Smuggler Archive

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Stakex007 wrote:

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Tiggs wrote:

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Fernas wrote:

Sometimes changes need to go in that the team feels will help the games long term goals even if the community doesn't agree.

you opened the gate, and i'm stepping through. do tell us about these longterm goals. we, the players, should really have an opportunity to approve or disapprove of them.

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In the next few weeks there will be more information on this.

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Sure.... we alwasy here "In a few weeks" and we never get anything.

The devs do what they want for the game... it has nothing to do with long term goals. Unless your long term goals are the implosion of this game. You guys are doing what you think will make SOE more money, and pissing on the players. Your appealing to the power gamers, and generic MMORPG fans... and not to the people who actually like Star Wars. The long term goal should be to make this the best Star Wars experience possible... not make star wars fans puke. This new expansion is a ****ing joke. It has no star wars value at all... it make no sence and is simply a ploy to make more money off of episode 3. You can lie and bullsh** the community all you want tiggs... but the dev actions speak louder then words.

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Tiggs wrote:

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Landlubber wrote:

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Tiggs wrote:

Regarding the Smuggler upgrade it will come.

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Whoa... am I the only one who's had a serious deja vu feeling right now?

The point is, we heard it all before, but when are you (meaning SOE, not you personally Tiggs) going to deliver? That's the problem, you see: we've had so many broken promises that there's hardly anyone around that will take the above statement seriously. At least I know that I'll believe in it when I see it, not one second sooner.

And anyway, what happened to JFreeman's "We're going to stop promising a Smuggler Revamp we never seem to get around to deliver"?? Maybe you should heed that advice, Tiggs. Because making promises like this only opens you up to flames, when yet again your Dev team won't come through.

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I try not to make promises I can't keep =)

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Yeah...like when we were told that slicing was going to have this cool graphical interface and be a real time mini game....and we got the same old "choose your own adventure" style mini game with extra steps. Oh, but I forgot, I now have to loot the parts in order to slice, that's a fun game, apparently someone is making the things needed to slice, but I don't know them, so I have to slaughter countless NPCs in order to do one of the few things that smugglers CAN do in game to make money. What it boils down to is smuggler is now becoming a useless profession that no one seems to know what to do with. Instead of just lamenting my profession choice, here's what I would like to see:

1) planets that require a smuggler to transport them to get them off the planet. For example: Endor has a special reactive gas that always has high stats, but it's deemed by the Empire as illegal to transport, so you need to hire a smuggler to either transport you or the gas off the planet for you, which would require flying in a smuggler's ship.

2.) To go with the above, give smugglers a tramp freighter or two that only they can pilot without being a master pilot. Maybe like a YT1100 with only one turret in it.

3.) Smuggling missions from NPCs like Lady Valarian, Borvo, and Jabba that give you an item in your inventory, if you drop the mission and keep the item, it causes visibility and eventually player bounty missions that appear on the BH mission terminals.

4.) Smugglers given the ability to slice backpacks so that non-smuggler players can smuggle small amounts of items off planets without a smuggler and to get things through the shuttleports so you don't have to fly a ship to get something off a planet. For example: A smuggler slices a pack and gets a success that creates a 3 item smuggling compartment to the pack. The owner can now store 3 contraband items or up to 3 stacks of max 10k of any contraband resources in the smuggling compartment. The compartment gives the owner a bonus that reduces the chance of the items being by 50%, so if the normal chance of being stopped for contraband is 50%, it would be reduced to 25%. The effect of having something in the compartment only takes effect if the pack is equipped.

5.) Mandatory contraband checks when leaving a starport when the Empire controls a planet. For example, there's a large group of Imperials at every starport exit, 100% of all people get scanned, and have a 25% chance of not being stopped at that point, if you fail the initial pass (which the system would do as soon as you get off the shuttle/ship), you get stopped by the troopers at the exit if you get within 15 meters of them (but you don't know you failed until you try to pass them). After the initial fail, you get stopped by the troopers and the chance of your contraband being discovered is determined by profession and sliced containers as follows:

Smuggler - 75% chance of contraband not being discovered, 95% if item is in a smuggling compartment.

Bounty Hunter - 65% chance of contraband not being discovered (to take in account special licensing with the Empire), 85% if item is in a smuggling compartment.

