Smuggler Archive
Thread: How Our Planned NPC Smuggling System Isn't All That NPC Afterall...
JTGAlpha
Thu Mar 17, 2005 7:42 pm
#14
Well for it to be sought after it has to be valuable. I mean if people aren't willing to PAY us for it, we probably won't do it will we? It has to be valuable enough to the client to make it worth OUR trouble to get it.
Jaguarrr
Fri Mar 18, 2005 2:57 am
#15
SpinningCloud wrote:
I agree.
And I think Tiggs suggested spices wouldn't be the only thing we smuggle that is of value to other players.
Yes, I can't see me smuggling weapons, medicals and food for a rebel cell and then getting a crate of spice for it...
"Thanks for the stuff man, heres your money and a crate of spice. Oh, and I have to conduct a scan on you. Excuse the inconvience."
"Dude...?"
Maybe some nice parts for AS and WS... or Docs and Chefs for that matter... heh, even something usefull for ourselfs like a nice slicetool, illegal shipparts...
egbertvanloenen
Fri Mar 18, 2005 4:05 am
#16
the only problem i foresee with this system, is that there will ALWAYS be 1337 smugglerd00dz that will be spamming away in front of the starport, and getting most of the business, since the rest of us are tucked away in shady corners... out of visibility of the law enforcement, but also out of view of the customers...
then again, i don't see slice-spamming into the extremes on my server, but i can imagine it's worse on other servers...
personally, i'd say let them. since i will be attracting customers and binding them with my charming personality (*cough*), and good service hehe...
hell, if someone aspires to become a smuggler, i might take him/her with me on a "business-trip"... hmm too bad im not married anymore, or i'd say that everytime i go on a smuggler run hehe
TomoRainer
Fri Mar 18, 2005 5:20 am
#17
There isn't any slice spamming on Starsider, and we're one of the more heavily populated galaxies. Heck, whenever I foolishly forget to take down my title when I'm passing through Coronet, I'm always accosted for slices.
It's possible people will spam spice, especially at first, but it doesn't seem like the mechanics would make that as profitable as most things.. like you can't go afk and get any business, since you can't exactly run a macro to make it through one of these smuggling missions, and ideally spice should be difficult (due to rarity + desireability) to impossible (due to a systemic restriction) to stock on a vendor.
I suppose you could just run twenty missions in a row and then stand outside the starport shouting about your stock. But man, the more I think about it, the more I want it kept off vendors: if you can't just toss it on your shop and let people come as they will, you have to deal with the irregularities of providing it to people face-to-face, and as such may develop a list of clients who will contract you for spice as their need arises. You could always keep enough in storage to deliver it instantly whenever anyone sends you an order.. but even that would be a little bit cool. You'd still have to meet them or deliver it to their vendor, and in one sense that sounds extremely pathetic, but in another, it's a step. It'd definitely push things in the direction of working directly with people to provide their smuggled needs.
It's possible people will spam spice, especially at first, but it doesn't seem like the mechanics would make that as profitable as most things.. like you can't go afk and get any business, since you can't exactly run a macro to make it through one of these smuggling missions, and ideally spice should be difficult (due to rarity + desireability) to impossible (due to a systemic restriction) to stock on a vendor.
I suppose you could just run twenty missions in a row and then stand outside the starport shouting about your stock. But man, the more I think about it, the more I want it kept off vendors: if you can't just toss it on your shop and let people come as they will, you have to deal with the irregularities of providing it to people face-to-face, and as such may develop a list of clients who will contract you for spice as their need arises. You could always keep enough in storage to deliver it instantly whenever anyone sends you an order.. but even that would be a little bit cool. You'd still have to meet them or deliver it to their vendor, and in one sense that sounds extremely pathetic, but in another, it's a step. It'd definitely push things in the direction of working directly with people to provide their smuggled needs.
dlc3007
Fri Mar 18, 2005 6:08 am
#18
First, let me be very clear, I would love to see spices and sliced items off vendors. That said...
I don't think it is going to be a crisis if spices are allowed on vendors. Here's why:If the spices are really that hot, players will want them and they'll buy them anywhere -- on the street or on a vendor. How do the spices get on a vendor? Two ways: The smuggler owns the vendor, which is just the smuggler selling by proxy; or the smuggler sells the spice to the merchant who owns the vendor, which is the smuggler still selling the spice.
Look at it this way. I'm going out of town for the weekend and want to unload a pile of spice I just stole from Jabba (I'll make it up to him). I sell it to a doctor friend of mine who hangs out in Coronet and buffs all the time. He sells it for a little extra, making a tidy profit for himself. That's really all that putting spice on a vendor does.
I think we all agree that taking spices off vendors would greatly enhance game-play. It would be a lot more fun for the sellers and buyers to meet in the back room of a cantina, behind the starport, etc. I also think that this argument should be made very strongly to the devs. If, however, spices can still be sold on vendors, I don't think that will doom them to pointlessness. 
JWing
Fri Mar 18, 2005 6:39 am
#19
JTGAlpha wrote:Ehhhhh kinda. But supply won't be able to keep up with demand. We'll see. We don't know how much we get or if it's worth anything.And there's still no contraband system.
