Doctor Archive
Thread: HAM and Buff Focus Thread
Yes! Exactly! I am very excited about being a doctor again. Leave the uber leet capitalism game to the crafters
I8TheWorm wrote:
Mind you, I'm not accusing vortexala of anything...
but it really seems like the CU will be bad for those who picked up doc to make piles of money. Buffing and crafting, according to the notes, seem to have been nerfed a bit. We've become necessary again, and not as someone who can work afk, or sit outside a starport, but as a group member. Yay us!
Rookaru wrote:
vortexala wrote:
Panthu wrote:
In battle healing has always been my favorite activity as a Doc. I'm really excited about the short term buffs! More powerful short term buffs have always been fun in play for me in other games. I think these changes are going to allow Doctors to have the full Healer gameplay I've always felt was missing from SWG, so I'm pretty excited!
Message Edited by Panthu on 03-19-2005 11:20 AM
Full healer gameplay wasn't always missing in SWG. I know, I was a full-time combat healer(MD/MCM) at the start of the game. The introduction of uber buffs, uber armour, and overpower Stim-B's is what killed the healer gameplay.
These changes? They don't have me excited in the least. They have me mortified. Glad some folks like them...because someone else is going to have to take over the healing role when us old-timers leave...
I don't understand what has you "mortified" though. You say the early days of the game were best for doc/cm and I agree. They are making doc/cm the only people capable of healing other and they are removing uber buffs that allow people to solohigh level mobswith no doctor arounds. People will need healers in group again and I say "Thank God". Doctors have just been buff machines for a really long time except in PVP. That doesn't sound like what you enjoyed about the game so I am really confused by your protest.
I am on the medic team for the CU alpha. I know there are specifics that are not released yet, but there is no dark cloud coming. I even think I can guess what it is your are objecting to. You really should not taint the communities view of the CU based upon something that is to be "posted soon" instead of the overview that has been done. In my opinion there is no dark cloud of unseen info looming overhead.
vortexala wrote:
The lessening of buffs and the return of the battlefield healer isn't my issue. It's everything else(that is supposedly to be posted 'soon' by the devs) that have me ready to leave. This info is just the tip of the iceberg folks, a 'high level overview' of sorts. There's more to come... and it's the details of the changes that have me, well, mortified may be a bit overboard but suffice it to say I was highly irate when I first saw them...
And for the record I8TheWorm, I have NEVER been a buffbot. I have never sold a set of buffs to anyone, at anytime, for any reason. I left the crafting/selling of meds to Agent001, and the buffbotting to others as they never were my style of gameplay...
I8TheWorm wrote:
... which is why I tried to make it clear that I was not accusing you of that. I apologize if it appeared that way.
Rookaru wrote:
I am on the medic team for the CU alpha. I know there are specifics that are not released yet, but there is no dark cloud coming. I even think I can guess what it is your are objecting to. You really should not taint the communities view of the CU based upon something that is to be "posted soon" instead of the overview that has been done. In my opinion there is no dark cloud of unseen info looming overhead.
I have as much right to express my opinion on the future of these professions, for good or ill, as you do. I'll not paint a rosy picture for everyone, telling them everything will be ok, if that isn't the way I personally see it.
If you see it differently, that's fine. Feel free to calm their concerns if you so choose. Me? I post it like I see it...
NikkiT wrote:
This is a complete, total slap in the face to new-style doctors, I agree.
If you had a good group - like most guild hunts we had - you were given a share of the loot for keeping the group alive. If you had a bad group, you got zilch. But it was fun anyways, and I didn't feel the need to get rich fast.
Now you can forget getting rich sitting in Coronet spaceport all day. 20% buffs means people will only want to buff if they need that extra 20% instead of being buffed all the timeby default. But was that fun anyway? Sitting for hours, clicking on your "Buffing now"-Macro every minute? But you will be able to earn your money in the field again because people will start taking damage again. Damage we doctors caused them not to take by allowing to wear uber-armor with our uber-buffs. And: we now have a group looting system so we are guaranteed our fair share of loot.
