Smuggler Archive
Thread: Attn. Next Correspondent: Low Hanging Fruit
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Ragnaat
Sat Mar 20, 2004 11:13 am
#1
With a forthcoming correspondent change and the impression I got of the struggles that the last one (or two had) I thought it would be a good time to gather a list of things that the next correspondent can discuss with the dev team and possible make some immediate headway with.
I can just imagine how hard it is to try and get them to talk about changes to feign death or other things that impact already planned combat balanced or are too big to spend time on in advance of the planned smuggler revamp.
So my thinking is that we need to arm the next correspondent with some smaller issues to balance the big ones - low hanging fruit if you will. I've been watching the test center update note threads and the dev team has been doing a really good job as of late with cleaning up the little things that while aren't on anyone's top 5 issues lists or make it to the top 10 questions, but none the less fixing them would make things smoother for daily gameplay of this profession (showing entire HAM bar, slice tag, friends list comments deleting, etc.). None of these will "fix" the profession by themselves, but if we can get a few of them in the publishes leading up to the revamp things will at least be better - and not "sell a 20k 'rare' to a Jawa for 65 credits" better.
I'll start with my own short list of little things - mostly gathered from what I see being posted regularly by others on the forum, but also may be listed in Caylin's State of the profession doc (again, as minor points).
My big two are text changes - that require almost no dev time at all:
- Add text to underworld tree to reflect contraband checks and to master box to reflect contraband checks, faction bonuses and "improvements in slicing". Not wanting to declare specific %ages in the area of slicing should not prevent at least some verbiage from appearing in the master box 9see current wording on other slice boxes for guidance).
- Rewrite the slicing dialogs so its harder to overlook what molecular clamps do.
Other bugs that may require some dev work, but on the other hand might not, as a player I can only guess they won't require much:
- auto pulling laser knives results in 1 use tools instead of 10 (temporary out: disallow auto pulling of knives)
- remove bogus spice experimentation from slicing tools
- allow terminal slice bonuses to carry over on refresh for the length of the time the current mission terminal window is up
- take the "slice" option off magseal containers since slicers can't do anything because its all timer based
Please feel free to add your *little* bugs below, but remember to stick to little things that would make our current time as smugglers better and that are little enough to be squeezed into the next patch or two. I'm not trying to simply recreate Caylin's document in this post. If possible try to avoid controversial changes as well and stick to things we all can agree are bugs or oversights. I want to give the next correspondent something else to go into the discussion with besides things that could be considered a revamp or profession overhaul and written off as such until who knows when.
I can just imagine how hard it is to try and get them to talk about changes to feign death or other things that impact already planned combat balanced or are too big to spend time on in advance of the planned smuggler revamp.
So my thinking is that we need to arm the next correspondent with some smaller issues to balance the big ones - low hanging fruit if you will. I've been watching the test center update note threads and the dev team has been doing a really good job as of late with cleaning up the little things that while aren't on anyone's top 5 issues lists or make it to the top 10 questions, but none the less fixing them would make things smoother for daily gameplay of this profession (showing entire HAM bar, slice tag, friends list comments deleting, etc.). None of these will "fix" the profession by themselves, but if we can get a few of them in the publishes leading up to the revamp things will at least be better - and not "sell a 20k 'rare' to a Jawa for 65 credits" better.
I'll start with my own short list of little things - mostly gathered from what I see being posted regularly by others on the forum, but also may be listed in Caylin's State of the profession doc (again, as minor points).
My big two are text changes - that require almost no dev time at all:
- Add text to underworld tree to reflect contraband checks and to master box to reflect contraband checks, faction bonuses and "improvements in slicing". Not wanting to declare specific %ages in the area of slicing should not prevent at least some verbiage from appearing in the master box 9see current wording on other slice boxes for guidance).
- Rewrite the slicing dialogs so its harder to overlook what molecular clamps do.
Other bugs that may require some dev work, but on the other hand might not, as a player I can only guess they won't require much:
- auto pulling laser knives results in 1 use tools instead of 10 (temporary out: disallow auto pulling of knives)
- remove bogus spice experimentation from slicing tools
- allow terminal slice bonuses to carry over on refresh for the length of the time the current mission terminal window is up
- take the "slice" option off magseal containers since slicers can't do anything because its all timer based
Please feel free to add your *little* bugs below, but remember to stick to little things that would make our current time as smugglers better and that are little enough to be squeezed into the next patch or two. I'm not trying to simply recreate Caylin's document in this post. If possible try to avoid controversial changes as well and stick to things we all can agree are bugs or oversights. I want to give the next correspondent something else to go into the discussion with besides things that could be considered a revamp or profession overhaul and written off as such until who knows when.
