Smuggler Archive
Thread: A Proposal on Smuggler Weapons, or the Lack Thereof
After reading Smuggler_Caylin's Revamp Thread and seeing the ideas put forth on weapons, two specific ideas struck me. There are two ideas that I am going to reference, electricnomad's Permanent Pistol Powerup Idea and Tosk Bryll'ya's Smuggler Named Pistol based on DL-44 idea. Bear in mind that portions are very similar to what has been suggested, and the overall idea is really a revision of electricnomad's idea than anything, but I think it is different enough to warrant discussion.
Smuggler "Tinkering"
I really like the idea of a powerup, but on the same token to me a Smuggler makes changes to his or her weapon over time, and each time holds their breath in hopes they do not damage their weapon irreversibly. What I am suggesting is a system where each progression up the tiers of Smuggler (Novice to 1-1-1-1 to 2-2-2-2 and etc. up to Master) grants the Smuggler the ability to experiment on their weapon one time. Each experimentation session would allow the smuggler to choose a set of attributes to modify, very similar to weaponsmith's current experimentation at the end of the crafting process, but with far fewer experimentation points. There would be a skill modifier placed in one of the trees at each tier (maybe Underworld in Tier 1, Slicing in Tier 2, Underworld in Tier 3, and back to Slicing in Tier 4) in order to keep Masters as being the best at modifying their weapons (also the reason experimentation ability is tied to having all of each tier learned). One added ability, would be that a Smuggler could also choose certain modifications related to skills to improve (hard capped at +10) such as dodge, accuracy, etc.
Here is an example:
A Master Smuggler decides to "tinker" with his or her weapon. They have the ability to "tinker" 6 times (at Novice, 1-1-1-1, 2-2-2-2, 3-3-3-3, 4-4-4-4, and Master). Also, because of being Master, they have the best chance at succeeding. On the first attempt they choose to increase Pistol Speed by 5 (not sure how this would work exactly, I'm thinking along the lines of 10 experimentation points and a +1 increase per 2 points on an Amazing Success) and are all hyped up because of their incredible luck. The second attempt nets a total of a 6% increase in damage (successful, but not a good success). The third attempt nets a total of a 12% increase in speed (a moderate success). The Smuggler seems to be on a roll, and decides to try again. Fourth attempt is a failure, and the weapon is rendered unusable (condition 1/1). The Smuggler had bad luck on that attempt. Granted, more often than not the Master Smuggler would not fail, whereas the Novice would.
Now, how does this keep us from doing this to client weapons and selling them? Very easily. Each experimentation attempt the Smuggler is allowed to name the item, and the serial number is modified to represent that it is not a "normal" weapon. This information is tied into a certification that is created for that Smuggler, and the item becomes non-tradeable (just like the Collector's Edition Goggles).
Now, in addition to this, the Smuggler can slice the wepon before they begin the experimentation process (signifies that a Smuggler will take the time and energy to improve their weapon more than any other) but if the weapon is experimented on it can no longer be sliced, even if it was not sliced prior. A minor detail really, but keeps the slice increases based off of original stats.
Now, you'll noticed I referenced two posts, but most of this is a revision of electricnomad's powerup idea. The other post was mentioned because I like the idea of changing the name (and the cert attached to it was also in that idea.)
This probably is too difficult to implement, but it would allow a much larger diversity among Smuggler's and their chosen weapons, and could help provide more content in a contraband sense. After all, these "tinkered" weapons would be highly illegal, and therefore anyone caught with one (which would only be Smugglers who do not manage to evade scans) would be punished. On a side note, I really like the idea Smuggler_Caylin had in his revamp thread about an "Impound" and think that it would fit nicely with this scenario.
l Like this idea a lot! It has the spirit of " She may not look like much , but she's got a lot of special modifications I made myself" from ANH
And it's something new besides a new weapon ( yawn a new schematic!)
This is a great idea. The key issue is to make the "tinkered weapon" untradable, like glasses or lightsabers. We know the system can already make items untradable, so the logistics already exist.
I'd love for this sort of thing to make the Revamp Letter, should the majority see fit to include it.
This is similar to the "Super-Slice" suggestion, andboth are much better than a new schematic. It opens the doors for variety, as every Smuggler wouldn't all be using the same weapon.
A slight addition to this would be that a Smuggler can only posess one "tinkered" weapon at a time and it's , no trade, no drop, only placed in top level inventory. That's his weapon. If he gets another weapon he'd like to work on to use, he has to destroy his current one.
Master Smuggler
Radiant
DRWolfe wrote:
This is similar to the "Super-Slice" suggestion, andboth are much better than a new schematic. It opens the doors for variety, as every Smuggler wouldn't all be using the same weapon.
A slight addition to this would be that a Smuggler can only posess one "tinkered" weapon at a time and it's , no trade, no drop, only placed in top level inventory. That's his weapon. If he gets another weapon he'd like to work on to use, he has to destroy his current one.
