CU Update :: ZAM

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#1 Mar 19 2005 at 11:15 AM Rating: Excellent

JusteneNightshadow

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Greetings...

I'm Blair, producer for Star Wars Galaxies and more specifically in charge of the Combat Upgrade (CU) project. I've been around for a while now, and many of you may recognize me from when I worked on the Live team. In the upcoming weeks you will start to see what Combat Upgrade is all about. Next week, I'll have a development diary set up, where you can see what happens on a daily basis. The diary will let you in on what changes we make, what feedback you give, and what the daily work on Combat Upgrade actually is. What we've got today is the first round of public documentation which talks about the hard work the CU team is doing. Our plan is to review the feedback this weekend, and prepare a response of the most frequently cited issues next week. Have a read. (It's long!)

Combat Upgrade Update We looked at the current combat system in SWG and iterated designs several times to be sure that it is on target with your input for the system and for our overall mission which is to make SWG more fun, more accessible (easy to understand, hard to master) and Star Wars-centric. During this process we worked to make every system easier to understand, more engaging and more fun to play.

This vision document summarizes the exciting updates of the Combat Upgrade.

Statistics

Star Wars characters will now have a single hit point bar, called "Health". When health reaches zero, the player is incapacitated.

Offensive attacks are performed ultimately to damage your opponent's health statistic in order to win in combat. Players continue to perform special actions in combat that they receive during their character’s advancement. These actions draw from two point pools "Action" and "Mind". You must have the required number of pool points to perform the action.

There will be no more stat migration capability.

Players no longer have the so-called "drain" stats: Strength, Quickness, and Focus. They will continue to have the recharge stats "Constitution", "Stamina", and "Willpower", however they will be called "health regeneration rate", "action regeneration rate", and "mind regeneration rate".

Species differentiation will be defined by different regeneration stats, skill mods, and minor special abilities.

The only wounds a player can receive are health wounds. All other wound types will be removed from the game.

Health, Action, Mind pools

A character's maximum health will increase with the character's combat level up to 300%. New character health will be 1000, maxed character health will be 3000.

Players will be able to reference their combat level.

Short term buffs will modify this health value no more than 20%.

Long term buffs will modify this health value no more than 10%.

Species modifiers will affect no more than 10% of a base statistic.

Special Actions

The following profession trees will be modified by adding and removing new special abilities to bring them in line with the new system: Marksmen, Medic, Brawler, Scout, Riflemen, Pistoleer, Carbineer, Bounty Hunter, Smuggler, Commando, Pikeman, Swordsman, Fencer, Jedi, TKA, Doctor, Combat Medic.

All of the above professions will be re-balanced so that mastery requires a more equal number of skill points for each of the elite professions. No player will be able to master three elite combat professions.

The profession trees for Entertainers, Musicians, Dancers and Image Designers will be affected by the Combat Upgrade, and will likely need some profession tweaking because of the changes with wounds, stat migration and buffs to the mind. We will make adjustments to entertainers by creating some long lasting, minor buffs for combat professions. The initial changes to these professions will be:

Profession Dancer

Added new dance (Tumble) to Dancing Knowledge I

Added new dance (Tumble2) to Dancing Knowledge II

Added new dance (Breakdance) to Dancing Knowledge III

Added new dance (Breakdance2) to Dancing Knowledge IV

Removed the 15 second delay between stopping one song or dance and starting a new song or dance.

Removed chance of making a mistake while dancing.

Profession Musician

Added new song (Starwars4) to Novice Musician skill box.

Added new song (Funk) to Music Knowledge II.

Removed the 15 second delay between stopping one song or dance and starting a new song or dance.

Profession - Image Designer

Reduced Image Designer skill point costs by 16 by reducing each skill box between Novice Image Designer and Master Image Designer by one point.

Removed Image Designer action timers for Body and Cosmetic changes.

Special Actions (continued)

Players that have skill boxes in one of these affected professions will be allowed a skill re-spec for their character. This does not include the force sensitive skills. (A re-spec is short for "respecify". It is the chance to choose new skills for your character).

Special actions will follow a more traditional "3 phase" execution: Wind-up, Execution, and Cool-down. Certain actions don't have a windup and will execute instantly.

The wind-up phase is the time from when the player begins a special move to when the move takes effect. During this time, there will be a UI element, visible particle effects (or animation), and sound effects to indicate the player has initiated an action. The length of the wind-up time is determined by the ability used, the character's advancement level and associated buffs on the character.

Some abilities can be interrupted in the wind-up phase by attacks from opponents.

Moving during the wind-up phase cancels the action. By extension, actions which have no wind-up time will not be cancelled by moving. (Many special actions will not have a wind-up. Wind-ups will be used for specials such as "Aim" where the player would be stopping to aim a weapon).

