Development Cycle Archive
Thread: In-Concept Open Discussion (Week Ending 4-5-04)
ALECHNAR072 wrote:
Great idea for getting faction points for Crafters... Only items that a person turns in that HE/SHE crafted themselves will give them faction points/perks.
Only problem I see is a real easy exploit for faction points. I could churn out almost 1000 biological effects controllers in an hour (just one example) and that's just using a macro I made with the in-game tools. So even if I only got 1 faction point per item crafted, I'd be able to rise through the ranks way too fast and also be able to buy factional bases in a matter of 5-6 hours and that's if I just craft it all myself.If you make the stuff in a factory, how would the program know you didn't craft it individually? Running 10 factories at full speed and crafting at the same time would net you like 200k of faction pts an hour.
An alternative is to appraoch a factional recruiter who hands out schematics and materials. Says something along the lines of "I've been asked to find someone to assemble xyz module. Here's the components needed and the schematic. " After you build it and hand back or drag the object over the recruiter you get your pay and faction points.
Lets say you get 10 pts per item, then it would be important that your crafting tool takes at least 2 minutes to complete construction of each item. This way you are still restricted to earning a maximum of 5-600 faction pts an hour if you camp out next to the recruiter. It would be the most boring grind ever and result in little gain.
At higher levels of artisan the schematics could become more complex, requiring certain pieces to be built prior to construction of the final piece, and the factional payout would be proportional, if you craft 3 objects and then the final is the 4'th. Instead of 40pts, you would get like 45-50. But this would still keep you making less than 1000 pts an hour.
Nojj wrote:
This is an excerpt from my post in Rifleman: Combat Roles
The only thing that topics like this do is muddle...interesting points...brandishing a sniper rifle, you should have Stormtroopers breathing down your neck.
Can anyone explain to me how critical failures are good game design? If resource production is too high, wouldn't it be better to lower it across the board, than to randomly select players for financial ruination? Even when crafting inexpensive items, the possibility of a failure does not create suspense, it is at best annoying. I just don't understand the need to remind players that their efforts, no matter how great, could very well be destroyed as a consequence of merely trying to reap the benefits. Why? What would happen to the economy if critcal failures were removed? I think the game would be much better for everyone.
You could have a group practice defending and another attack, and see where you are weak. Or simply goofin off with friends when you are wasting time for a PA hunt. 
Can anyone explain to me how critical failures are good game design? If resource production is too high, wouldn't it be better to lower it across the board, than to randomly select players for financial ruination? Even when crafting inexpensive items, the possibility of a failure does not create suspense, it is at best annoying. I just don't understand the need to remind players that their efforts, no matter how great, could very well be destroyed as a consequence of merely trying to reap the benefits. Why? What would happen to the economy if critcal failures were removed? I think the game would be much better for everyone.
Oraion wrote:
oh another thing i think we should be able to have is some new weapons like a vibro sword yeah that would be kewl
or how about something for Terra Kasi, like brass knuckles with a vibro motor, maybe we could call it a vibro knuckler or something like that...
why do people continually propose new weapons that are already in the game?
Even something as simple as "this city is of opposite faction, do you want to go?" At least then I would know what I might be in for.
erroroccured wrote:
My question to whoever played the Eq series is how did they pull better monster loots and drops with crafting still being part of the game? Everyone complains about if loot get improved then it will take away from the crafting professions. I think that is ridiculous. People will stil need weapons to fight with. So I get a great sword, is that going to last forever. PRobably not and why should afighter be punished by being forced to only buy a weapon froma weaponsmith and get gouged by whatever price they set?
Remember, It's not just a game. It's a monthly Expence. Ok, so i dunno if this is the proper place to post this, but here goes anyways. There are a few things id like to discuss and some can be used in combat roles as well, but to savbe myself some time im posting it all in one.
ok...
radar system: The way i see it the radar system takes away from the danger of the worlds you explore, also it takes away a key ability rangers and scouts should receive. I feel that all players should have a base view of radar of 32m. As you increase in scout your range on radar should expand as well. If you go up the Explore tree you should be able to advance your radar to 128m. Rangers should be able to max out the radar after that. This also applies for the ctrl m command, and it should represent the level of radar that you have achieved. With this rangers and scouts can be used for what rangers and scouts actually do. That is lead expiditions and be able to observe from a distance any danger that the group might encounter.
conceal/cover: These skills should make a PC invis until they are discovered. Scouts and Rangers should have skills that can identify concealed or covered players. This will also help the combat roles of Ranger, Scout, Rifleman i feel and help PvP alot when the comabt balance comes out.
