Smuggler Archive
Thread: The trip to Austin
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Smuggler_Caylin
Mon Aug 30, 2004 5:19 pm
#1
Where to begin...
First off, I can't say much as far as specifics on what we discussed at the Correspondent Summit. That is going to have to wait till they start posting things for you all to look at. I loved the combat revamp overall and it is simply the most incredible change I've seen coming for this game so far. It will have anaffect on every person in this game and will literallyremake the games combat system in such a way that it will feel like a new game. Everything from weapons, armor, specialsand buffs will be changedduring the combat revamp.They really listened to us at the summit and if we didn't like it I don't have a doubt in my mind they would have taken their proposal back to the beginning.
As far as when you will be getting more solid information? This is what I have.
"Tell them we will be preparing the docs this week and they will trickle out starting a week from Monday." - I think this means a week from today.
The purpose of the summit was to discuss the combat balance as a whole, profession revamps in particular were not our reason for gathering.Even then we had too much to cover and not enough time. Our discussions were often needed to be cut short so we could move on to the next item on the list. JustG was the man watching the clock, he let us know when we were running out of time.
I was able to see about JTL and Smugglers, TH says he will try and get back to me on what I can share in that respect (Yes I saw the thread about us not being able to slice components). I managed to prompt him once again about letting me talk about the spice downer change. Hopefully it will spur him on to let me share it.
This is the general overview of my experience. No real information about the revampis shared below this, but if you want to know what we did in a general sense and where we traveled, feel free to read on.
Day 1
Left the airport where I am at about 7 in the morning, arrived in Austin at about 1:30. During that time I was able to talk to StGabe (Swordsman)and Dvnce (Architect) for portions of the flight as we were seated relativelynear each other.
We got on the bus in Austin with a bunch of other correspondents. It was called 'A Big Bus' so it was pretty easily recognizable.
Wearrived at Staybridge Suites Hotel, where we got our rooms and just wandered around in the lobby for a while seeing who everyone was. Tyrant, Thunderheart and a few other devs came around at about 6pm and we started getting the ball rolling about why we were there and what our goal were. It gaveus a chance to talk to the devs one on one. I personally used this opportunity to listen around, as I'm a pretty shy guy most of the time.
As many of us were still hungry even after a rather nice bit of food that was available at the hotel during what they called 'Happy Hour' we walked to a place called the Iron Cactus. Mexican restaurant and I don't know that they appreciatedthirty of us just showing up. The area they found for us wasn't quite large enough so many of us found ourselves eating in different areas from the rest. I shared a table with Calc and Guru there if I remember right. Had my 4.95 soup (The place was richer than I was) and after quite a bit of chatting I retired for the night. I hadn't slept for quite some time and I still haven't recovered to be honest. As I was leaving though, Panthu couldn't resist commenting about how young I was... she said I wastwelve I believe.
After I left I hear they went back to Panthu's room, which was the size of some houses and drank a ton of beer while signing some Hotpants that Garvin managed to get a hold of. Jest3r signed them in the most noteworthy area, the rest of us signed as we could. There was actually a beer run earlier in the day, that when people started coming into the hotel with boxes of the stuff under their arms the hotel manager came into the lobby area, with a pale look on her face asking if all that booze was ours.
Naturally someone couldn't help quipping that maybe we should warn her before the second and third runs came through the door.
Day 2
Woke up in the morning to leave for the SOE office area. This was by far the most interesting part, but it's the part I can share the least about. We talked, we argued, we had Q/A and a ton was covered. It was all recorded on audio tape as well. TH was given his signed hotpants and the hotpants crew was given some pairs as well. Jest3r obviously took a pair and modeled for everyone. Trust me, the pic you may seeisn't near as bad as the reality. Especially when he starts doing Exotic dancing.
As you may have read in the GM thread, I managed to find Greenmarine and talk to him for a bit during all this. It was a great experience, I have his email for sure and I'm going to take advantage of it
After the discussions, we left to have dinner at a restaurant called Cool River Cafe. We managed to get GreenMarine to come eat with us, before he had to go back to work and some of the stories he told about bugs in the game were hilarious. Much alcohol was consumed and a good time was had by all.
We left, and managed to get back to Panthu's cantina. There more alcohol was to be had and we saw the mod powers of Virrago who was there with us.It was a very cool experience and we were allowed to take a peak in the trash bin
Day 3
The next morning we all woke up to go to lunch at Salt Lick BBQ which was in the middle of nowhere. I had a chance to talk with Tanks and one of the devs about Smugglers for a while, which turned into a semi-argument where nothing was really accomplished savealot of headaches on their part thinking I'm animbecilewhile Panthu and I tried to get them to understand what I was getting at. She's on our side folks, so support the dancers!
We then journeyed to a mall to play video games and read the forums. I played Jedi Academy most of the time, where I had my ass completely kicked by NancyJ. The good news is that while I did get completely trashed, I did manage to pick up the #2 spot in the FFA. Not bad for a guy who never played the game before /flex.
We then journeyed to 'The Oasis' where we had fajitas. Evening entertainment was provided by a great sunset combined with lightning in the distance. It was very cool and I don't know what SOE had to pay to get that lightning to show up.
The evening closed with us back in Panthu's Cantina. Some were doing their best to empty the remaining alcohol supply. I think Gabe and Nancy werethe forerunnerson that end. None of us really got enough sleep (if any)as many were to leave at 5:30 in the morning to catch the flight back.
Day 4
Got back, reconnected with the GF, was told flat out I better get rid of the goatee I managed to gain before the summit or else(In an effort to somewhat resemble my toon) and tried to recover enough to get back in touch with yall asap.
It was a great time that let us really connect with fellow correspondents and the developers. I think a lot of wonderful things will come of this and I am really excited about what is to come. The combat revamp will really change the game in my opinion inmany great ways.
One of the Four Horsemen of the Smuggler Apocalypse! 
fishbrains
Mon Aug 30, 2004 5:29 pm
#3
Glad you had a great time Caylin. I can't wait till they give you permission to spill the beans on some of the stuff you learned 
Welcome back
Welcome back
ARC_Casper
Mon Aug 30, 2004 5:34 pm
#4
Sounds like it was a fun trip and productive at the same time! =) can't wait for the info.
Star_Ranger
Mon Aug 30, 2004 6:00 pm
#5
Sounds like you all had a very cool experience. It, also, sounds like some cool changes are going to happen. I can't wait
Sapperlight
Mon Aug 30, 2004 6:21 pm
#6
Well, it sounds like you hit all the culinary hot spots. Living in New York, I really miss food with spice in it, and the TexMex in Austin is outstanding.
I hope that some good comes of this. With the lack of smuggler content in JTL and still no explanation for the spice nerf, I may not stick around to see it, though.
Vertexon
Mon Aug 30, 2004 6:22 pm
#7
Smuggler_Caylin wrote:
...was told flat out I better get rid of the goatee I managed to gain before the summit or else(In an effort to somewhat resemble my toon) and tried to recover enough to get back in touch with yall asap.
Yet another illusion shattered. Fight the power, Caylin! What self-respecting scoundrel lacks a goatee? Okay.. other than that Corellian guy. 
ARC_Casper
Mon Aug 30, 2004 6:35 pm
#8
Vertexon wrote:
Smuggler_Caylin wrote:
...was told flat out I better get rid of the goatee I managed to gain before the summit or else(In an effort to somewhat resemble my toon) and tried to recover enough to get back in touch with yall asap.
Yet another illusion shattered. Fight the power, Caylin! What self-respecting scoundrel lacks a goatee? Okay.. other than that Corellian guy.
HAHA that is so true isn't it =P i have my goatee IRL and on my charcter! FIGHT THE POWER!
MaxSteele
Mon Aug 30, 2004 7:18 pm
#9
I'm glad you enjoyed your time Caylin.
Unfortunately,none of uswill know if your trip mattered or not until more official information can be released.
If you have this info, please keep track of suggestions that were made from the correspondents and then post them after the combat balance detailsare mentioned. This way we can see if the trip was nothing more than a large bribe for the correspondents, or if it really mattered.
Nononsense
Mon Aug 30, 2004 7:27 pm
#10
Why do you think this summit worked better than the forums and fanfest? And why would you trust the devs after all the lies TH/Hayden told us?
Smuggler_Caylin
Mon Aug 30, 2004 7:37 pm
#11
MaxSteele wrote:
I'm glad you enjoyed your time Caylin.
Unfortunately,none of uswill know if your trip mattered or not until more official information can be released.
If you have this info, please keep track of suggestions that were made from the correspondents and then post them after the combat balance detailsare mentioned. This way we can see if the trip was nothing more than a large bribe for the correspondents, or if it really mattered.
We all agreed that smuggler is an RP profession and should spend 250sp for mastery of it. All content should be created in our minds, and not be forced on other players.Dancers should make spice and that Jest3r made a good point about a 'Package adjustment' feature when modeling his hotpants.
I'm currently moving for smugglers to have that ability over image designers. It fits well with the perceived role of UPS guys.
Creature handlers will be able to confuse and humiliate groups of opponents in the front lines by having their pets do tricks in controlled flourishes as a kind of circus performance.
Hopefully the devs listened to us. We will know soon enough.
seriously though, they have audiotapes of our main meeting and we were hauling them off for face to face conversations all the time when we went to other places. I don't have a photographic memory of everything I hear or see but rest assured that this was a great experience that we all feel is going to vastly improve the quality of the game.
Smuggler_Caylin
Mon Aug 30, 2004 7:53 pm
#12
Nononsense wrote:
Why do you think this summit worked better than the forums and fanfest? And why would you trust the devs after all the lies TH/Hayden told us?
- The Summit consisted of 30 or so players, who were chosen as representatives of their respective communities. We all knew our professions as well as others about as well as could be imagined. Many of us had binders full of information and printouts to assist in this summit. I had over an inch of paper printed out and three-ring punched in mine alone.
- It was notfour hundred people at one time. It was a very concentrated experience.
- We had more one on one time with the developers, that let them get to know us individually.
- The new studio director, Tyrant, is in control now. Go read his letter to the community. He really knows what he wants and making this game fun is part of it. I have seen some really possitive changes once he came on board.
- I was able to talk to GM in person in a working environment so I can see just how busy he is. This contributed to the feeling that his saying 'I'm busy' wasn't just talk. He also didn't have to talk to 30 other people while talking to me. I had his sole attention.
- They spent more time listening to us, than they did talking to us. Writing notes and even when we were in a BBQ one of the devs was trying to take down ideas. I always go prepared so I lent him paper and a pen
Just a few things. The concentrated experience in their work place really led to a better understanding of the situation and let us interact with the developers on a more personal level. A ton of ground was covered and we all came out of there with the impression they really read these forums and we all saw ideas that we could point to and say 'WOW I remember posting that/seeing that in the forums!' and the devs could just smile and nod.
They are revising the documents now, going over the things we have mentioned and making changes based on our feedback. When this has been done, the correspondents will hopefully get a chance to go through it and shortly after that it will be made public for everyone else to see and give further feedback on.
MisterWizard
Mon Aug 30, 2004 8:10 pm
#13
My favorite line:
"The next morning we all woke up to go to lunch at..."
Sounds like my kind of "business trip" 
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