Development Cycle Archive

Thunderheart I have to comment that while this list was extreamely helpful for us to keep track of the Dev's replies to each professions issues, I have to argue that your listing of Image Designerswas incorrect. With the other professions you haveyet torespond to you added a note explaining why you have not responded yet. With the ones you"did" respond to you simply listed a link.

Image Designers have either had no such feedback in the link you provided or the Correspondant has yet to post anything. I know that when correspondents were first assigned to the professions they were given feebackat that timeabout top issues. During that time Image Designers were overlooked then. I would hate to see it happen again.Could you place a little note above inyour original post for this thread to remind you we have yet to get any stone tablets of knowledge from the powers that be? ^_^

TH. On the off chance you make it in this far, the Commado community has outlined the top 5 issues time and time and time again. Its stickied in fact. Thy have not changed since Commando was last fixed. There is no pending the issues are all there. That's it.

http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=Development&message.id=979360&page=1

'Nuff Said...

I was just catching up on my reading this goes to Wolfspirit Lucas has incorporated Mara Jade in the storyline as a Dark Jedi and also he incorporated Sith sayers in the storyline and there are dark Jedi in The Empire the only problem i have right now is form George Lucas you can read this at Skywalker Ranch in his Episode III book he wrote in 1977 when Mon Mothma wrote of The Alliance to retsore the Republic and it states The Alliance to Restore the Republic is to protect any surviving Jedi from the purge and to work on the founding principles of the Jedi Council. Now, Devs why are Rebel Bounty Hunters doing Jedi Missions. Do not go against Lucas or he will have this game under Lucas Arts. I think everyone will agree on me at this from what I see in this and according to George Lucas the Imperials are the good guys everytime I am in cities and I am alwasys watchng I see first thing Rbels go into Hotels, Cantinas, Med centers, ad Spaceports according to george Lucas tht is the last place Rebels would attack and the only way Rebels attack is in self-defense. Imperials in this game and from all of George Lucas notes which I have rad in the countless hours I have been at Skywalker Ranch Imperials in this game are the"good guys" who want to restore the Republic. From it seems liek to many kids who just think this is another shoot them up game and over half the Imperials i have talked to know more about Star Wars then the Rebel Alliance. At least every Imperial whom I spoken to know what the real name of the Rebel Alliance and no Rebel has a clue what the real name is. I wonder if I asked a dev if he knew the real name of the Rebel Alliance is if they knew except to bad they work for SOE I am surprised Lucas Arts did not pay a visit to Skywalker Ranch there would not be an update for over 6 months.

just take out dizzy knock down from pvp or fix it , its too powerfull

As far as the grind goes... welcome to another MMO! If you can't manage to have fun, you're being a powergamer. Fine by me if that's what you want to be, but don't complain about the natural consequences. For non power-gamers, there's richness in conversation at the med centers and starports. There's beauty in the diverse landscapes of the many planets. There's fun in duelling your buddies or participating in player-made events. I am, myself, a powergamer, but I manage to enjoy the downtime when I can, and try not to be too impatient. I don't have to be able to kill anyone and everyone that challenges me... Think of real-life martial artists and combatants. To be good at what they do, they had to grind. A LOT! I'm sure Chuck Norris put in a TON of work, most of it far from enjoyable. But your average black belt can pack a punch, and can have a life, too. It's up to you which you want to be.

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I've never heard it said better! Play the game because you are a Star Wars fan! Play it because you want to live in that universe for awhile, NOT because you're a power gamer and all you want is to master yet another dead end game. The beauty of a MMO is that it's not a dead end game with x levels that need to be completed before you never play it again. It's always different, always living and evolving.

Any news on the Commando Top 5 yet? We've had a rather substantial listing of our primary issues *cough* HAR *cough*

Sorry for my realy poor english, it is not my native language.

May i ask where is an official forum for Archi suggestion ?

If not , may you note this two suggestions :
put a "move up" and "move down" command, this for a better house desing
put color (like on taillor schematics) on furnitures item.

Please.

