Pilot Archive

I don't know how to answer this without going off at tangents with how GCW should be introduced into space and how it should have an effect on the ground game. I don't know how pheasable that'd be, but personally it is the thing I want most.

I believe it is almost a mandatory requirement that Space and the Ground need more to do with each other but without so much grinding. Pilots, on the whole are pilots and usually avoid the ground game for the most part. This has connotations of a distinct aversion to spending hours group grinding XP for any single profession which they'll probably never use anyway so that isn't the answer. I say this, because I hear rumours that Squad Leaders will be able to set group waypoints in space post Publish 24. Now that interests me since I am perma-overt in space (well as close as you can get to it anyway ) and usually grouped. Find friend is great, but being the idiosyncratic, slightly odd person I am, I do like to plan ahead and set a 'course' for my routine patrols. The group waypoint setting ability would come in very useful for me. Unfortunately, I have to spend time grinding monotomously on the ground first which for the sakes of that one skill...really doesn't feel worth it (even if I am doing so, regardless).

So I think skills for professions in space should be more quest based in order to obtain. Combat may be required for higher level skills (Yes, I do appreciate that you can't avoid grinding completely, but skills obtained through combat with higher lvl NPCs I would like to see being a little more special than a simple group waypoint setting skill). Anyway, the point is that I think the majority of skills (baring in mind these skills should be useful) should be obtainable by a fairly fresh, low lvl player (and thus those who choose Entertainer and Crafting professions).

I think too that in order to obtain skills which your profession can use in space, you need to have at least an 'entry level' understanding of space. My idea would be a space station for each faction where any profession could go and earn some skills/obtain missions (both ground based and spaced based) to earn these new skills. Also, I think a kind of 'quiz' would be useful and fun (especially from an mperial Roleplay perspective). E.G, You're on this space station, taking quests etc but in order to 'pass' a skill, you get quizzed on an aspect of space and your profession first. I.E, Droid commands

Example question:

What is the droid command which boosts engine speed and turn rate, but has adverse effects on the engine?

Now I know that was a simple one, but as I said...'entry level' questions.

As for actual skills, I think some skills should be universably obtainable among professions such as; Co-piloting POBs. How many times do you think "I know! Lets take up the Nova" or "Lets take up the YT" etc, and then you realise that getting a copilot is difficult since you require a master level skill of the same faction in the pilot profession and the fact that some servers are distinctly lacking in solo pilots, let alone entire crews? As far as piloting itself goes, it is common sense to keep that as a master skill, no doubts about it, however I think it may introduce more interest in space if those who prefer ground pounding could earn the right to become a co-pilot with some relevant training.

Another example; 'Chowboawka the wookie stripper* likes to spend her time in Mos Eisely Cantina dancing but although she isn't a pilot, would like to see the stars and get more involved but not just from the viewing deck of her Pimp's Luxury Yacht.'

So in order to achieve this, she'd visit a 'Light Stock Freighter Co-Pilot' trainer (and hell for cliche SWG sell out cases we could make the Freelance master trainer, Chewbacca and the Alliance specific one Nien Nub (sp?)) and this first trainer, like the pilot profession would first grant her a novice skill box which initially would be 'basic co-pilot commands'. This would consist of some core co-piloting skills and she'd recieve missions where a friend (dragging in other players here so everyone gets involved and it all feels more MMO'ish)would take her up in a combat ready POB and she'd have to complete different missions. Some would require her acting as a gunner, some would require onboard repairs etc. Finally, she'd recieve the 'Master Co-pilot' box which would grant some new skills (yet to be invented) as well as giving her access to the relevant commands that the main pilot is able to use. This would mean that different people of different factions could co pilot on a range of different faction POBs without having the ability to actually take control of them.

Hmm. Not sure if that was entirely what you were after Tomo, but its just a suggestion. Also, I'd have that skill so that even if you were a master/Ace pilot, you'd have to do the missions in order to become a fully adept co-pilot. You'd still be able to operate POBs specific to your faction as a copilot as you can now, but the versatility of adapting to other POBs and the other 'non pilot profession but space related and co pilot integral' skills wouldn't be available. They'd be what'd make this sub profession more worthwhile.

As for profession-specific content (the last suggestion I guess was profession 'generic'), I think first we need areas in space where ground inclined people can function. After this is achieved and we have a network of areas in space (which are dockable etc) along with capital ships, I think we'd be able to see where different professions could function better.

Asa sidenote and mainly from a roleplay perspective, I always had Leaph as a combat pilot. A -very- passionate combat pilot, but a side effect of being subjected to such high Gs and the stress of having pilots trying to kill him almost constantly (baring in mind that an active combat pilot in a small Navy such as the Alliance would be on duty more or less constantly. 'Going on leave' in my oppinion wouldn't exist in the mind of a dedicated fighter of oppression). The point is though, it got me thinking. Taking this into account, I was thinking 'Hey, what about for every hour spent overt in space, a kind of 'Space sickness or fatigue' starts to set in' (tell me if I'm going off on one too much here). The point is; this effect wouldn't effect overall health (as in the red bar) and wouldn't effect your performance in space. What it would do, is drain modifiers like mental awareness/quickness etc which'd take effect on the ground. This might bring in profession-specific content for Doctors which'd be...treating Starfighter pilots. Also, the kind of cool aspect to this would be..the more fatigued your pilot is which would only be incurred from going overt (not by flying in Deep Space but otherwise covert) the more respect you'd potentially generate since a completely physically exhausted, but not dead combat pilot could genuinly say 'Yup, I'm fricken' Knackered but at least I can handle myself in a furball" .

The only downside to that idea is I know it'd get old pretty quickly. Having to find a doctor every time I landed would become laborious and it harks back to the days of when we got wounds from dying in pvp I guess. The advantages over that would be, if you did die, you wouldn't lose health over all and you wouldn't have to spend hours gawping at an entertainer in order to fix yourself. I think, if this did take effect, more doctors would do the associated missions learning how to treat space sickness and that when it actually came to treatng a pilot in actual game play, amaster Doctor could rectify it in a matter of moments. Another idea would be that Doctors trained in the arts of healing the space fatigue condition could make pills/other remedies which Pilots could buy and keep in their inventory. When they land, all they'd have to do is take one and it'd help them without them having to wait for a doctor to actually be present. In fact, the pill idea might work since it'd mean the actual effects of space fatigue wouldn't hinder a pilot who had a stock of the remedy at all but it would give more relevance to doctors which sadly I'm seeing fewer and fewer of as of late. (You know its a bad thing when a profession which you'd expect to be thriving is outpopulated by Jedi who too...can cure youa lot of the time.)

I'll stop there. Thoughts?

* I'll leave you to figure out the logistics of that one...