Smuggler Archive
Thread: Top 5 responses from SOE
oh! and if we want we can refuse to deliver the glitterstim or whatever and just sell it on a vendor meaning we stay on the BH terminals and have a bigger penalty than just cloning if we get caught.
my horse for an edit button.
wait, i don't have a horse.
How about allowing only smugglers to transport rebel aligned players to imperial planets/cities and vice versa?
Make certain planets "travel restricted" and require transport via a smuggler. This would be very similar to Planar travel in EQ being restricted to wizards/druids.
Make the transportation of certainitems off planet "illegal"through normal means (npc ships) and require that the items be "smuggled". This could be done prior to the space expansion.
as far as making things illegal, it is needed but i do not think we can expect our profession changes to have such broad effects on other players.
I can see the Trading of illegal items to be a possiblity, but the possesion and travel would infringe heavily on the fun of other players.
Along those lines, once the space expansion hits (c'mon we're not getting love until that's out the door), allow smugglers to skip Corellia and transport others directly to other planets. Maybe only 1 skipped planet , then add 1 later then at master make it 3. I know I hate going from Dant back to Corellia, to Naboo, to Rori. I'd love to skip right to Rori or at least take that 1300cr hit out of the Dant - Corellia trip.
LingusKhanII wrote:
How about allowing only smugglers to transport rebel aligned players to imperial planets/cities and vice versa?
Make certain planets "travel restricted" and require transport via a smuggler. This would be very similar to Planar travel in EQ being restricted to wizards/druids.
Make the transportation of certainitems off planet "illegal"through normal means (npc ships) and require that the items be "smuggled". This could be done prior to the space expansion.
Sorry, I could have been clearer. I meant that they could restrict access tocertain future planets. I did not intend to restrict travel to those currently in place. As in EQ, you want to go to the Plane of Air? You find a wizard to get you there. You want to go to the "soon to be released" planet Yavin 28? Find a smuggler to get you there...
Disclamer: My suggestions will probably have to wait untill the space expansion to be fully realized. I can wait for that if that is what it takes to get it right.
What I would personally like to see as far as smuggling is concerned is something similar to what was happening during the US revolutionary war. Britain (the Empire) had cracked down massively on taxing of imported goods. Smugglers were hired to try and evade British (Imperial) stockades so as to avoide the taxes. The things they smuggled werent necessarily illegal items, they were just trying to avoid the taxes on the items. Smugglers weren't necessarily criminals or pirates (some were, but most weren't). They were just people with extraordinary skill at piloting a ship and at evading the athorities. I would like to see smugglers given some special piloting skills that enable them to better evade Imperial blockades. Make items that are hard to acquire or that you have to pay a fine in order to have them shipped from planet to planet. Smugglerscan avoid this fine (or whatever penalty is associated with these items).
true, but the problem is they can move as they want to now, we would be "nerfing" other folks ability to enjoy the game as they are used to...I cannot imagine the outcry if you took the ability to travel freely fome folks.
Maybe if they added some place like Nal Shadda (the smuggler's moon, not sure i remember the name right) then we could be the conduit there. or any other "new" add.
But if you take Joe_CH's ability to go to Endor and make him wait on a smuggler to take him...ick.
Didn't they end up changeing how all that "wizard required" stuff like binding and such worked in EQ?
I think will all be happy with two basic things (these been sugested millions of times, so I'll keep this in general terms):
1) Illegal TEF that we wouldget whenever we carry Spices (and may be slicing tools?), a sort of TEF that would make us attackablebystormtroopers, security forces (like CorSec), and may be even BH.
2) and our own BH-likemission terminals, that would make us to deliver these TEF-able items from planet to planet. (or a mission where we would need to slicesome terminal for some NPC). Of course, fast-talking your way from security forces might be an option here.
I won't even mention all the bugs and uncertainty about Slicing -even non-smugglers want to see that fixed!
If we can get this before Space - that would be all we need. Then we can add more stuff later on.Otherwise ...
SanTsu wrote:
...we know that they know what we think.
In one breathwe hear re-development and in the nextstatementwe hear, the producers don't even have a clue what we would like, which is it?
What would we like to see...Whaaa??? How about ANY 1 thing out of the thousands of posts we made. Like most people here, I have spent at least 100+ hours reading this forums,throwing in with my 2 cents as I saw fit. Why?? I had faith that SOE was listening to us. They found us our very own Smuggler correspondent, someone who could pay attention, filter, and guide the dev’s in any future “re-development” projects, am I the only one that remembers that???
Theywon’t listen to me, my peers, and our appointed correspondent, then who?? Oh thats right, they only listen to the bottom dollar. How often have I forgot that??/
I will pull my $15 buck in hopes, thatthey the point. I know it is like a speck of sand on the beach telling the waves to knock it off, but what else do I have?
I will leave this game a Master Smuggler. I know they aren’t going to fix anything because I left, heck they won’t even notice. I had fun, not going to say I didn't, but the prospect of 3 months before we even see the first changes announced does not interest me.
