Pilot Archive
Thread: My REVISED Idea For New Pilot Content
Page 1 of 6
Erahth
Thu Mar 03, 2005 7:41 am
#1
Dude...this would *seriously* rock! It would give us an actual use for our MP ships, instead of them being novelty toys.
5 *s for you!!!
I wonder what the chances of this actually getting implemented are.
/sign
5 *s for you!!!
I wonder what the chances of this actually getting implemented are.
/sign
Ldwater
Thu Mar 03, 2005 7:47 am
#2
I really like this idea, but I also dont think it should be left for just the Master level players, but could be opened up as non-combat / rate combat - more money making enterprise.
Cargo & smuggling can really open up the game for many different players. It means that players who dont want to play a fighter in space, can be a ship cargo, and get some good money out of it. It also opens up more ships (with different storage capabilites) and different situations (eg, some pirate wants your gargo, you can either give it to them, or try and fight them off).
As for actual cargo space, you could probably have a system that allows players to take as much or as little cargo as they like, so even if they did have a fighter with a bit of space left, they could make some money on the side, but the larger the ship, the more cargo & therefore, the higher the profit / reward!
This worked really well in Freelancer and in a group, you could have one cargo ship and a few fighters. Once a shipment is complete, you split the money between you and your escorts. If you get attacked, your fighter escort can take on the pirates and cover the cargo ship to allow it to escape. It sounds simple, but its really good fun and is a great way to make money in space.
The idea of smuggling cargo also makes an appearance and could be incorperated in many ways too. You could have a smuggler in your cargo ship and crew which reduces your chances of getting caught. If you do get caught, you could try to dump your cargo (and incur a penalty from your employer) or try to bribe your way through.
Personally, I am happy for anything that adds more diversity to the space experiance, and this is an excellent example of how that can be done! Excellent post!
Message Edited by Ldwater on 03-03-2005 02:50 PM
ddrlenz
Thu Mar 03, 2005 11:17 am
#3
Thanks for the positive feedback! Let's keep it coming guys! Let's hear some more opinions on this system.
Tev' M'Kaneen
MWJ
Thu Mar 03, 2005 12:42 pm
#4
That could make Shipwrights happy as well. Make cargo holds a craftable only item, not lootable. Make several different sizes, and maybe make it experimentable, so the best ones take up less space and hold more cargo, or give a small bonus on the concealment.
As for the scans, just being stopped and scanned by enemy NPCs in space would be cool, like on the ground, you could just run from it, try to blast your way past, or you could hope tobluff your way through. Smugglers should also have the bribe option, which depends on their level.
As for the scans, just being stopped and scanned by enemy NPCs in space would be cool, like on the ground, you could just run from it, try to blast your way past, or you could hope tobluff your way through. Smugglers should also have the bribe option, which depends on their level.
ddrlenz
Thu Mar 03, 2005 1:37 pm
#5
Here is my rewritten proposal for a possible additon of content for Pilots, which would affect every profession in general...but add a more useful solution for Smugglers in space as well. How often have you found yourself in space flying your X-Wing or TIE Fighter and ever say, "Man...I wish JTL wasn't just going into space and blowing stuff up for hours at a time."? I know I have...many times and believe I've come up with an idea that could make SWG feel more realistic, interactive, fun...and most importantly: actually feel like Star Wars!
It is a well documented fact that many Master Pilots, or even lower level pilots, often have unused mass in their starships. I've read
reports of YT-1300s with 5 million mass and only using around 250k of it or lower. Wouldn't it be nice to implement a use for that space? That's where storage compartments could come into play. Shipwrights would be able to craft different sizes of storage modules that you can equip into your starship, which would allow you to carry cargo. These modules could range in size from 10,000 mass, for an X-wing perhaps, up to 500,000 mass for the Krayts, Decimators, and YT-1300s to use. You could equip
as many as you like until you actually use that 5 million mass in your ship. Now you ask, what could I do with these storage compartments? Well, the addition of special mission terminals called "Cargo Hauling Terminal" could be the answer.
