Politician Archive
Thread: Thoughts on leadership in SWG
I guess what really annoys me about this game is that they penalize people for wanting to be leaders. As having been a leader IRL (military NCO) I can comprehend that leaders do make sacrifices, however the leaders in the military (well, the NCOs at least) were (more often than not) capable of doing more, better for longer periods of time. They weren't penalized for taking charge - the best was selected.
What we have with the voting system is essentially the same thing. The guild picks who they think is the creame de la creame and places them into power. Your authority is constantly at risk and if you do not perform then someone can usurp you. So not only are we forced by the very system itself to be the best leaders we can be we are essentially screwed for it as well.
Any of you long time MMORPG players know without a shadow of a doubt that good leaders are hard to come by and exceptional leaders are even harder to find. In one MMORPG you may have 3 or 4 guilds that truly stand out above the rest - the others "get the job done" but that's about it.
Because of this already inherent shortage of true, strong leaders they also have to fight for politician as well. To circumvent this problem *most* PA Leaders are also Mayors and get hit with a "double whammy". So those people are restricted twice - once by getting slammed with a 9 lot cost for PA Hall and another time for 77 skill points for Politican. Sony needs to realize that they cannot run this game without us. It's the leaders of the organizations that make the game fun- not the manufacturers of the game itself. Sure, Sony provides the content but the leaders of the guilds are the ones that organize hunts, events, raids and provide individual content for OUR player base. It's our responsibility to ensure that our guild members have a good time. If they don't they either leave or vote us out of office.
I would like to see a little more consideration from Sony concerning this fact. I think it's deplorable that leaders, those that help Sony make money off this project,get slammed the hardest (double whammy).
Fact is, lots are an extremely important and inherent part of the system of this game and by restricting the number of lots we're being restricted in the number of professions we can play. Also, need to keep in mind that *ultimatly* town maintenance and PA Hall maintenance is OUR responsibility, not our member's responsibility. Sure, most members will donate, however they don't *have* to donate. Ultimatly if the PA Hall falls or the town collapses it's no one's fault but ours.
So please, take this into consideration and help fix the leader problems that we have noted in the past.
Best post on the subject I have seen to date. Couldn't agree more.
On the subject of PA halls the devs need to revamp the way they are done. They should allow 1 PA - PA hall that has pa terminal, and takes no lots. Requires 5 members. If people still want PA halls, copy the art and make estates. Same floor plan and size, but no PA terminals.
back to something more relevant: when we moved our PA hall to our city, we had a guild officer with spare lots place the hall. it still works
i do agree that politicians take up too many skillpoints, hopefully they'll reconsider a reduction of required sp (perhaps make it the same as an elite skill, or less)Message Edited by Pappi on 05-06-2004 04:55 PM
Vandessa wrote:
The only time the leader needs the lots to place the hall is the first time he does it.. after the guild is set up he can even toss the hall and never place it again... all be it if he wants to add more folks someone will need to place it but anyone who bears the guild tag will do. Unity has guild halls on two different planets in different cities with officer representation living at each so our guild is more free to spread out and not feel like they have to stay all in one place and still bear the tag
I even heard, that if you destroy the Guild Hall and set up a new, normal Building (a medium House for example) you can access the Guild Terminal there - but I have to admit it was only one post and I read it several months ago ...
And as politician - you really don't need to spend 77 SP ... a politician 0-1-2-4 (=36 SP) is capable of doing everything (once city is set up) ...
But you are right - if you "go by the book" the game does require "leaders" to pay a lot and gives almost nothing in return.
I definitely think 9 lots for a PA hall (even 7 for a Tatooine) are way to much - for the 250 itmes you can store it shouldn't cost you more lots than a big house (and a big house - as a Cantina - should only cost you 4 lots) - But I do think that a PA should cost a sort of fee, the group has to "get together" to cover these costs and the game always needs money sinks
On leading a city I am unsure if letting the elected mayor rule the city without the costs of any SP or a very limited count of SP would be wise. On one hand he wouldn't be as handycapped as he is now, spending max of 77 SP forces him to give up skills he could use to go hunting with citizens or craft items citizens need and the city needs to attract costumers - on the other hand the SP spent probably should try to force the leader to take his job serious, since he's devoted such a large portion of his characters abbilities to this city and this group of players (although the constant demands one gets from the players being such a leader forces me to dedicate myself to the city enough) ... of corse these 77 SP would only be worth something, if I can really do something with them ...
To manage my city I have learned Master Merchant - so I can place tents and vendors with information to guide citizens (FAQ of the City in a vendor - items named like questions - answeres in item description) - I also set up several NPCs in houses/tents all over the city/planet/galaxy to create mini-quests (vendor has short conversation - demands that player offers something then tells where to find next vendor in a ridle) - of course I need novice Artisan to create at least 6-sided dice that I can name and use as item
Giving politician skills like this (vendorplacement + efficiency only for city buildings + abbility to enter special items into bazaar that ad events) or even better skills - creating data-disks, scrolls, holo-books would - or information-NPC, terminal like Bazaar + Eventplaner - or even NPCs that can be programmed with mini-quests (lines they say, Answeres players can give, items the give out as reward placed (as crates?) in their inventory) would definitly help to better lead the citizens and "create content" the way Holocron allways wanted to see happen in SWG (he said the Devs have to give the players the tools!).
Also better rights-managing would be very helpful, so a leader can delegate his power and get more of his people to activly participate and to replace him when offline.
That would at least be worth 77 Skillpoints ... but now even with these advanced capabilities I am really not sure if the leader should have to sacrifice so much for the better of all citizens - he is already devoting a lot of time and probably money to managing the city - as all citizens are devoting money and probably time - and after all, only the active mayor can use the politician skills he has gained, so there wouldn't be any overpowering chars that have politician skills without paying SP.