Smuggler Archive

For me, leaving the smuggler forum's been a long, drawn out process. I used to just goof around in-game a lot, PVPing with a gimped smuggler/pistoleer template, running around with a few friends and Feigning as they constantly got sent to the cloners, waiting on some kind of meaningful smuggling and contraband system to arise and restore some of the excitement of the first few months. Living in this forum was a good way to pass the time, as well as commiserate with a lot of bitter old pirates.

Then JTL came out, and it was actually a lot of fun. Enough to get me to slum around the pilot forum in between visits here. The pilot profession, crazily enough, actually had a lot to do with piloting, which, used to gimpy lumps of profession as I was, came as something of a shock, to the point where I started to spend basically all my time in space. Still waiting on smuggler content along with everyone here, mind you, but at least I had something consistently entertaining to do in the meantime.

Then I stumbled into this blue name and suddenly had a lot of responsibilities elsewhere, reducing my participation in this forum mostly to one-liners and the occasional treatise (always far too long and far too serious) on the state of smuggling. I still hung around, though; after all the time I'd spent with everyone here, I just couldn't imagine leaving.

Finally, just a couple weeks ago, everything sort of spontaneously came to a boil, and over the course of a few days we saw name after name posting the ends to their subscriptions. Smuggler leaders. Backbones of the community. People we've known up to two years. All in all, a couple dozen old friends. Meanwhile, we still can't smuggle, there still isn't the danger or consequences we need, and with the departure of such a huge and vital portion of the community--the community that, for many of us, was the only reason we stuck with it all this time--there was, suddenly, no reason to stay.

That's why I haven't been around this forum lately, anyway. Too many of our old comrades are gone, and with them went the only reason I was still a regular reader of and poster in this place.

I'll be a smuggler till the day I quit, and get Wes' back when I can, and I know plenty of other bright, sharp-edged people will come through to pick up the torches left by the old crew. But I just don't have the spirit for this profession I once did.. nor are the people around who could always keep it burning. They've quit, or moved on.

There are other areas of this game that are plenty fun, so until that changes I'll still be in space. But when it comes to smuggling, I'm just burnt out. Two years has been too long.

/wiggle

Well I am moving out of "crime" RP. Tired of it on a few levels.

Primarily, I grew weary with the people that confusecriminal|villain characterRPwith being an utter toolOOC as aplayer.

Message Edited by Xoreshear on 08-16-2005 08:37 PM

I just thought I would stop in and tell you are are not alone. We DE have been in the same boat for a long time. I have an alt that is a smuggler/pistoleer, and now I find myself grinding BH so I can get my slicing loot. It is kinda sad really but oh well this game just makes my real life seem that much better.

We you are disappointed over and over again, the little things make you all that much happier. Like the Devs fixing the DE monster bug from Pub 21 and making slicing loot statable.

Oh well as a suffering DE and Smuggler I offer you all some

Beer and Pie

I'll admit I'm still a rather new smuggler (kinda on the border of the post/pre CU thing, started into the prof just before the CU and finished it durring double xp time) but even I'm getting a little jaded. I dunno, maybe it's from being a former DE as well, not much love from the Powers that Be (tm) there either. I can blame alot of the reason on why I'm staying around on my guild. Being the only smugger in a three PA group really makes you feel wanted, and not just for slicing either. It's a nice feeling, being wanted...

I'm still a smuggler... been one forever!

It's just that most people don't want to travel 2.6k to my housewere all my smuggler tools are to get an item sliced.

To be fair, if they did care, he wouldn't need to bump his thread.

I'd say that the fact that it's still not getting developer attention really proves his point.

---

TomoRainer wrote:

Good Stuff

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Tomo was onto something with his post, and I'd like to expand on it with my take:

Don't seem to be many Eclipse smuggler active in the Smuggler forum, and frankly aside from theoccasional funny storythere isn't much new going on in this Forum...it is mostly repetition of things that have already been said. I have been in-game almost 2 years myself and been eitherlearning or playing a smuggler (both RP and as a profession) the entire time,soI feel confident that I am a veteran smuggler who has seen or lived through most of the stuff which has...and hasn't...happened to our profession. I joined the Forums on this character after playing for about a year and have spoken my mind on many of the smuggler issues, but see no benefit to repeating myself just to be considered a leader. Sadly, our Forum has become a very depressing place much of the time. There just isn't the same repartee as there was a year ago...there is too much bitterness.

At least a year ago the folk that were here could still laugh (even nervously) in spite of the pain. It used to be "sacred" that smugglers took care of their own, even when we disagreed. We didn't attack each other except in rare cases when someone was completely out of line. Now, it is too edgey and "newer" smugglers seem more willing to just be mean or turn on each other. The sense of community here has dissipated. Before, our commonality seemed based on shared experience and commiseration. We supported each other. Now it seems like the it is based soley on shared anger....which IMHOhas resulted in too much infighting.

I understand being upset about thestate of our profession (see part above regarding being a smuggler for almost 2 years), but I choose not to spend all my time ranting or focusing on the negatives. I enjoy posting RP, or discussing new ideas for having fun in-game. There used to be a lot more posts betweenplayers trying to collaborate and work around the difficulties while we waited forSOE to implement content. Since we didn't have "official" smuggling missions, we would find ways to coordinate and cooperate in-game to make our own smuggling missions...replete with adversaries, penalties, and rewards. Every day, someone was proving that we didn't really need SOE to spoon-feed us everything...we could use our creativity and imagination to fill in the voids. It wasn't perfect, but we had fun doing it and we had fun discussing it here.

Nowadays, if it isn't a rant or a complaint, it receives very little attention from the rest of the community. Positive or interesting posts on the Smuggler Forums(actually, most Forums) fall to the back pagestoo quickly...overwhelmed by the30 new posts saying the same thing about the XP changes, Jedi issues, slicing problems, or whatever the current "problem topic-du-jour" is. I'm not saying that we should stop posting & discussing our issues, but there is also a needfor usall to lighten up sometimes. Doing so will bring more people to our community...and more voices to our cause. Being negative all the time willalienate folks...and has probably contributed in some cases to veterans getting fed up and leaving. If all you hear is negative all the time, you will eventually lose sight of anything positive. If everyone around you is saying that SWG isn't fun, eventually you will believe it...even if you were having fun! This theory apllies IRL as much as it does in our Forum.

On a semi-related note, if anyone wants to come over to Eclipse and use your creativity to find ways to have fun as a Smuggler in-game, I'll be happy to play with you.

Message Edited by Guamarhea on 08-19-2005 02:41 PM