Ragnaat
Mon Mar 22, 2004 9:15 am
#2
/bump for our new correspondent Caylin to see...
I know you know these bugs Caylin, and I know there's going to be a bit of a lag in getting things accomplished as you learn the ropes, but again I would just like to impress that there are little things like I listed above (and that you mention in your state of the profession) that shouldn't have to wait for the revamp *and* are small enough that something could actually be scheduled inside the pre-revamp timeframe.
And anyone else who has ideas please share as well (i'd hate t ofeel like I'm talking to myself here.. hehe)
I know you know these bugs Caylin, and I know there's going to be a bit of a lag in getting things accomplished as you learn the ropes, but again I would just like to impress that there are little things like I listed above (and that you mention in your state of the profession) that shouldn't have to wait for the revamp *and* are small enough that something could actually be scheduled inside the pre-revamp timeframe.
And anyone else who has ideas please share as well (i'd hate t ofeel like I'm talking to myself here.. hehe)
Sapperlight
Mon Mar 22, 2004 9:24 am
#3
The spice/health bug certainly goes on this list. They were able to fix it for entertainers on TC, they should be able to do it for us as well.
RylanStorm
Mon Mar 22, 2004 11:29 am
#4
The problem with low hanging fruit is that eventually it runs out and the only other fruit is more difficult to reach. So what will happen is all our low hanging fruit will be eaten and, thinking that we are satisified, the developers will move to another tree.
Maximum_Overload
Mon Mar 22, 2004 11:40 am
#5
Exactly, why I posted my gripes in another thread. I'm not to be satisfied with a few crappy upgrades. Ethier make it an elite profession or call it what it really is, Scoundrel, and make it a Basic Profession (which it already is). Then you can make Smuggler a real elite profession that branches off of Scoundrel when SE comes out, and there is some chance of implementing some Smuggling content.
It's all in the name you see...
It's all in the name you see...
Ragnaat
Mon Mar 22, 2004 11:40 am
#6
I tend not to agree, in this case for three reasons:
* They've already shown an attempt at bridging the gap between now and the revamp but are missing the mark and need some direction (track down TH's posts Re: Jawas)
* The "revamp", whatever it brings, is on the horizon. I'm not worried about them fixing a few bugs and thinking they don't need to go forward with the revamp.
* The dev team is doing a lot of little cleanup things recently. Sure there were a few let downs with this last pub, but if you read through the notes there is a large amount of little annoying things that the devs are starting to address ourside of the major focus of the publish. There have also been a handful more that have hit testcenter since the pub. Its this cleanup buglist list I want to get on, not just the "fix our profession" list. This is why I wanted to focus on small nitpicky things and not "X skill is borked"
* They've already shown an attempt at bridging the gap between now and the revamp but are missing the mark and need some direction (track down TH's posts Re: Jawas)
* The "revamp", whatever it brings, is on the horizon. I'm not worried about them fixing a few bugs and thinking they don't need to go forward with the revamp.
* The dev team is doing a lot of little cleanup things recently. Sure there were a few let downs with this last pub, but if you read through the notes there is a large amount of little annoying things that the devs are starting to address ourside of the major focus of the publish. There have also been a handful more that have hit testcenter since the pub. Its this cleanup buglist list I want to get on, not just the "fix our profession" list. This is why I wanted to focus on small nitpicky things and not "X skill is borked"
Ragnaat
Mon Mar 22, 2004 2:26 pm
#7
no doubt, didn't expect you to jump right on it.
I just wanted to get my thoughts down on 'paper' while they were running around in my head.
I just wanted to get my thoughts down on 'paper' while they were running around in my head.
Smuggler_Caylin
Tue Mar 23, 2004 1:25 am
#8
When I find out the flow of the correspondent forum Ragnaat, I'll hopefully be able to list these out in a way that will be responded to. Right now I'm going through all the stuff there, and it is quite an adjustment to be honest. The rhythm, if you will, is entirely differant.
One of the Four Horsemen of the Smuggler Apocalypse! 
Ragnaat
Tue Sep 28, 2004 8:34 pm
#9
I thought about rewriting the above post for the /next/ correspondent but I really have little to add to my original post. Its very disheartening really, but no by any means do I think that a reflection of Caylin's job at this post.
