Pilot Archive

That's right. It's Galactic Civil War time, baby.

Many of us love space, but feel that, once you hit master and have fooled around with your new ships, ground out some loot and cash, and PVPed a bit--and these days, strapped on a mining laser and blasted some asteroids--it starts to feel a little lacking. Personally, I love space PVP, and the organizers of our battles do a great job in adding some meaning to them, but I know it would be a completely new experience to have in-game mechanics that both affect and are affected by the state of the GCW in space--a system that would add a neverending endgame to JTL.

This thread's meant for us to be able to discuss that system, what we'd like to see in it and what we'd like it to do.

Any thoughts, ideas, and suggestions are welcome, no matter how ambitious or far-flung they may be. Remember, though, that much like the ground, many pilots wouldn't want to participate in the GCW, and that playstyle needs to be respected; ideas that force people into PVP, for instance, probably won't fit with the spirit of the game. Likewise, wild and intricate suggestions may be a lot of fun to discuss, but they're less likely to see the light of day. By no means let that stop you from making them--this thread's wide open--but their complexity and difficulty to implement will be a factor in the kinds of suggestions I'd like to eventually take to the devs.

In terms of dev communication, most of it is still focused on eliminating the RotW bugs, particularly those that are preventing people from getting or deeding ships, as well as seeing about a balance pass. However, I'd hope these issues will be taken care of in the near future, and I'd like to see about building a constructive discussion here so that, when the time comes, we'll have some ideas to throw their way to improve the content of space as well as the mechanics.

This is a rather complex issue imo, one that can't really be easily addressed. As far as the GCW per cannon, between ep. 4 and 5 when this game is supposed to be set, *all* the rebel alliance is supposed to have retreated to hoth, and in hiding, as the huge stormtrooper armies sweep them up and eliminate them galaxy-wide. So I guess we should simply forget cannon....

Solution 1:

Make DS influence ground NPC troops galaxy-wide based on FP granted. In essense, the more *faction* ships are killed in DS, the more reinforcements are needed there, pulling from the ground. This would require dynamic spawn rates on the ground, probably per day would be better than per hour.... and some DB tracking (which is probably already being done). Possibly adjust Base FP costs to meet criterium in line with this as well. As *faction* gains hold in DS, they spend less resources there, therefore items become cheaper all around... as they lose, then resources are harder to come by, since they are being dedicated to the space campaign.

Solution 2:

PvP Zone, as I had suggested months and months ago, where PvP kills/battles influence NPC status on the ground. No stations, no cap ships, no NPCs of any kind...

{edit} Here's the link {/edit}.

But the basic principle is the same as above, excepting counts pvp rather than pve for influence.

Solution 3:

As suggested by Vegitaa some time ago, one (orone per system)station which can become faction controlled - owners of the station influence heavily the space aspect of the game but do very little for the ground.

However, a la Episode 1Space Blockade of Naboo, my suggestion is something similar, excepting that once space is controlled, no *new* bases for the system in question can be placed by the opposing faction, regardless of planetary status. E.G.:

Rebels own Corellia on Ahazi Imperials take over the Space Station in Corellian Space Rebels may not place any new bases, while the Empire can. This gives incentive then for the Rebellion to take and control the space and ground areas of their systems - encouraging group activity, PvP, and JtL activity in one fell swoop. It also makes it much easier for opposition forces to find their enemies.... and goals to acheive, other than *let's go farm FP in DS*.

Obviously these are just _general_ suggestions, and not fine tuned or detailed by any stretch of the imagination, but then I'm not getting paid to develop content and mechanics for SWG either...

Feel free to bash & trash or flesh things out, as you please... I've got 100% board-flame immunity lol /evilgrin

Message Edited by 1st_Viduus on 05-27-2005 12:26 AM

Message Edited by FM_Warblood on 05-27-2005 12:30 AM

Oh and how about real instruments in the cockpit?

Or how about G-loc? Tell me it wouldnt be cool to pull 9 G's,black out and end up like a bug on a windshield when you hit that big space rock?