PS,
SanTsu and Kav (And many others)
/salute Thanks for your hard work and your ideas
As always,
" ... it is a MMO ..." is not a good excuse. Other games in production have far better communication on far less resources.
Asking the community what is wrong is fine ... however if you ask you SHOULD LISTEN. There is nothing on this thread that hasn't been sugested a hundred times before in this forum, or by our correspondents. or in dev chats.
The player comunity upholds our end of the communication end ... but we might as well be talking to a brick wall. Basic questions from day one inBETA have never been aswered ...
- Why were smugglers originally merchants, pistols, and unarmed and then at release when it was decided it was too hard to get all three lines the merchent line was pulled?
- Pistol XP is used in our higher skills, crafting XP is used ... what is the unarmed for outside of a way tomake it harder to get the profession?
- Why are only locked containeres slicable? What about briefcases, magseals, and dozens of other items?
- Why the +100 language mod after the dev team got scared that despite everyone speaking common people may meet a person on a diff language mode and would be unable to understand each other and thus made all languages free and auto learned?
- Why bother with faction trading if you only allow PvP faction? What happend to the "buy NPC faction" abilities?
- Are we a combat prof? No our DPS is too low. Are we a crafter prof? No all other buffs are better. What are we?
Then we have bugs that have been recorded and reported and never fixed from slice bugs, spice mods fails, and others.
All we get in response is a nicely colored name asking us every week or so ...
"what are your issues???"
And then due to correspondent change, dev team shift, community leader shift, priorities in other areas the answeres are delayed or forgotten until a few weeks later when we get ...
"gee you have problems and we are working on them real hard ... umm .. what are your issues again?"
This behavior is NOT standard to all MMOPRGs ...
Hi All - great posts . Here are my ideas -
1 - slicing travel terminals to :
a - allow all destinations possible and let us skip intermediate planets. This isn't too difficult - it amounts to having contacts and is in effect a charter. Might be at a full fare but saves some potential down time.
b - reduce fee. Again having contacts suggests we know people to get rates at a discount.
Put it in underworld contingent on skill box 3 and needing slicing terminals. Neither unbalances the class.
2 - let us USE locked containers for additional storage. We are only ones who can slice them - presumably we are only ones who can use them to an added effect - say 5 extra slots at no burden to us, and that allows a resist to decay. This could also/either be done on a droid or vehicle. Or make it a special item like a briefcase that is a reward for doing smuggler missions. Does not unbalance the class.
3 - Smuggler mission terminals - including tasks and waypoints requiring you to avoid or pass checkpoints and with a chance of a risk/reward scenario similar to deliver/destroy options now. Does not unbalance the class. Enhances the character enjoyment.
4 - A Smuggler mask scent - for faction scanners. Definitely make this a MASTER skill only, so dabblers and everyone can just have it. This would help generate tougher risk/reward missions as well. Not a huge benefit, but does upgrade the class.
5- Hired Hands -NPC taming - similar to Creature Handler Taming. Would let us hire someone to help us like a pet. They have droids for BH, pets for CH so why not a hired hand for Smuggler. It also could be an Underworld fix and could be limited for use so they can't travel planets with you - you have to hire one on every planet. But you can store them and basically "call" them for every planet, and they would have an ability to "tame" so they learn or can tell you about things exclusive to that planet - "inside info" your contacts know. They could be necessary for highest missions, and the hardest ones to tame only be available at MASTER level. Higher levels lets you have more help similar to level limits Creature Handlers have. Does upgrade the class but would only be an upgrade at Master level when you get significant and proficient hired hands.
You can already converse with NPC, and you already get a different dialogue box of options when talking to a recruiter and mission terminal and locked container etc etc - so should be able to incorporate and flag this when you talkl to NPC.
6 - Slicing expertise allowing to choose the effect but perhaps you have to firstslice the WUK/AUK itself. One way is making the knife and clamp YOU create for this - experimental. That way we still need relationships with weaponsmiths and armorsmiths for their product, but can tinker with them. An alternative is we maybe need a DE program a droid to allow for a higher skill for this purpose. Medics, Architectsand BH have such droids - maybe a Smuggler programmed droid. Again - a MASTER skill so dabblers aren't benefitting. Does not unbalance the class. Enhances it and creates a feature you do for others.
7 - Tinkering with vehicles (and spacecraft?)
a - Smuggler only - underworld related - giving them a stealth mode so you don't aggro every swooper, npc or faction NPC/scanneror whatever as you cruise by. Does not unbalance since player faction persons would not be affected by this mask scent. Does enhance the class.
b - Smuggler Slicing - Also to give them a power boost like gallop or runburst at a cost that will eventually merit repairs in a garage. These should each be easy since it would be compatible with skills and effects presently in game. It also deals with the speed/decay issue others have suggested but isn't a permanent enhancement. You could also do the slicing of other peoples vehicles so as to effect time or effect - such as speed/damage or encumbrance/effectiveness. You would need a Vehivle Upgrade Kit (VUK)- and this can be a DE product we have to negotiate for. Again - contacts and relationships. At master we get to choose as suggested above. Does not unbalance. Enhances the class and creates a feature you do for others.
