Smuggler Archive

I'm going to repost my ideas for the revamp here- First though I would like to say I really like spinningcloud's ideas for spices and factions-
As smugglers we should hold on to our crafting ability- many of us don't like the crafting aspect but there are others for whom that is a BIG part of the experience. The crafting part of SWG is a mini game itself (that's actually fun to play when you get tired of missions) and I don't want to give that up.

We also shouldn't be exempt from resource quality mattering and experimentation should count for something. A smuggler who cares enough to gather the right resources should make the best spice.
My suggestion would be to take spinningcloud's idea about different factions giving specific benefits and make it so they give things that help refine spice. So you could craft spice the normal way or you can give your spice a boost using loot you get from doing things for different factions.


Anyway here are my ideas starting with:

Personalization Disks and Player Based Smuggling:

**Imagine**

ATTENTION!!!

Starport Personnel,
There is a new addition to the contraband list of illegal weapons, armor and spice. Personalization Disks.
Certain crafty and underhanded individuals have taken disks originally created for outdated droids and are now “slicing” them into weaponry and armor in order to temporarily enhance their performance.
It is well known that augmented equipment was outlawed when it was discovered these items were popular with rebel sympathizers for terrorist raids but these disks present an even bigger problem.
Where the enhancement of armaments was uncontrolled and haphazard at best, these disks allow the “slicer” to produce more precise improvements. Sometimes changing two or more attributes of the equipment in order to personalize it to the users wishes for a temporary period, hence the name Personalization Disks.

Crack troops have confiscated and mag-sealed most of these disks to be stored in containment centers at the outposts on Dantooine and Endor but it is believed several schematics for the disks are still being circulated.
Fortunately, the hacker has to activate and decode the disks before they can be sliced into military hardware. Once activated a list of codes are presented; the cracks to which are located on databases throughout the galaxy, forcing the slicer to smuggle the disks through starports in order to decode them.

This is where you come in. Your scanning equipment is set to detect anyone carrying activated disks in the starport area. These individuals are to be dealt with harshly, including those consorting with suspected offenders. Those who claim to be aligned with the Empire are NO EXCEPTION. The Emperor’s wishes are firm on this. We shall not rest until every illegally enhanced item is in the hands of the Empire.
Transmission Out**********


That said- let me explain what I'm getting at here-

1) Droid Engineers (or maybe even people with Eng 4) get a personalization schematic (or maybe through a crafters mission- which would be better).

2) They can build, sell, transport these items with no problem. It takes a smuggler to slice into it and activatethe disks.

3) Once a smuggler activates the disk:

*It gives 1-4 codes each with a location beside it. ( i.e. A22B3157 Corellia, F66G435 Tatooine, G14X339 Endor)

*It becomes non-tradeable

*The carrierattracts more scans outside of Starports
4) The smuggler must then go to each corosponding planet and slice into a Data Base terminal in order to decode the disk.

5) Once the disk is decoded it can be used as a "pick-a-slice" tool on weapons and armor but the effect is temporary- like a super long powerup- (I was thinking it would last like a week but the time is irrelevant).


Depending on the disk you might be able to alter 2 or more attributes on the equipment.

Also a person would only be able to have 1 personalized item in their inventory. Smuggler's would be allowed 2 (3 at master)



I think this might be a cool way to have player based smuggling as people would hire us to slice-transport these disks for them. Troops outside of starports would be "tuned" to scan those carrying activated disks- and since only smugglers can activate them (and they can't be traded once activated) we aren't affecting the rest of the player base- just smugglers.

DIRTY FIGHTING TREE

GOAL: To equip the smuggler with the ability and the means to confuse, deceive and delay enemies in order to escape or destroy them.

DIRTY FIGHTING I 60,000 Combat XP

ABILITIES:
Feign Death
Rabbit Punch

SKILLMODS:
Feign Death +45

DIRTY FIGHTING II 85,000 Combat XP

ABILITIES:
Panic Shot
Combo Jab

SKILLMODS:
Feign Death +5

DIRTY FIGHTING III 120,000 Combat XP

ABILITIES:
Low Blow
Trip

SKILLMODS:
Feign Death +10


DIRTY FIGHTING IV 150,000 Combat XP

ABILITIES:
Last Ditch
Rabbit Punch 2

SKILLMODS:
Feign Death +10

SCHEM:
Disruptor Charge Unit

CERTIFICATION:
Disruptor Charge Unit



Definitions:
I'm only defining the new stuff folks- fix the old stuff is my suggestion.