Any other player - 50% chance of contraband not being discovered, 75% if item is in a smuggling compartment (Imperials would also get a 1% bonus per rank level to a max of 90%).

Depending on the amount of contraband and the item, penalties would be fines or being attacked. Smugglers who get caught and have their ship docked on the planet they get caught in would also have to pay an additionalfine to the local Imperial officer to get his/her ship back (ship would be forced to remain at the starport until fine is paid).

6.) High level content that can be made easier to complete by having a smuggler with you. For example:To slice doors open without getting a key, avoid aggro by sweet talking an NPC, getting an item by talking to an NPC instead of fighting them, etc.

7.) The ability to slice ship parts to make them more effective and to slice the ship chassis to get a little better stats out of them.

8.) An underworld faction that we can be a part of and work the grey areas between the Empire and Rebels with.

Ok, that's my bunch of ideas and I'm sticking to it.

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VitoGenovese wrote:

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Tiggs wrote:

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Fernas wrote:

Sometimes changes need to go in that the team feels will help the games long term goals even if the community doesn't agree.

you opened the gate, and i'm stepping through. do tell us about these longterm goals. we, the players, should really have an opportunity to approve or disapprove of them.

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In the next few weeks there will be more information on this.

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Wow. What she is saying is that there are some big-time nerfs coming down the tubes, and that the dev team doesn't give an airborne rats ass about our opinions because they have a vision. I can't believe sony still puts its name on this game. Seriously, all the other SOE games are not this bad. Regarding the "separate teams" for different developement tasks, we all know how that works. If you have 10 developers you put 8 on the new expansion and 2 for bug fixes. After the expansion the 8 get moved back to bug fixes. The whole "the expansion is coming out because that team got finished with it" routine is not fooling any of us. If you don't have enough developers to maintain the game and push out new content, by all means please hire more. Statements about "making unpopular changes for the longterm good of the game" reeks of a contemptable arrogance that typically preceeds a mass exodus of players. Statements such as that are the deathknell for communities, player/developer relations, and a game that is fun to play. Experienced MMORPGers know that statements like this mean it is time to move on.

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Tiggs wrote:

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MISTagent01 wrote:
Yeah, I'll repost my original post too, since we got a bit derailed there:

Tiggs:

I'd love to see an Astromech stats where you guys tell us what percentage of those 1 million copies of SWG sold are still ACTIVE subscriptions. You can sell a million copies of anything, but it's subscriptions that really tell a story.

SOE and LA are surely baffled that the most beloved franchise in the history of film isn't doing 1/8th of the business that a generic MMO like WoW is...the turnover rate is so high for this game that it's probably confused all of you...why hasn't SWG performed the way it SHOULD? The simple fact of the matter is this: you can NOT implement an Alpha class into an MMO. It never works, because over time, everyone will have attained that Alpha class (with the exception of people purposefully trying NOT to,) and the game becomes heavily unbalanced and nowhere near "fun." Yes, you looked the other way when it came to Jedi, and I have no problem with that. It's the fact that they remain an Alpha class that has sucked the heart and soul out of this game. Armorsmiths and Weaponsmiths quit everyday because there are less and less players to craft for, since Jedi don't wear craftable armor and craft their own weapons. Entertainers have left in droves because they have no place in the GCW, and have been far removed from the rest of the playerbase. Everyone else (except BH) are cancelling because for the most part, they're treated like annoying flies on a hot summer day.

If SOE and LA only realized that if they stopped directing most content towards Jedi, and subsequently spread out that extra attention to EVERY NON-JEDI profession, the entire game would flourish again. Do you realize that resources being used right now on the FRS system could be used to re-build the GCW, give smugglers smuggling, re-energize the Entertainer professions, and possibly fix so many of the bugs still plaguing crafters?

I know it's just your job to relay information...but as Community Director, you're supposed to be on OUR side, not theirs. You need to want to help us, not just relay one way and not the other.