Trust me, this is not so bad after all. Being a field doctor is at least as rewarding as being a buff-doctor.
This the atypical response to us crafting docs. We mention that with this CU most of stand to lose literally MILLIONS with the click of a button, and we're told that we're "whining" and the like because of it.
The CU is going to stab the crafting professions straight through the heart. I am a doctor who heals and crafts, but I'm also master rifleman as I enjoy both sides of the game. NOW I'm forced to choose between MD and BE, and it's a very good chance that our resources will become worthless.
However we crafters don't have to worry, we get to look forward to that mighty 8K tip in a group for wielding our mighty stim packs...something medics can do.
What made SWG awesome was thatthe healers wern't simply relegated to being walking ambulances. We were given a chance to craft and make somemoney as well, AND, if we had the skill points, we could fight a bit too. Healers that wear armor, what a blast.
Now we're the walking ambulance again. Take heart however! We get to run around in groups and patch wounds for our share of the loot! WOO HOO! We're saved!
Is this aspect a bad thing? Not byitself, however, our profession is LOSING a very majorfacet, crafting. Add that to the fact that we all stand to lose millions with no true chance to recoup our losses, and all the continous mewling about "well now you get to split the loot" really doesn't make one feel much better, because unless that share of the loot is upwards in the millions, were stilllosing a fortune.
And for all of you who bring outyour "serves you right" attitudes,just check em at the door, this is a legit concern for ALL crafting professions who are going to lose...
vortexala wrote:The lessening of buffs and the return of the battlefield healer isn't my issue. It's everything else(that is supposedly to be posted 'soon' by the devs) that have me ready to leave. This info is just the tip of the iceberg folks, a 'high level overview' of sorts. There's more to come... and it's the details of the changes that have me, well, mortified may be a bit overboard but suffice it to say I was highly irate when I first saw them...
What, the over-simplification of the game that is to be expected? After what I've seen both in EQ2 and in recent weeks in SWG, this would not surprise me the least, especially after John Smedley's (SOE President) letter over on the EQ2 webpage:
"[about WoW]They've certainly opened some eyes in our company to styles of gameplay that are different than we would have come up with inside SOE.[...]I'm glad that we went in the direction we did with EQ II because had we stuck with making an even "harder core" game, I think bad things would have happened. We need to be about larger scale mass-entertainment… because that's what online gaming is slowly becoming. Our games just need to be fun… and easy to get into."
Is it that? Because even if it is, it must be really extreme to make the game worse than it - or rather several central parts of it - is now.
I'm slightly worried. However other people who know about most of it still claim the CURB is the best thing since sliced bread. I don't know who to believe.
vortexala wrote:
I have as much right to express my opinion on the future of these professions, for good or ill, as you do. I'll not paint a rosy picture for everyone, telling them everything will be ok, if that isn't the way I personally see it.
If you see it differently, that's fine. Feel free to calm their concerns if you so choose. Me? I post it like I see it...
I think I know what you are worried about too. Yes, it's different... but it's the gameplay I'm really excited about! I can't wait to really be needed in teams again for more than just the big hunts or raids... purely as a Doc. The details of how that's going to be accomplished isn't something I'm willing to get hung up on as long as the healer gameplay I'm wanting can finally happen again... and even better than it was back in the day.
I like for my healing to be a fast paced combat activity where I really have to watch everybody's status in my team. I love what stimming does currently, does a powerful quick heal. How that happens now doesn't really concern me as long as I get the same effect in play. Short buffs on top of that? Woohoo! I love them. I love keeping up with who needs refreshed when. I think even more is coming that I've missed from the Healer roles in other games and I am thrilled about that.
I have a lot of respect for you, Texxie. You know I do. I also don't expect you to hold back on your true feelings, you never have before. I've seen everything you have though and for my own gameplay as a Doctor, I'm really excited about these changes. In fact, I'm more excited about the changes to Doctor than I am about anything else in the CU.
Wait until more info comes out. I have very strong opinions myself about the CU. I've been refraining from posting them here because I want to give everyone a chance to react without my influence. Those of us in the alpha group have had several weeks to form our opinions (though most of us didn't need that long).
