Ranger Archive
Thread: Some asthetic issues with camps.
I'm spending a heckuva lot of time in camps lately, since I'm getting my Frontiering out of the way. I noticed a few things.
The light cast by the fire is not reliable. Depending on where you set up camp (or base) the firelight will sometimes light up the area, most of the time, it doesn't ligh anything at all.
Speaking of light, the light posts in the nicer camps and bases don't seem to function at all. They're solid, but they don't cast any light, even when the fire does.
90% - 95% of the time, the grass and other rendered flora does NOT disappear when a camp is placed. So we have grasses and plants poking through tables and such. To say nothing about the prospect of a forest fire. '-)
I hope the art team (in their quest to improve upon SWG's basics) will add some more interaction with things in the bases. We've got medical cots and such, but we can't lay or even at the least sit on them.
On the gameplay side of camps, does the Ranger really have to stay inside the base while ignoring any combat at all just so that the camp won't poof? I'm not quite sure what the reason behind the scout/ranger-enters-combat-camp-must-poof ideal, but it sure wasa pain yesterday. I set up a field base as a base of ops near a Dark Jedi spawn point. My group charged themselves with the intent of elimitating the Jedi threat. However, me and my limited resources, couldn't participate in combat because I forefit my camp each time I want to help out. And if I leave my camp for too long to run and revive a person, I risk going past the timer and abandoning my camp (regardless if there are other people in it or not).
It's like camps are tied too much to the builder. I remember reading ideas that the camps could be abandoned -- and depending how well it's built, it could be left behind and utilized by other wanderers who stumble upon it. If I log out for any length of time, my camp poofs. IfI leave for more than a minute or two, my camp poofs. If I'm forced to engage in combat while in a camp or base, it poofs. Sheesh. I know the devs want to avoid any kind of exploiting (though I can't think of any ways off the top of my head), I wish there was some more flexibility invovled with camps and bases. For example, if someone in my group is in my camp and I have to leave for any length of time, my camp should never be "abandoned". Yet the game abandons my camp because *I'm* not there, regardless of the twelve other people making use of it.
Field bases of all camp structures shouldn't be a place-and-do-nothing-but-heal venue. It should also act as a functional base of operations. It shouldn't limit the Ranger to stay behind and babysit the camp. The Ranger should also be allowed to participate in mini campaigns run by our groups.
Anyway, that's my thing. I love being a ranger though, and I can't wait to get the high tech bases.
Beamer,
No no...that's supposed to be that way.
That's our built in "field shower".
It's a feature!
B
Roofs don't stop rain on Dath but the shade sure helps on Lok and Tat 
I think a good rule of thumb is that camp is up as long as ranger comes back within an hour of setting camp, regardless of whether or not ranger is in combat, logging, etc. Also, it would be handy if they gave a means of transfering the camp or taking it down remotely. Don't know how many times I've forgotten to disband or had to leave camp and make new camp only to get the warning "But you already have a camp elsewhere!"
Actually, here's a better idea: The better the camp, the longer it will stay without the Ranger tending to it.
It's great to have field bases, but if the base disappears every time you have to defend it, it's worthless. Also in long battles, pve or pvp, the ranger base is very important as a place for medics and doctors to conduct triage.
Overall I would be 100% happier with camps if they didn't poof every time you had to leave it or enter combat or even defend yourself.
-- YP
The High Tech Field Bases used to stay up unti you disbanded them, but it looks like that feature is no more.
The problem is these bases take a lot of resources to build. Ok, not compared to houses, but they aren't cheap.
If every little crazed durni or diseased vrelt that comes across the base (which is supposed to repel them in the first place!) decides to attack me, that's more resources down the drain!
IF they are worried about people getting too much exp or something why not make it so the exp only accumulated while the person who made it is actually in the camp.
If you make a 25% durability camp it stays up for 10 minutes 50% (not sure if thise is even possible) 20 minutes, 75%-30 minutes, 100%-40 minutes or something of that nature. Maybe Rangers get duration bonuses based on their exp or something.
It would be nice to not have to keep making camps all the time.
Just a thought
Hey here is a thought why not make the high tech field bases stay up like so many have proposed? By the time you get to frontiering4 and are able to make those you dont need the survival xp anymore. In fact I would be more than happy to sacrifice the survival xpfrom the high tech field base camps in order to make it a semi perminant camp, because at frontiering 4 I wouldn't need it.
Jebus <lowca>
Well, the "too much XP" is very interesting in this case. I'm not quite sure why camps poof during combat, but I think most of us agree that it has something to do with exploitation. Well, they're lowering XP requirements for Frontiering, as well as adding new venues for acquiring wilderness XP (crafting camps and fishing). Yet the devs still design the camps to poof regardless of any kind of emergency or otherwise threatening situtation.
I'm getting my Frontiering out of the way first because it's the most tedious and boring part about leveling up in Ranger. But during my time spent with all the camps (sans the High Tech Base), I found out just how limited being a Ranger inan active group really is. If we build a great camp, we're tied to it, no matter what happens -- which is wrong. We're not tied to our houses in the same fashion. You place a structure, it stays there. Indeed, you have to maintain harvesters and PA halls, but it doesn't require the owner to stay there in order to keep it there. AND houses don't poof during combat for that matter.
Rangers should be offered at least some degree of similar flexabilities when it comes to their camps. And yes, the first step would be to eliminate the rule of combat, followed by the need for the Ranger to remain in the camp.I think the idea about transfering ownership (or voluntarily disowning it instead of disbanding) would be a great idea towards making camps and bases stategic and much more desirable to use. The higher camps costs just too dang much to dissapear everytime we leave or have to defend ourselves...