Foreword:
To the players: This post has reached over one year of active existence and has never sunk into necropostivity. Thank you all for reading this post, contributing and supporting it in all that time. Without you, it could have never reached the dimensions and refinement it currently has. The same also goes for SWG itself. While it is sad to see that most of the things discussed here have not come to pass yet, the FRS is still offline and subject to be reworked, so there is hope the developers will finally get it right and listen to the community (I guess over 2000 mostly positive replies are any indication of what the community wants). Thanks again and keep it up! Let's ensure we will be heard by the developers to be able to help them improve Star Wars Galaxies and make it enjoyable for everybody as well as reach the unrealized potential it had since the very beginning!
To the devs: since you have announced you will be taking the FRS system offline with the Combat Upgrade and "will be making improvements to the system while it is offline", this is clearly the best time for you to implement the improvements for the FRS system as discussed in this post (and perhaps even tie the newly announced "Trials of Obi-Wan" in as a replacement for the old un-jedi-like Jedi Council Battle Trials to enter the new and improved FRS), so please read and study it thourouhly and do not bring back the FRS before you do not have a system in place that is similarly immersive and enjoyable for everybody as the one discussed in this post!
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 FRS has not been 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 (Update: it has even done so for many months!), 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 FRS XP gain for killing non-Jedi and non-FRS ranked players with Publish 10, this problem still existed, as FRS Jedi were still perma-attackable by other overts and had to deal a preemptive strikes against all opposing faction overts they encountered or risked being attacked and killed by a group full of overts of the opposing faction.
With the abolishment of the TEF system in the GCW Revamp, this still has not changed, as FRS Jedi are still being forced to permanently be members of special forces of a GCW faction, which is the rough equivalent of previous perma-overt, as FRS Jedi are not allowed to request combatant or on leave status.
Another problem are the so-called "fight clubs" that have surfaced on different servers, where masses of Jedi agree to kill each other and their Master Bounty Hunter alternative characters that lay down prone and do not fight back at all for FRS experience and let them be revived afterwards by doctors to rapidly advance in rank and cheat the death counter. Unfortunately, this seems to be the only way to reach a high FRS rank right now, which is why most of the Jedi in question resort to such tactics in the first place, effectively gating Jedi who do not do such things by filling up all ranks and making it impossible for Jedi who do not resort to such things to gain rank. 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 have been the single greatest problem this game has been facing since August 2004. 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 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, except in static cities, where they cannot attack each other.
+ This will keep Light Jedi fighting Dark Jedi, like it was always supposed to be
+ It will keep pure FRS Jedi from preying on each other in static cities where it may annoy other players
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 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 combat level, the higher level the mission and the higher the combat level required by the Bounty Hunter (it should be possible for a Bounty Hunter to get missions with a difference of around +-10 compared to their own combat level). 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.
Once a Bounty Hunter attacks a Jedi, the two will be locked in an 'instanced duel' (See section 10. for more).
Also, Names of Bounties should be removed from the terminals to prevent griefing by targeting specific characters over and over as well as getting a mission on a friend and dupe credits with them.
(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 surrender, grind and relearn Jedi skills 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 Force Rank XP loss for each death while a combatant or member of the special forces. After a GCW related death, Jedi characters will be automatically sent 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 if desired.
+ 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 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 that are 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, and the more FRS XP he looses for being incapacitated by the side with lesser population on that very server. There will also be a cap on how low the minimum FRS experience and how high the maximum FRS experience one can gain or loose per FRS encounter no matter what the population balance is in order to prevent fighting being useless on extremely one-sided servers.
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 but steadily 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. Once you take such a mission, you could could use the ability /forcefind, that will essentially work like a Bounty Hunter tracking droid to find the mission target. These terminals also should also be anonymous and not display the name of your target to prevent griefing and exploiting.
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. To ensure this won't be exploited, a Jedi that switches sides should have to redo the Jedi Council Battle trials (and join his new 'side' with rank 0 with the FRS XP reset afterwards).
The Jedi that are part of the 'mission' will be locked into an instanced duel when the mission holder initiates the attack, similar to what it is with Bounty hunter missions. Both duelists will receive a system message indicating that they are now locked in an instanced duel. As long as they are battling anywhere but in a static city or POI, they will be completely locked out of other combat with anybody else, including NPCs, mobs and other players of any kind (similar to the instanced duels known from Jedi Outcast/Jedi Academy multiplayer). This state will be broken in the following cases: the distance between the two becomes too great (more than 500 meters, for example) they are not in combat for 5 minutes or more (enough time to 'persuade' one of them to join their cause in an RP fashion), enter a static city/POI or when one of them is defeated. When one of these events occurs, both get a system message that their instanced duel has been ended and they will be attackable by- and be able to attack the- same player characters/Mobs/NPCs like they would be outside an instance duel.
