Development Cycle Archive
Thread: Desired Rewards
Another idea you may want to look into is giving crafters the ability to analyze new items that they find, and have to spend time learning how to craft them, rather than getting a new skill box and being to just create it right away. That way, a couple of players could go on a mission, at the end of the quest could be a bounty hunter, or a well know warrior who is wearing custom armor. By defeating the NPC you get his damaged armor and the Armor smiths could either repair the armor to working condition (not wearable until this is done) and/or they could learn how to create the armor from researching it. Researching would require destroying the sample.
You could even add in that how well the learn to create the item from the research, will define how well they can create the item. The more they make the item after that point the better they would get at it.
This could be done for every crafting profession, every class of weapon, every class of armor, every class of Droids, clothing, food, medical supplies, it could even lead to new creatures for the CH, new mounts. Etc.
This would be tbe best way to add new content, create new quests and give the players something new to do all at the same time.
I'd love to see an edit button quest for this message board 
It's probably been said before but....
More interesting story driven quests that take a long time to complete (similar to eq's epic quests) but does not need 50,000 people to help you. Once completed you are handed "plans" or a schematic that you can take to a master tailor. This item would be unique and rare. Perhaps the reward would be one out of 300 variations of it's self, and would random out as to what version you get upon the crafters completion of the item, thus increasing the chances of something being "unique" and special onto myself. (to a degree)
Also I'd like to see something similar for battles in dungeons or for fighting incredibly hard mobs. Perhaps things drop really cool armor templates with great and insane stats that would thenbe taken to a crafter to produce your "real" prize. The crafting community could then charge a service fee and be taken out of the loop. Perhaps even if the npc's dropped a series of items, which would then have to be taken to a series of crafters. Let's say some armor pieces dropped that when done had killer stats. But came in three obtainable dropped items per piece. For example only we'll say cloth, metal and something that needed slicing. You would have to see a master tailor, a master armor smith and a smuggler. Once you've seen all three crafters, you would then have to return to either an npc for completion (i/e tov armor in eq) or return to the master armor smith to then put it all together. Then whammo! you have a really cool prize and no one was left out, plus you feel you were involved in the creation of your new prize, which to me would be more satisfying any way.
If these idea's have been hashed out already, maybe they were good! hehe... Thanks for your time 
1) More Items & the ability to learn.
This goes with my previous post above, the ability for a craftsman to learn how to create an item that is found in the world through research rather than getting it for completing a skill tree.
If SOE has 10 people sit down for 3 weeks and come up with 100 new items in each category with various ranges from Newbie item to on par with some of the most exotic/powerful items in the game. They then take these items and scatter them into the random drop system with a lower priority than most items, similar to what they have done with the holocrons but maybe not quite as rare. Little by little crafters will be willing to buy these items and add their spects to their datapad. This will alow them to collect the specs and sell the items to other players. The longer a crafter playes, the more complete a collection he will have the more his services will be requested.
Then if they take 10 very unique items from each category, build a quest around it and place those into the game. Possibly tieing those quests in with theme parks or the chapter stories, it could be very interesting.
2) Status Items - Personal and for Houses.
PERSONAL
Add a medal display to the Examine window for a player and give them a toggle which will make it visible/ not visible to other players. As they get medals and honors for playing through the missions, theme parks, making Master in a profession, or working with the Rebellion or Empire the medals will display there. Other players can view the medals if they are visible and it would be like they were wearing them.
HOUSE
Give out specific house items for completing quests, theme parks, chapter stories and other such special events. These items can then be displayed in the homes anywhere. Even like a trophy room.
3) Player Personal Touches
GUESTBOOKS & ADVANCED JOURNALS
Allow for players to purchase gestbooks for their houses that they can place at entryways. These gestbooks would allow visitors to leave their name, and orders for the owner rather than sending email. It would be more like a log and could be uploaded to the players machine when they login. Maybe like the /notebook feature already in the game. Maybe enhance the notebook to be a more complete journaling interface, so that players can keep a day to day journal that gets autodated with the in game date/time.
INTERIOR CHANGES ON HOUSES
Allow players to change the colors of the walls, and floors. Add carpets and wall hangings/paintings. By doing this even though all the buildings are the same, going into different homes will make it fell unique.
EXTERIOR CHANGES ON HOUSES
Allow home owners, or mayors to hang posters, artwork, etc on the exterior of buildings in player built cities. Billboards. Signs. etc. This will give a more lived in feel. Right now the environments are somewhat stale.
