The following is a vision of a New and Improved Force Ranking System (FRS), that will make the now boring and unrewarding system fun, rewarding and thus desirable to participate in. It will also address concerns of non-Jedi players.
It is no secret that the current FRS is not enjoyable by any players, Jedi and non-Jedi alike - even frustrating for most. It is even on the verge of completely ruining the Player vs. Player and Galactic Civil War portion of Star Wars Galaxies, especially for non-Jedi players, just like the Holocron Profession Grinding Madness of late 2003/first half of 2004 did with other parts of the game. Even with the exclusion of the FRS XP gain for killing non-Jedi and non-FRS ranked players in Publish 10, this problem still exists, as FRS Jedi are still attackable by other overts and have to deal a preemptive strike against all opposing faction overts they see or risk being attacked and killed by a group full of overts and coverts of the opposing faction. It looks like with the TEF system to be abolished, this still will not change, as FRS Jedi will still be forced to permanently be in the special forces of a GCW faction, which will be the rough equivalent of current overts and not allowed to request on leave status.
Another problem are the so-called "fight clubs" that have surfaced on different servers, where Jedi agree to kill each other for FRS experience and let themselves revive afterwards to rapidly advance in rank. Unfortunately, this is the only way to reach a high FRS rank right now, which is why most Jedi resort to such tactics in the first place, effectively gating Jedi who do not do such a thing. To discourage these fight clubs from happening, there have to be other ways to gain sufficient FRS experience.
Many may not realize it yet, but it may be the single greatest problem this game is facing right now. Simply put, it has to change, and that's what my vision is about.
Enough of the facts, here comes the grand vision of a New and Improved Force Ranking System (FRS):
1. Two seperate FRS Jedi factions, Light Jedi and Dark Jedi that are not connected to neither the Galactic Empire nor the Rebel Alliance.
+ This will prevent Force Ranked Jedi from being forced to take part in the Galactic Civil War
+ It will be more in accord with the Star Wars Universe
2. Members of FRS Dark and Light Jedi factions are permanently attackable only by each other.
+ This will keep Light Jedi fighting Dark Jedi, like it was always supposed to be
3. Pure FRS Jedi faction members (that do not belong to a Galactic Civil War faction or are on leave from the GCW faction) are not attackable by non-Jedi Knight Rebels, Imperials or Civilians.
+ This will allow roleplayers and true Jedi to hide and blend in with the crowd, which is not possible with the current forced special forces status
+ It will prevent most non-Jedi from griefing Jedi
4. Pure FRS Jedi (that do not belong to a GCW faction or are on leave from the GCW faction) cannot attack combatants/special forces (coverts/overts) of Imperial or Rebel factions nor can they attack civilians (neutrals), unless they are opposing faction FRS Jedi.
+ This will stop the grief that members of special forces experience from constantly being mowed down by Jedi
+ It will reduce Jedi squads in cities looking for special forces members
+ It will keep Jedi from 'ruining PVP for other players', which still is a serious complaint by the non-Jedi community
5. FRS Jedi can still be attacked by Bounty Hunters with missions on them, just like non-FRS Jedi. The higher the Jedi's PVP rating and skill level, the higher level the mission, the higher the payout and the higher the PVP rating required by the Bounty Hunter. All Bounty Hunters with a mission on the Jedi will give the Jedi a good amount of FRS XP, no matter if master or dabbler - but only the ones that truly have the mission on the very Jedi or his/her Padawan to prevent FRS farming of Bounty Hunters.
(this and more ideas regarding bounties can be discussed in the 'Bounty Hunter Wars' thread I posted in the bounty hunter forums: http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=bounty_hunter&message.id=321824).
+ Only truly skilled, high-level Bounty Hunters will be able to hunt skilled, high-level Jedi
+ Jedi will have an incentive to fight the Bounty Hunters that have a mission on them instead of running from them
6. Pure FRS Jedi (as well as Jedi Knights, Guardians and Masters that do not participate in the GCW in general or are on leave from their GCW faction) will not loose Jedi XP, only FRS XP.
+ This will make it possible to change the template down the road, once the Jedi is bored or otherwise unsatisfied with his/her current template
7. In case a Jedi desires and thus decides to join the combatants or special forces of a Galactic Civil War (GCW) faction like the Galactic Empire or the Rebel Alliance, he or she will suffer massive Jedi XP and Force Ranked XP loss for each death while a combatant or member of the special forces. After a GCW related death, Jedi characters will be automatically send on leave from their GCW faction for a certain amount of time and will not be able to cancel their on leave status to return to combatant or special forces status until that time is up. This forced on-leave time will take longer, the higher the Jedi's rank in the FRS is at the time of death. After the time is up, the Jedi may go to the factional recruiter to rejoin the combatants or special forces of their GCW faction and thus resume his or her GCW duties.
+ This will allow Jedi to participate in the GCW if they are devoted to it and truly desire to be part of it
+ Due to the greater risk involved to choose a side in the GCW, only few if any Jedi will be doing this
+ Being forced to be on leave from the GCW faction will keep Jedi from re-entering the GCW for some time
+ Due to their rarity, Jedi involved in the GCW will be a pleasant and exciting sight
8. FRS Maintenance cost should be lowered and FRS XP gained for incapacitating a Jedi of the opposing side dramatically increased.