I still think the greatest issue in general for most professions is that they are either boring(requiring alot of dull repetitive tasks like crafting) or the development is extremely limited. Ie, I got to master commando in two weeks and at the end it was 'is this it?' because I was still half way through my free month.

Why are crafting professions boring? Because most of them there is nothing you can make which anyone wants unless you are a master craftsman. Who buys novice armour or weapons? It is competitive enough at the master level and if you do not have a maxed out skill experimentation tapes then you will struggle to compete for business.

It is well and good to have competition, etc at master levels, but the problem is most just grind through crafting professions to master because there is usually nothing much of value you can make on the way. You can insert the vast majority of professions that craft, including medical professions.

I do not mind if development is slower, as long as it has more purpose and is alot of fun.

Don't get me wrong, I love the way crafting works in SWG, i think it is the best feature of the game, but the skill development in general is on the poor side. I think there needs to be similar changes for crafting professions like there was for CH in so far that skill bonuses are spread throughout all the skill trees and place hard caps on experimentation levels for lower-end equipment (schematics that you acquire earlier on) allowing crafters who craft those items be as good as a master crafting them.

You might say its not realistic to structure it that way, but I think its necessary. Why? Because any crafting profession you can 'grind' relatively quickly to master. So the answer is to just grind to master and then start enjoying the profession? No. It is not a solution to the problem. Too many people become sick of the profession and sick of the game having to grind instead of play.

All non-combat professions force you to grind. To most people they become dull and boring and offer only limited playability. Anyone who wishes to try their hand at a Jedi have to go through a ton of grinding and is saturating many professions with people who do not wish to play that profession. For crafters it makes it alot harder to acquire needed resources, the prioe of garbage quality resources has gone through the roof, forcing the price of better quality resources up to the point its not economical to buy resources to make anything and you have to compete with people who are swapping lots on 7 different servers flooding small areas with tons of harvestors.

I do not blame people who wish to bend the rules to get the most out of it. I just dont find it enjoyable to loiter on seven other servers and try to find other people as desperate for an edge.

Back to combat professions. The impression I have is that all professions have been made disposable so people can grind to go after the Jedi profession. I do not want to play a Jedi, yet the combat professions lack any real depth or imagination. They are trivial to master in a short period of time solo, let alone in groups fighting toughter mobs.

Commando, and most elite professions, should have been a middle step, not an end step. Those that mastered commando could then choose further specialisation in different areas and make elite profession types as complex as the Jedi profession giving you alot more specialist options.

I know some professions cant really afford another step due to draconic pre-requisites (such as bounty hunter, commando, combat medic) so I suggest relaxing some of the basic requirements and give room for their specialist fields of development. Why does a commando need master marksman when they do not use any carbines or rifles and there is only one pistol with no further skill mods for it. Why does a bounty hunter need master scout? Room can easily be made. It wont affect present day players, they have the option of releasing redundant skills.

There are other ways you add in specialist development without fiddling with the present skill system that is giving players access to specialist development points when they hit master of a given profession.

For example, I hit master commando, I now have say for example 100 Commando Skill Points which I can use to develop skills in specialist commando training. You can then create special forces templates and people can choose what type of special forces training they wish to continue development in. This level of advancement should be far more challenging. Experience should only be acquired from elite development, ie for the commando you need to be killing stuff of a certain difficulty level to get any Specialist Commando exp. Not farming meatlumps with a macro whilst you are watching TV. Reward for effort.

All elite professions should have specialist fields. There was a world of difference between the legendary characters who had elite professions and the run of the mill person. At the moment there are hundreds of bounty hunters on any given server and they are pretty much all identical, same skills, same weapons, same tactics. There is no scope to play the exceptional character with more unique skills. There needs to be that option but that option should be very difficult and require alot of effort.

At the moment professions are too disposable and now that I have mastered everything I wanted to try out in a few months I find there is very little of interest in the game to do which brings me closer to cancelling and trying a different game.

If I want to play a jedi I will play Knights of the Old Republic. That game is awesome and SWG can never have Jedi anywhere near as good for balance reasons, but it just makes trying to get one pointless since its an exercise of just luck and grinding, neither of which interest me or most players.

