Smuggler Archive
Thread: [Discussion] What is a smuggler mission?
Page 1 of 1
Arnwald
Mon Jul 04, 2005 9:45 am
#1
Hello,
regarding a poll I made on the slicing process it seems most players would like to have Smugglers missions implemented.
The question is "What is a smuggler mission?"
How about talking about this.
Keep in mind the devs can't give lots of time to make THE awesome system we all would like to see, but I'm pretty sure some nice features could be implemented with small tweaking and a few new things.
When exposing your idea plz have in mind the following :
- must be fun
- must be playable
- must not be boring repeating the process
- must be fair and balanced for all the players
- must be easy to understand
- should involve players cooperation (Smuggler + other professions)
- reward should match difficulty
- would not mess the player inventory (loot unstackable or too many items needed)
- must not take too much time to do the missions
- should give xp in some way to grind the Slicing tree (or maybe the spice tree...)
- have to be logic : aka no slicing loot form krayt dragons (unless you are to recover the equipment of a well known smuggler who was eaten by a dragon or by the sarlaac... :smileywink
Antonnio
Mon Jul 04, 2005 9:54 am
#2
A smuggler mission should be as simple as the title means, a mission only takable by smugglers that involves the transport of illegal or stolen merchandise from one location to another.
1) missions should be recieved by either a "contact", similar to Bounty Hunter Spy Net contacts.
2) Like BH Mission terminals, only SMUGGLERS can take these missions. Certain missions require a higher level smuggler
3) Rewards could consist of either money or loot... something that would add more content to the economy and to our slicing system
4) Some missions, the higher level missions, would require us to "transport" player crafted items to our contact. (an Example would be, gather 3 factory crates of programmable droid chips from a player Droid Engineer or 5 DL-44s from a Weaponsmith, and transport it to your contact on Dantooine)
5) Some missions would require a space aspect, such as escorting a smuggler freighter or transporting cargo from a contact to another ship.
Missions were originally planned to have some level of risk, if you failed you would appear on a BH terminal if you originally chose a PVP mission... some agree some dissagree, whatever your opinion, this adds content.
The key is to add fun to everyones profession, but still focus on smugglers. The last thing I want to see is Smuggler Mission terminals or NPCs that any old profession can access... after all... WE are the smugglers, we deserve some SMUGGLER only content.
EDIT: Also, there was talk about adding seizure of contraband from NPCs. Such as Imperial patrols could seize your spice or product, and you have to kill them to get it back or bribe them to leave you alone. I will call these "ESCAPES". The same goes with criminal factions, they will ambush you and try and steal your product, you kill them or bribe them to leave you alone. This adds more fun to the system, The "ESCAPES" would be random... sometimes a patrol will accept a bribe, sometimes they will not. Same goes with Criminals.
1) missions should be recieved by either a "contact", similar to Bounty Hunter Spy Net contacts.
2) Like BH Mission terminals, only SMUGGLERS can take these missions. Certain missions require a higher level smuggler
3) Rewards could consist of either money or loot... something that would add more content to the economy and to our slicing system
4) Some missions, the higher level missions, would require us to "transport" player crafted items to our contact. (an Example would be, gather 3 factory crates of programmable droid chips from a player Droid Engineer or 5 DL-44s from a Weaponsmith, and transport it to your contact on Dantooine)
5) Some missions would require a space aspect, such as escorting a smuggler freighter or transporting cargo from a contact to another ship.
Missions were originally planned to have some level of risk, if you failed you would appear on a BH terminal if you originally chose a PVP mission... some agree some dissagree, whatever your opinion, this adds content.
The key is to add fun to everyones profession, but still focus on smugglers. The last thing I want to see is Smuggler Mission terminals or NPCs that any old profession can access... after all... WE are the smugglers, we deserve some SMUGGLER only content.
EDIT: Also, there was talk about adding seizure of contraband from NPCs. Such as Imperial patrols could seize your spice or product, and you have to kill them to get it back or bribe them to leave you alone. I will call these "ESCAPES". The same goes with criminal factions, they will ambush you and try and steal your product, you kill them or bribe them to leave you alone. This adds more fun to the system, The "ESCAPES" would be random... sometimes a patrol will accept a bribe, sometimes they will not. Same goes with Criminals.
Message Edited by Antonnio on 07-04-2005 09:58 AM
SwenLaransa
Mon Jul 04, 2005 11:19 am
#3
Smuggler Missions!
