Weaponsmith Archive
Thread: So, does anyone actually KNOW what TH is talking about...?
Thunderheart
The next phase of this massive combat balance is the Weapon Balance. When the game was originally designed, certain aspects of the weapon system like certifications and weapon types were meant to be unlocked as players opened the layers of their skill onions, opening up an interesting variety of weapons and having a good game challenge. What happened is very similar to what happens when you try to level off a wooden kitchen table with a hand saw. You take off a little bit off of this leg and a little bit off of that leg and by the time you get it finished, it looks more like a coffee table instead of a kitchen table. What happened with the combat system is that the certifications were moved, the combat and damage types were shifted and this has left the current system a little wobbly, so we’re getting a new “table”
In very basic terms, rather than making the T-21 and the FWG the end-all, be-all master weapons, we are “buffing” the system and putting in a full range of weapons at all levels. We’re going to be adding power progression levels for each type of weapon, a better damage progression for each specific power level, more weapon scalability and more weapons and certifications. We’re also putting in more swooshes and blaster bolts!
What this means is that there will be novice level T-21’s and master level T-21’s, novice level FWG’s and master level FWG’s. From novice to master, there will be a full range of weapons and certifications for each layer of the skill onions for the various combat professions.
In terms of gameplay, this second stage of over all combat balancing is going to bring with it a new wave of change; damage, to-hit, specials and the full scope of weapon combat will be out of whack for a little bit, but keep in mind, creature changes are in and at this stage, weapons will be falling into place; 2 of the 4 basic subsystems will be trued up with each other.
I'm sorry, but apart from some handy DIY tips, TH's post from the discussion forum (or at least the above part of it) say's an awful lot but explains very little.
Is there a more in-depth post somewhere about how any of these important changes are going to affect our profession in particular?
I mean, are we getting new re-vamped schematics for these novice and master versions of different weapons, or are resource requirements gonna change for them? For instance, will a T21 novice version be craftable before master WS with noraml gems instead of Rainbows? Will we have to build 4 types of every weapon to cater for the different skill levels of our customers (ie Nov, Intermed. Expert, Master)?
I know that this is in early stages of developement but the guys post is so generalised as to render it a useless source of knowledge. Can our own correspondent talk to the people actually DEVEOPING the new changes, and give us some weaponsmith-specific data?
Personally I care little about cosmetic changes like sound effects and new blaster bolt graphics, or how the damage types are gonna change. I know a lot do, but as far as most of us go, on this board, we care about crafting weapons first, and our combat roles second.
This is the first any of us heard about this. It's new informationas of yesterday, so no, there's no better explaination anywhere. I too am curious about what exactly he was trying to say, but we just don't know yet.
TH is smart enough not to give details this early though. Until it actually gets to Test Center, he has to be careful how much he says. If he says it's one way, and it ends up changing, there will be a public outcry. It happens every time. Just the other day he said something about the resource requirements of a vehicle being about as much as a small house and once those amounts were upped that evening, he started getting flamed like crazy.
We'll get the information when it is finalized, and until then, he'd just be guessing anyway.
Take a look at my most recent posts in the Compilation of Issues thread. I think that this will require that novices sell to novices, intermediates to intermediates, and masters to masters (and specialists). The notion that masters are making four levels of weapons (or even six, if you include novice and Master AS WELL as the intermediate levels) seems kind of goofy. Masters should be selling to masters, novices to novices. If you wanted to expand your customer base, you could work with a novice or intermediate to do so, but I think it'll result in cluttered crafting tools, ridiculous resource requirements (think of how much crap you'd have to stockpile to make SIX levels of T21s...), and would only perpetuate the "You're either a master or you're not" approach to weaponsmithing that exists currently.
Personally, I think this offers us a real opportunity to make weaponsmithing more interesting and viable at different levels.
One thing that does raise some questions, however, is how the devs will/should handle the elite and hybrid level weapons. For example, the scatter pistol,lightning cannon, commando weaponry, and the elite weapons like the DX2, Elite Carbine, and T21. If there are novice up through master level T21s, will all weaponsmiths be making these? Personally, I think that, in keeping with the notion that novices sell to novices, and masters to masters, that the trees should work as follows. The elite/hybrid weapons should have three levels, as opposed to the five or six that the starter combat trees would have. These levels would simply be novice, intermediate, and master. The schematics for elite/hybrid weapons should start showing up around the third level of weaponsmithing (IE: Firearms 3), and progress accordingly. So a player at level 3 would be selling Class IV (intermediate) guns to marksmen, and Class I (novice) guns to the elites/hybrids. At Firearms 4 (Gunsmith), you'd be selling Class V (specialist) guns to marksmen, and Class II (intermediate) guns to elites/hybrids. At Master Weaponsmith, you'd be selling Class V and VI guns to marksmen (specialist and master) and Class II and III weapons (Intermediate and master) to elites/hybrids.