Development Cycle Archive

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Jica wrote:

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KaernLegorah wrote:

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Joslo wrote:
Something about no penalties for high-ranking Imperial officers with contraband seems wrong.

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I think, at the very least, the penalty for Imperials should remain based on Rank no matter whether you're Covert or Overt. That will prevent Low Rank Imperials from going Overt just to avoid scan-penalties.

A lot of this sounds very good. People are saying that Overt (or High Rank Covert) Imperials will be default Smugglers, but if you think about it..... which side of this war is going to be doing more smuggling anyway? That's right, the Rebellion. I mean, I would much rather have Smugglers be useful for BOTH sides, but this is at least a good beginning.

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I agree with this fully.

Also what sense does it make if a private stormtrooper comes and searches a major or colonel's stuff? That is not acceptable in the empire, not to mention that corruption is widespread. Avoiding penalties because of high rank is just as it should be imo..

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Alright, but then how would they prove they're a colonel? Wouldn't that mean that they would expose the fact that they're imperial, thus going overt? There,compromise found. Either go overt (not TEFed, overt) or pay the penalty that a neutral (since being covert basically means pretending to be a neutral)would face. A low-ranking member of the empire would face a faction deduction, overt or not. How about that system?

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SmugglerZim wrote:

Welcome to a *video-game* moron, where the objective is to havebalanced gameplay, which is not happening with imperials being better at smuggling than master smugglers.

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It's also not happening with Rebels outnumbering the Imperials by 63%... "moron".

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And don't tell me imps would be allowed to break the law, as many people have, it makes no sense. A cop is not allowed to break the law, and neither are officiers in the military.

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They are not subject to the same laws! You carry an automatic weapon, you get arrested and thrown in jail. A soldier does not.

If you actually knew anything about being a soldier you'd know that they have their own code of justice and what's legal or illegal for a civilian doesn't necessarily apply.

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TashunkaSapa wrote:

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SmugglerZim wrote:

Welcome to a *video-game* moron, where the objective is to havebalanced gameplay, which is not happening with imperials being better at smuggling than master smugglers.

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It's also not happening with Rebels outnumbering the Imperials by 63%... "moron".

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And this relates to this issue of smuggling and contraband...how?If you think that there should be more imps, fine,. Hell, I want more people to fight against. The way to do it, however, is not to award imperials greater abilities than those who have spent skill points on them.

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They are not subject to the same laws! You carry an automatic weapon, you get arrested and thrown in jail. A soldier does not.

If you actually knew anything about being a soldier you'd know that they have their own code of justice and what's legal or illegal for a civilian doesn't necessarily apply.

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Ok. Again, this does not apply. It's illegal to have drugs on you, solider or not. Solidiers have a specific weapon they must use, not an illegally modified weapon from some back-alley deal.

Perhaps you misunderstood me. I love the idea things are becoming illegal, I can finally smuggle stuff. My problem is people being better at it then me, with no skill point cost. And I disagree that they would only be looking for rebels, then they would be, you know, looking for rebels, not contraband. And where did the Emporer say that histroops are exempt from his laws? You think he wants his army high on spice while they're supposed to crushing his enemies? You think he wants them using unreliable weapons?

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Ok, my plan above with the going overt part would apply in your scenario as well. And I don't think that it would be unthinkable for a stormie to question a "superior" when he's on orders from higher up to search for contraband. Is he going to disobey the Emporer's decree?

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Algeron123 wrote:

This brings an new level of intensity and realism to the game. Spontaneous combat, and new challenges for smugglers sound cool. This is much more like the story line in the movies and books.

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Let's go for broke--why not let covert rebels attack overt imperials? That would bring a "new level of intensity and realism to the game," "spontaneous combat" and all.

I've yet to see an Imperial playing player respond to why this shouldn't be the case. You're the ones arguing for "realism", why not in this respect?

Oh, because it would break gameplay. Just as forcing coverts overt will do. But I'm sure you'll continue walking with blinders on; just be prepared to accept where you find yourselves because of it.