The execution phase is the time the special action uses to perform the action. It is determined by the weapon the character has equipped and any associated buffs on the character. During this time, no other actions can be performed. The execution time is indicated on-screen by disabling all other special action icons, by animations and particle effects associated with the action, and by sound effects.

The cool-down phase is the time after the action is performed when that action cannot be executed again. The length of the cool-down time is determined by the ability used, the character's advancement level, and any associated buffs. All actions belong to a "cool-down group".

Actions which share the same cool-down group cannot be executed until the cool-down timer expires. Cool-down is visualized by disabling all icons in the same cool-down group. No sound effect or animation is associated with cool-down since the player will be doing other things during the potentially long cool-down phase.

While an action or group is cooling down, the player may begin actions that are in other cool-down groups.

Toolbar text will be updated to better describe each ability.

The icons for each ability will be redone in full color. They will visually indicate which abilities draw from mind, which draw from action, and which draw from both.

Weapons and Armor

All weapons will do a base damage of type of two possible types: "Kinetic" or "Energy". Several weapons will do additional elemental damage of one of the following types: "Heat", "Cold", "Acid", "Electrical".

Armor will resist a percentage of the base damage. Some armor will have additional resistances to the elemental damage types.

Armor layer crafting allows you to add protection against the special damage types. Raising protection against any element will lower protection against the opposing element.

Recon Armor receives a nominal bonus to energy protection and a nominal penalty to kinetic damage protection. This can be conceptualized as a free energy layer.

Battle Armor has even protection against all damage types - no modifiers at all.

Assault Armor receives a nominal bonus to kinetic protection and a nominal penalty to energy damage protection. This can be conceptualized as a free kinetic layer.

Armor layer crafting allows you to add protection against the special damage types. Raising protection against any element will lower protection against the opposing element.

Wearing advanced armor will apply de-buffs to your character such as slower movement, accuracy penalties, etc. Armor with basic cores will not apply de-buffs.

As your character progresses through the skill tree, (s)he will learn certifications for certain weapons and armor types. Until your character has that certification, you cannot equip weapons or armor of that type.

Particle effects for the "hits" and the "muzzle flashes", and the color of the bolts will be determined by the damage type of the weapon. The color for energy weapons will be red. The color for kinetic weapons will be blue.

We will convert all existing weapons, armor, factory crates, and schematics to use the new combat data wherever possible.

Buffs

The group UI will be re-worked so that you can see the buffs and de-buffs applied to other group members.

Healing/Doctor/CM Changes

Medical crafting will be handled by the crafting line in Medic as well as Bio-Engineers.

Doctors will have enhanced abilities that are enhanced with the use of consumables called enhancers.

Enhancers are on a 1000 point scale - the higher the number the better.

The quality of Enhancer charges will vary per ability. We are aiming for an average of ~20%.

We are adding craftable stimulant packs (stims) that can be used by anyone. Stims are one shot consumables that require no skill boxes to use.

The use of the different stims will be determined by the player's combat level. (i.e., novice players will be able to use the lower level stims while the elite players will be able to use the higher level stims)

Players will use stims by double clicking them. Each use will consume one charge. Each use has an associated cool-down time.

Stims can modify your health ~10%. You can't use your stims to heal someone else.

Combat Range

The maximum range for basic combat attacks will be 64 meters.

Melee will be effective at a maximum distance of 6 meters. This will tighten the look and feel of combat making it more "up close and personal".

Artificial Intelligence

AI will receive a general upgrade.

A hate system will be introduced to improve gameplay and make agro control more interesting and engaging.

AI will be changed so that NPCs and creatures make use of Action and Mind pools. This will give players tactical AI choices that can prevent AI special attacks. They will also use the wind-up/cool-down system.

AI will use special attacks including: healing, buffing, de-buffing, interrupting, and crowd control against players.

AI will use both range attacks and melee attacks to challenge and engage the players with the new combat system.

Miscellaneous Changes

Moving, getting discovered by an enemy by performing too many actions will bring a rifleman out of cover.

Several UI components will be changed to reflect the new system including: the character sheet, the stat migration page, the toolbar system, and the group interface.

Food, spices, and medications will be altered to conform to the new rules.

All schematics will be updated to ensure newly created weapons and armor conform to the new rules.

All creature data will be modified to re-adjust their hit points. Creatures will also have their attacks and armor modified to conform to the new rule set.

We will implement a host of new sounds in the combat game to make the system more exciting and immersive. Line-of-sight will be turned on for terrain. Players will be unable to fire if they don't have line-of-sight to the target.

Profession Pre-requisites

We are revamping the skill point costs of elite combat professions to be more even across the board, though they will not be 100% identical.