A Cargo Hauling Terminal, or CHT, could be used to search for delivery missions much like you would on the ground. These missions would be available to everyone. Only these missions would allow you to take out as many missions as possible to fully fill your cargo hold. The missions could range from a 500 credit payout for a 10k mass load of droid module chips being sent to the Labor Outpost on Yavin 4 to a 500k mass load of passengers on their way to a vacation of Naboo at Theed. The payouts for missions would obviously vary per size of the load, and perhaps by in the time it takes you to deliver it. (If you deliver it within a
half hour or so, a swift delivery bonus of credits could be added to your payout.) The catch is that you wouldn't be able to just press the travel button on the ship launching terminals anymore. With a set of cargo run missions, you have to actually launch your ship and manually jump to hyperspace and land again at your destination. This would leave room for the possibilities of random attack by aggressive pirates to a fully blown ambush of Hutt Pirates that want your cargo. You would have the option to fight, try and run and escape to make the delivery, or jettison the cargo (which would cause mission failure and require you to reimburse the NPC mission creator 1/2 of the payout price. (This would simulate an unhappy employer expecting his load of R2-units to be
reimbursed for you dumping them in the Dantooine system.) The option would be available to not pay the mission creator, but I'll get into that later. You would also find yourself occasionally running into Imperial or local authority scans of your cargo for contraband, but these missions would be clean. I can think of many kinds of cargos such as medical supplies, droids, passangers, food, and so much could be added. The possibilities are almosr endless of cargo ideas.
Now I'm sure some people would find this very boring. Well, perhaps a life of crime is for you? Perhaps you would like to live life like Han Solo? Then the Smuggling Mission Terminal (SMT) is for you. The missions listed on the SMT would be much like those on the CHT, but not quite so legal. These missions would again be available to everyone, but Smugglers would get many perks at these missions. These missions would pay out signifigantly more money, but the risk would also be far greater. Deliveries of slaves, spice, weapons, stolen goods, and other not-so-nice items would be your world. But unfortunately, if you get caught
by a scan from an authority, you'd be subject to heafty fines, possibility of attack, or even arrest. (Which could be simulated by not
allowing you access to any SMT or CHT use for 24 hours.) If you choose to go quietly, the authority would then confisgate your cargo, to which you would owe the mission creation 2x what the mission payout would be. The same requirement would be expected if you just jettisoned the cargo while under attack. (This would simulate the criminal aspect of greed, as Jabba the Hutt had when Han Solo dumped his spice cargo. You don't dump a criminals cargo and expect to get off easy, do you?) Again,
failure to pay will be explained later. Now it sounds like the risk outweighs the gain, right? Well...not for a Smuggler! (Yes, we love you guys Smugglers.)
Smugglers would gain significant advantages to using SMTs. Shipwrights would be able to not only craft the storage modules menthoned before, but also smuggling compartments. These compartments would add a 25% defense vs scan detection on cargo scans, but would be attached to storage modules at a 50% original mass addition. (A normal 100k mass storage module would cost 150k mass after the installation of a smuggling compartment, but still only allow 100k of storage capacity. I could think of comparing it to adding a Krayt tissue to a firearm or an additive to a food by a chef.) But there is a catch, only novice smugglers and above would be able to use them. Smugglers could also use the underworld tree to gain a certain percentage to avoid getting busted during scans. (Perhaps a 10% bonus for Underworld I, 15% bonus for II, 20% bonus for III, and a 25% bonus for IV, and a 40% bonus for Master Smuggler) Also, the Force Sensitive skill tree persuasion could come into play as well to avoid scans, maybe each luck box adding another 5% scan evasion. (For example, a Master Smuggler with all four boxes of the persuasion tree would have a 60% chance of avoiding scans. If he had a storage module with smuggling compartment attached, his total scan
evasion rate would be 85%. A 15% chance of getting caught by an authority scan.) You could also just run for it while being scanned, but would make you open to an attack. These missions would have a higher chance of ambush by pirates who really, really want your cargo. (We're talking tier 4-5s, depending on mission difficulty.) Again bringing up the option of fight, run, or jettison.
