Image Designer Archive
Thread: ID Top Ten Concerns Runesabre Answers Inside :)
A lot of the questions we are asking is for the reasons for some of the actions, and I realy think that they NEED to be stated in publish 8.1 notes! IDers are going to be asked countless times in game what, how and why.
So Kwee could you ask the Devs to save us from answering thousands of questions and Please try to answer them in the patch notes.
Voor: *Slap Head*
We missed the most important question there is
1/ Will we get a ID wallpaper like other revamps got? 
Hello everyone. I promised Kwee I would spend some time today answering questions she compiled from the Image Designer community. My plan is to answer as many questions as possible throughout the day. So let's get started!
a) Why was the decision made to limit the ID tents to five NPC cities, only on the three main planets?
b) Are there plans to make ID tents available for crafting by Architects and placing by Master Image Designers in player cities?
c) If so, when could we expect to see them in the game?
Message Edited by SWG-Runesabre on 05-12-2004 10:50 AM
Both Image Designers and customers feel that the current timers for cosmetic and body changes, 2 and 5 minutes, are unbearably long.
a) Why were such long timers chosen?
b) Are timer reductions being considered?
Message Edited by SWG-Runesabre on 05-12-2004 11:03 AM
RS, I don't think you'll find many people who agree with this... It's long. Most people already know what they want when the session starts and its done in like 30 seconds or so. You are left waiting for up to 4 minutes twiddling your thumbs.
SWG-Runesabre wrote:
2/ Cosmetic/Body Timers
Both Image Designers and customers feel that the current timers for cosmetic and body changes, 2 and 5 minutes, are unbearably long.
a) Why were such long timers chosen?
b) Are timer reductions being considered?
The timers exist to ensure advancing as an Image Designer is not considered a trivial accomplishment and couldn't easily be macroed in any way to gain a significant advancement advantage. Mastering any profession in SWG should be an accomplishment that should be make the player feel like they have put in some effort and been successful and those who master their respective professions should feel proud of their accomplishments.
Players really working towards accomplishing a cool, unique look shouldn't notice the timers since the timers start counting down as soon as the Image Design session begins and the changes should be able to be activated immediately when you are finally pleased with your results. We are considering timer reduction perks for Master Image Designers.
Message Edited by SWG-Runesabre on 05-12-2004 11:03 AM
StarchMonkey wrote:
RS, I don't think you'll find many people who agree with this... It's long. Most people already know what they want when the session starts and its done in like 30 seconds or so. You are left waiting for up to 4 minutes twiddling your thumbs.
StarchMonkey, I think what the devs are not telling you is that they are working on all the professions and theyr going to try to stop the quick grinding. So ID's will get this fix a little sooner then most. And there is one profession that has a longer grind time than what ID's are getting, Example, Look at BH.
Timers are put in to discurage abuse, but after time when the devs see that there is little to no abuse they could lower the timers.
Message Edited by Naquiel on 05-12-2004 09:17 AM
Message Edited by Naquiel on 05-12-2004 09:18 AM
Thanks
SWG-Runesabre wrote:
Players really working towards accomplishing a cool, unique look shouldn't notice the timers
For new customers this is very true, but for repeat customers that just want a touch up like lip-color or new holo-emote or when doing a self-IDit is not. But IF masters get a timer reduction it may not be so bad. Please consider making them all 2mins instead of 2 and 5mins
Thanks
Message Edited by Sir_Voor on 05-12-2004 11:22 AM
6/ ID = Only Way to Migrate Stats
There is of course much player concern over Image Designers now being the only way to migrate stats (from both players and Image Designers).
a) Why was this decision made?
b) Would you consider slowing down the current method of doing stat migration (a frequently voiced suggestion) to increase incentive to visit an ID instead of removing it completely?
I totally agree with Suggestion (B)
Why should we lose an ability that we have been able to use for almost a year now? Not to meantion that we would now have to pay for the service, where it was free before.
I don't like the Migration changes because when I migrate my stats I don't do it once, I do it about 4 times to get a feel for what works with my profession.
In my opinion I think IDs should become crafters and sell kits that allow players to change their look or stats.
RS
I am glad to see that you guys are concerned with the macro-profession-mastery that has plagued SWG for a while now. However, I think you should keep in mind that time spent is not always synonymous with pride of one's accomplishments.
Instead of having a hard-coded 'this will take x time to do' system it would be far better to have a 'this will take less than x time to do, but you need to think to do it effeciently' system.
I do realize that the latter is a harder system to implement.
thanks
SWG-Runesabre wrote:
2/ Cosmetic/Body Timers
Both Image Designers and customers feel that the current timers for cosmetic and body changes, 2 and 5 minutes, are unbearably long.
a) Why were such long timers chosen?
b) Are timer reductions being considered?
The timers exist to ensure advancing as an Image Designer is not considered a trivial accomplishment and couldn't easily be macroed in any way to gain a significant advancement advantage. Mastering any profession in SWG should be an accomplishment that should be make the player feel like they have put in some effort and been successful and those who master their respective professions should feel proud of their accomplishments.
Players really working towards accomplishing a cool, unique look shouldn't notice the timers since the timers start counting down as soon as the Image Design session begins and the changes should be able to be activated immediately when you are finally pleased with your results. We are considering timer reduction perks for Master Image Designers.
Message Edited by SWG-Runesabre on 05-12-2004 11:03 AM
if you grind out image designer its going to take like 12 days of nonstop clicking to do ID from begineing to end with the timers in place. did anyone at SOE do the raw math of how long a grind this is going to be. most players only grind an hour or so maybe less at a profession. for a casual gamer it is going to literally take a year of real time to grind out ID heh. if the timers stay as is no one is going to want to take up ID.
the timer issue is a solution to a problem caused by the hologrinding. lessen the timers to 20 seconds. this would bring ID into line with the time it takes to macro any other trade skill other than architect. it will keep ID from being a 30 minute mastery and put it in line with the others. it takes an average of 20 seconds per combine on a crafting profession to get a XP gain via macro. making the timers 2 and 5 minutes puts the combine time for ID outside of the reach of the casual gamer and makes it a power gamer only profession.
do the math on the skill gains and you will quickly amaze yourself at the time involved with mastering ID under these rules.
the problem with ID pre-patch is there was no means of slowing the gain rate down. a 20 second timer is sufficient. 2-5 minutes between combines with a needed 3500ish XP gains spaced at 2-5 minutes between gains is a horrible prospect for players that are not already established imagedesigners.