Jedi Archive

When I first got word of these massive changes over the course of today, I was quite shocked, even excited... But after having read over the obviously pre-planned release of information, my shock has somewhat settled and I am just trying to gaine some perspective on all of this... especially the changes relating to the Jedi player-base. I am a post-CU jedi, finished my template a couple of weeks ago and have just gotten used to it, learned how to play it, it's strengths... it's weaknesses... and was beginning to enjoy it thoroughly, despite the well-known problems that have been plaguing us for some time now. I must admit, I am eager to see these new rewards that the current Jedi will be given... but at the same time I am very concerned about some of the things I am hearing from the people at SOE. I took Baciacca's compilation of Jedi-related changes from the FAQ Post Tiggs made earlier today and have added my own responses, questions, concerns and feedback in light blue underneath each point. I only hope to see these things addressed and responded too soon, to ease my concern and possibly save us all alot of confusion and stress. Of course there are many other points in Tiggs' post that I would also like clarification on, but I think these things here are more important to me personally. Baciacca, if you would please do anything in your power to pass this along to Tiggs or whoever... someone that can provide some answers, I would greatly appreciate the effort... and I'm sure I'm not alone on that. Thanks in advance.

Baciacca wrote:

Jedi are Force Sensitive beings that can use their Force powers to over-come and control their enemies and can master the art of fighting with a lightsaber. Force Sensitive individuals feel a connection to the energy that surrounds all living things and binds the galaxy together.

General Skills:

• Lightsaber Combat

• Force Powers

• Meditation

Special:

• Block Blaster Bolts – Block Blaster bolts using a Force powered lightsaber.

• Force Lightning – Call down the Force power of lightning to weaken your opponent's strength during battle.

....What exactly is the mechanic behind these new skills, professions, etc. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I have read it sounds as if there are not going to be any more personalized templates, or diversity between players of the same general profession. It sounds as if, for example, all Jedi players will have the exact same skills, abilities, and basic template.... I REALLY HOPE THIS IS NOT THE CASE <--- I cannot stress this enough. You say general Jedi skills will be Lightsaber combat, Force Powers and Meditation, and Special Skills will be saber block and force lightning... does that mean:

• Each and every Jedi type character will have the exact same abilities and skills throughout these general/special skills available to him/her?

or

• There will be a variety of options in these General/Special skill sets that a player will be able to pick and choose from to create and personalize their own unique template? For example... Hypothetically if we still have our originial 250 skill points available... will there be More skill boxes/abilities to choose from than we have skill points for?

If the answer to the first question is yes, I for one will be utterly disappointed... if the answer to the second set of questions is yes, I will remain excited to see the new system.

Also, this very small summary of a Jedi's skills is very unsatisfying. I hope this is simply just a taste of what the Jedi profession will have to offer, and that there is in fact a much broader spectrum of different skills and abilities at our disposal. Lets face it, currently the Jedi disciplines do need some balance... however, here it sounds like there will be no branching out of disciplines, there will be no dabbling among the variety of skills... if any, and this could be concluded (given the information we have so far) for all professions... I'd really apprectiate some more detail regarding the new profession setup, it's delegation of skills and abilities in comparison to the amount of skill points available... basicly what kinds of options will we have.

FAQ: (Jedi Related)

Can anyone become a Jedi?

Yes, anyone can follow the path of the Jedi but like all professions mastery will require time and experience. The new Jedi profession will be equal in combat effectiveness with the other professions. It will still however deliver on the promise of the Star Wars Jedi mystique and will allow players to “live” as Jedi in the world of Star Wars Galaxies.

"The new Jedi profession will be equal in combat effectiveness with the other professions." - I don't like this statement, period... as i'm sure the majority of our entire Jedi player-base would agree. I am confused... It has been stated that the initial reason for this massive re-vamp is to make the SWG experience more "Star-Warsy" and more like the movies/books/canon/etc... yet Jedi are going to be EQUAL to in effectiveness to any other profession... how is that anything like Star Wars? Jedi were THE elite... Characters throughout the star wars saga who had learned the ways of the force were the equivilent to dozens of trained soldiers in combat. In every single movie the Jedi/Dark Jedi was a great force to be reckoned with... no simple "profession" could stand toe to toe with a Jedi, no matter what the circumstances... How can this above statement be true to Star Wars in any way, shape or form? Furthermore... Many of us have put a great deal of ourselves into achieving the status of Jedi... including, but not limited to Time, Effort and Money (Real and In-game)... only to have all of that marginalized to the effectiveness of any other profession... it hardly seems right, fair or just.