Now we move onto the subject of cargo jettisoning. Obviously frowned upon by the NPCs who give missions to you. As stated above, a mission for an CHT that was jettisoned would require you to pay the employer back 50% of the mission payout, with no award having been given to you. A SMT mission would require you to pay back TWICE the amount you would've made on the mission. But the option of not paying back your employer would always be available. If you don't pay the NPC back in about, 24
hours...or down right refuse to pay them...your name suddenly pops up on the Bounty Hunter mission terminal with a payout of what your delivery mission would've paid you had you not failed. (With smuggling missions paying alot more than normal deliveries, the target would definately be on the SMT user.) This would allow a player Bounty Hunter to track you down and attack you much like he/she would a Jedi. But the catch is that BHs can also hunt you down in space. It is not forced PvP, as if you don't want to fight, pay back your money owed to your employer. The option to pay back after your head has a bounty on it could be available, but for 3 times the original payout the the NPC would've paid you. ("I'll pay you three times the amount, Jabba. You're throwing away a
fortune here...don't be a fool!") You could also be randomly attacked by NPC bounty hunters shouting "Hey! It's Tev'! Jabba has a price on your head...I'm here to collect!" as they blast away at you. (Much like the Sith Shadow attacks after the Old man visit.) I would also visualize that once the BH does actually make the kill on you, the bounty is lifted and you no longer owe the money to the NPC, but you also may no longer work for the NPC who listed the mission.
Now we finally move onto the final type of cargo missions. Factional Cargo Hauling Terminals (FCHT) would be placed near your local faction recruiters. They could be very close to identical to CHTs, but the rewards would also include faction points as well as cash. You could have an Alliance Pilot delivering a secret information buoy to a Rebel operative on Tatooine to an Imperial Pilot dropping off a group of recruits at the Imperial Outpost on Dantooine. The payouts and difficulty would be similar to CHT missions, but you would be at greater risk of opposite faction attack while making the delivery run. (Imperials don't take too kindly to R2 droid shipments to the Rebels on Lok.) Similar, if not equal, scan evasion bonuses could apply to smugglers who use the FCHTs to avoid opposite faction interference.
Well...that about sums up my new ideas for the Pilot profession. Some might think it favors Smugglers, which it may. But Smugglers are meant to smuggle...and the option is always there to every pilot to explore the galaxy while bringing medicine to those who need it, or spice to those burn-outs in the far corners of the galaxy. The choice would be up to you...and would help with the full immersion into the space aspect of the Star Wars Galaxy experience.
Tev' M'Kaneen
-KOTOR, Scylla-
It is a well documented fact that many Master Pilots, or even lower level pilots, often have unused mass in their starships. I've read
reports of YT-1300s with 5 million mass and only using around 250k of it or lower. Wouldn't it be nice to implement a use for that space? That's where storage compartments could come into play. Shipwrights would be able to craft different sizes of storage modules that you can equip into your starship, which would allow you to carry cargo. These modules could range in size from 10,000 mass, for an X-wing perhaps, up to 500,000 mass for the Krayts, Decimators, and YT-1300s to use. You could equip
as many as you like until you actually use that 5 million mass in your ship. Now you ask, what could I do with these storage compartments? Well, the addition of special mission terminals called "Cargo Hauling Terminal" could be the answer.