Simply have it set up with multiple tiers accessible to you as you rise up through the ranks. Missions can be taken either by talking to an NPC contact hanging out in random cantinas, or by slicing a BH terminal to access a hidden underworld datanet buried deep within. Any mission can be 'pvp enabled' via a check box for a 25% increase in payout. Also, a smugglers reputation would be a modifier to mission payout and a gate to what type of missions they could take.
The smuggler can also skim cargo from the mission. They have the choice to take some, all, or none of the cargo at any time from when they pick it up to when they drop it off. Getting caught lowers reputation. And the cargo value is random but goes up as missions go up. You'll get wobbly headed geisha dolls at tier 0, but high level illicit core boosters at master.
Tier 0 - Novice Smuggler
Delivery missions. Just like on the mission terms. Boring. Safe. One or two thousand credits.
Tier 1 - Underworld I
Multi-planet delivery missions. Grab the goods, hop to the new spot, do the drop. A 50% chance that some npcs will attempt to intercept you here. Five to ten thousand credits.
Tier 2 - Underworld II
Space based cargo transfers. Get the wp, launch, hyper, dock, and deliver. A fairly good chance that some npcs will try to get in your way. Pays the same as a tier 1 mission.
Tier 3 - Underworld III
Ground + Space contraband delivery. For sure NPC involvement at some stage. Ten to twenty thousand credits.
Tier 4 - Underworld IV
"Illicit Recovery" and delivery of goods. Active aggressive npc involvement. Fairly involved missions that follow a basic wp to contact, wp to target for information, wp to target to grab goods from, wp for contact, wp for drop off. Should take half an hour to an hour to finish. Twenty to fifty thousand credits.
Tier 5 - Master Smuggler
Factional Missions. After working your way up you've earned the right to take missions directly from the largest crime lords, or the rebellion/imperial high ups. Instead of meeting with lackeys in cantinas you can get in on the real action. You're now trusted to be able to oversee a whole smuggling operation from start to finish. Pick up the spice in Kessel and make all the deliveries to second rate smugglers and contacts then return to your boss with the cash.
Smuggling is risk vs reward and at this point it should be clear. By the end you'll be carrying over a million credits. How much do you keep and how much do you give back to Jabba? Or do you just grab the cash and book knowing you will never again be able to work for mighty Jabba? I mean some times you need the cash.
Rebel/Imp missions would of course be a little different. Stealing information from the enemy then acting upon it. Getting an NPC out of the care of an opposing faction and off world.
/sigh
If only.
Simply have it set up with multiple tiers accessible to you as you rise up through the ranks. Missions can be taken either by talking to an NPC contact hanging out in random cantinas, or by slicing a BH terminal to access a hidden underworld datanet buried deep within. Any mission can be 'pvp enabled' via a check box for a 25% increase in payout. Also, a smugglers reputation would be a modifier to mission payout and a gate to what type of missions they could take.
The smuggler can also skim cargo from the mission. They have the choice to take some, all, or none of the cargo at any time from when they pick it up to when they drop it off. Getting caught lowers reputation. And the cargo value is random but goes up as missions go up. You'll get wobbly headed geisha dolls at tier 0, but high level illicit core boosters at master.
Tier 0 - Novice Smuggler
Delivery missions. Just like on the mission terms. Boring. Safe. One or two thousand credits.
Tier 1 - Underworld I
Multi-planet delivery missions. Grab the goods, hop to the new spot, do the drop. A 50% chance that some npcs will attempt to intercept you here. Five to ten thousand credits.
Tier 2 - Underworld II
Space based cargo transfers. Get the wp, launch, hyper, dock, and deliver. A fairly good chance that some npcs will try to get in your way. Pays the same as a tier 1 mission.
Tier 3 - Underworld III
Ground + Space contraband delivery. For sure NPC involvement at some stage. Ten to twenty thousand credits.
Tier 4 - Underworld IV
"Illicit Recovery" and delivery of goods. Active aggressive npc involvement. Fairly involved missions that follow a basic wp to contact, wp to target for information, wp to target to grab goods from, wp for contact, wp for drop off. Should take half an hour to an hour to finish. Twenty to fifty thousand credits.