Rabbit Punch:
This paralyzing punch to the kidneys causes the victim to stay in place for 10 seconds. Damage to Action bar.

Combo Jab:
A quick one-two punch to the head causing Stun and damage to the mind bar.

Trip:
A smuggler's melee style Knock Down move.

Rabbit Punch 2:
Just like its predeccessor but lasts 20 seconds.


Disruptor Charge Unit:
This device sends an electric pulse that prevents the firing of ranged weapons within a radius of the smuggler INCLUDING his OWN weapons (radius maximum depends on construction of unit but no more than 40m). The length is 10 seconds (also dependant on construction).


You may have noticed that I chose to use Combat XP as the way to level. I'm open to hearing arguments on this but I just thought since we are gaining melee AND ranged abilities why not make it combat XP over either Unarmed or Pistol. Also this allows the smuggler to more personalize their character as they would be leveling with their weapon of choice.

And YES, I am proposing that smugglers be able to do moves such as Last Ditch and Low Blow with a pistol, carbine or rifle. In this case I don't think the weapon matters as much as the person doing it.

Someone did raise a concern over a master rifleman being able to use last ditch but a rifleman wouldn't be able to use it unless they were a smuggler with Dirty Fighting IV. Does changing the weapon MAJORLY change the damage of Last Ditch?

You may have also noted that I didn't add any mods. That's because I think that it would be unbalancing- and people would begin to "Stack" our proffession and lead us to get nerfed. Plus there is no way we should be faster at pistol than someone who ONLY does pistol. The same goes for Unarmed. Instead, the focus was on sneaky techniques and trick moves.

When used together with a master in another combat prof- these moves would ROCK! And triple master- forget about it. At the same time a smuggler on her own could still be able to handle themselves. Look at this combo-
/low blow
/Last Ditch
Set off Discharge Unit
/Rabbit Punch2
Explode Droid
Laugh at victim

Yeah, I think we are prepared to have bounty hunters come after us.

Message Edited by HOTDOG on 05-19-2004 08:17 AM

SLICING, SPICES, INFAMY AND INFAMY CAPS

The ideas on these all kind of tie together so I guess it's better to discuss them all at once.

This post is based on the ideas that were laid down by Vampirerobot in some previous threads. I will briefly go through that here as well though.

Okay-


SLICING:

As far as what you can slice and how you slice everything remains the same with these exceptions:

*At Slicing I- Personalization Disks (defined below)
are added to the of things you can slice.

*Minimum percentages are added as you go up the slice
tree:
Slicing I: 6%
Slicing II: 8%
Slicing III: 10%
Slicing IV: 12%
Master: 15%

*At slicing I you get the schematic for an Advanced
Precision Knife.

** Personalization Disk:
These are disk built by DEs that were originally used in outdated droids. Smugglers can slice into them and change the programming so that it is sliced into a weapon or armor they can be used as a Pick-a-slice tool.

These disk allow the smuggler the choice to alter Speed/ Damage/ HAM/ Encumberance/ Effect or even to change damage type using the experimentation window we are used to. Thus personalizing the equipment for the customer.

A player may only have 1 personalize item in their inventory at one time. A smuggler may have 2 ('cause they need to be able to own one and slice another). A Master Smuggler may have 3.

These disks though must be decoded first- which involves smuggling them through several starports in order to obtain the right "cracks" for the codes.


*** ADVANCED PRECISION KNIFE:
Use of this tool allows you to do more precise work so you gain a 5% bonus to your slices when you use it. The downfall is the materials to build this tool are RARE and therefore costly.


SPICES:
We all know these need help- I don't have any suggestions as to exactly how spices should affect the user yet but It would be nice if there was more variation to how we created them. So some spices we would just craft. Others would need loot drops and still others would call for crafted items from other professions.

