Smuggler Archive

Just so SOE knows the reasonI bought this game was becauseI saw an MS-DOS game that alowed you to smuggle illeagle stuff past blockades it was a completely open ended game but sadly when I found it I was using Windows XP and couldn't use the game. But come on if a game made in the early to mid 90s can have smuggling in space why thef#&$ing #&!! can't you implement something even close to that.

I have beenquite patiant with this Ihave yet to get angry at any of this crap that has gone on.But right now i don't care i figure by tomarrow morrning you will have banned uss all from the forums so it doesn't matter anymore does it.

And we don't blame you Wes. We love you

Message Edited by Hetnikik on 10-12-2005 02:03 AM

Message Edited by Hetnikik on 10-12-2005 02:06 AM

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Orcajum wrote:

It's not like even this load of junk will ever be implimented.

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I beg to differ. It will be. And it will be at least 20 times worse than what can be imagined while reading the original post in this thread.

And then everyone's going to say things like "Smugglers? What are they complaining about? They got... like... 3 revamps... in a row!"

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"Not under the current design."

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Means: In the next scheduled smuggler profession revamp, due out in 2010.

I'm not sure what's worse, getting absolutely no answers, or getting this sort of thing.

I'm appalled that there is no provision for space-based Smuggling, especially after all of the previous comments on how we were supposed to be a Space-based profession.

What's next? "Oh, sorry, we see Smugglers as an underwater profession and so you'll have to wait for the Trials of Jar-Jar expansion in 2040..."

It's just occurred to me that I think we might now be suffering from something that the Pilots have been a victim of - JTL is twitch-based and for a lot of players it is seen as 'too hard' to get up there and compete at a high level.

It's debated often on the Pilot forums that the inclusion of the ROTW ships like the JSF are some sort of attempt to make things a little easier for a lot of players. Perhaps the Devs think that there will be a uproar from the playerbase if they include high-end Smuggler content in an environment that can't be dealt with by a FOTW template and button mashing? Not that I'm saying any Smuggler would think this, but there might be another large section of the playerbase that would?

It's actually a kick in the nuts for the Pilots as well. Space Smuggling would have made more content for them as well,and got more people up into space.

I'd be interested to hear what Tomo thinks about that...

I'd dearly love to post ideas about what we want, but I don't seem to have the energy to do it, or the faith that we're going to get anything other than delivery missions from static NPCs.

I'm going back into space to carry on mastering the 9 Aces. I may be gone some time, and if this is indicative of the way they're taking this profession, I doubt I'll be coming back...

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TomoRainer wrote:
Looks folks I'm about to clap so hard my hands will actually explode, so you may want to cover your ears and close your eyes to avoid any collateral damage here

Whether it's because space was supposed to be where smugglers shine and one of the many excuses as to why our revamp is taking so long, that JTL needs more post-master content, or just that neglecting space in this way, particularly in light of the highly questionable lack of attention given it during this latest expansion--come on. To restrict smuggling to the ground is simply inexcuseable.

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rogue_eight wrote:
It's just occurred to me that I think we might now be suffering from something that the Pilots have been a victim of - JTL is twitch-based and for a lot of players it is seen as 'too hard' to get up there and compete at a high level.

It's debated often on the Pilot forums that the inclusion of the ROTW ships like the JSF are some sort of attempt to make things a little easier for a lot of players.

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I just plain suck at flight/space sims. I've played TIE fighter and such games but never liked them much and never managed to get past the first, I don't know, 2 missions without getting extremely frustrated.

Guess what, I managed to solo the complete Smugglers Alliance mission set until the Corvette. Without even knowing about the benefits of droid programs. And now I regard JTL as the part of the game I like the most and have the most expertise in.

JTL is a space sim-lite. I seriously can't imagine anything in JTL being too hard for anyone, unless the person in question was born with flippers.

ROFL.

Admittedly, with a bit of application you can solo anything in JTL with practice. That said, there are some pretty tough things out there - Storm Squadron t3 is considered the hardest thing in JTL.

The fact does remain though that there are people out there that still do think that the JSF is low mass and that actually having to have some talent to get a mastery is too hard. It's well known that there are people who try and hitch lifts in the gunnery seat with a master flying so they can get the xp and finish the missions to get the mastery badge. And they pay for it as well - I've seen posts offering 100k per box filled.

That's the kind of thing we're up against - the attitude of why do I have to be at the keyboard and do something rather than running an AFK macro and grinding it. The narrow vision where they want the end reward of the badge or loot with the least effort and with no regard to actually enjoying the journey. I know I've been guilty of it in the past with one of my ground masteries and it made me take a good long break from the game.

Now I try and enjoy the trip. I'm about to finish my 6th space squad and I can honestly say I've enjoyed it all - except for the insanely long escort missions, but who doesn't?

