the more jedi like players would be playing the jedi. Jedi status should never have been made a throphy.

Issue two: We shouls stick to the movie story line, again the opinion of a select few. This is a MMORPG (massive multiplayer online role playing game), a type of roleplaying game. I've been poing roleplaying games for nearly 25 years, way pre-computer, and there were never scripts handed out. In RPG's your given a setting, including a background, and choose a role to play. That combination, with a loose framework of rules to keep it orderly, allows the players to write their own story. When the servers went live Lucas stopped telling the story, adn we started. There is no reason to stick the what happened in the movies. Besides, the movies revealed only the tiniest ostion of the universe and it's happenings.

Sorry for the posts lengths, but I felt these views, which most players hold needed stated here. Do an in game e-mail poll, if you doubt me on the majority holding these beleifs. That is the best way to get a true feel. this open discussion is a great thing, so long as we never beleive it contains the opinions and views of all the players, it does not.

first off i dont think that there should be a limit to how many people can become a jedi. i think ever person that plays should have the oppurtunity to become a jedi. i am glad that you are thinking of changing it to quests instead of proffesion grinding that system blows last thing i have time for is to grind a bunch of different classes i dont like or want the idea is to enjoy the game and keep people playing. limiting the number of jedis only tells those that arent hard core players that you will never be a jedi cause you have a job and family and cant play 24/7 like some others. i think that you all allready have a good idea in your head about the quests and and your plan is probably better for the whole swg population then most of the ideas these people have. my sugestion to you is dont forget about us casual players

Just my $0.02 . . .

I think it's important that the Jedi path be:

1)available to any type of character (not just those with certain skills)

2)able to be done solo - it might be easier if you work with others, but should be possible totally on your own (without involving other players, obviously there's going to be NPCs involved)

I'm very much looking forward to the change, as I feel the current 'grinding towards insight' path is so anti-SW-ethosas to be ridiculous.

TH, I was just wondering if you will ever respond to anything in this thread. I just want to know. Does anything said here really matter to the creative direction the Devs are going to take the Jedi in or are we all just wasting our time? I have submitted my idea and many others have as well. How about some feedback? Either a yes or no will do. Yes, the Devs take all your ideas into consideration, or No, the Devs are merely placating you by letting you all think that your ideas count for something and you will actually never affect the creative direction of this game. I know you will probably not answer that but I refuse to waste anymore of my time chipping in ideas when we get no feedback from them. I believe mine and many other ideas on here were well thought out and had very valid reasons to be implemented. I don't mean to sound like a jerk, so if I do, I apologize, but I just want some feedback.