Image Designer Archive
Thread: ID Enhancements...
ID's... let's talk about your mini-publish...
I saw some amazing things on TC today, and the new system still is a bit buggy (just a bit ;-)). A dude was running around with punk blue hair. There were some hot-pink dancers. Inferno turned into a beautiful, rich,two-toned red Twilek (well, she was always beautiful). Some of the changes you will be able to make on players are radical, and I think you are going to be very pleased with the varieties that you can accomplish.
Alot of dev time went into the secure transaction UI, where you and your customer can observe your work and agree on a price. (And be sure to get paid!). I think this, coupled with the ranges of changes (heh) that you will be able to make, will transform your profession dramatically for the better.
The stat-changes are a big issue, and we did not announce them beforehand. We chose not to announce because we anticipated a large, initial backlash, but ultimately felt that it was the best thing for the game. Runesabre's vision of your profession includes one absolutely critical interdependence with all other professions. Most people do not do frequent changes. We don't think you will be overloaded with requests. And you will provide a very valuable service far faster than it could have been done before!
I think the emotes will be fun in certain situations as well. (C'mon... a kitty!!) Tatoos and scars, as you are aware, fell outside of our tech budget for this round.
The dev process with regards to professions works like this: We ask what you would like, mix it with what we as dev's think is right and good for the game, adjust things to meet resource availability and schedules, monitor the boards for strong ideas, garner feedback on areas we are ambiguous about, and ultimately put out the best that we can.
Bottom line is this... we work with your coorespondents closely (Thanks SO MUCH Kwee!!!) to best meet all our design and development goals. We have our long-term vision of the game as well that we believe is the right thing, and we want to mix that as much as we can with what you want. Many players were skeptical (to say the least!) of the chef changes when they were announced. They are very happy with the changes, and they affect the game much for the better. The DE's were very concerned about their changes. I think they are ultimately pleased as well, and we did not release monster player-controlled combat droids into the game ... yet >:-)
And for your cameo at the Theed tent this afternoon Thank you.
I think this post of yours was very much needed by the community, and you make excellent points. I, for one, appreciate you taking the time to share this with us. We should all take the time to fully evaluate these changes before making a decision about them one way or the other.
Looking forward to whatever may come next,
Asaekai
What's wrong with blue hair? 
Will we eventually see ID Tents grace player Cities?
I'll have to say that the interface work done for the ID is a good thing, and much more than I'd expected. It's just durnednice.
But as far as actual Image Designing abilities the ID's have gotten... they're... well... so *minor*. Having a few new vivid colors to pick from is welcomed, but expanding a palette doesn't seem to very much in terms of development time and work in what's supposed to be their mini-publish-- and this is the most notable change that ID's actually want, and the one that'll actually see any real use. No new hairstyles, nothing beyond a color swap, with more notable changes like tattoos and new hairstyles stated as being too time consuming. That worries, especially when one wonders when ID's will get their round of attention again.
Alot of dev time went into the secure transaction UI, where you and your customer can observe your work and agree on a price. (And be sure to get paid!). I think this, coupled with the ranges of changes (heh) that you will be able to make, will transform your profession dramatically for the better.'
No one complained about this......
The stat-changes are a big issue, and we did not announce them beforehand. We chose not to announce because we anticipated a large, initial backlash, but ultimately felt that it was the best thing for the game. Runesabre's vision of your profession includes one absolutely critical interdependence with all other professions. Most people do not do frequent changes. We don't think you will be overloaded with requests. And you will provide a very valuable service far faster than it could have been done before!
So why not add a "middle" ground like you did for the Community VS Scouts issues with Vehicles/pets....Keep the old way, but make this way faster and more efficient...IE Keep old stat migration as a multi-day slow process, but allow ID's to do it in minutes.
ID's would still be in demand for quick need-to-do same day changes, yet they would not halt peoples game-play by making them an absolute need.
Another alternative might be, to allow ID"s to craft some kind of "training" dics, that would allow you to migrate so many stats per disk...This way people can still migrate stats, without having to constantly bug their local ID artist *and* this way they would still be needed as a staple crafter in the community.
Many players were skeptical (to say the least!) of the chef changes when they were announced. They are very happy with the changes
Only *after* you changed them 4-5 times on TC...The original changes and rules with the chef revamp were *very* much hated by the player base and would have been even more so had it gone live....
I am a huge proponent of "not" listening so much to the community and making tough changes to "better" the game..However, sometimes the players simply know what will happen better then the devs (we play more, I know) so in most cases, like this one, its good to reach a semi-middle ground...Because as is this change will be a nightmare for the community, especially those who change their stats alot (doctors.....).
Message Edited by Taewyn on 05-05-2004 09:07 PM
I am able to see the screenshots posted and read your words and others who have described in an informative manner these new changes, and everything seems fine and dandy to me.....even the stat changes, though its not my cup of tea. BUT I REALLY dont see anything even remotely good and useful out of these holo-emotes. I am not able to see them in full motion and the many different variations of them, but as most of the community has already said it is not immersive and I for one, am a casual roleplayer, and I look at these Holo-emotes as a slap in the face. I remember an old SWG article that interviewed Q3PO I believe and I may be off a bit on this but Im pretty sure that when he was asked "what is the goal of SWG?" he replied something along the lines of "To live in the Star Wars Universe" Now....that being said, please direct me to where in the Star Wars Universe you would actually see a holo-emote? Image
\Im"age\, n. [F., fr. L. imago, imaginis, from the root of imitari to imitate. See Imitate, and cf. Imagine.] 1. An imitation, representation, or similitude of any person, thing, or act, sculptured, drawn, painted, or otherwise made perceptible to the sight; a visible presentation; a copy; a likeness; an effigy; a picture; a semblance.
Design
\De*sign"\ (?; 277), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Designed; p. pr. & vb. n. Designing.] [F. d['e]signer to designate, cf. F. dessiner to draw, dessin drawing, dessein a plan or scheme; all, ultimately, from L. designare to designate; de- + signare to mark, mark out, signum mark, sign. See Sign, and cf. Design, n., Designate.] 1. To draw preliminary outline or main features of; to sketch for a pattern or model; to delineate; to trace out; to draw. --Dryden.
In a Nutshell I think we should focus more on this sort of stuff. For the Most part we have been Plastic Surgeons/Hair Stylists, and now we are being forced to become stat modifiers and "Emote Salesmen????" How about calling in your Dev/Art Team into a meeting or even bring it up in an upcoming meeting, pull out a paper-pad atop an easel and a dry erase marker and start to Draw something, take our profession back to the drawing boards even into a though process and think about making us become "Image Designers" Cause as a graphic artist and a roleplayer I struggle to see understand your view of our profession. If you would like some ideas on how to accomplish such an idea just glance at the link in my signature it leads to an open Image Design Petition for a new feature idea where I have already had many players of the community agree with my idea, and it takes maybe 1.3 seconds of loading time to go to that page, just look at my idea and sleep on the idea thats all I'm asking, and for Yoda-sakes please do something about them holo-emotes.
). It would be great though if it didn't seem like all the ones I love got the short end of the stick.