Renn Jeret
Master Smuggler
Radiant
While I love the idea of a single weapon, I think it should at least allow two. I was thinking about this earlier, and with the variety of resists and levels of armor I really think a single weapon done this way may be a slight handicap.
I personally still think a single weapon is the way to go, as it shows how a smuggler favors HIS weapon and no other. Not sure, I'm still thinking about this part...
EDIT:
Yeap, shows how torn I am between the two scenarios when I even contradict myself, lol.
Message Edited by Ryutek on 03-04-2004 02:53 PM
In my opinion, this is what slicing should have been all along. It should have been just a way for us to improve our personal weapons and not a service we sell for profit.
Don't get me wrong. I got rich off of slicing, and I enjoyed doing it. It just doesn't have anything to do with smuggling.
The only criticism I have with your scheme is that it would force people to develop evenly across all 4 trees. Do people do that any more?
chown2 wrote:
/agree
In my opinion, this is what slicing should have been all along. It should have been just a way for us to improve our personal weapons and not a service we sell for profit.
Don't get me wrong. I got rich off of slicing, and I enjoyed doing it. It just doesn't have anything to do with smuggling.
The only criticism I have with your scheme is that it would force people to develop evenly across all 4 trees. Do people do that any more?
It doesn't force it, as much as it requires you to be a Master Smuggler to get the best "tinkering" ability on your item. If you only did slicing out of Suggler then you could only experiment on your weapon one time, whereas someone who has 2-4-4-1 could experiment twice (because of novice and obtaining 1-1-1-1), To offset this you could make the experimentation a little more powerful, but that doesn't seem to work well in terms of balance.
The other side of it (the bonuses to the ability being placed in UW and Slicing) only improves your chances at a good "tinker." It isn't required.
I actually like the "tinkering" idea better than the permanent power-up idea, but we could certainly pull from that a bit more and throw in "tinkering" skill mods. The number of "tinkering" points you get would be the limiting factor on how many/how much of each attribute (speed, damage, or skill mod) you could improve.
I would want a few failsafes.
To tinker with a weapon, you would not want it on the radial menu. Why? Because if you accidently select it, and the weapon is rendered untradeable, you will have one very pissed off customer.
Maybe create a tinkering kit that is consumable and made at novice smuggler. Quality wouldn't matter, but you would have to 'Use' it to tinker with a weapon, that you would have to manually select. Like a repair kit.
This helps protect the customers.
I would also want a way of being able to track my tinkering skill. While we can say 1-1-1-1 there is no visible modifier. One of the things that bugs me most is our lack of visible modifiers and documentation.
This is also why I have some problems with Kav's Vision, is his missions progress on that same method.
All in all this is a very promising idea, and I like it.
One of the Four Horsemen of the Smuggler Apocalypse! 
I'm more in favor of putting all the mods in the Slicing line and the Master box. I think access to content should depend on getting as many skillpoints as possible invested in Smuggler, but for something like this, I think it's perfectly acceptable to put all the mods in one line and allow people to specialize if they so choose. Dabblers deserve something in return for their skillpoints, too.
I mean really, if you start making all mods depend on going up a while tier of the skilltree, you effectively mandate that people Master the tree in order to reap any significant benefits. This game should be friendlier to dabblers than that, and should encourage people to specialize (not just in a profession, but in a branch of a profession). It's the only way to prevent cookie-cutter characters from becoming the only type of characters.
electricnomad wrote:
I'm more in favor of putting all the mods in the Slicing line and the Master box. I think access to content should depend on getting as many skillpoints as possible invested in Smuggler, but for something like this, I think it's perfectly acceptable to put all the mods in one line and allow people to specialize if they so choose. Dabblers deserve something in return for their skillpoints, too.
I mean really, if you start making all mods depend on going up a while tier of the skilltree, you effectively mandate that people Master the tree in order to reap any significant benefits. This game should be friendlier to dabblers than that, and should encourage people to specialize (not just in a profession, but in a branch of a profession). It's the only way to prevent cookie-cutter characters from becoming the only type of characters.
The only reason I did not stack all of it in the slicing tree is that I did not want it to be overpowered. After all, if a Pistoleer takes Slicing only, and then is able to "tinker" with his weapon of choice, would that be overbalanced? (And yes, that is a question I'm not certain I can answer atm).
I fear that if it is all stacked into one tree it would be too diificult to implement because of the possibility of being overpowered. Now, if we require two trees instead of a full tier then this would alleviate the problem to an extent as well, and that would not bug me as much.
I don't mind having it all contained within the slicing tree, but I do think it may be unbalanced that way. Granted, you can still get Master Pistoleer and Master Smuggler, or any other combination of elite combat and Master Smuggler, and still achive this, but at least then you have decided to invest the skill points to achieve that goal.