Smuggler Archive
Thread: Well Han had Chewy.... A Smuggler buddy discussion 2.0
SmugglinZane
Tue Mar 01, 2005 8:34 pm
#40
I really don't think it would unbalance it as much as letting them man the turret so that it's locked forward.
As it is, the person sitting in the copilot seat is just spamming cap to shield shunt after the initial stuff is set up. Because of that, I really don't think it unbalances things that much since 1. you still gotta have people to repair and 2. you still gotta have someone manning the turrets.
Putting them at a repair station is kind of pointless with all of the different stations on a ship (btw, I really think DEs should be able to make a ship repair droid). That means they're little more than a pet with a storage compartment.
As far as what I would do with mine... He would only come out with my ship. He'd be the guy I'd "leave back to watch my precious". He would be my copilot, my wingman. I may pull him out for RP purposes, but that would be it.
What it really comes down to is whether or not the "pet" is worth them putting it in. If it's not something people find some value or usefulness in, then it's not worth for them to work on it. Unfortunately, we have no idea what they want to work on at this point. I'd push for it in a heartbeat though if he could really be a "sidekick" and not just another pet.
I know some people don't like it because you don't want to replace a player. For me it would never replace a player, but allow the people I play with to do things together more often.
yimaz
Wed Mar 02, 2005 1:24 am
#41
MISTagent01 wrote:
I'm going to chime in (as usual) and say that I'm going to have to agree with Caylin and Wes...there should be no substitute forplayer interaction.
However, with that said, all I want is a huge wookiee to follow me around and glare at people. Non-attackable, no HAM, nothing. Just walks around with me on the ground and glares at random targets. Maybe cracks his knuckles and the like.
Going to QFE myself on this one. 
I agree 100% with both you guys but keep in mind a NPC buddycould never be able replace a good crew for a number of reasons:
1. the MP ship is not very effective with a crew smaller then 3 youreally need 8to5 players.
2. NPC when an engineer would only be able to fix one ship part.
3. On the ground he is no more then an NPC pet used to watch your back as we are not always traveling with friends.
If you cant put a full crew together this NPC pet helps, for example you have 2 gunners but no one wants to be an engineer. You now have the NPC at your more critical station. Or you only have one gunner and no one else you can now have control over one gun yourself (at master). If you have a full crew you can always use another hand again at a critical ship station to fix a part other pleople may not be able to get to in time. There is no way an NPC pet could replace a crew, its just not practical however an NPC would give you a little protection in space and on land if you need it and act as an extra crew member when your ship is manned by friends
Message Edited by yimaz on 03-01-2005 03:28 PM
yimaz
Wed Mar 02, 2005 1:32 am
#42
FYI
For a MP Ship you need:
- Pilot
- Co-pilot
- Gunner
- Gunner
- Engineer
- Engineer
- Engineer
- Medic w/Fire Blankets
So you can see one NPC that can fix one ship part or give you one gun in a locked forward postion does not really hinder the need for a crew in anyway yet will help in a small way if you are alone.
HOTDOG
Wed Mar 02, 2005 11:12 am
#43
I love the idea of a sidekick-
NPC style because my play-scheduleis crazy so it's hard for me to hook up with people for long periods of time. Or sometimes I gotta log out in the middle of things-
but I agree you should get better bennies from an actual PC.
that said...
In a perfect world I would like to see it work like this:
Starting at UW I if you have a certain amount of faction with a Thug Lord (jabba, Nim, etc.) you can go to their palaces and speak with someone about a henchman.
Or if you run certain (smuggling) missions for theseguys you get offered a henchman at the end. Preferably from a line of Hench people.
Their strength/weaknesses will depend firstly on yourUW level and secondly on who you got them from.
They would have storage akin to droids
But the difference between them and a pet is that you can dress/equip them with clothes, armor and equipment.
Whenever you give a sidekick an item you lose it.
So if hehas your old repupblic blaster and you give him a geo then the blaster disappears and you can never get the geo back.