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DrogonOpe wrote:
Hmm... For the Smugglers that are saying that Imp players will be better at Smuggling than you... Um no. As an Imp you can't smuggle your group-mates gear at all, only your own. So I guess in a very small way the Imp is better but on the whole the Smuggler is better for the whole party.

Come on people give us all a break. It's a game and if I'm not mistaken at last count Reb's out numbered the Imps like 5 to 1. Even with the crack-down the Rebs still have a huge advantage, and the Smuggler is still really needed.

As a neut with sliced weapons and armor I want a Master Smuggler in my group all the time so I can travel without too much worry. If an Imp wants to hunt with me that's fine, I just hope he/she is a Smuggler so I don't have to worry about getting caught.

Well that's my 2cr to add to this HUGE thread.

Drogon Ope

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Yeah I agree, Imps are not going to be better then smugglers just because they have a 5% better chance of geting past a scan. Whoopie!!11!1 Because 'Everyone' gets master smuggler so they can get past the big bad scan (that isn't even in the game yet)!

Seriously though, smugglers can still do all of their skills that make them unique (ie:spice making, slicing, faction buying, etc.). This is the best thing this game has seen in a while, a REASON to go Imperial.

I love these changes, it's adding spice (no pun intended) to a game overcrowded with rebs as it is. Life should be tougher for a rebel...you guys are the underdogs remember?

To those complaining about Imp officers not being molested by the contraband checks here's a good analogy. Many of you that have ever been in the military know what RHIP is. For you that have not, it's "Rank Has It's Privledges" (I probably spelled that wrong...oh well). The Empire is a military organization. It's not about to question it's high ranking officers about what they are doing unless they are doing something like selling death star plans.

Also, for those that say it doesn't make sense for an Imp to be a smuggler; That doesn't hold water either. Many companies that are heavily reliant on computer systems hire hackers to test and maintain their systems against other hackers. It's perfectly believeable that the empire would hire smugglers to keep abreast of spice and it's uses, weapon and armor creation, and so on.

I say see what happens with these changes before crying foul and that the game is coming to an end. Most combat oriented characters that I know of spend lots of time hunting NPC rebs or imps anyway, now they are going to come to you. They may attack on sight, but lets see if you rebs can beat them. If you can, more faction for you. If you can't, don't travel alone, use droids (gasp), stay out of non-player city cantinas.

Or better yet, all you people that are currently rebel switch to Imp and all us imps can change to reb and we'll play the game the way it's meant to be played.

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SmugglerZim wrote:

Ok. Again, this does not apply. It's illegal to have drugs on you, solider or not. Solidiers have a specific weapon they must use, not an illegally modified weapon from some back-alley deal.

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Why is it that no one can look at Imperial slicers as some kind of "armorer" who improves the performance of equipment? Did you miss my note several pages back about US tank crews "slicing" their tanks in Desert Storm?

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Perhaps you misunderstood me. I love the idea things are becoming illegal, I can finally smuggle stuff. My problem is people being better at it then me, with no skill point cost.

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They're not better than you. An Imperial Officer can't slice anything (there goes 14 of those points), can't make spices (oops, another 14 points), does not have any dirty fighting abilities (there's 14 more points gone), does not automatically comprehend all languages (5 points), does not lose/award half faction in PvP (4 points), cannot trade faction points for cash (3 points), and cannot buy faction points from a recruiter (2 points).

Furthermore, they cannot assist a group in moving items past a checkpoint. Now, tell me again - what exactly is it that you spent points on that Imperials can do for free?

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And where did the Emporer say that histroops are exempt from his laws?

I don't think that it would be unthinkable for a stormie to question a "superior" when he's on orders from higher up to search for contraband. Is he going to disobey the Emporer's decree?

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The Emperor has commanded that subordinates will show proper respect to their superiors.

The Emperor did not command his legions to search their own officers. There is no Imperial decree to purge the ranks. It is unthinkable for a Stormtrooper to question a superior, or you simply don't understand what a Stormtrooper is. They're not just normal dudes in white armor. They are brainwashed, highly disciplined and militaristic. If the Emperor commanded them to search their own officers, perhaps then they would. But he did not - the fact that they're allowed to pass unhindered is proof of this.