OLD Profession Prerequisites:

* Rifleman = Marksman, Rifles Tree (4 boxes)

Carbineer = Marksman, Carbine Specialization Tree (4 boxes)

Pistoleer = Marksman, Pistol Specialization Tree (4 boxes)

Pikeman = Brawler, Polearm Specialization Tree (4 boxes)

Swordsman = Brawler, 2H Sword Specialization Tree (4 boxes)

Fencer = Brawler, 1H Sword Specialization Tree (4 boxes)

Teras Kasi Artist = Brawler, Unarmed Specialization Tree (4 boxes)

Bounty Hunter = Master Marksman (Full Novice Profession), Scout Exploration Tree (4 boxes)

Commando = Master Marksman (Full Novice Profession), Brawler Unarmed Specialization Tree (4 boxes)

Squad Leader = Marksman Ranged Support Tree (4 boxes), Scout Survival Tree (4 boxes), Scout Exploration Tree (4 boxes)

NEW Profession Prerequisites:

Rifleman = Marksman, Rifles Tree (4 boxes), Marksman Ranged Support Tree (4 boxes)

Carbineer = Marksman, Carbine Specialization Tree (4 boxes), Marksman Ranged Support Tree (4 boxes)

Pistoleer = Marksman, Pistol Specialization Tree (4 boxes), Marksman Ranged Support Tree (4 boxes)

Pikeman = Brawler, Polearm Specialization Tree (4 boxes), Brawler Unarmed Specialization Tree (4 boxes)

Swordsman = Brawler, 1H Sword Specialization Tree (4 boxes), Brawler, 2H Sword Specialization Tree (4 boxes)

Fencer = Brawler, 1H Sword Specialization Tree (4 boxes), Brawler, Unarmed Specialization Tree (4 boxes)

TKA= Brawler, Unarmed Specialization Tree (4 boxes), Brawler, 2H Sword Specialization Tree (4 boxes)

Bounty Hunter = Marksman Ranged Support Tree (4 boxes), Scout Exploration Tree (4 boxes)

Commando = Brawler, Unarmed Specialization Tree (4 boxes), Marksman Ranged Support Tree (4 boxes)

Squad Leader = Marksman Ranged Support Tree (4 boxes), Scout Survival Tree (4 boxes)

Be ready to engage in the new, faster-paced Star Wars Galaxies combat system. As we finalize the various systems, we will continue to bring you updates and ask for your input. Please remember to keep your discussions constructive, we appreciate your feedback.

And again, please remember that this is In-Development. Things will change based on your feedback about the overall fun of the game. Looking forward to your comments!

Blair
Producer

Source

Edited, Sat Mar 19 11:49:18 2005 by JusteneNightshadow

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#2 Mar 19 2005 at 11:58 AM Rating: Excellent

JusteneNightshadow

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Quote:

Passerby wrote:
I just dont like the changes to how many skill points one will need. Also what if someone has mastered a profession but does not have one of the new trees that he will need?

Folks who play existing combat professions will get a "respec" (A respec is when you can respecify your character's skills/abilities).

Kurt "Thunderheart" Stangl
Community Relations Manager

Source
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Quote:

speardancer wrote:
Here's another question.. what happens to all the woundpacks people have out there for all the stats that are going away? hopefuly these will all be converted to useful items.... IE health woundpacks.

Yes, these will all be converted into useful items. We will have more information about this for you in the near future.

Kurt "Thunderheart" Stangl
Community Relations Manager

Source
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Quote:

Starx wrote:
Is Battle Fatigue going to remain in the game?

Battle Fatigue is still part of combat.

Kurt "Thunderheart" Stangl
Community Relations Manager

Source
______________________________________________________________

Folks,

More documents are going to be posted in the upcoming weeks and then everything will make better sense. =)

~ Tiggs

Source
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Quote:

Rhayven wrote:
TH, I just want to make sure i am inferring from the document properly: This finally confirms that jedi will get a respec along with the other combat professions. Is that correct?

Not yet, but things are leaning that way.

Kurt "Thunderheart" Stangl
Community Relations Manager

Source
______________________________________________________________

Quote:

Vicotnik wrote:
Will entertainer healing XP granted for healing Battle Fatigue be increased?

With no mind wounds to heal, entertainer skill progress will be halted even more (and it is already quite a slow progress, unless you do it the AFK way). An increase is really needed...

Entertainer changes are outside the scope of the Combat Upgrade. I would also add that any comparisons of the new system based on the old system is not a good comparison. We have thought about these things though, and we will continue to look at these and similar issues as they progress and make the appropriate changes.

Quote:

Mistwaver wrote:
Yay!

That was a good read...and something I've been waiting to read for a LONG time.

I'm glad to hear that. And as TIggs pointed out, we will be posting more docs in the weeks to come that will cover a lot more details.

