Smuggler Archive
Thread: Revamp Discussion: Contraband & Smuggling Missions
An inevitable result of not giving a proffesion enough love, they have too much time to think wouldn't it be cool if...
GreenMarine wrote:
This thread is huge! I'm working through reading all of this and I'm writing down notes. It will probably not be until Friday before I can post some responses (mainly because I'm fairly busy today and tonight).
One goodsolution to the problem looks alot like this:
A player selects either PvP or PvE in his/her launchpad (or someother screen - possible your Personal or Character Status ingame screens)
When the player's visibility is raised enought to warrant a BH, they either go on the BH terms or a PvE BH is assigned. This is done silently without the knowledge of the player. Also, the PvE BH works just like a player one. They are about equal in strength and attack at an unexpected time.
That way, you won't really KNOW when you get a bounty placed on you, and you won't really know when you'll be attacked... Wow this is exciting
Better for all (because PvE'ers don't get told "Haha. I haxxored your ass n00b!")
Alright this seems like a very good solution. I'm sure it can be coded - and well appreciated by "both" types of players
GreenMarine wrote:
This is the second in a series of posts on a smuggler revamp. The goal of these posts is to discuss ideas that can be integrated into a final profession revamp proposal.
In this thread we're going to talk about the contraband system and the idea of smuggling missions. These two issues will be discussed together, because they affect each other.
I've thought about and written down my own conception of how a contraband system update and a new type of smuggling mission would work. These ideas aren't necessarily refined or complete. I want to create a debate through which we can work out a reasonable approach to improving the smuggler profession.
Everything here is debatable, so feel free to question, discuss, or add any ideas you have.
Contraband
Concept
The game’s contraband system will be changed to include a greater number of illegal items, a range of legality levels, and increased penalties for being found with illegal items.
Legal Ranges & Punishment
Items will now have a range of legality. The following legal ranges will be implemented.
- (This new system will be discussed later.)
Illegal objects will display their legality in the examine properties list.
A faction aligned player who is caught with contraband will lose a percentage of faction appropriate to the degree of the crime.
Imperial aligned players will now only be immune to scans regarding quasi-legal goods if they have the rank of corporal or better.
Corpral is Extremely low, illegal or not as an Imperial Colonel I expect to be treated as one by my Troops who do as I say not as I do.
Old sliced weapons and armor will be converted to have the legality level of “banned.”
How about converting the multisliced using exploiters that are ruining the GCW and "ban" them too.
Scan Frequency
Contraband scan frequency will be somewhat increased. Scan bottlenecks will be introduced at various locations in major cities, such as starport entries and medical centers.
This is how it should have always been. There needs to be a VERY STRONG IMPERIAL PRESENCE IN THE GALAXY! Overt Rebels should not be walking around freely in Theed. Increase the Security of our Galaxy from the Terrorist Threats! Scan everyone for their faction alignment as well as illegal goods.
Contraband Visibility
The game's "visibility" system will be expanded. Any player can now accumulate small amounts of visibility for a contraband infraction. The amount of visibility will be dependent on the severity of the infraction.
Smugglers may attempt to find out or reduce the visibility of any player by slicing a bounty hunter terminal. Failure to successfully slice the terminal will result in the smuggler being immediately added to the terminal. Clamps cannot be used in this form of slicing. (This will be a new type of slicing, not wire cutting.) More information on this is available in the slicing section.
Thank You for this! content is the greatest thing of all time I will specifically fail to slice a BH terminal just to add content. I love the cat and mouse games in real life with women and I want to be hunted and on the move. I love it!
Smuggling Missions
Concept
Various criminal organizations throughout the galaxy have found financial success in moving illegal substances and goods from one place to another. The vehicles of these transfers are the smugglers, men and women who store their morality along side coffers full of questionable goods. The smugglers are brave and often brash individuals who risk their lives for monetary gain on a daily basis.
The smuggler revamp will introduce new missions to simulate the smuggling underworld.
Basic System
Smuggling Missions are received from various underworld bosses, called ‘suppliers’. Jabba, Lady Valarian, and other key criminal characters, as well as new characters, will offer smuggling missions. Smuggling missions are only offered to smuggler characters. The difficulty of the mission will scale to the average tier level of the smuggler’s skills.
At its core, a smuggling mission is similar to a delivery mission. The player is given a crate of illegal goods to move to another contact. The player must then return the payment for the goods to the source of the mission.
Ex: Jabba gives the player a crate of 50 to deliver to a cantina in Mos Eisley. After the player delivers the narcostims, she receives a payment of 12,000 credits. The player then returns to Jabba and delivers 8,000 credits, pocketing 4,000 as payment for the job.
There are no skill boxes specific to smuggling missions, but the smuggler’s skills in scan avoidance and slicing will come into play.
Are you **edit**ing kidding me? A 12,000 Mission? Listen up this is important. Smugglers become Smugglers because they are into shortcuts, specifically shortcuts to making money...... bread, dollars, bills, duck, cash, moola....
We should decide the amount of cargo we are carrying, we should buy the cargo up front with our own cash. I want to spend $300,000 on illegal goods and run the ultra illegal glitterstim component from my contact. But make it so that you can't use any usual means of travel and JTL a preqrequsite. I want to try and evade a trafficing blockade, I want to avoid being jacked by other Smugglers, PC and NPC, as well as NPC faction aligned players. I want it to be damn near impossible. If I make a mistake or if I decide not to deliver I just lost my $300,000 credits and immediatly placed on the BH terminals wth at least 10 consecutive missions against me, I want to be moved to -5000 faction for whatever faction I was delivering for (I.E. NOT JUST JABBA AND VALARIAN, Swoop, Rebel, Trade Federation, Hutt, Borvo, Corsec, Drall, Rogue Corsec, Pirates of Lok, Nym, Etc......... all the factions have a use for us) just immediatly placed at -5000 faction so that their people will attack me and try to kill me whenever they see me. I should gain a TEF to all Master Smuggler PC's who can attack me take my goods using the loot all command and be given my mission by succesfully slicing my datapad (solve a puzzle within 30 seconds). No revenge TEF of course and i would have lost my goods and failed his mission whereashe can now keep the goods or suceed my mission. If I fail it still falls back on him but on me as well however I don't lose the intial investment that's only if the Smuggler fails his mission of course.