A Cargo Hauling Terminal, or CHT, could be used to search for delivery missions much like you would on the ground. These missions would be available to everyone. Only these missions would allow you to take out as many missions as possible to fully fill your cargo hold. The missions could range from a 500 credit payout for a 10k mass load of droid module chips being sent to the Labor Outpost on Yavin 4 to a 500k mass load of passengers on their way to a vacation of Naboo at Theed. The payouts for missions would obviously vary per size of the load, and perhaps by in the time it takes you to deliver it. (If you deliver it within a
half hour or so, a swift delivery bonus of credits could be added to your payout.) The catch is that you wouldn't be able to just press the travel button on the ship launching terminals anymore. With a set of cargo run missions, you have to actually launch your ship and manually jump to hyperspace and land again at your destination. This would leave room for the possibilities of random attack by aggressive pirates to a fully blown ambush of Hutt Pirates that want your cargo. You would have the option to fight, try and run and escape to make the delivery, or jettison the cargo (which would cause mission failure and require you to reimburse the NPC mission creator 1/2 of the payout price. (This would simulate an unhappy employer expecting his load of R2-units to be
reimbursed for you dumping them in the Dantooine system.) The option would be available to not pay the mission creator, but I'll get into that later. You would also find yourself occasionally running into Imperial or local authority scans of your cargo for contraband, but these missions would be clean. I can think of many kinds of cargos such as medical supplies, droids, passangers, food, and so much could be added. The possibilities are almosr endless of cargo ideas.
Now I'm sure some people would find this very boring. Well, perhaps a life of crime is for you? Perhaps you would like to live life like Han Solo? Then the Smuggling Mission Terminal (SMT) is for you. The missions listed on the SMT would be much like those on the CHT, but not quite so legal. These missions would again be available to everyone, but Smugglers would get many perks at these missions. These missions would pay out signifigantly more money, but the risk would also be far greater. Deliveries of slaves, spice, weapons, stolen goods, and other not-so-nice items would be your world. But unfortunately, if you get caught
by a scan from an authority, you'd be subject to heafty fines, possibility of attack, or even arrest. (Which could be simulated by not
allowing you access to any SMT or CHT use for 24 hours.) If you choose to go quietly, the authority would then confisgate your cargo, to which you would owe the mission creation 2x what the mission payout would be. The same requirement would be expected if you just jettisoned the cargo while under attack. (This would simulate the criminal aspect of greed, as Jabba the Hutt had when Han Solo dumped his spice cargo. You don't dump a criminals cargo and expect to get off easy, do you?) Again,
failure to pay will be explained later. Now it sounds like the risk outweighs the gain, right? Well...not for a Smuggler! (Yes, we love you guys Smugglers.)
Smugglers would gain significant advantages to using SMTs. Shipwrights would be able to not only craft the storage modules menthoned before, but also smuggling compartments. These compartments would add a 25% defense vs scan detection on cargo scans, but would be attached to storage modules at a 50% original mass addition. (A normal 100k mass storage module would cost 150k mass after the installation of a smuggling compartment, but still only allow 100k of storage capacity. I could think of comparing it to adding a Krayt tissue to a firearm or an additive to a food by a chef.) But there is a catch, only novice smugglers and above would be able to use them. Smugglers could also use the underworld tree to gain a certain percentage to avoid getting busted during scans. (Perhaps a 10% bonus for Underworld I, 15% bonus for II, 20% bonus for III, and a 25% bonus for IV, and a 40% bonus for Master Smuggler) Also, the Force Sensitive skill tree persuasion could come into play as well to avoid scans, maybe each luck box adding another 5% scan evasion. (For example, a Master Smuggler with all four boxes of the persuasion tree would have a 60% chance of avoiding scans. If he had a storage module with smuggling compartment attached, his total scan
evasion rate would be 85%. A 15% chance of getting caught by an authority scan.) You could also just run for it while being scanned, but would make you open to an attack. These missions would have a higher chance of ambush by pirates who really, really want your cargo. (We're talking tier 4-5s, depending on mission difficulty.) Again bringing up the option of fight, run, or jettison.
