PLEASE any information, From Devs or Mr. Smedley about a return of Creature Handler Pets
_________________________________________________________ There are two things certain in life: Death and Taxes. -Benjamin Franklin **Co-Manager of -RunningCrest Shipwrights- Jadefalcon TheAvenger Y-8 Guide for Dummies
The truth is the community morale won't improve until the game does. Communication can't fix this. Improvements to the game can. The fact is our communication has improved.. people don't neccessarily like the message is all. I get that. So do our community folks. My preference is that all the posts in the gameplay forum are discussing gameplay balance.. and in-game issues.. but they won't until we get the game to a baseline fun level. We're not there yet. We know that. We're working to fix it. There is no other answer.
Smed
Wow. An offical representative saying the game is hurting. This does give me hope. Not much. But some. We have seen in the past that what is said may not come to pass. Be aware Smed, the community will hold you to the above statement.
The SWG community has been voting with it's feet since the NGE came about. Either we end up being right about our ability to turn the ship around and make a game that's BETTER than it was before, or we were wrong and we fail. Either way we were losing subs before the NGE and believe it or not, we are losing them at a slower rate than before. I'm not going to pretend we didn't lose a bunch of subs from this. We did. And I don't think the game is where it needs to be yet to aquire new subs. But it's getting there with each and every publish.
At the end of the day there are a lot of people in this community that wonder why we did this? Why did we "deliberately" try and piss people off. Obviously that wasn't our intent. This is a business and we needed to improve the results of the business. Did we make a mistake? Maybe.. but only time is going to tell on that one. One thing is certain. We made a mistake with how we presented it to the community, and for that I'm sorry. I still think it was a needed thing though. It's not as simple as "you should have just fixed the things we were complaining about". That doesn't address the very real fact that what we had was a hardcore game that wasn't going to attract the mass audience that the Star Wars IP brings to the table.
Smed
We are all here to help this game improve a complete system change was not needed. Changing crafting, yes the starter kit, yes adding quest based system, yes but not a complete system change.
Message Edited by RKO on 03-24-200609:47 AM
I respectfully disagree with your position on this. The profession system had fundemental flaws that couldn't be corrected and still be able to both balance the game and add meaningful content that made each profession really matter and be differentiated from the others. Was crafting absolutely the most amazing part of the game? Probably IMO. Can it still be a major part of the game? Hell yes.. and it will be. BUT that needs to be balanced with the fact that adventuring and killing things needed to have meaningful rewards as well to reach a more mainstream audience. I really hope you can see this point even if you don't agree with it.
Smed
I can agree with what you last said. While I prefer the "old" way, where even less experienced players sought out and bought all of their gear, I can see value to rewarding the lower level characters with items they can use, rather than just dump on the bazaar or to a junk dealer.
For middle and high-end, however, no (or certainly very few) loot or reward item should ever be better than it is possible for a crafter to make. Useable, sure, but the best of the best should always be craftable. If you want the best, anyone can find and buy the best if they wish too.
The serious crafting was one of the things that really set this game apart from all the others. The other being that you didn't HAVE to decide what you wanted to do when you created your character. You could get your feet wet with as many skills as you wanted, then picking to follow a path from there. The loss of those two elements have made this game more like all the others out there. Many of us played, and continued to play for years, because it was different and there was always something new to do or try.
One of the more tech headed guys in these forums posted an explanation as to why FPS combat has NEVER been done by other MMORPG's.
Basically he said that it's impossible for the internet to send the combat information needed to every toon in the surrounding area in the speed needed for Real Time combat. This it seems is why we're having so much trouble with our specials either not firing or miss firing because the data simply isn't being transferred fast enough.
Your thoughts on this? (keep it simple please)
Specials not firing is entirely unrelated to this issue. FPSs use mostly UDP. SWG doesn't really use UDP. UDP uses small, fast packets that don't rely on being delivered 100% of the time, because they constantly get resent with updated information. You need a lot more bandwidth for UDP based gaming, generally because you constantly need to send updated about traveling projectiles, etc.
The problem with specials not firing has to do with a timer on the client. It's essentially a problem with trying to fire a special while another attack is still executing (like a default left-click attack). That's why you can let off the mouse for a short while and the special will fire.
As you see, we have identified the issue and the programming staff is investigating a fix.
Helios, since your attention is on this thread at the moment, can you please answer this question for us Spy's? This is the way that we understand the current Stealth system to work (after numerous tests by numerous spy's):
- Vanish - Level 86: Unlike the other three stealth abilities, Vanish has no cooldown timer. Instead, it is a toggle technique, meaning that you activate it, and to remove it you deactivate it.
There are a few key factors you must know in order to successfully use the vanish technique to your advantage and have as few problems activating it as possible.
First, you cannot activate Vanish by itself within 25m (rough estimate) of any NPC, player, or MOB. You will get an error message saying "you cannot stealth with so many witnesses." However, when Publish 27 came out it made it possible for us to use our +SmokeBomb+ technique first and THEN activate Vanish. This eliminates the witness factor. However, even if you do successfully activate your Vanish, it is still possible for you to be "seen" by anyone within a certain distance of you and break your stealth. And after multiple late nights of testing, as well as reading the results of the other major Spy testers on this board, it appears that there is no definable system in place. I'm sure there is, but as it is now it seems like sometimes you are seen, and sometimes you are not.
