Development Cycle Archive

Thread: Weekly Roundtable Discussion (Week Ending 4-19-04)

Ghost25
Tue Apr 13, 2004 12:15 am
#66

Lets try this again...


Hey TH,


I was wondering if we could get an official *OFFICIAL* word on shooting at PCs from within the confines of a base. Some have heard some CSRs saying that the bases can be used as bunkers and it's allowed, others have heard CSRs saying it's an exploit and there has even beencases of hearing allowed/exploit from the same CSR. If CMs can huck their diseases at a base andmind diseaseeveryone within, are those inside this bunker allowed to shoot back?


I'd just like to get players and CSRs alike on the same page.


Thanks a lot.





Derek Brightblade

Commander of the 7th Alliance Tactical Division ATAC
Master Jedi Sentinel of the New Jedi Order NJO

Snikrop
Tue Apr 13, 2004 12:18 am
#67

Dev posting/and number of users in game seem to be at lows we haven't seen yet. Can we assume that you are working on a new combat revamp and fleshing out how the Jedi system may change at this time? Things are grinding to a standstill as lag isn't being fixed on dantooine. As the weather gets nice our guild is looking pretty empty considering they've been told that most of the fixes should be ready for discussion about the time the space expansion is ready for purchase.



" When you go to sleep, if you in fact sleep, does it take two star wars fans' blood to calm your nerves or are you higher than that now?

justG - When I am trying to go to sleep, and I am tossing and turning at night, the things that keep me up at night are combat, and jedi, and spaceflight, and things like that. Let me tell you this, we absolutely LOVE our jobs. And we LOVE this game. We are dedicated to doing whatever we can to enhance your play experience. And it usually only takes one fan's blood to drift off...
" JustG
wickedHangover
Tue Apr 13, 2004 12:22 am
#68






Tavian_McMaster wrote:



I agree this would be cool, but it's impossible.


When no one is around, structures do not exist. They only load when someone is in the area. So you cannot get info on status when it is non-existant. I suppose it would be possible to have locations though, or just make structure waypoints undeletable.







I don't see how that logic is possible, the information is stored in a database and emails are sent when structures are damaged. If my structure was to disappear completely from the game because nobody was around it, then that would require all the information in the database to be wiped out as well.


I can understand if adding the quanity of items in the hopper (input or output) would be more difficult, but again, this stuff works off a pretty specific math logic.


But none the less, I'd be just as happy with just a listing of the structures and waypoints of each structure. Right now I know I am using 4 lots. I can only think of 2, my 2 houses with stores, and cannot even imagine where the others are, or even what they are.


It would just make a whole lot more sense to go with this type of approach and I just wish they would implement it.







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Ragnaat
Tue Apr 13, 2004 12:23 am
#69

PLEASE, I beg of you...

Not another hotfix without starting a thread for them in the In Live forum where we can go to talk about them in a centralized place.

The Mob AI/Warping hotfix went in last week after 2 days of un-acknoledged warping bugs on test and followed by *NO* place for anyone on a live server to really provide feedback on the bugs that made it to live. While I haven't tried to test the cahnges I have noticed a few cases of pets warping out in the open when they have no reason to, cases where it takes *way* to long for a kreetle chasing me to get around a building that it should prbably have known about, as well as cases where folks are still able to trap animals even after the patch (still people finding ways to stay safe in the lost durden (sp?) village on talus).

But more then wanting to get your attention on issues with warping (i'm sure plenty of posteres will do that) I want to impress upon you that this whole communication system and breakdown of the forums into levels will only work if you regularly start appropriate threads. Otherwise you're just left with the original mishmosh of input spread between roundtable threads, test center bug threads with posts from people on live, people posting abut bugs in gameguides, etc. etc. etc.



:: Retired... For the moment ::
-I support going slow and being careful.
focus thread (n.): there for us to focus on while they went behind our backs and did whatever they wanted to, anyway. (Source: AngusMacGregor)
Ragnaat
Tue Apr 13, 2004 12:26 am
#70

P.S. Its been a few weeks now since pub 7 and still not even a boo from a red name on the addition of the spice downer's downer [white barred primaries]. What is so hard about acknowledging something like this as a known change that didn't make it into patch notes or a bug you'll pass on and have people look into?



