Teras Kasi Archive
Thread: The Devs seem too idealistic. -Long-
Does anyone else remember Karl Marx? I sure do.
For those of you who don't know who he is, Marx was the chap who wrote, among other things,the Communist Manifesto; the outline for Communism, basically. Marx, like our Devs, had a wonderful idea - on paper.
The fact is,much of the "balancing" they have decided to do with melee characters is forcing them into groups, making solo play less profitable due to the high risk, ect. Well, good for the Devs, its a novel idea, there is, however, only one slight problem - the exact problem which plagued Communism - the people involved in the system.
Yes, there are plenty of mature, educated, fair players about, sadly, their numbers are dwarfed by the number of folks who lack any etiquette, not to mention proper syntactical and grammatical structure. The Devs are planningon an utopian society, figuring that the rifle, carbine, and pistol weilding blokes will communicate properly, lay tactics, allow the melee bunch to get to the target creatures before they fry it, and cover the "tanks" (though there has never been a more grossly inadiquate class description for TKA than "tank") when they do pull a mob.
In my own adventures, I have noticed that, in a group of players not hand picked by myself or known prior, I'll find myself charging a mob, get about half way to it, then see blaster bolts streak by and fry whatever it was I was planning on thumping, leaving me without any unarmed experience, and adding to my frusteration that I had earlier garnered when the wonderful tacticians in my group told me to pull a mob, only to wait untill I was 90% dead before firing a single shot. This is not an isolated incident, mind you, this occurs neigh each outing with an unfamiliar group. The problem with groups extends far beyond this; scouts not sharing the resources, lack of leadership, players getting missions in all different directions, aggrivating people, disrespect, flaming...need I go on? 90% of the population in this game (a mirrior of reality) is selfish, stubborn, and not educated enough to realize it. This is why Communismdestroyed itself. This is why forcing people to play in groups when the option exists to do otherwise will collapse in upon itself. This is why I solo.
Taking away a Teras Kasi's ability to solo will really cause more problems thanit fixes, and though I do agree the overall challange should be increased, whacking the profession with the "nerf bat" is not the way to do it. Also, forcing group play detracts much, in my opinion, from the role-playability of the Teras Kasi. I honestly cannot see a master of the most deadly fighting art in the galaxies (save Jedi saber combat) traveling about with 20 other people, most of whom use blasters of some kind. The most logical protestation I have heard yet is "Why don't the Devs fix our class before they hit it with the nerf bat."
There are, of course, some thing the players now cry bloody murder over that the Devs are right about. Yes, melee classes should fear anyone with a gun. Yes, a good medic should not also be an excellent gunfighter. SWG does hold itself to a loose type of logic in its gameplay system, which is why I really love the game, and, even based on loose logic, a pistol will always beat a pair of fists in open combat. How should this be handeled, for gameplay's (PvP) sake? Some suggestions which are truly brilliant are increasing the Teras Kasi's movement speed, not attack speed mind you, but walk/run speed, effectively allowing a high level Teras Kasi to close the ranged gap more quickly. This suggestion holds to logic very well, as one who trains their bodies so strenously should be expected to move quickly, moreso than one who spends days honing their ability too bullseye womp rats. Another logical fix would be the inclusion of a dodge mod. It has been seen that a highly trained martial artist can observe the way his opponent shifts his/her weight, and can second guess which movements said opponent are making. A master Teras Kasi should, in all logic, not be able to dodge gunfire, but second guess the firing trajectory before the shots are made, moving out of harms way.
Personally, I think the best way to defeat a ranged fighter is to use your wits, somehting the Teras Kasi will become known for hopefully. Don't duel in an open space, anf if you have to, find a tree, rock, wall, whatever you may see, and use it as cover. Hit and run tactics work if there is plenty of cover about, and if not, then let them come to you, then procede to beat the snot out of them.
All said, I think those who truly love the Teras Kasi, like myself, will weather the nerfs an do what the TKA do - roll with the punches.
Do you actually know the idea behind true Communism? It promotes, in short, peace, equality, and justice that is all so well done and so ingrained into society that there is no longer a need for a government, as the system governs itself through its virtues.
The first problem with Communism is this; the second one man is given a nice suit and a nice car to ride in, he weilds more power than you, and the whole system of equality begins to fail.
No I do not think the Devs are anything akin to Communists (which you would have realized, had you read more than the first three sentances), I am only alluding to this:
What the Devs are trying for is an excellent idea, but it will falter and eventually fail due to the people they have thrown into the system, imperfect variables in a perfect equation.
On a completely seperate note, please read the post in its entierty before flaming or critisizing it. The way of literature is generally that, if you read only bits and pieces of something or focus on a minor bit of symbolism you will loose the meaning as a whole.
"'WHAT A PIECE OF WORK is a man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty! In form, in moving, how express and admirable! In action how like an angel! In apprehension how like a god!'
But you wouldn't want to watch him eat, close up ..."
Temyen Freedark, Eclipse Server