Message Edited by FM_Warblood on 05-27-200512:35 AM

Message Edited by FM_Warblood on 05-27-2005 12:35 AM

Message Edited by CuchulainnDarklight on 05-26-2005 09:38 PM

Message Edited by CuchulainnDarklight on 05-26-2005 10:19 PM

Next I want a similar system to the ground activated in space.

I.e. Kill enough enemies in space and your faction will control that area!

PLUS - the big one.

A PvP tracker for space. I mentioned this in another post, but why not have your ships biosigged to you. Then if you redeed them and stick them in your house the /examine would say -

An X-wing deed, issued to Colonel (current ground faction rank OR see below) Cuchulainn Darklight, Alliance Starfighter Command, 76 Enemy Ace space combat kills (amount of player kills in that chassis).

Plus, on your Bio on ground instead of your ace badge being with the rest of badges, it is separate, at the bottom, with your rank and squadron and kill rate showing!

Whats the point of being an Ace if you cant prove it.

Now for the red bit - An FRS like system for Aces.

Thats right, when you reach master pilot you will have the opportunity to join Rogue Squadron or the 181st Fighter Group. Lets say each Squadron has 12 places on each server. To get in that squad you need to be the 12th highest or better PvP Master Pilot in your faction on that server.

This will give you additional notes to your biolinked chassis/deed (For example - Cuchulainn Darklight, Rogue Squadron, Alliance Starfighter Command, 76 Enemy Ace space combat kills (amount of player kills in that chassis)). A Rogue squadron crest wearable on any clothing (shoulder patch), and the same for the 181st. Your Bio will also show your status in your particular squadron too. You will also have the ability to put a Rogue Squadron crest on your ship, or the 181st diagonal red stripes on your TIE! You will also gain a secondary factionalrank in addition to your ground rank that is linked to your status in the squadron (Wing Commander (Rogue 2) etc). And when targeted your ship will display your SpaceFRS status. I.e my Xwing would show me as - Cuchulainn Darklight (ShadowWraith) currently. Under this SpaceFRS it may say - Squadron Leader [Rogue 1] Cuchulainn Darklight (ShadowWraith). All members of the Space FRS will be attackable at ANY time by any enemy faction player, however for an enemy non-overt to attack them they will have to execute a command which will give the Space FRS player a 3 second auditory warning before the attack commences (thats more than I need!).

Now all we need is someone to come up with a Freelancer version of this!

Oh, are these ideas any good - or a load of crap

This is just me getting started, for an idea of the ideas my fevered mind comes up with check out this url for my ranger revamp - and note I finished this weeks before the CU went live! -

http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=ranger&message.id=99912&view=by_date_ascending&page=1

(any old excuse to get people over to the ranger forum and tell us we are great! Especially riflemen and jedi who get our invisibility camo proposal or every combat class that gets one of our snare, root, debuff trap attacks!)

Message Edited by CuchulainnDarklight on 05-26-2005 09:57 PM

There's a lot of wonderful (very complex) stuff that I'd love to see happen... But for the GCW specifically?

If I remember correctly, and I may not because I don't engage in the GCW on the ground, costs of faction-specific perks decrease the more control your faction has over that planet.

What about factioned NPC (or PC, even better) supply convoys that travel through the system? Maybe a battle-group like the corvette master mission in tougher sectors, and a couple of freighters with a fighter-wing escort in starter systems. If those freighters don't make it to the planetary station on a regular basis, faction perk costs increase. Or better yet, it restricts the number of PvE or PvP bases one side can place.

I've always thought that the NPC non-combat ships tend to just wander aimlessly... having a path they travel would definitely add to the immersion for me. They'll look like they're going places.

Anyway, pilots could take freight missions in POB ships (subject to player attack) for "special forces" style space combat, and Combatants go after the NPC stuff. Would give us a reason to group up and use POB ships in a semi-realistic engagement (pending a POB shield and armour upgrade of course )

Maybe killing off these convoys nets you some actual cargo to trade on the ground. For a privateer like myself, this would be a big incentive to get involved; I'm a pirate and a smuggler, give me something to steal.

Message Edited by FM_Warblood on 05-27-2005 01:29 AM