Unfortunately I can't really pull anything off my initial list either, To update i can only post two more "small" issues that can and I think should be addressed in the short term via hotfixes or other non "revamp" realted patches...
* Have Thunderheart dig back into the archives and put together an explanation of the spice change in publish 7 and provide whatever explanation can be recalled about why this was never officially acknowledged as a change, nevermind having a justification offered.
* Follow up on the changes to crate pulling and sort out what is really going on and how long we need to wait for this to get back on the radar that it never should have fallen off of.
Unfortunately I can't really pull anything off my initial list either, To update i can only post two more "small" issues that can and I think should be addressed in the short term via hotfixes or other non "revamp" realted patches...
* Have Thunderheart dig back into the archives and put together an explanation of the spice change in publish 7 and provide whatever explanation can be recalled about why this was never officially acknowledged as a change, nevermind having a justification offered.
* Follow up on the changes to crate pulling and sort out what is really going on and how long we need to wait for this to get back on the radar that it never should have fallen off of.
Ragnaat
Tue Sep 28, 2004 8:43 pm
#10
oh.. for those who don't catch these things too quickly...
Pay attention to the dates of all posts in this thread before replying to the conversation that was happening 7 months ago, thx
Pay attention to the dates of all posts in this thread before replying to the conversation that was happening 7 months ago, thx
Smuggler_Caylin
Tue Sep 28, 2004 8:59 pm
#11
Ragnaat wrote:
* Have Thunderheart dig back into the archives and put together an explanation of the spice change in publish 7 and provide whatever explanation can be recalled about why this was never officially acknowledged as a change, nevermind having a justification offered.
He will not have to dig through anything. The answer and concern on our part is still in a high priority/high visibility thread in the C-forum. I post about it every time they recycle that thread. All he has to do is give the word and it will be posted...
* Follow up on the changes to crate pulling and sort out what is really going on and how long we need to wait for this to get back on the radar that it never should have fallen off of.
It's not off the radar... they just haven't assigned anyone to work on it yet...
Ugh this thread is depressing. Knowing that nothing was accomplished really during my time.
Ragnaat
Tue Sep 28, 2004 9:19 pm
#12
I know you've heard me say it a few times Caylin, but I still do not think that *ANY* correspondent should be the one to post whatever "response" has been sitting there for months that explains the change. The actual change was always a small part of what rubs me the wrong way about the situation. I really feels strongly that Thunderheart himself needs to come in and explain not only why the change happened but why he's held the response so close to his chest - TO THIS DAY. Most of us probably don't give a damn about spice in its current for anymore - I know I have dropped it off both my "smugglers" at this point - but we still care about why the veil of secrecy over this issue.
Its the same crap we're constantly dealing with as witnessed by the dissapearance of TH after the patch came out and the crate changes were still in.
Bah, and now I gotta get out of this thread because I'm getting depressed too.
But before I do, to the original point of this thread, if both of my "new" issues are still in active discussions of some sorts behind the scenes then let me rephrase the previous post of mine a bit and just say that I think both of these issues can and should be resolved soon and independent of any revamp or balance we may go through.
Its the same crap we're constantly dealing with as witnessed by the dissapearance of TH after the patch came out and the crate changes were still in.
Bah, and now I gotta get out of this thread because I'm getting depressed too.
But before I do, to the original point of this thread, if both of my "new" issues are still in active discussions of some sorts behind the scenes then let me rephrase the previous post of mine a bit and just say that I think both of these issues can and should be resolved soon and independent of any revamp or balance we may go through.
Message Edited by Ragnaat on 09-29-2004 12:20 AM
WookieBounty
Tue Sep 28, 2004 9:37 pm
#13
Smuggler_Caylin wrote:
Ragnaat wrote:
* Have Thunderheart dig back into the archives and put together an explanation of the spice change in publish 7 and provide whatever explanation can be recalled about why this was never officially acknowledged as a change, nevermind having a justification offered.
He will not have to dig through anything. The answer and concern on our part is still in a high priority/high visibility thread in the C-forum. I post about it every time they recycle that thread. All he has to do is give the word and it will be posted...
* Follow up on the changes to crate pulling and sort out what is really going on and how long we need to wait for this to get back on the radar that it never should have fallen off of.
It's not off the radar... they just haven't assigned anyone to work on it yet...
Ugh this thread is depressing. Knowing that nothing was accomplished really during my time.
more than you can see right now has been accomplished!!! it may not be now but we'll be seeing/feeling your affects for a while to come my friend.....
Message Edited by WookieBounty on 09-28-2004 11:37 PM
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