:: Retired... For the moment ::
-I support going slow and being careful.
focus thread (n.): there for us to focus on while they went behind our backs and did whatever they wanted to, anyway. (Source: AngusMacGregor)
wickedHangover
Tue Apr 13, 2004 12:33 am
#71






Saratoga wrote:






As an armorsmith with well over 200 "items" worth of resources, not to mention factory crates, looted components, etc...

I'd like to second this inquiry. I beleive that the item limits can be lived within for non-crafters (lived within, not "is right", it should still be higher) but this is extremely limiting for a crafter.

Idea for a solution... allow architects to make a specialized storage unit, that will only store resources. This item would take up more than one slot (5?) in a house, be limited to one per house, but would allow for the storage of up to 100-200 resources, depending on quality. no crates, no other items, only resources.






I think the best idea is to create a warehouse structure. The warehouse would have an input hopper like a factory. It would take one lot and hold 100 items on the base model. An architect can a second storage cell to hold 200 items, but at the cost of 2 lots. Each storage cell would be accessed from a separate input hopper to decrease the lag of displaying 200 items. Maintenance would remain the same for either module and cost somewhere between the small and medium house. The cost of lots is sufficient enough.


This idea has been around for a long time and would be the ideal solution.







just let us open more bank accounts. If we could all have 3 bank accounts (only 1 per planet though) then it would solve quite a few space issues, I think. That would give us all an extra 200 spaces to store things, not use any of our plots and make the most sense.





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Kiashia
Tue Apr 13, 2004 12:36 am
#72

Here is one..... have the devs EVER stopped to notice that EVERY time they do a ballance issue pve "exploite fix" that less and less people log in? Do they ever wonder why? Maby its because if your not intended to win at some point, then whats the use of playing the game.



Kiashia [90 Elder Jedi, 90 Spy, 90 Medic, 90 Bounty hunter, 90 Commando] The crystal is the heart of the blade. The heart is the crystal of the Jedi. The Jedi is the crystal of the Force. The Force is the blade of the heart.

nnn((((((((((nnnn]9X9ggggggggggggggggggggg)


wickedHangover
Tue Apr 13, 2004 12:51 am
#73






Kiashia wrote:
Here is one..... have the devs EVER stopped to notice that EVERY time they do a ballance issue pve "exploite fix" that less and less people log in? Do they ever wonder why? Maby its because if your not intended to win at some point, then whats the use of playing the game.







its funny you bring this up. Without quoting specific competing games that are coming out, in beta, ect...many of the reviews/first looksof these new games tend to have one phrase in common, to the effect of:


"Even at the lower playing levels in the game, I felt powerful enough that I was able to enjoy playing the game right from the start and never felt a need to grind to higher levels"


As they continue to kill PvE in this game I find that it really is getting boring. There are far too many middle of the road critters to kill in this game, and the few high HAM critters are way to camped for me to bother with. It seems that there is no benefit to grinding in this game, yes, as you grind to master you continually are able to kill harder and harder creatures, but the number of creatures on the high end is limited.


I took on a few canyon krayts since I started and I'd say that 3 out of 4 times my kill was stolen. Krayts used to spawn almost anywhere on Tatooine, when did that change? I have not seen a krayt south of ft tuskan since september. And the ones that used to spawn south west of jabba's palace and south of wayfar seem long gone. I though krayts were the reason wayfar didn't have a shuttle...


What this game needs is more content for PvE, new creatures. We don't need new creature mounts. That's silly, we need new creatures to kill. Dathomir should be covered in creatures that range in HAM from 10k to 400k. I'm talking creatures too, not NPC elders. It makes no sense that the hardest creatures to hunt in this game are on starting planets.


Even on planets like Endor, the hardest thing I ever found there was a blurg with 70k HAM, where's the higher level things to kill? And if they keep making the hard things harder to kill, the game will really suck. I like killing rancors. If all of the sudden I can't and I'm stuck killing razor cats on corellia cause i'm not in a group, I'm going to have to go to one of those other games.