/agree
HOTDOG
Fri Mar 18, 2005 7:10 am
#20
Brilliant Deduction Ternque!
Absolutely smashing!
I think getting them off vendors would be THE thing to do. However I also agre with dlc3007's point that in the end all of the spice has to come from us so we are still going to be smuggling for a player.
Think about this:
How much spice is really going to be out there? If one only makes a single crate for succeeding a mission (I mean, we can't fail ALL the time) there really can't be all that much spice out there at any given time.
I mean, a person working his way up the trees would have to succeed in a contract in order to get XP I would imagine. So that's not a lot of XP gain there.
A Master might try to stock a vendor by failing a mess of missions- but mostly I think that you aren't going to take up a contract 'til someone asks you.
And on THATnote-
I hope that they don't make it so that you just go to an NPC get the spice and sell it. There should be a gate in there somewhere.
For example:
You go to contact
He gives you WP for another contact and gives you something to trade for spice.
You get attacked going to second contact.
Second contact gives you the spice crates and final WP.
You do what you want from there.
If it is something like this (or harder) I will be VERY happy.
AND there won't be vendors filled with spice (unless you get like 30 crates a shipment)
AND spice will be VERY valuable.
We already have the deadbeat gate of having BHs come after you when you fail to much (They REALLY need to add PC BHs to that...REALLY!) so everything would be pretty balanced I think.
Again,
Keeping it off vendors would put a lock on smuggling for the player base but in a lot of ways that's just the icing on the cake.
Message Edited by HOTDOG on 03-18-2005 06:14 AM
Daturaze
Fri Mar 18, 2005 8:09 am
#21
I'm all for removing spices (and all illegally sliced weapons) from the vendors.
Two thoughts occur to me:
1) I sure hope SOE makes sure that even spices packed into other containers can't be loaded onto a vendor (Buy your Bookcase here - and the first bookwill be the "Muon Adventures" - sorry that's to elaborate - people will just load backpacks saying MUON GOLD HERE)If illegally sliced weapons stored in a droid allow you to get past a crackdown squad, then I don't have much hope for anything being removed from vendors.
2) Wouldn't it be nice if we could actually start combing the spices to make something better? I know I know "We're not chemists" but just a thought.
Cheers
Dat
Dat
Rogue135
Fri Mar 18, 2005 8:21 am
#22
Daturaze wrote:
I'm all for removing spices (and all illegally sliced weapons) from the vendors.
Two thoughts occur to me:
1) I sure hope SOE makes sure that even spices packed into other containers can't be loaded onto a vendor (Buy your Bookcase here - and the first bookwill be the "Muon Adventures" - sorry that's to elaborate - people will just load backpacks saying MUON GOLD HERE)If illegally sliced weapons stored in a droid allow you to get past a crackdown squad, then I don't have much hope for anything being removed from vendors.
2) Wouldn't it be nice if we could actually start combing the spices to make something better? I know I know "We're not chemists" but just a thought.
Cheers
Dat
Not sure if the first is truely a problem or not, I'm not a programmer myself, but I'm sure there's some way to work around that. As for the second, why? Combiningspices together would just be silly in my opinion, in the EU I never heard anyone talking about a Glitterstim/Ryl hybrid for instance, just makes no sense to me.
I would love to see spice and sliced equipment removed from vendors, but I'm not sure if it'll happen.
Ternque01
Fri Mar 18, 2005 10:20 am
#23
HOTDOG wrote:
Again,
Keeping it off vendors would put a lock on smuggling for the player base but in a lot of ways that's just the icing on the cake.
Message Edited by HOTDOG on 03-18-2005 06:14 AM
You know, to be honest, this is what I really think. I think the going the extra mile of keeping spices off public markets would not be necessary as long as spice was hard enough to obtain, and, of course, valuable enough to be wanted like JTGAlpha has suggested.
Oh snap! BTW I made Master Smuggler for the third time last night. CorellianCowboy trained me. It was great
Ternque01
Fri Mar 18, 2005 10:28 am
#25
/bow IT FEELS SO GOOD TO BE BAAAAAAAAACK!!!!! (Eminem flare there )
)
LaughingWolf
Fri Mar 18, 2005 10:45 am
#26
Congrats Axob!
Yes, I think there won't be the problem with spices on vendors that we see now with sliced weapons and armors on vendors.
Part of why is that, as was noted, weapons and armors are made, then later sold, by others. We are only the slice monkeys in that chain. While spices...we are the ones getting it, at risk to ourself. We will fix the price we want for it, we are the ones who will decide if we are willing to give a "discount" for that person who want to buy our stock to resell it.
I would rather see spices OFF vendors, but it won't kill the system if they are, unless spices are way too easy to get (we will have to see eh?)
Yes, I think there won't be the problem with spices on vendors that we see now with sliced weapons and armors on vendors.
Part of why is that, as was noted, weapons and armors are made, then later sold, by others. We are only the slice monkeys in that chain. While spices...we are the ones getting it, at risk to ourself. We will fix the price we want for it, we are the ones who will decide if we are willing to give a "discount" for that person who want to buy our stock to resell it.
I would rather see spices OFF vendors, but it won't kill the system if they are, unless spices are way too easy to get (we will have to see eh?)