Smuggler Archive
Thread: Why slicing shouldn't be for the public...
Message Edited by WesBelden on 06-07-2004 07:16 AM
Slicing should have a time limit. Like buffs , like spices , like food. Maybe not time exactly, but like a powerup that lasts say 1000 uses or so.
My reasons for dropping smuggler :
1 - No one buys FP anymore - not even on Dantooine
2 - no one wants Spices anymore
3 - People somehow strangely want me to pay them to open containers / slice weapons (where did they fall off the bus!)
So I kept the pistol tree and dropped the rest.
Retired MS.
Abai wrote:
To me slicing should be something smugglers do for themselves in order to gain an edge against their enemies, or to have an advantage against competition. I do not know if others feel in the smae way as me, but I dothink that a lot of the smuggler feel comes from their ability to make special modifications to their things in order to gain a small advantage.
Abai Kunanbayev
Respectable argument, Abai. And I think that it can be further boiled down and addressed fromanother angle.
If I'm understanding you, your main concern is not to limit the scope of slicing but tomake advantages inflight performance more Smuggler-exclusive. If so, I agree and propose this angle.
The advantage for a Smuggler's piloting abilitiy should reside in his/her skillset not necessarily in a particular static ship modification item.
With this view, for example, a Smuggler/Pilot skillset character with a heavily modified starship would still have the pilotoing advantage over any other Non-Smuggler/Pilot skillset flyinga ship with the same modifications. (I say, "any other" with the possible exception of Bounty Hunter/Pilot and Jedi/Pilot skillsets, but that's another argument).
This dynamic would also allow for reasonable compromises toward some of the other concerns you and other posters addressed, that beingmoney earning potential and loyalty to the films. A Smuggler could still earn well providing ship modification services without sacrificing his unique piloting edge.And we as fans can still hold our charactersup to be being comparable to the movie icons.
Furtheranalogy in present game terms:
A fully hot-rodded to-the-limit YT-1300 (Millenium Falcon) is to a Master Pilot what a speed sliced Krayt FWG5 equipped with a Damage Power Up is to a Pistoleer 3-3-4-4.
The same ship stated above is to a Master Pilot/Master Smuggler what the same pistol stated above is to a Master Pistoleer.
See what I'm saying? The main focus is on the character's skills rather than the item he uses.
**Note to Community** : don't sweat the numbers in my analogytoo much. They are only used as a means to further an idea. At this point no one knows what, if any, skills will be included in the Revamped basic Smuggler skillset, much less the coming "nouveau" Smuggler of Jump to Lightspeed.
To some that may not recognize me (I see some new names around 
), I'm not some interloper from another profession. I just have been away from "the fray" for about a month or so. Don't shoot! I'm a crook too!
Respect,
Keer Tregga
GORATH
Hmmm. Nice.
My opinion: Keep slicing as it is, but give smugglers an extra % bonus on their own stuff. The stuff they slice cannot be traded, unless the modifications are removed.
One way to compare a smuggler's personal belongings being different then stock... A mechanic or vehicle collector of sorts, makes many modifications to their vehicle(s). Such modifications compared to a stock vehicle off the lot, generaly amount to much better performance. Lets face it, the smuggler should have the option to alter their mechanical surroundings for their advantage and still make a profit from public service. Figure a smuggler would spend much more time on their own items as opposed to something they might sell.
Wasn't it in the Han Solo trilogy that he took it to some other ship-builder that made it the fastest? Most of the modifications (by my guess...correct me if I am wrong) ... were done by others besides Han.
Abai wrote:
I know a lot of people would disagree with me on this and I also know that a lot of smugglers would like more things to slice. I have read some who would like us to be able to slice or make modifications on spaceships. I agree with this and find it very much on par with how I see smugglers. I know that removing slices from gear such as armor and weapons are impossible as 90% of the palyerbase would cry nerf... I also know that at the moment slicing is the only thing most smugglers make money from...
Anyway... I would like to make argumentation on why I think slicing should not be for every man in the game. I will make base the argumentation on what worries me the most... the ability to slice/make modifications on spaceships. I fear very much that if smugglers get to do this on spaceships that every player in the game would have modified spaceships. Look at Han Solo and the Falcon... as I see it then Han had made some spcial modifications to the Falcon in order to make it faster (according to han the fastest ship in the galaxy). Imagine if Han had been making the same modifications to other ships... now would the Falcon then have been something special? I feel thatthe ship of a smugglershould be very different from that of a regular pilot.
To me slicing should be something smugglers do for themselves in order to gain an edge against their enemies, or to have an advantage against competition. I do not know if others feel in the smae way as me, but I dothink that a lot of the smuggler feel comes from their ability to make special modifications to their things in order to gain a small advantage.
Unlike Jedis I do not talk about making us a super profession that can kill, outfly or be vastly better protected than everyone else. I'm just looking for that small advantage of a few percent more to our own equipment so that we have that edge on our side. I still want to keep balance...
Abai Kunanbayev