Dev's - I'm sorry I like to play solo in a mmorpg, but face it, there's a lot of us like that. We just want to have the group option, not be required to use it. It's also nice to chat with friends while playing. Stop hurting the solo players. You killed PvP enough, stop messing with PvE.








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LostGod
Tue Apr 13, 2004 12:54 am
#74





From what I gather this is suppose to be a discussion on the future and direction of the game, so I would like to comment on the Economy of SWG and the direction it is heading.



Currently, Im sure all would agree that the Economy in SWG needs major work. Credits are poring into the economy, and few are coming out. Spenidng those credits can be more annoying than anything due to the fact that most vendors are empty, and there is no variety on those that have items on them. Crafters are also left with playing a game that is more tedious than anything, hunting for various resources, and constant crafitng, all to make a product basicly identical to everyone elses. I will try to make a list of some specific problems and possible fixes below.



1. Problem: The overall value of credits is dropping as credit poor into the economy, and few are coming out.

Solution: Its all about credit sinks. I know people will get mad if prices go up, but I have seen many good ideas for new features that could pull credits from the system without raising costs on everything else. I personally beleive missions should pay less, being that I can do 4 to 6 missions that pay 10k - 20k per hour solo. Either the missions should pay less, or be harder to complete.


2. Problem: Empty vendors, and the inability for buyers to get what they want, and the resulting Spam in the citys.

Solution: Empty vendors or vendors with less than 5 tiemsshould dissapear off of the planet map, and vendors that are empty for more than say 2 or 3 weeks should be deleted. The bazzar needs to be reorganised so that Items can be easily found, and go into the catigorys which they belong. Spaming in citys should be banned. It cant be that hard to put anti spaming code in. The only real reason someone has to spam is trying to get Aprintice Points, and well something needs to be done about those too.


3. Problem: Lack of variety, and inability to make a unique product.

Solution: This problem can only really be solved by major changes to the game, experamentation, and crafting systems. I would guess that it would be easiest to do along with the combat revamp. That way it would all be done at the same time.


Here are some sugested changes by crafting profession:

Weaponsmith: Make speed and Damage different areas to expeirament on.

Make resources for some parts more available so that actually making the items is not such a pain.

More weapons that offer high lvl users a vaible alternative to the dominant weapons currently in use.


Armorsmith: Raise encumbrence on higher level armors, and lower it on the lighter armors.

Armors should not be made wearable due to buffed attributes, or should come off when buffs go away.

Resist types other than Kinetic and Energy need to be made more valuable in non PVP combat.

Make reasources needed on some parts easier to get so production isnt so tedious and expensive.

More armor types, including heavy armor that is more dificult to wear but offers better protection.


DroidEngineer: Its hard to say with current changes being implemented, but I am personally a fan of the Idea of the

DroidControler profession, or perhaps giving Squad Leaders the ability to controll more and higher lvl

noncreature pets.


Tailor: Current choices between armor and some tailor items and balanced heavily in favor of armor since buffs negate the

diadvantages of armor Adjusting the above armor encumbrence and making it so that buffs dont allow armor to be worn

will make tailor products more viable.

Make taiolr experamentation tre effect more than sockets and color choices. Resistance to or reduction of death decay?



Chef: Looks good to me. Im sure a chef can tell you more.



BioEngineer: Again it looks good to me. Perhaps more tailor enhancments would be nice.



Architect: More items that will need to be replaced by the end user.

A role in the GCW, such as base and turret constrution.

Mobile field bases that can be put up by Squad leaders and act as a camp you can fight in and offers combat bonuses

or manable turrets.



Doctor: Make buff power and duration different Experamentation areas.

Low lvl one use mini buff packs that can be sold and used by anyone. (half the buff, but can be made and sold on

vendors)


These are just my ideas to help with the overall economy and make the market usable. a greater variety of products and more choices in gameplay are also a result.

Just my 2 cents Bragi of Eclipse

Dapper_Dan
Tue Apr 13, 2004 12:54 am
#75

Can we please get some more information about Jedi changes planned soon.


Specifically, when will more Jedi specific content be released. I can not speak for a lot of Jedi yet, but I do not look forward to being another MOB that gets camped than any other person who is now or wants to play Jedi, in a game where becoming Jedi was the biggest selling point.