SKYSCRAPERS & other unused BUILDINGS
In non player built cities, where players like to go, why not make the larger buildings like the skycrapers on Corellia in Coronet have several floors, each with apartments. If a player could also rent an in city apartment (limited number, which would still lead to needing crafted houses), that they could decorate and fill with items. This would give the citiies more a lived in fealing, it would make it more than a place to come to train and use the space port between running missions, it would make it home. Not all players want to build houses or have to run 1000m to get to the city from their house.
JOBS
It could be interesting to have an NPC give a player a JOB, take for example the MOS ESILEY cantina on Tatooine. The back room is empty. If a player took the job as Bartender that could then become his personal space. He would be give the right to decorate it, and lock it down for his peronal use like a house. The trade off would be that when he logs in he needs to work in the bar for a certain amount of time. The system tracks the time he spends in the bar, and determines his pay. As long as during one real world week he earns X credits working in the bar he keeps his job. He gets warnings via email if he is not spending enough time. 3 strikes and you are out. 1 month of not logging into the game and you loose your job.
This could extend to other areas of the game. There are plenty of RPGers out there who would do this.
I would like to say that while the idea of cool loot is one thing, some sort of recognition would also be nice. There are monthly badges, and a few quest badges, but the theme parks are dungeons only have loot, and no mark of completion. I would ask that for theme parks there be some sort of mark, like a badge. Or a unique item, relevant to the theme park, but not attainable elsewhere. That would keep me interested in completing dungeons and theme parks. I would also like to point out that there is no apparent reason to advance in faction. I am a Warrant Officer II, but nowhere except to the Rebel Recruiter does this get noticed or made visible. I would have thought, that as you gained ranks in the faction, there would be some reward.
Hope this helps. Thank you for listening.
I am all for Unique items that not everyone is going to have. Some may be usable/wearable but not all. I like the idea of rugs and pictures. Just give us the ability to place things on the walls with out the use of stairs. Give us 2 silly commands Raise Lower I really don't see where the harm/problem is in that.
I agree about the theme park.. could be anything that is unique.. doesnt matter if its just your faction flag that they give you and you can place in your house.. but we do need better loot items that we can eighter store in our houses like tropheys.. or anything that is worth doing them.. most of the thing we loot right now or eighter broken.. or we see the same items to often..
Its like when you find a treasure map.. you run there fight a few npc's then you get a pistol and a few ressources that are using mutch by noobs.. since then i havent even try other treasure maps cause to me it aint worth the time...
My more unique ideas would be maybe for say... a musician to learn a new/ unique song as a reward for a quest or loot of an npc...because I dont feel they have a wide enough selection of music and I think learning some cool new sounds as a result of a reward would be awesome... Or maybe learn how to play a new instrumentthathas aunique sound? This goes for dancing and image design too... learn more things to use based on maybe some type of a skill scroll or something. I would thinkthat would bereally cool.
Armor that looks like Nightsister armor would be cool... maybe you can get something that enables a crafter togivecomposit armor to have a unique look or any armor for that matter.
I agree with draft schematics as loot... also maybe a deed for an interesting structure perhaps.
I agree with more interesting items that you could display in your house or possibly show on your character.
More badges.
More paintings would definately be nice... I always wished there was a skill where you could paint yourself ... and there would be some options similar to a paint program to make your own paintings and have a gm judge them to see if they are acceptable...(that is straying off the subject sorry)
I think that the best motivation would be more skill points... but there needs to be a cap or a time restraint or both, for example... you could get 1 skill point per month, with a max of 25 or 50 or something (this way the older players arent getting passed up by the nOObs as fast) or... you could have a plus 50 skill points for 2 weeks and the quests were non-repeatable, but there would be multiple quests you could do, but dont let the skill points stack... hmmm ok, so there are a few issues to work out, but for me, I think skill points would be the ultimate motivation...
Also I like the unique title thing too... something petrtaining to the quest.. ie.. dragonslayer or protector or defender...
Another thing I would like to see is skill enhancing attachments...that work...
And as an uber reward... maybe get a free skill box (no novice or master skills) or maybe even a credits to xp exchange... (a smuggler at the end who will "sell" xp...)
OK... Back to figuring out how to get 24 more skill points...
Haywood Dragonfoot
Master CH/ 0/3/4/1 Commando
Wanderhome