I find it a little disturbing that people who are just lucky are opening their force sensitive slot after a month or two of playing whilst some who have been playing this game since it released and have compelted 20+ professions are still no closer to it. There is no equity in this system. There needs to be a line drawn when you put so much time and effort into something like that you should have alot more going for you than just luck.

Ifeel that you can tweak your combat system all you want, alter some specifics of character classes, etc., but the thing that is missing, the thing that made Star Wars, well Star Wars is the Wars aspect. There is still no feeling of a civil war going on, unless you are a PVP, but even still, come on.

I posted about this some four months ago and have seen no change. Where is the presence of the Empire? (You remember, the huge militaristic tyranny that has subjagated most of the galaxy through fear and punishment, the one with the countless Stormtroopers patrolling cities, the one with all the highly dangerous and sophisticated technology).

You know what, the Rebellion is supposed to be at a disadvantage. They are the ones that need to be skulking about, not openly strolling through Imperial cities, unhaarmed because there are no declared Imps around. Where are the Stormtrooper NPCs that should be trying to kill them?

And, I agree with the above comments (I too have been playing since commodore 64 era as well as Dungeaons and Dragons since early 80's). Experience is just that, experience. It is knowledge gained from doing things. So, if you sit around and craft one item over and over endlessly, the only experience or knowledge you gain, should be how to make that one specific item.

Now, I know it takes time to implement new aspects to a game this size, and sincce I do notonly wish to criticize, I offer a few solutions (not that I believe anywill see the light of day).

1. This concerns Starports and shuttleports.: Replace that protocol droid with a Stormtrooper. I say this for a few reasons. The first and best argument I have is that Smugglers don't smuggle anything. However with a Stormtrooper checking all boarding passengers, there could be a concealment modifier added. If carrying spice, for example, Smugglers would have a chance of either getting away with travelling with their contraband or if they failed, having their contraband confiscated. That's what smuggling is all about, the danger of getting caught.

This would also make travel somewhat more difficult for rebels. Granted, interplanetray travel would have to be somewhat easier to sneak aboard a ship. But, intraplanetary travel could prove more difficult. This wold generate a greater need for vehicles, in turn bolstering the economy as well as adding realism. Perhaps a modifier could be added similar to faction points. The higher the acquired points, the better chance they have at being caught.

2. Missions: I have to say, The Warrens was one of the best times I had playing this game. It was a true mission, not this run there, run back, now run there, now run back. It was awesome. It had a great storyline (Unlike most of the amusement parks which are simply longer run here run there missions). The setting felt like Star Wars, a real base to invade with so many levels, findiing hidden iitems in order to proceed, cool enemies to fight, the threat of destruction if you didn't finish in time. It was/is the single best addition to this game to date.

More of these type of scenarios would make for much better gaming. Now, it is true that it took a group of us to do it, but adding similar attractions for different skill levels would be a big boost to the feel of the game. Especially if new and unique Mob Bosses were added to the finale, or even ones we've glimpsed in the books, yet would not disrupt continuity, such as a Noghri or Advanced Battle Droids.

3. And, yes, I know it's been said a thousand time, but adding Criminal or similar faction/factions (Hutt faction/ Nym Faction/ Black Sun Faction) would help diversify and game, especially for those not necessarily interested in the Civil War.

Thanks for your time and effort.

I was wondering, thinking


1 NO WHIPS!?!?!?

Come one, whips would be fun, and it’s sort of a Lucas art’s trade mark, you know Indiana Jones and all. It would be fun.

2 How about a tech dungeon or two, this game is so, how do I say it, Organic, I was to see a cave like dungeon, based in a building, for an example, look at episode 1 the last darth maul battle, or anything in the death star, from a new hope

3 I want to have a droid that can help kick some butt

4 I would like to see a galaxy wide treasure hunt quest, more of an excuse to explore the galaxy, it could be factional or non factional

5 Cloud city type places to visit

Time to wait for music stuff....../sigh

i HOPE for something new before SE