+ This would make it actually possible to gain ranks
+ There would only be a need to defeat a few of opposing Jedi a day, not dozens, even for higher ranks
+ It would reduce the need for fight clubs
9. The FRS Experience gained for fighting other side Jedi will be dependant on the respective Dark Jedi/Light Jedi population on the server. The fewer the number of FRS Jedi of the opposing enclave on the server, the more XP a Jedi gains for incapacitating a Jedi of the opposing FRS side on that very server.
Also, FRS rank maintenance cost will be dependant on the Light/Dark Jedi population on the server, where FRS maintenance cost would be lower the less FRS Jedi are on the server. When all seats are filled, FRS maintenance cost will be at full, with most seats vacant, there would be close to- or no FRS maintenance cost at all until the majority of ranks is filled.
+ This would keep the system organic and give people playing on less populated servers with less Jedi overall a more realistic chance to progress in the FRS.
+ It would potentially help to slowly fill up the FRS ranks on all servers
10. FRS Jedi will gain the ability to find opposing faction Jedi closest to their own FRS rank. This could be accomplished by having mission terminals similar to Bounty Hunter terminals that hold missions on an opposing side FRS Jedi of the same rank as your own. However, killing Jedi you have a mission on will not be the only option. When you find the Jedi you have the mission on, you can alternatively persuade him to "join your cause". If he or she drops out of their respective FRS faction while you have a mission on him/her, you will gain a massive amount of FRS XP. This would simulate bringing a fallen Jedi back to the right path.
Also, Jedi will get the ability that will let them sense FRS Jedi in their general area, similar to the ranger tracking skill, that will show every Jedi in their vicinity and their relative direction and distance from your location, as well as mark them as either dark or light.
+ This will allow FRS Jedi to find each other
+ It will allow great interaction and roleplaying potential and grant persuasive Jedi good experience for persuading an opposing Jedi to leave their cause in roleplay
+ It will reduce the need and appeal of fight clubs
11. Very small amounts of FRS XP will also be gained by incapacitating other same-factioned Jedi in friendly training duels, with a fixed limit of maximum FRS XP gained from training that can be reached each day. This cap will increase with FRS rank.
+ This would make training duels fun and a challenge with a small reward
+ The maximum training FRS XP cap would prevent exploiting this
12. There will be alternative, non-violent ways to gain limited FRS XP each day (for light Jedi at least) that should be at least enough to maintain rank, like meditating, missions from an NPC in the enclave that resemble puzzles and can be solved in both a violent or non-violent manner (negotiations at disputes, helping people in need or turning fallen Jedi to your side, for example as well as special versions of instanced dungeons similar to the Corvette for groups of Jedi down the road).
+ This will allow FRS Jedi to take a fun break from PVP to advance or keep their rank
+ It will allow servers with very low FRS Jedi population to gain FRS XP if they can't find a suitable opponent
+ This will reduce the need and appeal of fight clubs
13. Another and perhaps the most interesting and exciting way to gain FRS XP will be to train a Padawan.
A Jedi Knight or higher will get the ability to craft a Padawan braid. This braid will be traded to a Jedi Padawan. Using a modification of the interface currently used for marriage, the Jedi Padawan may now accept the braid to be assigned to the Jedi Knight as his or her Padawan. The Jedi Knight will now become the Padawan's guardian, and thus receive the Jedi Guardian Force Progression box and title.
Now the Padawan and Master/Guardian hunting and training together will allow them both to get full Jedi XP for the creatures they defeat together, just like the full XP you get for a space kill that you take down with your groupmates (this is to stop Padawans from preferring to go out to train on their own instead of tagging along with their Master/Guardian because the Master/Guardian is stealing the Padawan's Jedi XP or vice versa).
Also, the Master/Guardian will gain 1% of the Jedi XP the Padawan gains while hunting together as FRS XP. In addition, for every skill the Master/Guardian trains his Padawan in, he or she will get a substantial amount of FRS Experience and the Padawan should get a reward in the form of substantial Jedi XP as well for learning a skill from his or her Master/Guardian instead of an NPC skill trainer (which should still be possible to prevent offline Masters/Guardians hindering the Padawan's advancement, but without the bonus from the training by the player-master as well as allowing them to train Jedi skills that the player Master/Guardian cannot teach) or another Jedi to encourage roleplaying interaction and thus make it easier to learn the next skill.
When the Master/Guardian and his Padawan take on a Jedi of the opposing side or a Bounty Hunter that is after one of them together, the Master will receive full FRS XP for defeating the opponent.
The Master/Padawan relationship ends when the Padawan reaches Knight status on his own (and thus the Jedi Guardian earns the Force Progression box and title of Jedi Master), the Master/Guardian ends the relationship with a /releasepadawan command (Padawan does not have to be online for this to prevent that Padawans that do not play anymore to hinder the Master/Guardian's ability to take on another Padawan), the Padawan destroys his Padawan braid in the inventory or if the Padawan kills his or her Master/Guardian in a duel. The latter choice would also lead the Padawan into darkness.