I'm aware you have other posts to read, but if you do read this, relay it to someone that has some common sense and can do something about it. You weren't around when this game first launched, so let me paint a picture of my server for you:

Theed was a bustling commerce city...people were hawking their wares, dancing, laughing, dueling, and having a rollicking good time. Cantinas were packed with beautiful Entertainers of every race, shape and size...along with scoundrels, Stormtroopers, and drunks. People grouped up and stuck together in the wilderness, and you ALWAYS took a Scout or a Ranger with you. We lived our own Star Wars saga. We created our own personas, our own histories, and it all blended into this wonderful, magical experience that I will always remember.

That magic is gone now, but I'd pay 50 bucks a month to have it back.

/tiphat

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Your post has been read and passed on. I would like to add that I represent the Communities views all the time. It is my and TH's jobs to let the team know how you will react to changes. Sometimes changes need to go in that the team feels will help the games long term goals even if the community doesn't agree.

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Tiggs, since your reading this please add my 2 toons signatures to MISTAGNET01 Post, becuase this person is DEAD on correct what is wrong with this game right now, and why I haven't been playing as much. Still not sure what is wrong with a non-jedi server.

Bix/Azbach

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Tiggs wrote:

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Fernas wrote:

Sometimes changes need to go in that the team feels will help the games long term goals even if the community doesn't agree.

you opened the gate, and i'm stepping through. do tell us about these longterm goals. we, the players, should really have an opportunity to approve or disapprove of them.

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In the next few weeks there will be more information on this.

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Bad answer Tiggs. "A few more weeks" has been used for the last 25 months. It's old. Thing is in a way I feel for ya. You can't say anything and LA is pulling all the strings. Again if you are reading this please pass this on to LA and tell them to hire a commmunity relations manager that can bark up Julio's tree. He seems to be in command over there. I really do beleive you and TH and the team know the issues and I would bet alot of creditsthatyou folks have atad different vision of the game and expansions than the folks at LA.

Bix/Azbach

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Bix1 wrote:

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Tiggs wrote:

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MISTagent01 wrote:
Yeah, I'll repost my original post too, since we got a bit derailed there:

Tiggs:

I'd love to see an Astromech stats where you guys tell us what percentage of those 1 million copies of SWG sold are still ACTIVE subscriptions. You can sell a million copies of anything, but it's subscriptions that really tell a story.

SOE and LA are surely baffled that the most beloved franchise in the history of film isn't doing 1/8th of the business that a generic MMO like WoW is...the turnover rate is so high for this game that it's probably confused all of you...why hasn't SWG performed the way it SHOULD? The simple fact of the matter is this: you can NOT implement an Alpha class into an MMO. It never works, because over time, everyone will have attained that Alpha class (with the exception of people purposefully trying NOT to,) and the game becomes heavily unbalanced and nowhere near "fun." Yes, you looked the other way when it came to Jedi, and I have no problem with that. It's the fact that they remain an Alpha class that has sucked the heart and soul out of this game. Armorsmiths and Weaponsmiths quit everyday because there are less and less players to craft for, since Jedi don't wear craftable armor and craft their own weapons. Entertainers have left in droves because they have no place in the GCW, and have been far removed from the rest of the playerbase. Everyone else (except BH) are cancelling because for the most part, they're treated like annoying flies on a hot summer day.

If SOE and LA only realized that if they stopped directing most content towards Jedi, and subsequently spread out that extra attention to EVERY NON-JEDI profession, the entire game would flourish again. Do you realize that resources being used right now on the FRS system could be used to re-build the GCW, give smugglers smuggling, re-energize the Entertainer professions, and possibly fix so many of the bugs still plaguing crafters?

I know it's just your job to relay information...but as Community Director, you're supposed to be on OUR side, not theirs. You need to want to help us, not just relay one way and not the other.

I'm aware you have other posts to read, but if you do read this, relay it to someone that has some common sense and can do something about it. You weren't around when this game first launched, so let me paint a picture of my server for you:

Theed was a bustling commerce city...people were hawking their wares, dancing, laughing, dueling, and having a rollicking good time. Cantinas were packed with beautiful Entertainers of every race, shape and size...along with scoundrels, Stormtroopers, and drunks. People grouped up and stuck together in the wilderness, and you ALWAYS took a Scout or a Ranger with you. We lived our own Star Wars saga. We created our own personas, our own histories, and it all blended into this wonderful, magical experience that I will always remember.

That magic is gone now, but I'd pay 50 bucks a month to have it back.