NikkiT wrote:
I'm slightly worried. However other people who know about most of it still claim the CURB is the best thing since sliced bread. I don't know who to believe.
Panthu wrote:
I have a lot of respect for you, Texxie. You know I do. I also don't expect you to hold back on your true feelings, you never have before.
Rookaru wrote:
I am on the medic team for the CU alpha. I know there are specifics that are not released yet, but there is no dark cloud coming. I even think I can guess what it is your are objecting to. You really should not taint the communities view of the CU based upon something that is to be "posted soon" instead of the overview that has been done. In my opinion there is no dark cloud of unseen info looming overhead.
Well I'm very, very interested in learning the details of that statement.
Many of us have spent millions on EXP tapes, resources and other stuff becuase this was the environment we were given. Doctors who can craft.
We're being told "doctors will still have an important role" and I'm certain that is true. We can heal. So for those of us who enjoy the healing aspect of the profession, we will feel needed again. Of course historically healers that travel with combat units have been medics, (our base profession), so doctors will be needed to heal larger wounds, poison, diseases, etc. So be it. The healing side of our profession will be sent to the forefront.
However the joy of being an MD is we had SEVERAL facets. If I wanted to heal, I could. If I wanted to buff, I could. If I wanted to craft, I could. If I wanted to sell, I could. If I wanted to fight, I could, provided I had a combat profession.
Now the uber secret CU comes along, and doctors are forced to choose between crafter and healer. Our craft, the creation of buffs and med supplies, is going away (unless we choose to become a BE).
...but there is no dark cloud coming
You (meaning the devs) KNEW this change was coming, yetyou released the resource kit reward knowing we'd scramble and spend millions on them, only to have all that taken away four months after the fact.
...but there is no dark cloud coming
And I'm not saying the changes aren't necessary to balance the game (as they put it), I'm saying that we're going to get hit ALL AT ONCE.
The CU is going to be like an F5 tornado, ripping through a town and laying waste to everything. Afterwards, we are going to be forced to pick up the pieces and start over. I say this because you are giving us next to ZERO time to prep for this. It's pretty obvious you've written these changes already, (the core changes anyway), and thus many aspects of the CU are set, yet you won't tell us anything substantial. Simple question. How much lead time are we going to have before this goes live? From the time you finally publish what is coming to the time you hit the switch, how much time will we receive to try and figure out how to salvage what is left of our crafting careers, resources, etc.? A week? Two days? Will there be ANY transition time so we can at least try to prepare, or will you simply throw the switch?
If the transition time is nil, then that will be the key to why you will lose subscribers, because you will have soured them to the change. DEVS: "Before the game went like this, but with the deployment of a patch it will now go like this, but you're not allowed to know the details."
...but there is no dark cloud coming
As it stands, overnightour doctor economy has ground to a halt. For the next seven weeks we won't buy or sell much of ANYTHING, because you people have provided us with this imminent threat to our way of game life, and refuse to expound further. It's just like a stock market crash...
...but there is no dark cloud coming
Fine. Then spill it. Answer the questions.
1. Will our resources still be applied to medical crafting?
2. Will the value of these resources stay the same?
3. Will those of us who have millions invested lose that money due to this change?
As for me, I think the answer to #3 is a resounding YES. Buffs are worth millions now, because those are the parameters the game has given us. After the CU buffs won't be in demand, so our product won't be in demand, so the value of our product will fall and we will lose millions.
...but there is no dark cloud coming
So please tell us, what magic wand do you have waiting in the wings that will stave off this economic impact to our profession? What words of hope and encouragement do you have for us to not fret about losing time, energy and credits due to this change?
Face it, there is no magic wand. We will lose our money and be forced to pick up the pieces. If the crafting docs don't want to become BE's, we are going to take it straight up the rear end, and there is NO avoiding that.
...but there is no dark cloud coming...
You're right, it's already here...
Skurr wrote:
Tar, excellent post....*****
Thanks boss! I'd accept your five star tribute on the column however they seem to be gone too... 