Also, spices need to have experimentation count in order for our market to be competitive. That means resources count. I don't see why we should be exempt from the rules of crafting that everyone else has to follow.



INFAMY:

Vampirerobot broke this down very well in a previous thread, I'm just adding to it.
Basically, you gain Infamy for selling spice and slicing equipment. Once you gain enough Infamy a bounty can be put on your head.

This sounds simple (and to some scary) but there are a lot of knots to untie for this to work fairly and consentually such as:

*We want to protect players from having a PC bounty hunter roll up on them without their consent.

*Infamy should also have a lot of consequences BEFORE a
bounty is put on your head.

*Caylin pointed out that in order for someone to be in a situation that might lead to PvP they need to consent to it- such as Duel or the GCW. In otherwords in order to PvP you need to be a part of a faction in the GCW. This is an SOE promise to the customer that will not be broken.



That said, let's look at Infamy again and introduce Infamy Caps.

Infamy is gained when you SELL (not craft) spices and slice equipment.

The amount of Infamy you have is always falling- so in order to stay infamous you need to have a steady amount of illegal behavior. Stop slicing and spicing for a few days and your Infamy will fall to zero.


Being infamous cuts into a smuggler's business as it is intrusive to his illeagal behavior. So here are a list of things that happen depending on your Infamy status (with this chart the highest Infamy you can have is 100):


at 1-20 points- Nothing happens- you are small time and attract little to no attention.

at 21-40 points- Random small time Thug NPCs will spawn to attack you. These are guys who envy you and are looking to make a name or are mad 'cause you are cutting in on their business.

at 41-60 You attract the athorities and get random Fed dub- Cor Sec type spawns. At this point you lose -5 to sneak, Mask faction and Mask Group Faction (total).

at 61-80 The Empire is NOT digging you at this moment- whether you are aligned or not- you should expect a visit from some not so friendly troopers. At this point you lose -10 to sneak, Mask faction and Mask Group Faction (total).

at 81-90
Your name is on the Bounty Hunter Terminals and
Your infamy is making it harder for you to sneak around so you get -15 to Mask Faction, Mask Faction Group and Sneak.
at 91-100 You have achieved most wanted status-
Higher Bounties- plus another -20 to Mask Faction, Mask
Faction Group and Sneak.


INFAMY CAPS:

A smuggler can only gain so much Infamy per how many boxes they are up the Spice and Slice trees. For each box your Infamy cap goes up 10 points. That means a person with Slicing II and Spices IV would only be able to earn 60 points of Infamy. Someone with both trees completed would only be able to earn 80 points of Infamy.


So how in the heck do you end up on the bounty hunter terminals if you can never earn more than 80 points of Infamy?


FACTIONAL ADVANCED PRECISION KNIVES:


The schematic for the Factional Advanced Precision Knife can only be obtain on factional missions. FAPKs can only be built and used by factional players. These knives work exactly like Advanced Precision Knives with two exceptions:

1) They are MUCH easier to build as they use common
materials.

2) The Infamy gained by these tools ignores the Infamy
Caps in the slicing and spice boxes.


So if a smuggler uses these tools they could earn more than the 80 point Infamy Cap and end up on the Bounty Hunter Terminals but you can only use these tools if you have signed up with a faction in the GCW.

What needs to be discussed here is what exactly does a smuggler loose if they are killed by a BH? And what do they gain if they defeat the BH?


Anyone?


There it is folks.
My proposal for the Smuggler Revamp-

---

Vampirerobot wrote:

Hotdog,

the idea of an infamy cap is pretty interesting. I don't think you need to have any additional penalties though (like penalties to skills for high Infamy). Being Infamous just means you're more likely to get into trouble, not less able to get out of it (you are a Smuggler after all). My alternative for how a lowbie doesn't get on the BH boards is to just have the Infamy increasing abilities not appear until Slicing 4 and Spices 4.

-VR

---

Thanks,

I put the caps in there to protect lowbies from massive spawns and to tie Infamy to the tree but even a lowbie could end up on the BH terminals with my system. If a lowbie used A FAPK it would ignore the Infamy Cap and put them on the boards BUT a young smuggler would have to work awfully hard to make 81 Infamy points slicing containers and Terminals.
The Infamy Cap system really only protects those who are not aligned from bounties.