I don't knowifthey would be able to do specials or anything but it would be nice if they got decentHAM with each of yourUW levels.
other than that everything elseYim laid out is VERY cool by me
Guamarhea
Wed Mar 02, 2005 12:22 pm
#44
Just to expand a little bit from Tevin's idea:
IF we were to get Smuggler mission terminals as part of the fabled Smuggler Revamp, why not have an option to "draw" a henchman for each mission? For example, a Valerian mission gives you the option to have an NPC Valerian Thug assigned to you, much like faction troopers, for the duration of the mission. Accepting the Thug would reduce the mission reward, since theoretically the Thug would be getting a portion of the mission reward, however this reduction is offset by the Thugs bringing firepower to the mission (like the faction troopers) and the other advantages that previous posters have already listed in this thread.
Egowyn
Wed Mar 02, 2005 5:06 pm
#45
I like the idea ALOT smugglers are suposed to be a bit independant So far as ground duties of this sidekick i think there should be none other than like Vella said to look intimiadting or whatever..in a MP ship the co-pilot chair is realy good, it wont unballance. Id like if the side kick could do some basic level flying while I ran back to repair stuff or man a gun but thats probably too much to ask.
It looks to me that most of the responces here are in favor of this..and I hope despite Wes' stand he will forward this to the devs.
Not that he has ever given any reason to belive otherwise.
yimaz
Wed Mar 02, 2005 6:01 pm
#46
Co-pilot is a great idea, much better then gunner becasue you still really need peoplefor theMP ships. Giving this pet a use in space to me is one way to tell who is a Smugler and who is a smuggler.
yimaz
Wed Mar 02, 2005 6:15 pm
#47
Nice thing about not pickingout your "buddy"is it could be a nice suprise or funny as hell. If we cant pick our friends in RL the same should hold true with this NPC.
You want a foxxie twi'lek and get (at master) some short fat bald male human. I laugh.... 
Egowyn
Wed Mar 02, 2005 7:11 pm
#48
yimaz wrote:
Nice thing about not pickingout your "buddy"is it could be a nice suprise or funny as hell. If we cant pick our friends in RL the same should hold true with this NPC.
You want a foxxie twi'lek and get (at master) some short fat bald male human. I laugh....
no no no you Can pick your nose, and you CAN pick your friends, but you CAN'T pick your friend's nose.
Its your family you cant pick if your not picking your friends your just lost.
JTGAlpha
Wed Mar 02, 2005 7:35 pm
#49
Well, you really can't pick how your friends LOOK I think was his point. lol
LiamDeclan
Thu Mar 03, 2005 4:16 am
#51
KaernLegorah wrote:
My only problem with the NPC "buddy" idea, as a whole, is that it essentially kills the solo-Smuggler. If the NPC "buddy" is so good that it seems stupid not to use it, then nearly every Smuggler in the game is going to have a buddy. It seems silly, in my opinion, to have almost every Smuggler have a buddy, but have very few Smugglers flying solo. Just because Han and Chewie were buddies, doesn't mean nearly every Smuggler in the Galaxy had a best chum that he/she smuggled with.
So, while I can appreciate how good your suggestion is yimaz, I'm still skeptical of the NPC "buddy" idea as a whole.
But you still get 5 stars
Make it a quest thing to find your own buddy. Make some kind of random quest changing loop so every smugglers quest is similar but different. Slows down the process and nobody would be able to look up a website or post on forums on how to finish the quest quickly and with little effort. Sure it might be difficult to put this ingame but well worth it. It would really make JTL a must have for smugglers based on posts here about having a space buddy perk. You should also have to maintain some type of faction point standing with your buddy. This would keep people from making them tanks and cannon fodder when hunting or whatever.
Egowyn
Thu Mar 03, 2005 1:44 pm
#52
JTGAlpha wrote:
Well, you really can't pick how your friends LOOK I think was his point. lol
well no but you could choose not to be friends with Ugly people.../shurg if you were so inclined or that shallow...