Smuggler Archive

Here is my idea of fixing our profession. I stole several ideas from other posts so a lot of this may not be original. We all know the complaints so I'm not going to bother explaining how my ideas will eliminate each complaint one at a time. This plan would create "work" for our profession while eliminating any grind, yet will keep it almost unchanged for those who like it "as-is". So, here is my poorly worded idea:

NPCs would run several spice mines or factories (depending on planet and location). This would work much like the bounty hunter contacts in the spynet, the higher in investigation you are the higher spynet contact you speak to. In our case, the higher in underworld you are the higher level of spice "creator" you would deal with. As you work your way up this chain you get better spice, higher quantity, and higher pay. That's right, PAY! You go to the spice lords (for lack of a better name) and you have a couple options. #1, you can purchase raw spice, as we know it in-game right now, for credits. This would be very cheep, compare to the amount of resources we currently use to make them. #2, you select a smuggle mission to transport a spice shipment to another NPC or player (more on that in a second). Either option you choose will leave you with spice in your inventory of course, what you do with it from there is where this idea starts getting good.

---If you want to continue crafting your own spice without dealing with the spice lords (as the game is now), you can take the spice you purchased back to your "lab" (crafting station) and you will have a radial menu option to create a schematic. You tear the spice apart and find out the contents, destroying the spice. Now you can gather your own resources, do your own crafting, everything for you is just as it is right now.

---If you never want to craft another spice again, no problem. Buy as much of the stuff as you want, mark it up, then sell it on the streets for a handy profit.

---You don't want to be a common spice pusher, you don't have to be. Just pick up and make deliveries if you want. You will also have the option of picking the stuff up and delivering to a player who has placed an order (more about that coming up).

----Smuggler isn't risky enough as it stands now, you crave some excitement huh? Now you got it. Once you pick a NPC delivery mission and have the shipment you will have the same radial menu option to create a schematic or split it up just as you could any factory crate. Skim a little off the top for your efforts, you are a smuggler, you can talk your way out of it. Take whatever is left to the buyer, depending on your underworld standing you might walk away or you might run away blasting. You either get paid for the delivery or you get more pistol XP.

---That a little to risky for you? You have a shipment of 10 spice but you want to keep a little for yourself or maybe make a schematic but you don't have the combat skill or desire to be in a shoot-out. You will have a third radial menu option called "cutting" that will allow you to do just that. You would be able to skim off what you need for yourself or your schematic, then "cut" what is left to make it appear that the entire shipment is there. You might still get busted, but there is a much smaller chance. Once the shipment is cut it will no longer be a factory crate of spice, it will become a generic item so that smugglers cannot cut player orders (you guessed it, more about that coming up).

---If you really want to run a risk and get involved with some PvP you will have that option as well. Once you pick up your shipment, go to the buyer (NPC only) and "talk" to him/her. You will have the option to tell them you don't have the shipment and they can kiss your butt. This will create you as a mark on every bounty hunter mission terminal untill someone takes the mission. Now you have all the risk you ever wanted. This will also allow bounty hunters to have more player targets since they appear to be unhappy with jedi.

---Ok, now the player delivery missions. Outside every spice mine or factory there will be an order terminal. Any player no matter what profession will be able to place an order for spice. As soon as the order is placed it will appear on every spice lords "player delivery mission" list instantly. When a smuggler picks the mission they will be handed the shipment and given the char. name. From there it is up to the buyer and the smuggler what they do next. It could be as easy as someone walking in and getting the spice and going outside and handing it over (like the teenage punks who hang outside the local beer store). Or it could be a trip a few planets away. This willbe great forthe buyer because buying right from the spice lord will be cheep. Cheep enough they would be able to sell it for a profit if they wanted to. It will also be good forthe smuggler because they will receive the money for the shipment right from the player, COD. So, what do we do with the credits we just received from the buyer? Take it all back to the spice lord, skim a little for yourself, or tell him you are keeping the money and he/she can kiss your butt. Just like with the spice itself, your decision will have various degrees of risk, including PvP bounty hunter aggro.

Running these missions will reward you with not only credits and excitement, but underworld XP (player delivery missions will only reward money to keep people from exploiting). You will also receive underworld XP from creating a schematic, cutting a shipment, or good old fashion spice crafting. With this system you can just run missions and never have to craft again. Or you could only craft and not deal with these missions. Or you could do missions and cut for extra XP. Or you could do missions and create schematics for extra XP. Or you could do missions, create schematics, and cut for extra XP... you get the point. The underworld line would have meaning and both sides of the "smugglers shouldn't be crafters" fight would win. So the final tree would be: underworld (underworld XP), slicing (slice XP), dirty fighting (pistol XP), and smuggler (underworld XP).

Ok, I realize this is all a giant dream and to save myself a ton of keystrokes I didn't fully explain everything 100%, plus it's very late... please don't flame me to hard.

Caber