CUEmu - Thread Posts

Randonb

Thu Apr 08, 2004 2:24 pm

Here you go guys. The format is a little different this time. Thunderheart wants a Top 5, and a list of "Wish List" items afterwards.The list I actually submit to him will be very simple and plain, so he can put it into an Excel spreadsheet for effecient tracking. He's going to answer the Top 5 Lists from the various boards in a "staggered" pattern this time around, rather than try to tackle them all at once. I don't know what order he's going to do them in.

TOP 5 ISSUES

1)10 out of our 12 specials are redundant, inadequate, or broken.

"Status of Pistoleer Specials" in the Pistoleer forum has an up to date list of problems, coupled with recommended fixes. It can be found here.

2)We have no state effects or interesting attacks.

All we do is damage, aside from 1 melee range KD and 1 bleed. Because of this, our only recourse is to pick the special that deals the most damage and spam it. "Vanilla" Random HAM damage is everywhere in our tree. We need state effects and special attacks, both to be competitive and to be exciting to play.

3)Our DPS is too low.

It's so low We have difficulty outdamaging the regeneration of buffed players. Other professions can have up to4x or even 7x our damage output, far greater accuracy, and comparable defenses all from the same tree. Pistoleers feel that the answer doesn't lie in a simple speed increase. Increasing our speed to what we consider adequate levels would have 2 side effects: 1) virtually ignoring the speed stat on weapons, and 2) burning through our HAM too quickly. A speed & damage increase is recommended.

4)The Speed System used by the game is completely screwed up.

Pistols are supposed to be "fast but not hard hitting." In the current state of SWG, all weapons attack at roughly the same speed at master level: 1.x seconds per attack for most specials. Our speed advantage simply isn't there, but our damage disadvantage is all too apparent. This has been well documented.

The formula is exponential - DPS doubles and redoubles at 50, 75, 87.5, 93.75, 96.875, 98.4375, 99.21875 and so forth speed. At 100 speed, the player would deal infinite damage if they weren't restricted by the 1 second speed cap. Not only does this screw up the rate of progression, it makes the system exceedingly difficult to balance.

5)Our defenses need help.

Dodge is the minimum of what it should be. Our Melee/Ranged Defense is nearly meaningless unless stacked, and dwarfed by other professions that deal more damage. Our State Defenses are virtually meaningless, as our opponent need only spam the special once or twice more.

WISH LIST ITEMS

Wewould liketo emphasize that the matters listed below should take a back seat to the fixing of our Top 5 Issues.

6)Our accuracy is too low. Pistoleers report extraordinary difficulty hitting defense stackers in PvP.

7)Pistoleers wish to Dual Wield pistols, either in the Master box or in an "Elite-Elite" Space Expansion profession.

8)Pistoleers desire a new weapon in the Master box, one worthy of it's location. A damage type otherwise unavailable to us would be preferable.

9)Pistoleers wish to have holsters and "twirly" moves.

10) The dodge animation while standing isa bit lackluster. We are glad to hear it will not display while running in Publish 8, as this was hindering our movement. Ideally, we would like it to be replaced with a stylish new "dodge while running" animation that would not affect our movement in any way. If we could replace the "dodge while standing" animation as well, that would be wonderful. The simple side step isn't very exciting.

Message Edited by Randonb on 04-08-2004 04:47 PM

"...You're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."

biwan:
Former Pistoleer Correspondent (02/04/04 - 09/05/04)

Shazeen

Thu Apr 08, 2004 2:46 pm

#2

/applaud

Very nicely done Randonb!

~ Blanchbaca ~ Master Rifleman / Master Chef ~ Flurry || Orim ~ Master Pistoleer / Master Smuggler ~ Scylla ~

electricnomad

Thu Apr 08, 2004 3:31 pm

#3

Looks good to me.

Then again,I liked these all the first and second and third times around, too - many of these demands are the same ones we've been giving the Devs since the Correspondent program began, so I hope nobody's hopes are too high that these will be fixed anytime soon.

See for yourselves:

http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=pistoleer&message.id=1810

http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=pistoleer&message.id=2861

http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=pistoleer&message.id=7719

http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=pistoleer&message.id=24714

http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=pistoleer&message.id=30542

"We're dedicating a designer (Green Marine) next week to looking into fixing some of the bigger issues of the smuggler. (Yes, we are also looking at issues with the other professions, the smuggler just seems to be the one needing the most love at this moment)." Q-3PO - September 16, 2003
Great Threads in Smuggler History, Vol. I / Vol. II / Vol. III - Collected Posts by the Devs Concerning Smugglers
***ELECTRICNOMAD RETIRED FROM SWG ON 7 MAY 2004***

Dardanus

Thu Apr 08, 2004 3:56 pm

#4

Great Job, but are these not the same changes we ave been asking for for months?