My concern with being on the BH terms is having a penalty for being killed by a bounty hunter so that there won't be anyone exploiting. You know, work to get a bounty on your head- have your BH buddy take the bounty and let them kill you so you both can split the reward.

My solution for smugglers who hide in a private house is that the Infamy clock stops when you log off or enter a private building. When you walk out your Infamy level will start to fall again from the level it was when you went in/logged off.

Not sure if this is where to post it, but here is my idea for a posible underworld boon:

The idea is basically giving the smugglers the ability to have "turf" and run a "protection racket".

• Make it such that a vendor can have an "Underworld Sponsor" - which allows this vendor to sell sliced items and spiced.


• The "Underworld Sponsor" would be a smuggler player who lends his underworld "protection" to this merchant...for a fee.


• The Smuggler would get a + vendor count as he levels Underworld as to how many vendors can be under his protection.




• This would even be a cool skill to have SEAs for


• Sponsored Vendors would have an associated fee for it's underworld protection, and thatfee would go to the Smuggler who sponsors the vendor.




• Thefeeshould be set by the smuggler so that one smuggler can try to muscle on another's turf by offering a more affordable "protecton".


• The fee should probably be in the form of a daily fee the smuggler charges.


• The Merchant should be able to cancel his sponsorship at anytime - but all contrabnd would then be moved to his stockroom

To me this adds a real criminal element. Smuggler doing a shake down of merchants and controling turfs ... and the merchants agreeing to pay these shady characters because it's in their best interest to do so. This would work ala the old school "protection" racket seen in all the mob movies. You wanna do business on the smugglers turf (sellin' sliced goods / the black market) you need to have a smuggler associate.

This would allow for smuggler to get area's of influence and "turfs", and a small income (perhaps in the area of 7-10k a weeks based on max vendors and the slight fee the smuggler charges).

(alternatively the smuggler might just get a % cut on all contraband sold...but I bet that would be harder to code?)

Underworld Revamp - I hear much about this and little of it is really exciting. I like some of the conceptsI've heard about ID changing and have thought about the concept previously.

What if at Underworld 1, aside from getting some faction perks, you could change someone's ID (displayed name) to a set list of about 5 names for about 5 minutes (like a buff). This is basicly like a falsification of documents, except at Underworld 1 you're not very good at it and can only get credentials for a "John Smith" which would hide your true name, yet be very suspect because many people will have seen it before.

i.e. A basic smuggler chances upon a Jedi being tracked by a BH, the Jedi pays for a quick ID swap and gets the basic "John Smith", a novice BH may be fooled by this, but an experienced BH will know to stay on the "John Smith" mark.

At Underworld 2, aside from the faction perks, you get10 more bogus ID names and the buff lasts for +5 minutes.

At Underworld 3, aside from faction perks, you get 20 more bogus ID's and the buff lasts for +10 minutes.

At Underworld 4, aside from faction perks, you access to 10 more names and the ability to temporarily disguise faction.

At Master, your ID names can be completely randomly generated and last an hour.

To prevent abuse, you'd just add alimitation to this ability like a Trando's regen or a Zabrak's vitalize.

Maybe this is technically infeasible or too complicated, but hey, this is a board right?

Juzza - Flurry

SlickDevlin that is a great under world idea.

Thanks Mate!

I think this kind of system would slide really nicely into the Smuggler/BH relationship, it could really add to the "thrill of the hunt" and "cat and mouse" game.

The other idea that I read on here (sorry forgot who), is the concept of the Master Smuggler being able to remove people from BH terminals via slicing but with the potential chance of getting added to the list.

Cheers,

SlickDevlin, aka Juzza -aspiring Trandoshan triple master - Flurry

5. Dirty Fighting Revision

I think this can be conceptualized very easily, although again I don't know the level of technical difficulties on the programming end.

One way to satisfy the brawler/pistol pre-requisities is to make the DF specials applicable to both pistol and unarmed, i.e. have the same effect but different animations. The unarmed version would only work in the proper proximity of course.