"It will still however deliver on the promise of the Star Wars Jedi mystique and will allow players to “live” as Jedi in the world of Star Wars Galaxies." - I noticed here how you refer to the Jedi mystique, and put the word "live" in quotes... this leads me to believe you aren't exactly telling us everything you have in store, which I can understand since it is only the first day of announcements. But this statement here makes me wonder what you, the Developers, see Jedi as... what will the "role" of Jedi be in this game... It used to be the alpha-class, rare, unique, powerful.... now it will be just like any other class, it already isn't very rare, however it does maintain some uniqueness even now... so what kind of "mystique" shall we be expecting this time? What kind of "lives" will we be living?

What's happening to my Jedi character?

Jedi will be able to choose any of the nine iconic new professions, including the Jedi profession. Regardless of a veteran Jedi's (existing active Jedi characters prior to the introduction of the game enhancements) re-spec choice the character will gain items and abilities that will represent the original accomplishments achieved by that character. These include specifically, the ability to take on the transparent Blue form of an ascended Jedi, a special Robe that is endowed with protective properties, and an exclusive new lightsaber with a unique color that deals more damage. All of these new items are being given to existing Jedi characters in recognition for their past achievements.

"...the ability to take on the transparent Blue form of an ascended Jedi, a special Robe that is endowed with protective properties, and an exclusive new lightsaber with a unique color that deals more damage..." - I, for one, am quite excited to see these veteran rewards and abilities... but in the meantime, can we get some more detail on these things?

• Blue Glowie Form: Is this a permanent form or will we be able to toggle it on/off as we wish? What kinds of effects comes with this ghostly state? Will we be unattackable? Just any kind of extra detail for this would be much appreciated? Will we resemble Obi-Wan's look from Mustafar?
  
• Special Robe: Will there be two options (dark side/light side) for this robe's look? What kinds of protective properties are you talking about? Will this Robe be much like the current padawan robes in looks, and in the fact that it takes up nearly every wear-location on the body... or will it be something completely new and different?
  
• New Lightsaber and Color: Do you mean a new style of lightsaber hilt? If so, will there be a double-bladed, one-handed, and two-handed version of such... assuming these styles are still part of the lightsaber combat system. When you say "unique color", are you referring to the color crystal or the actual color of the hilt? I would also suggest that NO COLOR CRYSTAL deal more damage than any other.... it gets very tiring seeing the same lightsaber colors on every jedi, as well as having to suffer because you may prefer a color that does not have any damage bonus. What kind of unique color can we be expecting, or will we be able to choose from a variety of new, unique colors? In fact... that is the only way I see this working properly... If you plan to have this reward yield a higher damage than other color crystals, I suggest letting us pick between a variety of new colors when we recieve this reward, while maintaing the damage bonus... that way it will be more personal to our characters... and the general game will be more diverse and unique, as well as each Jedi.

"Jedi will be able to choose any of the nine iconic new professions, including the Jedi profession." - Will non-jedi characters who have already reached a full-template (cl 80) under the current system be able to use their respec tokens given after the re-vamp to turn their non-jedi character into a jedi? I don't think that would be a wise move if you plan to make that possible.

Will crystals and pearls still be used in lightsabers?

Yes, you will still be able to use crystals and pearls to upgrade lightsabers.

Will the crystal/pearl tuning process remain the same as it is? If so, will premium and flawless quality crystal/pearls be re-introduced into the new loot tables? If not, what kinds of changes can we expect for the tuning process, as well as the lightsaber crafting process? Will the quality of a Jedi's crystals contiue tobe the deciding factor of his power... or will lightsaber stats be more geared towards the actual crafting process, if there still is one? Basicly, I'd like to hear more in-depth detail on this as a whole... lightsabers, crafting them and the role of crystals/pearls in them.

Will I still have to go to the Force Sensitive Village to be Force Sensitive?

No. Being a Jedi character will no longer require you to complete the Force Sensitive Village series of quests. There will be quests and adventures created specifically for the Jedi path that you will need to pursue in order to progress on the Jedi path.

For those of us Jedi who plan to remain Jedi in the new system, that have already reached a full Jedi template in the current system... what kinds of content can we be expecting, since in this same post there is still NO ETA on any kind of FRS for Jedi. Will we too have new quests available to us that may yield the new types of various rewards discussed in Tiggs' original post? Also, how difficult will the new path to become Jedi be compared to the current and previous paths... will it be even more simplified? I ask this because Julio in his letter to the community spoke of a more immersive Star Wars experience... and currently many players already believe that the Jedi population is swelled beyond what the current time setting of the game would have allowed.

Do you still plan to have a Force Ranking System?

Not at this time.

Sad. Dissappointing.