Now we move onto the subject of cargo jettisoning. Obviously frowned upon by the NPCs who give missions to you. As stated above, a mission for an CHT that was jettisoned would require you to pay the employer back 50% of the mission payout, with no award having been given to you. A SMT mission would require you to pay back TWICE the amount you would've made on the mission. But the option of not paying back your employer would always be available. If you don't pay the NPC back in about, 24
hours...or down right refuse to pay them...your name suddenly pops up on the Bounty Hunter mission terminal with a payout of what your delivery mission would've paid you had you not failed. (With smuggling missions paying alot more than normal deliveries, the target would definately be on the SMT user.) This would allow a player Bounty Hunter to track you down and attack you much like he/she would a Jedi. But the catch is that BHs can also hunt you down in space. It is not forced PvP, as if you don't want to fight, pay back your money owed to your employer. The option to pay back after your head has a bounty on it could be available, but for 3 times the original payout the the NPC would've paid you. ("I'll pay you three times the amount, Jabba. You're throwing away a
fortune here...don't be a fool!") You could also be randomly attacked by NPC bounty hunters shouting "Hey! It's Tev'! Jabba has a price on your head...I'm here to collect!" as they blast away at you. (Much like the Sith Shadow attacks after the Old man visit.) I would also visualize that once the BH does actually make the kill on you, the bounty is lifted and you no longer owe the money to the NPC, but you also may no longer work for the NPC who listed the mission.
Now we finally move onto the final type of cargo missions. Factional Cargo Hauling Terminals (FCHT) would be placed near your local faction recruiters. They could be very close to identical to CHTs, but the rewards would also include faction points as well as cash. You could have an Alliance Pilot delivering a secret information buoy to a Rebel operative on Tatooine to an Imperial Pilot dropping off a group of recruits at the Imperial Outpost on Dantooine. The payouts and difficulty would be similar to CHT missions, but you would be at greater risk of opposite faction attack while making the delivery run. (Imperials don't take too kindly to R2 droid shipments to the Rebels on Lok.) Similar, if not equal, scan evasion bonuses could apply to smugglers who use the FCHTs to avoid opposite faction interference.
Well...that about sums up my new ideas for the Pilot profession. Some might think it favors Smugglers, which it may. But Smugglers are meant to smuggle...and the option is always there to every pilot to explore the galaxy while bringing medicine to those who need it, or spice to those burn-outs in the far corners of the galaxy. The choice would be up to you...and would help with the full immersion into the space aspect of the Star Wars Galaxy experience.
Tev' M'Kaneen
-KOTOR, Scylla-
Dorjhe
Thu Mar 03, 2005 11:54 pm
#7
Something i've thought about a lot. Though I wouldn't have put it so eloquently. Rock on dude. Besides there are ships classes built specifically for the job your are talking about. Sorry the name is slipping my mind,Customs corvette's YEAh that's it. The imperials were really big on that customs things. Scanning every ship for credentials and cargo. It would absolutely be awesome to see imperial planets or rebel for that fact have a space presence as well.
KardenTyrell
Fri Mar 04, 2005 3:24 am
#8
whoopsy....good ideas..
(posted wrong thread)
(posted wrong thread)
Message Edited by KardenTyrell on 03-04-2005 11:25 AM
psikobunny
Fri Mar 04, 2005 3:33 am
#9
Any mission where you get to act like a Smuggler without being a Smuggler is inappropriate at best. Basic cargo runs, fine. Illegal goods, ground Smugglers only, thank you.
My tone may be somewhat harsh to a "new" idea (trust me you weren't the one to come up with something like this, but you did state it well), but look at it this way. Since Day One, the most iconic profession in swg has been unable to do much of anything even remotely resembling smuggling. When JtL came, and everyone could become a sorta Smuggler by joining the SA, it bothered the real Smugglers, some of them a lot. I have sympathy for all professions in this game (except ones that shouldn't exist- cough Jedi), and any further infringement on one of the most broken professions ingame isn't something I want to see.
