Smuggler Archive
Thread: SoE wouldn't take abilities away from the rest of the playerbase
Ceroshin wrote:
"Stat Migration: Image Designers now have the sole ability to migrate player stats."
Here's my issue with this patch:
When Smugglers requested actual smuggling ability around the time of the Imperial Crackdown, we were told it wouldn't happen, because SoE wouldn't take abilities away from the rest of the playerbase to provide us with content. However, with this patch, you did that VERY THING for Image Designers.
Why the double standard?
This is exactly why I'm considering leaving. They tell us som BS and then go out and provide another profession with something we could not get.
Yes it might not bad to find an ID, but it still takes away my ability to change my stats. Now I have to pay for somthing that I could do for free before. From what I've seen then the price is 15k every time I have to change my stats. Now I can't just change my stats to experiment with the cost of special shots.
This is not just a question about how much effect it has on people... it's the principle that we got a reason for why we could not get smuggling and now SOE goes out and gives away something to others that really doesn't have that much connection to their profession. HAM is not about how you look but how you train yourself... wether you do weightlifting, running or reading... at least this is how I see things... it's about how you focus your training and not how you look.
I wanted to wait and see what happened with SE, but now I don't really know if I want to wait it out... I have better things to use my time and money at than a game where we are outright ignored and lied to.
Abai Kunanbayev
IanDarke wrote:
Someone wrote this, and I just wanted to add a comment in here. I've been playing the last several days during daylight hours, while most folks are at work, or at school, and there are few people online displaying a "smuggler" tag. Frankly, when I check, I am the only smuggler on during most of the day (At least on Naboo). Can you imagine how many times a smuggler would be pestered to help transport something if this system is implemented? You would be constantly barraged with tells requesting your services.
I never wear my title... it gets real old explaining that I don't carry slicing tools on me after the 10th person asks. I know others feel the same (or have other reasons for not broadcasting their profession). I think there's still a good number of us out there.
That being said, look what they did with IDs. They added a structure... a bottleneck. I remember reading a dev post saying they're starting out small with the number of tents, but I doubt we'll see new ones soon. They realized there's a limited number of IDs so they had to herd them where players could find them. I wouldn't mind if they did something similar with us. Maybe add sabacc tables to the relatively unused hotels and let us run games. Then, if a player is looking for our services he has only to head to our assigned building to hire someone (and we won't get bored waiting there).
The problem is that true player smuggling is a lot more complicated in that you would be restricting players from something they do everytime they log on- carrying items through a starport.
As I see it one of two things needs to happen for us to smuggle for other players
1) contraband punishment needs to be increased to a point where it seriously inconveniences the player base to have contraband items.
2) a needed/desired item needs to be created that only Smugglers can obtain/handle.
The problem with number 1 is that SOE is not gonna want to inconvenience the player base with not being able to move freely about without the use of a smuggler- especially when that means the functionality of the game will depend on how many smugglers are online at any given time as was earlier mentioned.
Plus the fact that if it is such a hassle to have contraband items the player base might just go without them thus killing our profession. As much as some of us might think otherwise- I don't think they are trying to get rid of all smugglers.
The problem with number 2 is what kind of item should only smugglers be able to handle and why would anyone want something they couldn't hold?
I made a proposal for smugglers to be able to make a slice on weapons that personalized them to the customer sometime back. It was a system that did involve player smuggling but I didn't get much feedback on it as I remember.
I think the real deal is that the Devs see true player smuggling as a SE thing- which makes sense, because a smuggler would use their own ship to smuggle stuff (as opposed to public transportation) in the Star Wars realm.
They may also be reluctant to install a ground based smuggling system that might clash with ideas they have for smuggling in SE. It would be MUCH easier to set up a player based smuggling system there- the problem of course being you'd have to own SE to be able to smuggle.
*sigh*
The bottom line is in order for player based smuggling to exist we need to focus and brainstorm some good ideas (which we have) and then tailor them to the system as it sits now.
It's not as easy as saying you can't migrate your stats yourself now but when you get an ID to do it it'll only take 10 minutes to take effect.
That's a trade off. Player based smuggling is FAR more difficult than that and carries extreme game altering consequences.
If you think IDs get that much more love than smugglers... I have to say no. What IDs got in this publish was some bugfixes for which they too waited since day one, color palets that are so small that you almost can't tell the difference and freaking holo emotes nobody asked for. Everything IDs got what they wanted despite the bug fixes were the colors and most of them are useless, the hairstyles etc. still didn't make it. In fact, the devs tell us they didn't have enough time for the new hairstyles and tatoos IDs asked for, yet they had the time for holo emotes nobody asked for. This should tell you how much they care for what we want.
Hedek wrote:
Ceroshin wrote:
"Stat Migration: Image Designers now have the sole ability to migrate player stats."
Here's my issue with this patch:
When Smugglers requested actual smuggling ability around the time of the Imperial Crackdown, we were told it wouldn't happen, because SoE wouldn't take abilities away from the rest of the playerbase to provide us with content. However, with this patch, you did that VERY THING for Image Designers.
Why the double standard?
Just quoting here, nothing more to add.
What "Hotdog" said makes a lot of sense. What needs to be found is a method of smuggling that doesn't disrupt the existing player base ie; forcing players to locate a smuggler prior to being able to move from planet to planet while still being interesting and viable to smugglers and the other players alike. What that might be is beyond me at the moment, and I'm sure many of you have tossed this around ad nauseum. Perhaps it all needs to be reexplored once again.
Eacham
Keep the current minimal scans and penalties for the current illegal items for the masses (sliced stuff and spice). That's just Star Wars content of the Imperials messing with the populace.
Put in one "special" resource of each type (metal, gemstone, etc.) that has good stats across the board. This "special" resource can be used in crafting as a substitute to another required resource of the same type. As each crafting profession needs specific resources that may or may not be available at any given time, and may not be very good if it is, this resource would be a very sought-after commodity.
Unfortunately for the average crafter, the Empire wants this resource only available for it's own uses and has declared it illegal.
This resource is only available on no-build planets, so it must be sampled and any use on-planet would be limited, as anything built with it would be individual and not the best build. (There are no-build planets, right?)
Non-Smugglers cannot board a ship with this in their inventory. Period. Smugglers who board a ship with this in their inventory get checked against their Smuggling skill (same as the Crackdown's chance to avoid a scan). If they pass, no problem. If they fail, they're on the Bounty Hunter's terminals with a bounty amount based on the quantity of resource they're carrying.
This doesn't take away anything from the player-base, adds a useful resource for crafters, provides a new commodity for sale, and gives smugglers something to smuggle that will be valuable to the rest of the player-base.
This would be pretty simple to code so that the checks to the database would be minimized, so it would not bog down the servers.
Also, spice could be made by someone else, but required a resource restricted like the ones above. Anyone can get the stuff, but only smugglers can move it.