Quests: Im sure the devs have talked or thought about this and it is very important to any ORPG. Every class should have quests that apply to master professions. These should be high end quests that are class specific. Of course the rewards for each quest should be different Politicians shouldnt receive armor, and TKs shouldnt get crafter items etc. I know there is already a few quests like this, however, Masters of anything have nothing more to do except master another prof. These quest could give anything from stat mods to schematics to new combat moves, etc. The quests should also make you use your skills to complete the quests. Also, High end mission terms for Master profs like Bh and smuggler should be placed in certain POI's like Jabba's and Emperor's retreat. This will become available after the second run through these POIs and would give a reason to be a Jabba lackie or the right hand man of the emperor and vader. These could also be placed in other POI's those are just examples.
Combat Skills: Liek the proposed changes to weapons, with the skill progression Novice to Master, skills should have the same progression. there should defientely be a progression in how well you use your skills. Novice to MAster just like weapons.
Smugglers: Ok this is huge... why cant smugglers be smugglers in this game? Since when do they make spices?they "smuggle"spices not make them! with the Imp crackdown, this is an oppurtune time to place smuggler mission terms. Smugglers can take missions to deliver items, info, bulk materials etc, to places that are heavily gaurded with imps or Cor Secs or RSF's or any police force. I think its important to implement something liek this before the space expansion, unless you are not planning to ever make Smugglers smugglers? Which i doubt.
Merchants: Ok another big issue i feel.. The spamming is outta control. There are two things that can fix this i feel. 1) High End auction houses. Its ridiculous we have to go onto the galaxies website to find or auction high end items. I know alot of people who dont utilize those forums. It needs to be brought in game. Auction houses for high priced items should be placed in Coronet, Theed, and Bestine/or Espa. This would help alot of players out and we wouldnt have to deal with the constant spamming, though it wouldnt alleviate it completely, it will help alot. 2) Master Merchants should be able to acquire advertising spots in cities at cantinas, starports, banks, city walls, etc. This could be accomplished through quests and sheer $. Also Auction Houses could be placed by master merchants in metropolitan Player Cities and you shouldtn have to go to another planet to recieve the items. Also, these would be run by Merchants so it would be a source of income for them as well as a city for items bought or sold through the Player Auction Houses.
Planetary Govt and PC involvement: I read a post concerning PC's involved in planetary gov't control, but the only problem with it wa sthe proposed change was for PC's with high rank in Factions be able to control planets and zones. This could play a part, but Politicians need to be politicians, as it stands they are nothing more than alt characters there to make sure there is someone in office, well not all but most are like this. If Zones of control were created on planets Politicians and factions could be able to battle politically or militarily, for control. This would add depth to civilized worlds and a role for politicians and guilds to create more allegiances and enemies. Politicians should be able to have quests to achieve a type of Political rank, and these should be planet specific.
Languages: Most people wont like this idea, however, it is important i think to have some immersion in this game. Merchants, Politicians, BH's, and Smugglers should have in their skill trees the ability to learn languages, and languages for other profs to learn should cost 1 point. Unless you learn it the hard way (by exposure) of course /t would still be basic.
Death: Why is there no penalty for death? No xp loss? its a little ubsurd. No one is afraid of death... people kill themselves just to get back to a shuttle if they are to far away. what an exploit. My feeling is their is no fear in this game and this contributes to it. In other games people did not want to die for any reason because they would lose what they fought so hard to gain. whereas in this game its just the opposite, the devs feel that because you fought so hard for those xp points you shouldnt lose em? why not? with the radar system as it is and the death system as it is, this game tends to be easy, too easy sometimes when you throw in eye shots and mind shots (hopefully with the combat balance this will change) but item decay is not the only thing that should apply to you when you die.
Jedi: once upon a time Jedi were rare and were suppose to be subect to constant hunting by BH's, the Empire and had the possibilty of dying permanently. As it stands Jedi are able to keep themselves Jedi, eventually there are going to be many many many jedi running around, the balance of will be lost, Jedi wont be rareand the CONTINUITY of SW will be lost. Mr. Lucas will not be happy i think. If you guys wanted to make a game with Jedi there could have been another time in SWG universe to accomplish this.Flamers start............ NOW!
Storyline: Ok last thing, the one thign about the movies and EU is that in everystory all the planets and systems involved int he storyline are connected. Its time to bring all the planets together in a story that binds them during this time of conflict. As it stands now, the planets seem aloof from each other, and are not connected by any means.There are a few ways to do this, one is quests, story arc,GCW, etc.whether through NPC in towns, POI's or through Capitals. Another is to make the resources system planet specific, like flora. And extend the shift an extra week maybe two. This would help in a number of ways. 1) it would make guilds and Player cities form alliances with other guilds from other planets. 2) items made with say Nabooian only materials should recieve bonuses. This could be used especially in meds and foods, and could be a good way of bringing groups of players together. 3) immersion