The only exception to this will be, that the Padawan of both (if present) may choose to join or aid their Masters/Guardians in that battle (see section 14. for more details on the the Master/Padawan relationship).
Additionally, Jedi will get the ability that will let them sense FRS Jedi in their general area (500-1000 meters, perhaps), 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.
Defeating an opposing side Jedi in an instanced duel will grant the victor a small FRS XP bonus and the looser a slightly smaller FRS XP loss than outside an instanced duel.
Defeating an opposing side FRS Jedi outside a static city will grant a substantial FRS XP bonus for the victor, compared to defeating one inside a static city (where the FRS XP gainshould be close to nothing to make it undesirable). Deafeating another FRS Jedi on Yavin IV (where the enclaves are located) will grant another substantial FRS XP bonus and Jedi who die at the hands of opposing side Jedi will loose substantially less FRS XP, to encourage Jedi to move to that planet and battle it out around the enclaves.
+ 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
+ This will allow a way for one-on-one (resp. two-on-two if Padawans are present) Jedi duels without interference
+ Jedi vs. Jedi fighting will be encouraged to take place outside static cities as well as other public areas and thus decrease the visibility of Jedi everywhere
+ With an FRS XP bonus for fighting on Yavin IV, Jedi vs. Jedi battles will be encouraged to take place on that planed and thus around the enclaves
+ 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 that can be gained from duel training 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. When any Jedi uses his/her lightsaber and/or his/her force powers in a regular /duel (not an instanced duel mentioned in sections 5. and 10. as these could be forced) with another player inside a static city, an imperial lambda-class shuttle will land and a squad off Stormtroopers as well as the Dark Lord of the Sith, Lord Vader himself will emerge. Vader, who will be a combat level 1000+ NPC with an infinite HAM pool an thus undefeatable, will immediately force choke the Jedi involved (should ideally be a special area version of force choke with an area root involved) and insta-kill them (insta-killing has to be the case or some people would just try to assemble a "Vader hunting party" and use their force powers/sabers to lure Vader to them and try to kill him all day long, thus still showing in cities, which would be counterproductive) in a blink of an eye (avoid incap and such will not help here), while warning everybody else around not to commit heresy and treason against the Emperor. After the last heretic/traitor has been taken care of, Lord Vader and his guard will boeard the shuttle and depart.
There will be only one instance of Lord Vader in one static city at the same time. He will take care of all Jedi that use their sabers and force powers in /duels in that timeframe.
The Jedi that is killed by Lord Vader will loose a substantial amount of FRS as well as Jedi XP.
Any special forces/combatant rebel and other Jedi will also be able to attack Lord Vader. Once they attack him, he or she will also suffer the same fate as all Jedi dueling in static cities.
Jedi that are members of the special Forces of either the imperial or rebel Galactic Civil War faction and located in static cities will also be disposed of by Lord Vader.
The same may also be implemented with NPC inquisitors like Lord Hethrir.
+ This would prevent Jedi from showing off their Jedi skills while dueling in static cities
+ It would increase immersion greatly as Lord Vader would finally instill fear into the hearts of the people
13. 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, similar to the Hero of Tatooine quest, for example as well as special versions of instanced dungeons similar to the Corvette for groups of Jedi down the road) and branch out to different quest depending on how you solved the previous one.
+ 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
14. Another and perhaps the most interesting and exciting way to gain FRS XP will be to train a Jedi 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 Experience 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.
The Master/Guardian and his or her Padawan will be able to aid and defend each other against attacks from Bounty Hunters with a mission on one of them if they choose to do so (this will change the odds from the current 1 Jedi vs. 1-5 Bounty Hunters to 1-2 Jedi vs. 1-10 Bounty Hunters).
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, just as if he defeated him alone.
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 to prevent exploiting.
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 (grouped with) their master or another FRS Jedi.
+ This will enforce the Master/Padawan relationship that is an essential part of Jedi in all Star Wars movies to date and thus greatly increas immersion
+ 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
15. 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. This could be achieved by switching the certification on all Robes to Jedi Knight or even Padawan. Also, Jedi will be allowed to wear any cloak and cloak (hood up) over their jedi robes.
+ This will make it desireable to reach every force 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, greatly increasing immersion
16. All visible modifiers from the robes will be moved to the Padawan box. Special hidden modifiers (there are none right now) will be moved to the appropriate Padawan and force rank boxes.
