Smuggler Archive
Thread: The Smuggler's Lament
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Sapperlight
Thu Aug 12, 2004 4:53 pm
#1
"For another moment the old man remained as he was, his glowing weapon humming, his eyes flicking around the cantina as if assessing the possibility of more trouble...From the casual way the other patrons were turning back to their drinks, it was obvious that no one here had any particular affection for the downed smugglers. At least not enough to take on the old man over it.
...They spent the next few minutes sipping their drinks and surreptitiously scanning the room, then spent a few minutes more talking to three of the most likely prospects. But to no avail. Two of the smugglers were already under contract, though one of them offered with a leer to take them along as passengers if they were nice to him. The third smuggler, an independent, was willing to talk, but made it clear that he wasn't planning to move his ship until this sudden Imperial focus on Tatooine had calmed down."
...They spent the next few minutes sipping their drinks and surreptitiously scanning the room, then spent a few minutes more talking to three of the most likely prospects. But to no avail. Two of the smugglers were already under contract, though one of them offered with a leer to take them along as passengers if they were nice to him. The third smuggler, an independent, was willing to talk, but made it clear that he wasn't planning to move his ship until this sudden Imperial focus on Tatooine had calmed down."
I read this passage recently in Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina (p. 89) and was struck by how well this summed up my expectations of SWG. This was very nearly the exact picture I had of what the game would be--a lone Jedi, taking great risk to show his identity, then quickly moving on--a bar and bartender with patrons who actually want to be there--customers actively seeking smugglers--and finally, smugglers who exist to transport goods and people through the Imperial presence that is substantial enough to necessitate evasion, persuasion, luck, and good old smuggler know-how.
From my perspective, none of this is present. The release of JTL will not make it so. The first hint will come with the GCW revamp, some 18 months after release. Then, as we approach the two year mark, we'll finally see content that evokes those feelings we all experienced when we first saw the Mos Eisley cantina and the denizens therein. Unfortunately, I fear many of us (myself included) won't be here to witness it.
Bzzzz
Thu Aug 12, 2004 8:16 pm
#2
But!! But!! With JTL, after some lengthy pilot-grinding we can sit in the cockpit of a YT-1300 and pretend! We can even make cool swooping, spaceshipey sounds with our mouths. Do it with me!
"BRRrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaooOOOOOOooooooosh!!"
Oh wait.. silly me, the YTs will get dropped in order to make way for Jedi Starfighters. What was I thinking?? 
-Zz
JWing
Fri Aug 13, 2004 9:16 am
#3
Sapperlight wrote:
"For another moment the old man remained as he was, his glowing weapon humming, his eyes flicking around the cantina as if assessing the possibility of more trouble...From the casual way the other patrons were turning back to their drinks, it was obvious that no one here had any particular affection for the downed smugglers. At least not enough to take on the old man over it.
...They spent the next few minutes sipping their drinks and surreptitiously scanning the room, then spent a few minutes more talking to three of the most likely prospects. But to no avail. Two of the smugglers were already under contract, though one of them offered with a leer to take them along as passengers if they were nice to him. The third smuggler, an independent, was willing to talk, but made it clear that he wasn't planning to move his ship until this sudden Imperial focus on Tatooine had calmed down."
I read this passage recently in Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina (p. 89) and was struck by how well this summed up my expectations of SWG. This was very nearly the exact picture I had of what the game would be--a lone Jedi, taking great risk to show his identity, then quickly moving on--a bar and bartender with patrons who actually want to be there--customers actively seeking smugglers--and finally, smugglers who exist to transport goods and people through the Imperial presence that is substantial enough to necessitate evasion, persuasion, luck, and good old smuggler know-how.
From my perspective, none of this is present. The release of JTL will not make it so. The first hint will come with the GCW revamp, some 18 months after release. Then, as we approach the two year mark, we'll finally see content that evokes those feelings we all experienced when we first saw the Mos Eisley cantina and the denizens therein. Unfortunately, I fear many of us (myself included) won't be here to witness it.
WOW...
I remember that part as well. You couldn't be more right....
Kells
Sat Aug 14, 2004 4:39 am
#5
I lament all the time, actually if you examine my toon in game you'll notice a ...has mastered the lamenting profession.
ValiantHalibut
Sat Aug 14, 2004 4:50 am
#6
Sapperlight wrote:I guess not many of us are lamenting.
Actually, I prefer to spend my time fermenting.
Imperiai2
Sun Aug 15, 2004 6:37 pm
#9
I totally agree. The book, which I read several times after it came out, and i still own my first printing, is one of the reasons I got to love Tatooine. It's my main planet. I was pretty dissapointed with SWG right when it came out, and Mos Eisley was niether to scale nor laid out properly, but I guess sometimes things like that can't be helped. I'm still pretty disapointed that I've had the game over a year, I'm a Master Smuggler who mostly frequents Tatooine, and I have nothing to do. That doesn't feel like Star Wars at ALL.
It would be sweet if the devs would develop some sort of 'random generating NPC' that would appear once every 6, or 12, or maybe 24 hours, in a main city on Tatooine. He gives you maybe1 of 20 different missions...a hard solo-only mission, or maybe 2-person mission,and you get a very unique reward. This NPC would appear totally randomly, any street corner, any house interior, in a non player city... if YOU find him YOU get the mission. That would add a realistic element to the seediness of most of Tatooine. It would be cool to make it totally random so the same A-holes won't keep getting him, it'll give everyone an equal chance to find him. You could actually seek the guy out but not knowing where to find him, gives everyone the same odds. Like I said this NPC could recur a couple times a day or only once, whatever. I think that'd be awesome.
djtorre
Mon Aug 16, 2004 1:44 am
#10
yes i do have to agree with you,
well i have been a hard core player and i have never did the holo grinding.
i tried bh and ch bah never liked them them.
then i discovered tk wow man i love it.
after a while i got tired of notbeing able to slice megaseal containers(cant do it now either) hehehe so i went for smuggler novice.
sticked with that for a while then my friend eloz and thatcham said how cool master smuggler was and oh well almost 2 months later i made master smuggler.
i have to say that even thou it has some MAJOR ISSUES but im enjoying it very much.
got this mini game i tell my clients when i slice their weapons hehe i put the clmap then do the first cut then i tell them to say !!go¡¡ when they want me to make the last cut.
kinda like a lottery type thing.
im staying with master smuggler for ever as well as master tk
i may not be the perfect pvp machine but i enjoy the smuggler profesion.
i am hoping for osme changes but in the meantime i have to say everything is copacedic.
/secrethandshake
adios
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