Once activated, Vanish begins a "tick" of your action bar. The "tick" occurs about every two seconds removing some of your action. Even with your character's natural action regeneration, the "tick" will eventually deplete your action completely. Once your action is drained, you become unstealthed.
I listed above other ways of becoming unstealthed and the rules for activating the +Stealth+ abilities. These same rules still apply to Vanish.
The three modifiers that have an affect on +Stealth+ are Constituion, Stamina, and Camo. I will keep these color-coded throughout this guide in an attempt to keep this the least amount of confusing as I can.
A CL90 character has a tick of -1398 with +0 Stamina, +0 Constituion, and +0 Camo mods. Unhindered, this will allow your character to remain stealthed for a little over 10 minutes.
Every +20 Stamina you equip adds +32 to the tick total. So with +20 Stamina, +0 Constitution, and +0 Camo the tick is -1430, and at +40 Stamina, +0 Constitution, and +0 Camo the tick is -1462.
Now, every +20 Stamina does add +160 to your total action amount, but as you can see after just five ticks this extra action is used up and a negative affect takes place. With +20 Stamina I was able to remain stealthed just a little over 8 1/2 minutes.
Similarly, every +20 Constitution equipped adds +8 to the tick total. So with +0 Stamina, +20 Constitution, and +0 Camo the tick is -1406. This has a lot less of an effect, but the effect still remains. With +20 Constitution I was able to remain stealthed for a little under 10 minutes.
Of the three mods that affect +Stealth+, Camo is the only one with a positive effect. However, the effect is not noticed until you reach +100 Camo. For instance, with +20 camo, the tick remained at -1398. At +80 Camo, the tick was still -1398. At +100 Camo the tick drops to -1157 which added to your natural action regeneration rate allows you to remain stealthed indefinitely. I have not yet tested the difference in anything over +100 so I'm unsure if it continues to have an affect or not.
Is this working as intended?
=================================
Emperor's Bane, Member of the Alliance Special Forces, and Soldier in the Army of Freedom +Stealth+
Can you plz define what a hardcore player is and why you think they are bad for SWG?
Thx, Ms. Miller
A hardcore player - hmm. Ok. I would define it this way - The first 300k people that bought SWG were probably hardcore players. They are people that tend to buy more than one game a year. They are typically people that have tried other MMOs.
And in no way do I think they are bad for SWG. I don't believe a game can ultimately last 7-8 years by only appealing to people like us (yes, I am one of them). My son is 11 years old. He plays MMOs with me. He's hardcore too. He knows about every new game that's coming out. His friends.. they are all playing a game called RuneScape that I'll bet most of the people on these boards have never even heard of. It's at www.runescape.com - I urge you to go check it out. It's got a playerbase as large as WoW's... but you've never heard of it because they don't advertise. The only way kids hear about it is from their friends.. but half the kids in my son's class are playing it.
Hope that helps
Smed
I am not one a hardcore player and I love the old game something is wrong with your research this is my first MMO. I hate this combat system you have now its terrible. I tried this game after repeatedly being told to try it out.
WarStory
There are only five notes in the musical scale, but their variations are so many that that cannot all be heard. There are only five basic colors, but their variations are so many that they cannot all be seen. There are only five basic flavors, but their variations are so many they cannot all be tasted. There are only two kinds of charge in battle, the unorthodox surprise attack and the orthodox direct attack, but variations of the unorthodox and the orthodox are endless. The unorthodox and the orthodox give rise to each other, like a beginningless circle- The Art of War by Sun Tzu
John, what happened to your plan to reincorporate Creature Handler in some capacity?
it's on the list.. but lower down than I would like. One thing I don't get to do in my job is only have them work on the things that I want them to.... although I will be the first to admit that would be fun I suspect the bunch of really smart people that work at SOE wouldn't enjoy it as much as I would.
I get my "Smed" list worked on once in a while when I **edit** enough.
Smed
i wonder if anyone is going to cover that with an **edit** message... huh, they "edit" mine yet they didn't "edit" his... hehehehehe
Message Edited by Altyrell on 03-24-200612:46 PM
they can edit mine all they want. One thing I do want to address - it has been brought to my attention that we are a little overzealous with our thread and post deletion. I've asked that to be toned way down.
Smed
Yeah, apparently dog burgers aren't acceptable talk on the forums. I got suspended for my supporting statement of cambodian cuisine... I just got out of a 2 week suspension for retorting to someone who threatened my life(not that I was actually worried about my safety). Oh, if you wanna know.. their thread wasn't deleted, edited, and no action was taken against them. Only when I critisized the person controlling swgmod001 did I suspended for "saying awful things".
I don't care what anyone says... you can't tell me that certain language is immature and then turn around and then put age limits on that crap. "**edit**" is a good system as it stands, but when I'm getting suspended for words used in a context that's even in a SONY produced film, then something is going awry. ™
There has been an outcry on the forums for a roll back. As i understand the term Rollback it would mean rerurning to the old system and scrapping everything that happened since the NGE.