There will be a new robe added to each force progression box independent of the FRS. Also, there will be an option to change the color of each Jedi robe like it has been possible with composite armor for some times. The color palette will only include different tones of brown, sandcolor, shades of grey as well as black and white.
+ 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
+ It will give Jedi more variety and individuality with their robes
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, see section 19. for more). Force Progression boxes of Jedi Guardian and Jedi Master will only be granted in conjunction to the Master/Padawan system (See section 14. 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 Innate Jedi Armor, General Melee Speed, General Ranged Speed, General Melee Accuracy, General Ranged Accuracy, Force Accuracy, 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) as well as Force Efficiency (decreases Force Power cost on all moves and specials by a certain percentage). These modifiers will be added up.
Here is how this will look like:
- Jedi Initiate:
Innate Jedi Armor +20
- Jedi Padawan:
Innate Jedi Armor +5
Melee Defense +25
Ranged Defense +25
General Melee Speed +5
General Ranged Speed +5
General Melee Accuracy +5
General Ranged Accuracy +5
Force Accuracy +5
Force Healing Speed +1
Force Enhancement Duration +5
Force Efficiency +5
- Jedi Knight:
Innate Jedi Armor +5
Melee Defense +25
Ranged Defense +25
General Melee Speed +10
General Ranged Speed +10
General Melee Accuracy +10
General Ranged Accuracy +10
Force Accuracy +10
Force Healing Speed +1
Force Enhancement Duration +5
Force Efficiency +25
- Jedi Guardian:
Innate Jedi Armor +5
Melee Defense +25
Ranged Defense +25
General Melee Speed +5
General Ranged Speed +5
General Melee Accuracy +5
General Ranged Accuracy +5
Force Accuracy +5
Force Healing Speed +1
Force Enhancer Duration +5
Force Efficiency +10
- Jedi Master:
Innate Jedi Armor +5
Melee Defense +25
Ranged Defense +25
General Melee Speed +5
General Ranged Speed +5
General Melee Accuracy +5
General Ranged Accuracy +5
Force Accuracy +5
Force Healing Speed +1
Force Enhancer duration +5
Force Efficiency +10
+ 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.
+ 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
19. Force Rank boxes will also have separate, smaller bonuses to various force disciplines. However, once a Jedi drops in Force rank, the box as well as the skill bonus in the box is also lost (just like it used to be in the old FRS). Dark Jedi will get more bonuses to destructive powers while light Jedi will get more bonuses to constructive powers.
+ This will make achieving and holding force ranks desirable
20. The Enclaves will still only be accessible by Jedi of the appropriate side as well as their player Padawans (see section 14.). Several things will be added to the Jedi Enclaves to make them more desirable to be in.
These will include top-notch crafting stations as well as healing droids that heal ones wounds and battle fatigue on request. There will be NPC Jedi masters in the enclave that will hand out quests and missions, as well as allow Jedi to buy things for FRS experience similar to faction recruiters (see section 21.), special FRS mission terminals with player missions on opposing side Jedi similar to bounty hunter terminals (see section 10. for details), an insurance terminal that will allow Jedi to insure their items as well as a starship terminal that will allow only authorized Jedi to land and take of directly in/from their enclave. There will also be a substantial experimentation and assembly bonus given for crafting Jedi components inside the enclaves as well as a crystal/pearl tuning bonus to vastly increase the chance of a perfect tune.
Once a Jedi clones in the enclave or at a force shrine, he or she will not suffer any extra wounds or battle fatigue whatsoever, just as if he/she cloned into a predesignated cloning facility. There will also be no item decay, provided the Jedi was insured.
+ It will make enclaves more desirable to be in and not empty ghost facilities like they were before and thus help shifting the Jedi population out of cities
+ This will have more Jedi interact with each other in a common meeting place and hopefully further roleplay
+ It will take the penalties from cloning into an enclave or force shrine away and thus make it more desirable to use them, keep Jedi from cloning in cities and being clonegriefed, thus keeping a lower profile
+ The starship terminal in the safe enclave will allow Jedi to land and fly away directly from their enclave and will thus keep Jedi that are loading at the starport from being ganked and also keep their profile lower
21. 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 and holograms of famous Jedi, Holocrons with tales of Jedi that can actually be read and contain an interesting short story about Jedi 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 and other named color crystals), perfect lightsaber resources for the highest generation lightsaber (they can only be used in conjunction with a lightsaber crafting tool and all their stats are 1000), 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
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