Tier 5 - Master Smuggler
Factional Missions. After working your way up you've earned the right to take missions directly from the largest crime lords, or the rebellion/imperial high ups. Instead of meeting with lackeys in cantinas you can get in on the real action. You're now trusted to be able to oversee a whole smuggling operation from start to finish. Pick up the spice in Kessel and make all the deliveries to second rate smugglers and contacts then return to your boss with the cash.
Smuggling is risk vs reward and at this point it should be clear. By the end you'll be carrying over a million credits. How much do you keep and how much do you give back to Jabba? Or do you just grab the cash and book knowing you will never again be able to work for mighty Jabba? I mean some times you need the cash.
Rebel/Imp missions would of course be a little different. Stealing information from the enemy then acting upon it. Getting an NPC out of the care of an opposing faction and off world.
/sigh
If only.
SpinningCloud
Mon Jul 04, 2005 3:10 pm
#4
I would just refer to the 5 months worth of posts on the In Concept thread about smuggler missions.
Oh...by bad...it doesn't seem to BE there any longer. Wonder why?
Zeon_Zaku
Mon Jul 04, 2005 3:21 pm
#5
Smuggler missions should be fun, have variety and different outcomes, have enough content that you'll want to come back and keep doing more and more missions, and you should never feel like you've done all the Smuggler missions.
Here's an idea for my "perfect Smuggler mission".
I don't want a simple "go to the Bestine cantina and give this spice to Bob" missions. I want a mission something like "deliver this to Bob... but Bob is in space in zone with many police around". You fly through there, sneak past the police, but Bob is not there. Instead, there issome bad guy waiting for you.
"Haha! I sent you valse coordinates. Now die, you Smuggler scum!" shouts the pilot, who, if you manage to destroy him, you find out is a security officer in disguise (if you get blown away, then you get arrested, and you also get in trouble by the person who issued the mission). After destroying him, you find a disk floating in space, and bring it into your cargo hold.
Now you land on a planet, take the disk out of your cargo hold and examine it. "This is Bob... I was attacked by some Imperial thugs in space, my ship is damaged and I had to make an emergency landing on Yavin 4. I'm not quite sure where I am, but I'm around 1400 -6700." WIth this, you decide if you want to travel to Yavin 4 and complete the mission or give it up and keep the smuggled items for yourself (which would piss off the person who issued the mission).
If you decide to find Bob, then you fly to Yavin 4 and to the waypoint given on the disk. Along the way you may get attacked again by some security force. Get through them, find Bob, give him the smuggled items and mission complete!
If you decide to find Bob, then you fly to Yavin 4 and to the waypoint given on the disk. Along the way you may get attacked again by some security force. Get through them, find Bob, give him the smuggled items and mission complete!
Sometimes, however, the mission may turn out bad no matter what you do. For example, perhaps after going through the mission you find Bob at the waypoint given. But uh-oh, Bob has buddies! It seems Bob was actually sent by a rival Smuggler (or crime lord of the person who issued you the mission) and he and his buddies are there to kill you. If you manage to kill them, congrats, mission complete and you get to keep the smuggled items! If you fail... well, then once you clone at the nearest terminal, you'll have Bob and his friends waiting for you and they'll escort you out to the person who hired them, where you'll get in some big trouble.
So there you have it, my ideal Smuggler missions. Tasks could change, NPCs would differ, items to be smuggled would change, and outcomes would shift from mission-to-mission to give each one a "unique" and "different" feeling.
Oh, and also... no, smuggling missions should not require other players like the original poster had. Smugglers work alone (well, not all of them, but their buddies are Smugglers too). They don't want to share the payment with anyone. And this is how it should be played. Smuggling missions should be solo-able. I don't always want to have to go find a group just to do my mission.
Message Edited by Zeon_Zaku on 07-04-2005 03:23 PM
Arnwald
Tue Jul 05, 2005 12:09 am
#6
wow, I see some really nice ideas there!
I was thinking missions terminal would break the immersion, the best way would be to have NPC in cantinas.
Theses NPC would only talk to known smugglers.
As you level in smuggling ranks you have access to higher Smugglers NPC.
Amaster would even be able to take directly very risky missions from Jabba himself ^_^
The option to check (choose) PvP enabled missions is great too, you fail your mission = you gain visibility on the BH terminals.
As the risk maybe if a smuggler fails too many missions = he's not worth being a smuggler so maybe loose underworld XP (could lead to griefing tho....)
Any other ideas of penality for failing missions?
There should be a small risk of failing a mission, but great risks at failling too many or failing a big contract.
Page 1 of 1