Please clearly state weather this is even possible and discribe what the end results would be if it were?
I will jump in and answer this honestly:
We are not doing a roll back. We are not planning a roll back. We are not discussing a roll back. Once again, we are not doing a roll back.I
You seriously might want to make that statement a sticky somewhere because I will guarantee that some moron will ask that same question again and again.
I have played since a month after launch, doc buff lines sucked, DOT weapons sucked, mind poisons/fire sucked, classes that were broken (carbineer/pistoleer/ranger/commando) sucked, people bitched you could not fly, I can't beat a Stacker, if you didn't have doc in your template forget hardcore PvP, I could go on and on about how much of this game SUCKED Pre-CU but I won't.
Do I like a lot of the NGE no but some of you got what you wished for, so deal with it. Worst thing that ever happened was the unlocking of Jedi's, then everyone complained about how HAARRDD it was, please make it easier, so they did, then everyone complained there were to many Jedi.......get my point, You got what you wished for, sucks huh!
Crafters I feel your pain I really do miss making someone's armor go red in the cloner, please give the crafters some love Smed they were just as much a part of this game as anyone else. (FYI I was never a crafter it bored me to tears)
Thanks Smed for communicating I think this is the first time in almost 3 years I have read 60 something pages in a thread.
Message Edited by Wolf_Scout on 03-24-200604:36 PM
Wow if it all sucked why didnt you quit? To be honest doc lines were awesome, Why? because it allowed for immersion between players, docs dont really fight the heal, I dont see Doctors as policeman in real life. You say DoTs sucked but DoT weapons they were real strong were extremely rare. Stackers were unbeatable? Wrong again, because it required some skill (buffs, proper appliance of foods and spices, Stims, and a solid template with good defense) The only profession that I saw was not balanced was Jedi, but the move by SOE that made it fair was gank squads and tefs, and permadeath. Jedi didnt fight 1v1 duels, they fought 5 man gank squads or larger, tefs were crazy a saber tef could involve 40 people fighting over 1 mans life. Hardcore PvP revolved around a group, and if you had 3-4 docs per group then a group of 20 would rock so I dont think you understand what this game was about pre-cu
ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg _______________________________________________________________ --------This spot for Sale-------- --------Checobacca k Ice-man' -------- ---I came back for the community--- ---Ill leave again when the EMU servers go acive--- _______________________________________________________________ gggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg
Hmmm i read all of this ...wow took a bit since it grows fast.
Everyone here knows me to be very very anti-nge and lately anti-SOE. I wouls like to say I am glad to see the interaction with the red names today and if things like this were to happen more often ( say once every 45 days or so) they would not be near the headache for you guys it has become today. This actually gives me hope as i ride out the rest of my sub and who knows if this comes to pass maybe you get 1 customer back.
Thank you for the time you have given us today.
--------- Im no Jedi, but ive got a lightsaber anyway--------- --------- --Omisi Rila-- --------- --------- --Diovaa-- --------- --------- Vendor Located at 540 -5875 Tat - Outside Mos Nihil ---------
Never Underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
John, what happened to your plan to reincorporate Creature Handler in some capacity?
No plans involving creature handlers are on the books.
That was not an intelligent reply
_________________________________________________________ There are two things certain in life: Death and Taxes. -Benjamin Franklin **Co-Manager of -RunningCrest Shipwrights- Jadefalcon TheAvenger Y-8 Guide for Dummies
Smed wrote: Here's a bold goal - Let's get all the bugs out of the game within 6 months. Maybe we won't hit it, but that's what we're shooting for. Smed
I really hope you can do it. Here is a list of some of the bugs with the engineering professions, keep in mind that many of these have been in game since launch so I doubt they will be fixed in six months.
________________________________________ Yoto Romad 12 Point Master of the Obvious Are you on the list?
There has been an outcry on the forums for a roll back. As i understand the term Rollback it would mean rerurning to the old system and scrapping everything that happened since the NGE.
Please clearly state weather this is even possible and discribe what the end results would be if it were?
I will jump in and answer this honestly:
We are not doing a roll back. We are not planning a roll back. We are not discussing a roll back. Once again, we are not doing a roll back.
Message Edited by Dev-Vapor on 03-24-200603:26 PM
Yeah we know. And that's the problem. You really need to, this game is dead in its current state. All you have to do is read this thread to know it.
Seriously tho is a classic server out of the question it seemed to be at its best just before publish 13 , honestly id pay a little extra to play on it im sure many others would aswell.
DUS XOT
Dark Jedi
Imperial Ace
You close your eyes, only for a moment, and the moment's gone....
I suspect the bunch of really smart people that work at SOE wouldn't enjoy it as much as I would.
I just got out of a 2 week suspension for retorting to someone who threatened my life(not that I was actually worried about my safety). Oh, if you wanna know.. their thread wasn't deleted, edited, and no action was taken against them. Only when I critisized the person controlling swgmod001 did I suspended for "saying awful things".