Summary of what is currently In Concept based on Tigg's answers:

Gaining in this revamp:

- Missions dedicated to Smugglers
- Missions given out by NPC's
- Smuggler Missions affect Underworld Faction which in turn affects what missions we can take
- CL will affect missions, allowing lower level players to achieve the higher level missions
- Different types of rewards for completing a mission

Losing in this revamp:

- Ability to put contraband items on a vendor
- Ability to craft spice

Not Getting this time around:

- Ability to 'fast talk' out of a situation
- Space based smuggling content
- Any additional abilities to help avoid Bounty Hunters or Rangers from wailing on our parade
- Penalties for any player who is carrying contraband
- Any changes to the types of spice or what spice does
- Ability to pay off the Bounty on your head to remove you from the terminals
- Any type of contraband not already in the game
- Any replacement for the lost Spice Schematic

Devs are Undecided over:

- Whether missions will be given by the likes of Jabba the Hutt or Dave the Minor Minion
- What Factions will give out Smuggling missions
- What will happen to contraband that is already on a vendor when the patch hits
- Whether smugglers can be hunted by Bounty Hunters
- Whether smugglers can skim a portion of the contraband they are carrying
- Whether any smuggled contraband will be visible in your inventory
- Whether 'Smuggling XP' will be used in to gain any Smuggler Skill Trees
- Whether we can retrieve stolen smuggling cargo from a Ranger

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WesBelden wrote:

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Tiggs wrote:

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WesBelden wrote:
Questions gathered so far:

• Will Smugglers still be able to 'fast talk' their way out of situations as was previously planned?




• Not under the current design


• Will there be a space component to missions or are they 100% ground based? (the previous system indicated there would be develiveries/combat/fast talking in space and on the ground).




• Not initially


• How do we get missions? Will we see NPCs or terminals/sliced terminals or an ingenius (ooh er) combination of both? (NPCs prefered!)




• Underworld Contact NPCs that you will have to build faction with.


• If NPCs are used, will they be from the likes of Jabba, or Dave the minor minion?)




• Still in development.


• Given that Smugglers will be pursued by both BHs and Rangers, are any Smuggler evasion skills planned that might be used both in our missions and in attempts to avoid being intercepted?




• Not in the current design


• Who can we work for? (Various criminal factions/NPCs? Rebel or Imperial?)




• Still in development


• How does faction standing interact with the system (Will we gain or lose FP for those we work for?)




• As you succeed at smuggling mission, your underworld faction will increase. As you fail, you will lose Underworld standing.


• Outside of a mission setting, is there any penalty for a player carrying contraband? for example, will players carrying large amounts of contraband be unable to use public transport as with some Smuggler missions?




• Not under the current design


• What happens to contraband on a vendor at the time the patch hits?




• This has not been decided yet at this time.


• What happens to existing spice schematics?




• They will no longer work.


• Are there any changes to spice effects? (Currently Spice is not thought of as something people would seak out so readily given most types are redundant)




• Not under the current design


• What are the rules for player bounties? (will they be the same/similar to the current Jedi missions? i.e. timers, visibilty, decay all the same as Jedi?)




• Still in development


• What mission payouts will BHs receive for Smugglers and will it alter depending on our Underworld rating?




• This has not been decided yet at this time.


• Will Smugglers receive any warning through underworld contacts etc. of them being on the BH terminals?




• If we implement “BH hunting smugglers” then you will opt into the system. Only PvP missions can possibly put you on the terminals.


• Will we be able to skim money/contraband of the top of these missions?




• Still in development


• Will Smugglers be able to pay off the debt/bounty as Greedo attempted to extort from Han/Han tried to pay Jabba off with?




• Not under the current system.


• Will the cargo actually be visible in our inventory? (e.g. some form of locked container)




• Still in development


• Would said cargo itself count as contraband in a scan and would there be more serious repercussions to having it than a 500cr fine?




• Not under the current design, but possibly.


• Will a character's CL have any affect on the difficulty and/or content of a mission? (could, for example, a CL 55 Master Smuggler complete the highest level of Smuggler mission?)




• Yes


• Will the rewards of a successful Smuggling mission come in various forms (e.g. credits, spice, slice components, AAs etc.)? Some Smugglers worry that they will spend more time being spice pusher on the streets than actually Smuggling in order to make ends-meat.




• Yes, there are various forms of rewards


• Will any Smuggler profession trees (such as Underworld) be based on Smuggling XP given for completing missions?




• Still in development


• Is there scope with this system at a later date to introduce other contraband items that need to be Smuggled? (an example could be rare resources found only on a certain planet... such as what we see on Mustafar! )




• Sure, the system can support it. But not under the current design.


• Since spice crafting has been removed from the Delinquency tree, what if anything will take its place?




• No replacement has been considered at this time, but that may change.


• Once a Ranger has stolen a Smuggler's cargo, can the Smuggler still get the cargo back by killing the Ranger?




• Still in development


• When in space, will a craft's cargo hold have anything to do with what is transportable? (Smuggling crates of spice in a Z-95 or Tie-Fighter isn't exactly, well, practical, while cargo holds on POB sized ships would be able to hold far more/make more sense).




• No space interaction with this version of the system at all.

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The first thing that stands out like a sore thumb is that there's no space content, which no doubt many will be furious at because we were told for so long that we're really a space based profession etc. The wording of "Not initially" makes me hopeful that it will be done at a later date, but there's nothing else to indicate as such for now.

I just asked whether, "Not under the current design." is simply another way of saying, "Not this time around." or if items reffered to as such are still open to feedback/change. Until I get an answer though it'd be best if you just assumed "not this time around".

For the stuff that's, "still in development", say what you want to see.

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Was that taken from the correspondants forum or was it a transcript from the Prime ministers question time. Seriously,you'd get better answers from a british politician.