8 - weapon/combat skill -
a - Allow a Smuggler to equip two weapons when he is a master - one Knuckler - and one pistol. If you let him have a knuckler he can try the unarmed skills or use some TKA skills in his combat lineup while wielding a pistol. The program would know if the VK is equipped or not - or maybe it's truly unarmed - no VK and you can do the TKA skills at reduced damage but still get the effects of the blind, stun, posture change etc. Make a smuggler trulyhave some chance to survive in hand to hand combat as he may be expected to. The unarmed attacks obviously wouldn't be used at range but even with a pistol equipped he should be able to kick and spin.
b - Maybe not even a knuckler, but a spice/mace attackhe can only make at MASTER that he can target on a combatant at melee range only that will blind them. We need something more than a delay/knockdown combo (if they hit), when other classes often have 3 or 4 combinations to dizzy, blind, stun, delay, knockdown, bleed, poison, etc. This could take a place of a pistol whip shot since I know no one who uses this and it would be entirely consistent with a DirtyFighting Skill. Or you can keep the pistol whip and give us this skill at MASTER so again - you have to be very proficient to get it and not just those who take DF tree. It could be a different spice for different effect - and you'd have to re-equip to use a different one. The stun/blind/dizzy would be realistic effects in a palm held can. Maybe limit them to only 2 uses per can so may miss and not be able to use again in a fight. We can make them in crates.
Significantly enhances the profession, and would assist in balancing the class against other combat types. Afterall, we need so much combat experience to become a MASTER we should have some benefit from that training and development.
9 -spices
a- Develope spice experimentation. We already have crafting displays and when we make schematics for clamps and knives we get experimentation options so this cant be too far off. Basically would mean better materials with different attributes could extend possibly time - enhancement - and recovery.
b - Allow spices that can cure poison and disease. Since chef and Doctor food and equipment are so preferred,let us make a spice that will cure the effects, but possibly have a 30 second delay on us like a rezz has a 60 second delay. Make thesecomplex and even need a Scout/Ranger generated component. Gives them something consistent with their skills of foraging/bio-science skills and again, means the Smuggler needs relationships and contacts. Also means we aren't dependant on Doctors to breach any ethical concerns about spices by getting the supplies from them. We can even call this s Spice Upgrade Kit (SUK). It wouldn't be too hard to make - same as WUK and AUK at present but may need the avian or herbivore meat that Rangers can gather in the course of their combat, together with a chemical component as presently needed. This makes it a higher and more specific item instead of generic mineral.
Does not unbalance. Enhances and creatures a feature you can provide for others.
10 - leave WUK, AUK, VUK, SUK, crafted by independant elite professions so it enhances the Smuggler's need for contacts and relationships. Don't let him be too independant, but reward those that can relate with others in game by letting them progress in all aspects if they work hard enough. This takes no game adjustment. Most of these suggestion make a Smuggle especially a Master more in demand and appreciated. Offering more features to others; providing services; enhancing their game play while also relying on your personal and social skills to some extent. That is what Smuggling is about if we don't want to get into being criminals or acting against others. And it doesn't require changing the skill trees or pre-requisites.
Anyways - just a list.
Heltain wrote:
He, while Scorus is probably like me a burned child from the BE days i've to agree,
People post pages upon pages of ideas, they get filtered discussed by the community and edited and forwarded by the correspondant. This has been going on for a few month and in various professions.
And every time a dev pops up and posts something along the lines TH did, which kinda strongly indicates that everything the community did prior went directly to the paper basket
That is slightly discourageing imo.
But perhaps TH you can clear up what the dev crew was thinking when they implemented the smugglers that can't smuggle and what their vision was that would help i think ...
Well its a tricky issue and Im on borrowed time atm.
The thing is that smugglers essentially are a "space based" profession (at least the way we think of it)and giventhe inherent client/server limitations, its atough proposition any way you look at. For instance, lets say Imperials do a search for contraband at starports. Can you imagine the lag if we even did an item check for everything inevery player's inventory as they entered and exited a starport? And then there are the guys that run back and forth across that threshold just to lag things out. This is one tiny piece of a larger puzzle. It has to be a cool game mechanic and work in the game system and in a big MMO environment.
The key here is that while I was in beta and I knew everyone (I actually have almost all of it saved on my hard drive, but doing a search on "smuggler" with 12 gig of materials would be insane). Further still, that was a while ago. I want to hear YOUR ideas and Ive worked with the devs and correspondents to focus communication so that correspondents can get me information and also in a way that I can both share it with the devs AND catalgoue it.
Its all a process and we're working on it and its going to take time. The devs want to make a good game, you and I want to play a fun game and as a community, I believe we can make this whole experience very cool.