After a Master/Padawan relationship ends, the Master/Guardian will not be able to take on another Padawan learner for a week and the Padawan will not be allowed to be chosen by a new Master/Guardian for the same period of time as well.
The Master and the Padawan do not cause each other's Jedi visibility to rise (in fact, it would be best if Jedi wouldn't be causing each other Jedi any visibility at all as there is no reason why Jedi would report each other to a common enemy - the Galactic Empire). The Master and his/her Padawan will be able to defend each other against all attackers, including, but not limited to, same GCW factioned players like Bounty Hunters (if applicable).
Padawans will also be able to enter the enclave when in the company of their master.
+ This will enforce the Master/Padawan relationship that is an essential part of Jedi in all Star Wars movies to date
+ It will be great content and an encouragement to roleplay
+ It will encourage player interaction between Master and Padawan by making training by the player master the better choice as opposed to being trained by a boring NPC skill trainer
+ The ability to gain FRS XP by aiding and training your Padawan will again reduce the need for fight clubs as well as their appeal
14. Jedi will have the ability to keep and actually wear all styles of Jedi Robes that they have ever received in the FRS, even if they drop in rank or choose to drop out of the FRS System altogether. Also, Jedi will be allowed to wear any cloak and cloak (hood up) over the jedi robes.
+ This will make it desireable to reach every rank at least once.
+ It will give Jedi that have put effort in the FRS something to show for
+ The ability to wear cloaks over the robes will make Jedi look and feel more like Jedi in the Star Wars Universe
15. All visible modifiers from the robes should be moved to the Padawan box. Special hidden modifiers should be moved to the appropriate Padawan and force rank boxes, if there truly are any.
+ This will make Jedi robes all the same and thus negate all reasons to not implement section 14.
+ It will allow Jedi to wear other clothing without sacrificing anything to blend in with the crowd
16. FRS Jedi will get other rewards that can be bought for FRS XP at a NPC Jedi Master in their respective enclave, like tradeable Jedi-specific furniture (Statues of famous Jedi, Holocrons with tales of Jedi that can actually be read and contain an interesting short story each), housing (a 1-lot, no maintenance cost very small house placeable on all planets, even with a minimum of 1km from each other where you can't build now, looking somewhat like Yoda's hut), Clothing (cloaks, hoods for the cloaks, rings, Jedi pendants that can actually be seen, all of which can be worn over the robes), Special crystals (like the ones that appeared on Testcenter in publish 9 testing that are color/damage crystal hybrids, or the ones people get as reward for completing the FRS quests), new Lightsaber hilt styles and the likes.
+ Rewards are always a good thing to keep people playing, especially if they are actually useful
+ It will provide great perks for collectors, roleplayers and powergamers alike
17. Force Progression boxes, like Jedi Knight, Jedi Guardian and Jedi Master will be independent from the FRS (the latter has it's own rank boxes and titles anyway). Force Progression boxes of Jedi Guardian and Jedi Master will only be granted in conjunction to the Master/Padawan system (See section 13. for Details).
Jedi will keep their Knight, Guardian and Master boxes as well as titles, even if they drop in rank or exit the FRS.
+ This will be a permanent reward for people who have put time and effort into taking on a Padawan and finishing his/her training
+ It will encourage roleplay and even reward people for doing so
+ It is illogical to loose these boxes and titles at all
18. Force progression boxes will include modifiers for every force progression box. This will include modifiers for Jedi Toughness, Lightsaber Accuracy (adds accuracy to all sabers), Force Weilder Accuracy (increases the accuracy modifier of all force powers in the force weilder tree instead of lightsaber), Force Healing Speed (increases the healing speed, and thus the healing downtime in seconds), Force Enhancement Duration (increases the time in seconds of all time-limited force powers in the enhancer tree). These modifiers will be added up.
Here is how this will look like:
- Jedi Initiate:
Jedi Toughness +5
- Jedi Padawan:
Jedi Toughness +10
Lightsaber Accuracy +5
Force Weilder Accuracy +5
Force Healing Speed +1
Force Enhancement Duration +5
- Jedi Knight:
Jedi Toughness +15
Lightsaber Accuracy +10
Force Weilder Accuracy +10
Force Healing Speed +1
Force Enhancement Duration +5
- Jedi Guardian:
Jedi Toughness +5
Lightsaber Accuracy +5
Force Weilder Accuracy +5
Force Healing Speed +1
Force Enhancer Duration +5
- Jedi Master:
Jedi Toughness +5
Lightsaber accuracy +5
Force Power accuracy +5
Force Healing Speed +1
Force Enhancer duration +5
+ This will make these boxes worth achieving
+ It will reward people that put effort in becoming a Knight, Guardian or Master by making them noticeably better than a Padawan, or the respective lower Jedi rank, just as it is supposed to be.
If you like these ideas and would like to support them, reply to it to keep it on top and add a link to it to your forum signature by following the following steps:
____ Gorath
biwan:
