Smuggler Archive

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SpinningCloud wrote:

OK, this is coming from someone that really REALLY dislikes PvP.

I see no reason to have a 5th 'dead beat' level for those that want to end up on the BH terms. It's no skin off the back of ANY player that doesn't wish to participate. That is IF the rewards are only greater and not different in content. I wouldn't want those high end missions for items that I couldn't get doing the non player BH type missions...only the amount of the reward.

I would happily participate in player BH even though I don't enjoy PvP IF the real battle between the BH and Smuggler was one of tracking vs. evasion. Once I'm caught I fully expect to die, we shouldn't be on the same combat level as a BH even WITH other combat professions as suppliments. A BH has to go head-to-head with a Jedi...we shouldn't end up at that combat level.

But we SHOULD be the masters of decoying BH tracking droids, evasion, slicing BH terms, jamming their radar and hiding our names.

As for the exploit issue...

I like the idea that the BH reward for success is high enough AND our 'dead beat' level decreased far enough (on being killed by the BH) that exploitation would not be worth the effort.

Additionally on being caught by a BH we should be forced to complete successfully x number of contracts for only marginal rewards before being allowed to take high end missions again. Players will only trade so much of their time for good loot after which it just isn't worth it.

Additionally once a BH has failed his mission to kill us he should NOT be able to accept it again until we've been off the terms and back on for another failed mission. Only a fixed number of BH attempts should be allowed. For instance if 3 different BHs fail then we are removed from the terms. How we define failing when our mission is to evade I don't quite know though.

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A few things...

The LAST thing I want to see in PC bounties is a BH "I win" button... Smugglers should be able to hold their own against a BH... it should be 50/50... 40/60 Smuggler's aren't pushovers. If you're going to be doing risky business, then you had better be prepared skill wise..

That being said... from what I understand about the CURB getting cause unbuffed sitting in your cantina shouldn't be as much of an issue...

I also don't see a problem with PC BHs at the 5th DB point... and if you're afraid of exploiters.. make the smuggler's worth less.. and if the smuggler dies and has the spice on them.. they lose it. The BH dosn't get it.. he just gets his reward. So, if a smuggler is on the BH term, he better not have his cargo on him, because he'd lose it..

anyways, my .02

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HOTDOG wrote:

This way the rewards CAN be exactly the same as succeeding in other missions but one can earn a trinket that a PvE person wouldn't really be interested in.

Is that wrong thinking?

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Unfortunately, yes, because, even if it's just a badge, as soon as you seriously propose it, there will be hundreds of so-called PvE-ers, crying about how they can't get everything in the game anymore. It happened numerous times related to both the JTL beta and the GCW.

A Bounty Hunters thoughts: The best way to decrease the exploit potential might be to eliminate the reason to do so. Simply, make it more profitable for the smuggler to complete his contract, than to fail to a bounty hunter. I am not talking about the smuggler losing anything, the smuggler would lose nothing for failing the contract.

But, if the reward for a successful bounty was less than the 1/2 the reward for a successful contract, it would be less profitable for the smuggler to let him/herself be killed and split the reward.

Example: Since the contracts which would make a smuggler open to a player bounty would indeed be high risk, the reward could be substanial. Say,for the purpose of example, 300k and part of the shipment. Now, the reward a bounty hunter recieves for completing the bounty on this individual could be 150k and no good from the shipment. It would be more profitable for each party to try their best to complete their mission for themselves, and not split the payout.

To avoid creating a credit factory loophole in the system and unbalancing the economy, the reward and difficulty could be tweaked. Each time a smuggler fails a high risk contract, the reward of a the next one would be decreased, but it could be made easier to complete to encourage legit participation. The reward of the BH bounty would also be decreased to corrospond to this. This would make it unfeasible to continually pick up a contract, purposely die to a BH, rinse and repeat.

From what I see, each of the individuals has the most to gain by legitly participating in the contract/bounty system, and exploitation of the system is made mostly unprofitable.

Message Edited by Rogue135 on 03-13-2005 07:51 PM

• If the BHeither gets you to surrender the spice or kills youhe succeeds and you fail. hecollects the spice you carry and the pay (30-75k)and you lose face with your employer


• If you fight they don't get the spiceor paid if you beat them


• If you give up your spice to the BH his mission succeeds and you pay a fine to your crimelord (dumped the spice to avoid capture) It is considered a fail - but not a lose of face to your crimelord.


• Your smuggling mission must take a min of 30 mins you have to wait a various Starports for contacts on many worlds during the mission


• If you succeed in your mission you get 50% of the shipment + a large monetary reward (say 30-75k)


• The Bounty Hunter gets the mission on the BH terminal as soon as you accept a mission or maybe 5 mins after you accept the mission


• They can usetheir contacts butthey only give them the location of a major planet you must visit but not the starport you must go to.


• You get a choice of 2 starports on the major worlds to visit for you contact / they have to cover three or more


• Only 1 BH allowed to take your mission as it does not involved actually have to involve killing you.


• same rule as Jedi Vs Bh - 1 on 1 only

Message Edited by Ackehece on 03-13-2005 07:01 PM

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Rogue135 wrote:

Call me short-sighted if you must, but I don't like it. I've thought this over a long time and I just can't bring myself to find any positive side to being on the wrong end of a Bounty Hunter.

All I can see is myself sitting with some friends in a cantina talking, unbuffed and unarmored, wearing my plain 'ol street clothes... then a 14 year old Bounty Hunter in Composite Armor and buffed up the whazoo storming in and blasting me into oblivion before I can stand up, then proceeding to explain to me how the action makes him something like "I am teh l337 uber-b0nu7y huN7eR!!!!!11111"

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Reading this makes me wonder exactly how old you are.

I am sure the devs will code a way for people who want no PvP can enjoy just that: no PvP.There are ingame mechanics you can use to deal with people such as you describe: /addignore 1337d00d, /report, etc... It is a good thing the devs show attention to those who want no PvP, but I will be just as quick to point out that I don't appreciate people hammering down a PC BH option for smugglers based on their prejudices toward this game system and toward certainplayers who do happen to enjoy PvP during their game time.

You wouldn't have to worry about that if you never took the line of missions that could get you on the PC bounty terms. Any thoughtful bounty system will separate PVE from PVP and will never force you to engage in PVP if it isn't the sort of thing you want to do.

This thread isn't really about whether PC bounties should exist, though, I think. It's more about how to make them work in a way that limits exploitation and keeps smugglers of all playstyles happy with the system.