Items And Loot Archive
Thread: Datapads & Datadisks: a missed opportunity?
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Flucka
Tue Jan 25, 2005 6:31 am
#1
I don't know about you guys but once I assembled a fixed datapad & disk I was rather unimpressed with the results.
Not sure how, but I had convinced myself that the fixed data disks would be blank and that people would be able to put their own info/text onto them. This would have been great for merchants/museum owners wanting to give information to visitors or RPers wanting to create their own stories within the game.
Instead I've got a datapad with some garbled section of a story that I couldn't even be bothered to read. Junk.
I think this was a real missed opportunity for some excelent new content
Not sure how, but I had convinced myself that the fixed data disks would be blank and that people would be able to put their own info/text onto them. This would have been great for merchants/museum owners wanting to give information to visitors or RPers wanting to create their own stories within the game.
Instead I've got a datapad with some garbled section of a story that I couldn't even be bothered to read. Junk.
I think this was a real missed opportunity for some excelent new content
Flucka
Tue Jan 25, 2005 7:28 am
#4
Perhaps there is an issue with Lucas Arts not wanting the players to be able to interfere with the Starwars story but I don't see any harm in it myself.
I mean if people started writing about the death of Han Solo or something they can simply be dismissed as untrue propoganda as you can go stand next to the guy in a cantina. With a bit of imagination even untrue stories could still fit into the world.
I mean if people started writing about the death of Han Solo or something they can simply be dismissed as untrue propoganda as you can go stand next to the guy in a cantina. With a bit of imagination even untrue stories could still fit into the world.
Tinkergirl
Tue Jan 25, 2005 11:50 am
#5
It seems to be more to do with lack of database space.
It would end up being a whole lot of datapads with a whole lot of information on them.
I like to hope that it'll still be possible soon, that they might even be able to reuse the email and/or vendor item description code to give us enough (non-time specific) room to get them.
I am still hopefull. It would be a wonderful addition to the game.
It would end up being a whole lot of datapads with a whole lot of information on them.
I like to hope that it'll still be possible soon, that they might even be able to reuse the email and/or vendor item description code to give us enough (non-time specific) room to get them.
I am still hopefull. It would be a wonderful addition to the game.
Flucka
Tue Jan 25, 2005 2:11 pm
#6
You are probably right that this is the argument SOE would use in regard to this but it's holding less and less water with me.
Let me get out the calculator and show you what I mean.
OK, lets limit all the messages to 255 characters (size of a tinyblob in a database). A bit stingy but enough to write a few lines of text.
That's 8 bits per datapad message.
Now lets give everyone 1000 datapads with messages.
8 bits x 1000 = 8000 bits.
That is 8k.
With a quick search on Google I found a statement from SOE saying they had passed the 300,000 accounts stage back in October 2003. I'm willing to bet that number has actually dropped but lets be generous & say there are 500k accounts in existance.
8k x 500,000 = 4 Gig. This is nothing.
Now these figures are wildly exagerated. I bet there are more like 100k accounts these days & I'd be suprised if anyone would store more than 10 of these items. Then we would be talking of storage figures like 8x10x100k or 8 megabytes of storage. People email me files of that size.
Nope sorry the old database argument just doesn't hold up.
Let me get out the calculator and show you what I mean.
OK, lets limit all the messages to 255 characters (size of a tinyblob in a database). A bit stingy but enough to write a few lines of text.
That's 8 bits per datapad message.
Now lets give everyone 1000 datapads with messages.
8 bits x 1000 = 8000 bits.
That is 8k.
With a quick search on Google I found a statement from SOE saying they had passed the 300,000 accounts stage back in October 2003. I'm willing to bet that number has actually dropped but lets be generous & say there are 500k accounts in existance.
8k x 500,000 = 4 Gig. This is nothing.
Now these figures are wildly exagerated. I bet there are more like 100k accounts these days & I'd be suprised if anyone would store more than 10 of these items. Then we would be talking of storage figures like 8x10x100k or 8 megabytes of storage. People email me files of that size.
Nope sorry the old database argument just doesn't hold up.
Jagged-F3l
Tue Jan 25, 2005 6:04 pm
#7
Flucka wrote:
I don't know about you guys but once I assembled a fixed datapad & disk I was rather unimpressed with the results.
Not sure how, but I had convinced myself that the fixed data disks would be blank and that people would be able to put their own info/text onto them. This would have been great for merchants/museum owners wanting to give information to visitors or RPers wanting to create their own stories within the game.
Instead I've got a datapad with some garbled section of a story that I couldn't even be bothered to read. Junk.
I think this was a real missed opportunity for some excelent new content
I feel your pain. I thought when we fixed a datapad that we would be to store pets, droids, and more waypoints. Likewise, what's with this radio you can loot a schematic for. No new art. Most everything does nothing.
LOOT PASS = DISTRACTION
bluephoenix8406
Tue Jan 25, 2005 6:13 pm
#8
Flucka wrote:
I don't know about you guys but once I assembled a fixed datapad & disk I was rather unimpressed with the results.
Not sure how, but I had convinced myself that the fixed data disks would be blank and that people would be able to put their own info/text onto them. This would have been great for merchants/museum owners wanting to give information to visitors or RPers wanting to create their own stories within the game.
Instead I've got a datapad with some garbled section of a story that I couldn't even be bothered to read. Junk.
I think this was a real missed opportunity for some excelent new content
how do you repair broken items i have three broken vid screens
AudioOrgana
Wed Jan 26, 2005 12:17 am
#9
Well, I read the patch notes and FF's carefully, so I knew exactly what to expect in terms of final product.
However, I was disapointed this is all "one-time-use" stuff. I.E., I had assumed that once you went to several planets gathering the parts for the Datapad and the Datapad repair kit you'd actually be able to use them to read/repair multiple discs.
I really like the "flavor fiction", but it's a HUGE PITA to get one little scrap. It's a lot of useless crap you have to gather to just make one of them - after the first one I felt so cheated that I only got one little working datadisc for all that work I sold off all the other parts I had begun to collect.
At the very least, the datapad reader needs to be multi-use - then we would just have to gather datadisc repair kits. But for all those parts to add up to a little bit of text is just going to be a waste of time to most players - even those like me that appriciate the concept in the first place.
AO
However, I was disapointed this is all "one-time-use" stuff. I.E., I had assumed that once you went to several planets gathering the parts for the Datapad and the Datapad repair kit you'd actually be able to use them to read/repair multiple discs.
I really like the "flavor fiction", but it's a HUGE PITA to get one little scrap. It's a lot of useless crap you have to gather to just make one of them - after the first one I felt so cheated that I only got one little working datadisc for all that work I sold off all the other parts I had begun to collect.
At the very least, the datapad reader needs to be multi-use - then we would just have to gather datadisc repair kits. But for all those parts to add up to a little bit of text is just going to be a waste of time to most players - even those like me that appriciate the concept in the first place.
AO
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