<--------Lynch Shikrus- Prince of Pistoleers-------->
You can turn your back on a man, but never turn your back on a drug-HST

KenshiNaruto

Thu Apr 08, 2004 4:11 pm

#5

Maybe some day the Dev's will actually give us something on this list... I mean we've only been asking for these changes for half a year.

I can't wait for my "twirly" moves!

______
Neruto :: Chilastra
Swordsman :: Privateer Pilot
Nova Industries

BeWary

Thu Apr 08, 2004 4:18 pm

#6

" All of your concerns will be addressed in the combat re-balance. Thanx for playing and don't forget to submit another list in 2 months" -Nameless Dev

Nice job Ran, not your fault it's pretty much the same list form 6 months ago.

Gigo Paku/Sai'Meez FightinFish/Lacks Drive

"Early to bed, and ealry to riseprobably indicate manual labour"- John Ciardi

Xamyr Epan is a thief

Kevie

Thu Apr 08, 2004 5:40 pm

#7

couldn't have put it better, five stars

Oaceen Tunaisea (Ow-seen Two-nay-see), Kettemoor
There is no command, mood, chat type: smuggle
"#*% damnit, no. Caboose; I'm not cold, I don't want a hotdog, and if you
put mustard in my #&$^ing sheets again I'm gonna kill you." - Tucker
-

Scott_Ray

Thu Apr 08, 2004 6:22 pm

#8

Looks good.

Scott Ray-Chilastra Server
Leader of Raythe Tech Mining
Blademaster/Master Gunfighter
Surveyor/Miner/Mercenary
2 cpu for Ore.

Spike7913

Thu Apr 08, 2004 6:44 pm

#9

maybe one and two should be merged, our specials COULD be interesting if they weren't broken

3 and 4 are big to me, seeing as i have done more DPS in other professions with maybe a few boxes,

5, seems to me dodge was working great when we first got it, then somewhere down the line i found myself being missed more often,

maybe because of what i am fighting but who knows,

6 is a definite, even if its accuracy within 48 meters or something we need to be more accurate,

7 is in the works, almost makes me want to take up fencer too just to be a super 1337 dual wielder! muwahhaha i pwn joo.

8, very true, but all professions need this, i also think the master box needs to be better in general, maybe +36 speed, and even 90 would be cool, fixed specials especially MTPS, i've been finding myself using pointblankarea1 alot recently when surronded on all sides and i love it.

9 holsters,

10 we would also like make up so we can look pretty while dodging. but for real i completely agree, looking lame compared to everyone else is the worst kind of unbalance of them all : ^)

Message Edited by Spike7913 on 07-01-2004 02:01 AM

Skippy

yup, back to oasis

Willissz

Fri Apr 09, 2004 3:14 am

#10

Well said.

"Cats always land on their feet. Toast always lands buttered side down. A cat with toast strapped to its back will hover above the ground in a state of quantum indecision." - Willissz

fareone

Fri Apr 09, 2004 12:39 pm

#11

they are not ganna do anythink becouse bh.... they have to do samethink about skill mixing..i mean..for exeple when u bh u cant get pistol or when u got smuglar u cant get pistol ot tka same time( ofcourse, first they have to fix these professions for that) my opinion they have to change all profesiions system

got Ofio( lowca)... opef ofio( lowca)

BZebub

Sat Apr 10, 2004 10:51 am

#12

there's so many ways dual wield could be implemented, we can't say it will double our DPS.

maybe both weapons will be capped at one second, for example, meaning one shot per second.

maybe the HAM costs will be so extreme that it will be useless. or accuracy penalties.

WesBelden

Sat Apr 10, 2004 11:16 am

#13

Looks great RandonB, job well done . One can only hope that this time round they actually listen and act on what we've said.

electricnomad wrote:

Looks good to me.

Then again,I liked these all the first and second and third times around, too - many of these demands are the same ones we've been giving the Devs since the Correspondent program began, so I hope nobody's hopes are too high that these will be fixed anytime soon.

See for yourselves:

http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=pistoleer&message.id=1810

http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=pistoleer&message.id=2861

http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=pistoleer&message.id=7719

http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=pistoleer&message.id=24714

http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=pistoleer&message.id=30542

It seems the developers have managed to ignore both Smuggler and Pistoleer, each profession's correspondanthaving tostate the same issues over and over only to receive another request to state the issues again. Perhaps the Devs recognise these two professions as some of the most 'Star Wars esq' in the game and as such have stuck their heads in the sand rather than confront what needs to be done. Alternatively, they may just have known they only have time to work on so many professions at once and merely asked for issues over and over as an attempt to keep the community happy.

Whatever the reasons, one can only hope that they are actually going to make good on their promises andmake many changes for the better.

TH, or infact any Dev that happens to be bored enough to have read this reply, the ball's in your court now... again. Please do something spectacular with it this timeand make up for all the miss hits to date.

=======================================================================
WesBelden the last Smuggler Correspondent.
Who's the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows him?

Pistoleer Archive

Thread: Pistoleer Top 5 Issues (04-08-04)