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TashunkaSapa wrote:

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SmugglerZim wrote:

Ok. Again, this does not apply. It's illegal to have drugs on you, solider or not. Solidiers have a specific weapon they must use, not an illegally modified weapon from some back-alley deal.

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Why is it that no one can look at Imperial slicers as some kind of "armorer" who improves the performance of equipment? Did you miss my note several pages back about US tank crews "slicing" their tanks in Desert Storm?

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Do you know what you're doing while slicing? You're removing the Imperial "safe-guards" on the weapons (which alsois, in effect, subvertingthe Emporer's will). Official US tank crews making official improvements to their tanks is not the same as some guyillegally making modificiations to your gun. If it was official changes, the guns would be issued that way.

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Perhaps you misunderstood me. I love the idea things are becoming illegal, I can finally smuggle stuff. My problem is people being better at it then me, with no skill point cost.

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They're not better than you. An Imperial Officer can't slice anything (there goes 14 of those points), can't make spices (oops, another 14 points), does not have any dirty fighting abilities (there's 14 more points gone), does not automatically comprehend all languages (5 points), does not lose/award half faction in PvP (4 points), cannot trade faction points for cash (3 points), and cannot buy faction points from a recruiter (2 points).

Furthermore, they cannot assist a group in moving items past a checkpoint. Now, tell me again - what exactly is it that you spent points on that Imperials can do for free?

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*sigh* Did you read what I wrote? I'm getting tired of saying this : Who can smuggle items better, a master smuggler, or a "high-ranking" imperial? I don't care about that other junk, some of it shouldn't be done by smugglers anyway (smugglers don't make spice, they move it), I care about the actual smuggling. And I've also said this, the group thing is irrevelant, people are going to go imperial in order to avoid the need of looking for a smuggler, or spending the skill points themself. You've admitted it yourself, that's one of the reason you support these changes, to get people join the imperial ranks. Why do they want to join? Because an imperial makes a better smuggler (in the sense of who can actually smuggle items of course. Just so I don't need to repeat myself) than people who have spent skill points on it.

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And where did the Emporer say that histroops are exempt from his laws?

I don't think that it would be unthinkable for a stormie to question a "superior" when he's on orders from higher up to search for contraband. Is he going to disobey the Emporer's decree?

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The Emperor has commanded that subordinates will show proper respect to their superiors.

The Emperor did not command his legions to search their own officers. There is no Imperial decree to purge the ranks. It is unthinkable for a Stormtrooper to question a superior, or you simply don't understand what a Stormtrooper is. They're not just normal dudes in white armor. They are brainwashed, highly disciplined and militaristic. If the Emperor commanded them to search their own officers, perhaps then they would. But he did not - the fact that they're allowed to pass unhindered is proof of this.

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You're messing up some issues with causality here... The "fact" thatofficiers areallowed to move unhindered is only a "fact" because the devs changed it to that, along with the command that "subordinates will show proper respect to their superiors". These are not valid reasons for the change, they are justifications made after the change. The Emporer's commands would change to fit whatever decision the devs made.

This is an excellent message to send to the young folks on the game. If you're high level enough, you can do anything you want without penalty!

viva la enron!

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Thunderheart wrote:

Based on community input, we have made the following changes to the Imperial Crackdown penalty schema.

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mmaughme wrote:

Imperial input, only. Why are you ignoring Rebel input?

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I am a Lieutenant Colonel in the Alliance to Restore the Republic and I have only one thing to say...

If you are Rebel and don't want to get attacked....do not carry contraband. No one has put a gun to your head and told you to carry contraband items. I had to replace all my armor and weapons, dump my spices, and get rid of my faction soldier pets...because I don't want to be forced into PvP.

It's a bit costly, but it was my choice to buy sliced stuff before and my choice to get rid of same.

No one is making anyone carry contraband and they've given plenty of time for people to replace stuff. All the whiners should be sucking it up and dealing with it...or break the law and take the risk... You make the choice, then you choose the consequences...