Dog eat Dog galaxy out there kid!
If I succed I want my 300% payoff of my initial investment with a max initial investment of 10 million credits. These mission are supposed to be extremely hard to complete make it happen.
Smugglers are into shortcuts to making some real credits out there not silly 12,000. I can run a higher paying mission that pays 32,000 in two minutes.
If you keep it the way YOU HAVE DESIGNED the missions will be only used to obtain the drug components and nothing else.
Cargo Legality
Smuggling mission cargo is highly illegal. Any non-smuggler caught carrying a crate of any item to be delivered from a smuggling mission will be attacked and have the cargo confiscated.
Due to the illegality of the cargo, the authorities may occasionally hear about a particular supplier’s intent to move goods. Smugglers on a smuggler mission may encounter attacks from planetary or Imperial authorities, depending on the difficulty of the mission. Killing these enemies is not necessary to complete the mission.
The target for a smuggling mission will only wait so long to receive the delivery. If the player does not deliver the goods within a reasonable amount of time (dependent on mission difficulty), the mission will be lost and the player will receive some visibility.
Withholding Cargo
The player may choose to withhold part of the delivery. In the above example, the player may choose to only deliver 30 of the narcostims to the contact in Mos Eisley. If the player chooses to withhold cargo, s/he will only be paid a portion of the actual delivery fee. The amount of the payment will be directly proportional to the amount delivered.
In order to split a container of mission supplies, the smuggler must successfully slice the container’s locking mechanism.
The player may also choose to withhold part of the money to be paid to the supplier. For example, the player might deliver all 50 narcostims, but only pay Jabba 6,000 credits.
Withholding cargo or pay will result in the smuggler earning a small bit of visibility. Thus, a smuggler who chooses to defy the crime lords who supply her with jobs faces the possibility of execution at the hands of a hired Bounty Hunter.
The more difficult the smuggling mission, the greater the visibility gained for cheating.
Cargo Contents
Smuggling mission cargo often contains items that are components for smuggler crafting. Narcostims, for example, might be a component used in the creation of the spice, Glitterstim. Thus, a smuggler will need to occasionally withhold some of the cargo from a mission if they wish to enter the spice business.
In the interests of the player economy and current game balance, spices will remain craftable. Now, however, smugglers will "assemble" various components into spice packages, instead of chemically brewing them. Experimentation will be added...more details later in the spices discussion.
Smuggling cargo may also include crates of low or mid level spices. The player may choose to withhold these spices and resell them to other players if they wish.
Space Integration
There will be elements of smuggler missions involving space zones & space gameplay, but I can't discuss many space details. The player may have to pick up or deliver goods in space. Players without JTL will not be required to go to space. This is an "after space ships" feature.
AsInVader wrote:
It all sounds great!
BUT..
dont know if anyones mentioned this but currently scans dont scan droid storage compartments! so any one could easily "smuggle"any items they wanted at no riskwithout being, or needing a smuggler!
And that is a bug that SOE needs to address, it is not a prt of a Revamp (to me anyway).
Either way, I didn't think there was an argument about that being fixed.
I kind of like the idea of having no way out until i die or another smuggler takes me off the terms Damn I love this whole contraband idea alot
Smuggler_Caylin wrote:I'm here for a little bit only. Eating popcorn chicken and a 7-11 slurpee before I go back out to face the real world again and try to find someone will pay me for some kind of labor I'm capable of. I'm still on 'break'Ipseck, their arguments are quite valid and they are being quite clear.PvP the common smuggler is not going to have a chance, while in PvE we have a variety of skills and set mechanics that the player can work with and interact around. I don't want to be killing nunas to have a 3k HAM buffed, composite wearing, pound me in the hindquarters BH come out of nowhere to shoot me in the head and go '**edit** NEWBIE PWNED!' and have my character raped by his pet bantha. I see that mentality too much in this game and I can certainly understand player who don't want to indulge them or even interact with them.
I think that this could be mitigated to some extent by allowing the level of the BH to determine which level of players they can hunt. The BH terminals work in such a fasion that a MBH cannot access low level bounties. So if a new smuggler was out hunting nunas then make him only available as a mark for new BH, he would never be the target for a MBH.
Granted there are further discussion points in this idea, said new smuggler could have all his points spent in other combat classes, although were that case I doubt he'd be hunting nunas. It would have to be based upon some difficulty rating of the characters based upon skill points spent and in what fields.
Ternque01 wrote:LOL DRWolfe it's like my idea only better, lolI suggest that if a PvP BH dies, that the bounty is over, and the players visiblity is dropped a little bit under the limit where a bounty can be placed on them again.A continuing bounty on a player could get annoying. I dunno... it makes more sense to allow BH's to try until the mark finally diesAh nm... i like the idea of keeping a bounty on a player until they die or get a smuggler to remove them
Exactly! I summarized your idea, added a little extra detail from my own brain and there we go. It's a great solution, and it looks like we've just about got it worked out.
And continuing bounties until the hunted dies makes sense. Just read the Han Solo trilogy (again), and it's always saying "Three days and two Bounty Hunters later..."
Message Edited by DRWolfe on 06-17-2004 03:40 PM