Arguing that "we're members of the SA, we should be able to smuggle" is circular logic, and won't make the case for you. Kudos for you on the hard work you obviously put in this, but one star from me for not really understanding the plight of the real Smugglers.
MonsofoLexius
Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:18 pm
#11
psikobunny wrote:Any mission where you get to act like a Smuggler without being a Smuggler is inappropriate at best. Basic cargo runs, fine. Illegal goods, ground Smugglers only, thank you.My tone may be somewhat harsh to a "new" idea (trust me you weren't the one to come up with something like this, but you did state it well), but look at it this way. Since Day One, the most iconic profession in swg has been unable to do much of anything even remotely resembling smuggling. When JtL came, and everyone could become a sorta Smuggler by joining the SA, it bothered the real Smugglers, some of them a lot. I have sympathy for all professions in this game (except ones that shouldn't exist- cough Jedi), and any further infringement on one of the most broken professions ingame isn't something I want to see.Arguing that "we're members of the SA, we should be able to smuggle" is circular logic, and won't make the case for you. Kudos for you on the hard work you obviously put in this, but one star from me for not really understanding the plight of the real Smugglers.
Just so ya know Psi,
I asked for him to keep the idea as "inclusive" as possible. I too have a lot of sympathy for smugglers. But I also get a decent ammount of ideas or "push this for me" (here, pm's, ingame, etc) about things like BH hunting Jedi in space or Smuggler only missions and much more. I try to stay out of profession specific content as much as possible.
As I tell the BH's in-game that grab my ear about "hunting Jedi PC in space"when they can, thats a BH-Jedi issue and needs to be taken up on the profession forums for Jedi-BH and who am I to push an ajenda for one side. I have no problem if the Smugglers want to push for Smuggler only missions or if the BH-Jedi want to have their hunting/hunted extended to space. But that discussion should take place there not here IMHO.
So I am as much to "shoot in the head" for this as the original poster was and partly because I feel I represent the Pilots+all-ground-professions not just one combination. I also mentioned to ddelenz in PM's that I think there could besome great ideas forextra "mini-game" on the missions for smugglers only, but that I would have a hard time getting behind an idea that excluded a majority of pilots in this particular forum.
Message Edited by MonsofoLexius on 03-04-2005 03:36 PM
psikobunny
Fri Mar 04, 2005 10:34 pm
#12
I appreciate your take on the issue monsofo, and I know we need to come up with systems that focus on us as pilots. However, I just feel like any mission system that lets a non smuggler pilot do anything that even remotely resembles something that they pay skill points for, is a bad bad idea.
Let pilots take normal commerce missions.
Let SA pilots that are not Smugglers act as defenders and wingmen
Let non SA pilots like RSF and Corsec get Blockade missions, where they need to inspect and try to apprehend real Smugglers.
Just don't slap them (smugglers) in the face any more than we have to. Giving them bonusesin a take all comers system that by rights shouldbe theirexclusive domain... *sigh* does it really need any more explanation.
You're in a unique position asPilot Correspondent Monsofo. Maybe we need to begin to think of Piloting as a meta-profession more. If this get's developed correctly, its not really separate from ground professions, it envelops them. Bounty Hunter and Smuggler are pretty obvious examples, but we've had long discussions about Artisan (mining), among others. For example I'd like to see interplanetary life forms, that a BE in a ship could sample. When we talk about boarding ships, who better to get special treatment in that area than Commando? Or if the Formation commands get reimplemented... Squad Leaders, yeah. Whether its as simple as access to unique Profession based missions, or as complicated as special abilities in space, they shouldn't be watered down to be all inclusive. Simply find ways to make good additions for every profession in turn and give everyone a special reason to go into space, or better yet a special reason to GROUP with someone of the correct profession. Piloting isn't a true profession. It's a layer on the professions we pick and pay skill points for, let it enhance as many as possible in as many unique ways as possible.
There's a time when making swg and jtl as a whole better takes precedence over making pilot better. Letting Smugglers handle the smuggling would make the whole game a lot better.
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