/tiphat

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Your post has been read and passed on. I would like to add that I represent the Communities views all the time. It is my and TH's jobs to let the team know how you will react to changes. Sometimes changes need to go in that the team feels will help the games long term goals even if the community doesn't agree.

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Tiggs, since your reading this please add my 2 toons signatures to MISTAGNET01 Post, becuase this person is DEAD on correct what is wrong with this game right now, and why I haven't been playing as much. Still not sure what is wrong with a non-jedi server.

Bix/Azbach

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RyFord wrote:

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Bix1 wrote:

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Tiggs wrote:

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MISTagent01 wrote:
Yeah, I'll repost my original post too, since we got a bit derailed there:

Tiggs:

I'd love to see an Astromech stats where you guys tell us what percentage of those 1 million copies of SWG sold are still ACTIVE subscriptions. You can sell a million copies of anything, but it's subscriptions that really tell a story.

SOE and LA are surely baffled that the most beloved franchise in the history of film isn't doing 1/8th of the business that a generic MMO like WoW is...the turnover rate is so high for this game that it's probably confused all of you...why hasn't SWG performed the way it SHOULD? The simple fact of the matter is this: you can NOT implement an Alpha class into an MMO. It never works, because over time, everyone will have attained that Alpha class (with the exception of people purposefully trying NOT to,) and the game becomes heavily unbalanced and nowhere near "fun." Yes, you looked the other way when it came to Jedi, and I have no problem with that. It's the fact that they remain an Alpha class that has sucked the heart and soul out of this game. Armorsmiths and Weaponsmiths quit everyday because there are less and less players to craft for, since Jedi don't wear craftable armor and craft their own weapons. Entertainers have left in droves because they have no place in the GCW, and have been far removed from the rest of the playerbase. Everyone else (except BH) are cancelling because for the most part, they're treated like annoying flies on a hot summer day.

If SOE and LA only realized that if they stopped directing most content towards Jedi, and subsequently spread out that extra attention to EVERY NON-JEDI profession, the entire game would flourish again. Do you realize that resources being used right now on the FRS system could be used to re-build the GCW, give smugglers smuggling, re-energize the Entertainer professions, and possibly fix so many of the bugs still plaguing crafters?

I know it's just your job to relay information...but as Community Director, you're supposed to be on OUR side, not theirs. You need to want to help us, not just relay one way and not the other.

I'm aware you have other posts to read, but if you do read this, relay it to someone that has some common sense and can do something about it. You weren't around when this game first launched, so let me paint a picture of my server for you:

Theed was a bustling commerce city...people were hawking their wares, dancing, laughing, dueling, and having a rollicking good time. Cantinas were packed with beautiful Entertainers of every race, shape and size...along with scoundrels, Stormtroopers, and drunks. People grouped up and stuck together in the wilderness, and you ALWAYS took a Scout or a Ranger with you. We lived our own Star Wars saga. We created our own personas, our own histories, and it all blended into this wonderful, magical experience that I will always remember.

That magic is gone now, but I'd pay 50 bucks a month to have it back.

/tiphat

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Your post has been read and passed on. I would like to add that I represent the Communities views all the time. It is my and TH's jobs to let the team know how you will react to changes. Sometimes changes need to go in that the team feels will help the games long term goals even if the community doesn't agree.

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Tiggs, since your reading this please add my 2 toons signatures to MISTAGNET01 Post, becuase this person is DEAD on correct what is wrong with this game right now, and why I haven't been playing as much. Still not sure what is wrong with a non-jedi server.

Bix/Azbach

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imo what they need to do is take those 1 million subscribers, toss out the 250k of us that are active, and interview the 750k who don't like the game and find out why maybe they will listen to the people who paid and walked away

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Ihareo wrote:

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Tiggs wrote:

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snorpy wrote:
SO once again SOE decides to jump on the Epsiode 3 badn wagon and ignore the time line. Aren't we in between Episodes 4 and 5 supposedly? I guess not. Wouldn't it make sense to listen to 2 planets that the comunity has asked for since day one? Hoth and Bespin are the nest planets in the time line. Each would grant great opurtunities for game play. But hell no... let's just biggy back on the episode 3 DVD launch...

and I ask WHY THE HELL IS OBI WAN's BLUE GLOWY GHOST HANGING OUT ON MUSTAFAR, when he is talking in Lukes head? I mean seriousy, doesn't he have more important things to think about? Such has becomign more powerful than Darth Vader can imagine by training luke from beyond the grave? I mean if he's on Mustafar, how does Luke find Yoda? Or get enough training to not get his ass handed to him on a porcelain platter by vader @ Bespin. Oh wait that's right. SOE rewrites the entire Star Wars story to fill their pockets.