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Renairdor
Tue Apr 13, 2004 12:55 am
#76

Variety of suggestions to help PvP in the short term until the Combat Revamp is completed:


a) Allow Doctors to have an area cure poison, based on their current location and have a cure rating/range based on the skills and materials to craft the area cure. This would deal with the majority of issues where CM 'dominate' large scale PvP and hence discourages large scale PvP. (it's hard to cure members when the lag sets in with a 10 vs 10 or larger battle)


b) Dizzy is widely perceived as 'too powerful' - but one of the main reasons is folks stand while already standing, while having the dizzy state, and fall again. A very simple code fix is to prevent /stand from triggering dizzy while already standing. Folks will still be dizzy for a few seconds, but bad lag will not end a battle 'cheaply'. There could also be a 'fall down' timer after standing, where you will not fall for at least 10 seconds. That would greatly enhance the PvP experience, especially in high lag situations.


c) Stun weapons are 'unbalanced' since there is no armor that can effectively protect stun weapons. Due to the introduction of krayt tissues and Akalay bones, commonly 'weak' stun weapons are now super powerful. The very high end PvP game is purely dominated by krayt/akalay stun weapons.


Suggestion: Modify stun layers to work as other layers.


d) Stat buffing: The common 'L33T' PvP templated character now run around with maxed mind, and minimum action and health stats since a good doctors buff can easily add 2500 or more to these stats. Base 400 + 2500 = 2900, 7 times the base stat.


Suggestion: Allow buffing to be a % of the base stat. A excellent quality D buff pack could result in 150% of the base, where Janta blood etc... would allow for up to 200% (hard cap) buff on a statistc. This will ensure players have to make wise and balanced decisions on how they buff their stats. It also ensure that 'super armor and super buffs' does not result in endless PvP where dmg is reduced so low, that a stat buff regenerates it as fast as damage is taken.


I believe these changes would be a great improvement to the current PvP and Buff system.


Ren


Reeslo
Tue Apr 13, 2004 3:59 am
#77

Hello!
1. On Chimaera the first two paintings were plants, now for third we can choose from two more plants (from artists winning in the first 2 rounds, I'm afraid they would give the same schems) and a house. Great! No abstract paintings, no Krayt skeleton for the europeans?

2. Does it matter how many pieces of evidence I collect for a candidate at the Bestine elections?

3. Altough I like Sean's reward (I did it on Starsider) for both the vote and the mission, his mission is... lame at least. It's about 5 minutes long, I get to know NOTHING about the history of Bestine. Are there other historians? Did I miss them? Or we just have to wait the next time he wins to find out if that ship really was the one transporting the first settlers?

4. I've heard of no Tusken raid in Bestine.

5. It would be much more fun, if not only the current featured art would be shown in the museum, but all the previous winners. There are a lot of empty rooms im the museum.

6. Also it would be fun, if we could choose not only from paintings (well, we'll be happy with them for a while), but statues (like that cubic piece of art in the museum), or something like Sean's rug...
Reeslo
Tue Apr 13, 2004 4:15 am
#78

Hello!
1. On Chimaera the first two paintings were plants, now for third we can choose from two more plants (from artists winning in the first 2 rounds, I'm afraid they would give the same schems) and a house. Great! No abstract paintings, no Krayt skeleton for the europeans?

2. Does it matter how many pieces of evidence I collect for a candidate at the Bestine elections?

3. Altough I like Sean's reward (I did it on Starsider) for both the vote and the mission, his mission is... lame at least. It's about 5 minutes long, I get to know NOTHING about the history of Bestine. Are there other historians? Did I miss them? Or we just have to wait the next time he wins to find out if that ship really was the one transporting the first settlers?

4. I've heard of no Tusken raid in Bestine.

5. It would be much more fun, if not only the current featured art would be shown in the museum, but all the previous winners. There are a lot of empty rooms im the museum.

6. Also it would be fun, if we could choose not only from paintings (well, we'll be happy with them for a while), but statues (like that cubic piece of art in the museum), or something like Sean's rug...
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