Now see with Hoth we could have gotten a GCW boost... could have even maybe been a GCW expansion. Many things could be added, espionage, crafting, and destroy missions, from Vader, Leia, and others. Rebels could try to craft better components for the shields around the power generator, or better capacitors for stronger weapons. The espionage, and destroy missions are kind of self explainatory, finding out where the enemy is located and then blowing it up.

With Bespin, you could get some cool adventure quests through cloud city. Crafters, would get the ability to mine gas from the gas mines for special new schematics and components. Player could get quests from Lando to help his cloud city prosper. Could even write in a sub story about a rival trying to sabotage his mine.

Also there could easily be included into both ideas a chance for smugglers, to oh I don't know, ACTUALLY SMUGGLE! Smuggle shipments from one mine to a seller, or smuggle weapons in and out of enemy camps.

it seems obvious to me, that SOE has no clue where they want this game to go, and that they only care about making a quick buck, and they don't care if they destroy parts of Star Wars in the process.

I am very disapointed, as I was actually starting to enjoy the game again. But right now, this expansion to me is well for lack of a better term... BANTHA POODOO!!! I really hope they offer more than running quests for a Main Character that is in a spot, that it makes no sense for him to be in. But this to me seems like it's going to make or break SWG, I for one hope the DEV's come up with somehting and let us know what it is soon, but I will not be getting this expansion until I know that there's something i am going to like, so far, from what I've seen... We can't tell you but you're going to love it... isn't cutting it, and it's a total BS answer... SO you know what SOE, i can't tell you I am going to buy this, but you may not like it!


just my 2 cents.

/end rant

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I will pass on your ideas for future expansions however this is decided upon by people higher on the food chain them me. Regarding the Smuggler upgrade it will come.

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As far as Obi'wan being on Mustafar, I read from somone who was at the Liepzig fest that it would seem that Obi'wan needs help in some fasion. The writer implied that Obi'wan is lost somehow and needs the player to giude him. What I interpret from that is that it's entirely possible what when Obi'wan died, his spirit returned to Mustafar, the point at which he fought and defeated Anakin, and is confused, needing the player to help gguide him to Luke.

Now that all sounds like a bit of hokey crap I know, but read on a little.

We all know that the first time Obi'wanactually appeared to Luke (as opposed to telling him to run and use the force right after his death), was on Hoth.

Now, given that Hoth hasn't happened yet in game, my previous theory doesn't seem so implausible anymore.

Also concider that if they are following the Starwars movies chronologically (NOT canonically, big difference), which was one of the stated goals before SWG was released, then Hothshouldn't be happening till mid 2006. SO again, the first theory sounds even less hokey.

To everyone who wants Hoth and the Empire strikes back theme, so do I. But there were three years between the battle of Yavin and the battle of Hoth. It stands to reason, given the long time table of MMORPGsthat if the game started immediately after the battle of Yavin, that it should be three years from launch till we see the battle of Hoth.

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Orange-Lazarus wrote:

it gets worse for SOE and LA

*cough*

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GanymedePharuu wrote:

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Orange-Lazarus wrote:

it gets worse for SOE and LA

*cough*

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it's pretty embarrassing when you have a rookie MMO company surpassing you with yet another fantasy-based MMO, when you have the ONLY Star Wars MMO and about a decade of experience with running MMOs under your belt, isn't it SOE?

SOE, you should feel embarrassed, ashamed, and sorry for yourselves.

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Alpha_Bits wrote:

Yeah, that's it... that's the ticket... Obi-Wan is LOST, you see? Yeah, that's the ticket... and he needs the players to HELP him... yeah, yeah...

Asinine. (adj)

1. Utterly stupid or silly.

2. Or, relating to, or resembling an a$$

This is worse than 'Matrix: Revolutions'.

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