Quote:

Ganis wrote:
Personally I love the new one bar system and I hope that sticks. Gives us Full combat guys something to like with all that health , everything else sounds great so far. Keep the good work up guys, your doing great, just don't bring back the snappy movement.............

We will be sticking with the single Health bar. The Action and Mind bars will still be used, but they will be pool points for specials.

Quote:

teh_n00b123 wrote:
Question: Will the new factional armor be released with the CU?

Yes, Faction Armor will be released with the CU.

Kurt "Thunderheart" Stangl
Community Relations Manager

Source

Edited, Sat Mar 19 12:04:15 2005 by JusteneNightshadow

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#3 Mar 19 2005 at 12:20 PM Rating: Good

Holllow

Sage

860 posts

/whew

Well, I really don't know what to say. It's..... scary. Some of the things mentioned sound kinda kewl and yet others seem like it may make the game..... let me choose my words carefully here.... might make the game slightly harder and seem more like work, and not fun as the Devs are intending.

I also noticed now TKM's will need the Unarmed Branch of Brawler, and the 2-Handed Sword Branch of Brawler. And I am wondering... why? This makes no sense. Why does an unarmed profession need to get a Sword professions lower end skills? That is illogical. I also did not see anything mentioned about more skill points. So they're going to require us to use up more Skill Points to master some of the professions we love yet we're not getting more Skill Points to help us in those ventures? That is crap.

My .2�

Regards,

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#4 Mar 19 2005 at 12:41 PM Rating: Good

Holllow

Sage

860 posts

hyjaax wrote:

More problems to note . . .

Seems this new 'upgrade' is intended to balance everything . . .make everyone more equal . . .well in the spirit of the new equalness what do we get. A new player can now be on par with a player who has been here since day one! There is no way to get an advantage anymore. We can all be equal.

Maybe you could do a Crafting Upgrade next. Who cares that crafters have been patiently and religiously waiting for the best spawns so they could either sell them or turn them into the best creations ever! We dont have any need for good buffs anymore . . .because at best it's 20%. Why would we have any need for good weapons anymore. I would be offended if any weaponsmith had any sort of advantage over any other weaponsmith. Resources should be stripped of all quality ratings and ALL resources should be rebalanced and equalized so that quality no longer matters. That way new weaponsmiths, armorsmiths, whatever you choose can make the same quality weapons as the weaponsmith who has spent MILLIONS of credits obtaining the ABSOLUTE BEST resources and skilltapes. Let's change this game into a game of instant gratification rather than a game where patience and persistance might pay off.

Maybe since this is in fact a Combat Upgrade you should reassess why any Non-Combat professions are needed. Why would someone need to be a crafter now? If crafted doctor buffs are completely screwed over what's to stop other things? Someone posted here that the doctors purpose in the game is to heal people . . .and I agree . . .but what is wrong with a doc being able to make some money to sell expertly crafted buffs? I guess all the docs who got their Aurelian plants can just let them die now . .. no point in harvesting fruits that heal 1000 HAM since the AM don't really matter anymore.

Perhaps we have reached a point in this game where the NPC's should just take over things like selling weapons and armor . . .and selling foods, and pets, and clothing and so on. There really is no point in harvesting the resources to make the food if it adds only a 10% bonus or a 20% bonus to buffs. Likewise who needs any entertainers anymore. Who wants to put all the points in it to just give a 20% buff at best? Why not just stock the cantinas full of NPCs who can heal and give everyone equal buffs. I truly feel sorry for the ents who have spent millions on the Clothing attachments that improve their ability to enhance people. I bid on several but I am thankful I didn't win the auctions because now it seems those attachments will be completely useless.

To some it may sound ridiculous that I suggest NPCs taking over the market. it is extreme but if the game goes in the direction that it is headed I think it will be increasingly difficult to find anyone who wants to become a crafter anymore. I have played several MMORPGs where the market is entire comprised of items that you either loot or buy from NPCs. Any player made items were more or less equal in quality because resource quality didnt factor into the equation. SWG really stood out for crafters because of the DIFFERENCES that it had.

I have played and mastered every combat profession in the game. I have never been in a situation where I found that one profession was useless or pointless to have. Sure swordsman can attack the mind pool and kill things . . .but so can rifleman . . .and carbineers can attack the action pool . . .and pistoleers the Health pool. Everyone has the strengths and weaknesses already. There is no need to go to a 1 pool policy. Why would anyone want to pick up a carbine if their specials just attack action? Why not everyone become pistoleers so that the health pool can be completely attacked. This doesnt FIX or BALANCE anything. Instead . . .people will find the professions that deal the most damage to the health pool and use those. You will have commandos with flame throwers and pistoleers everywhere. Stack those burns and bleeds everyone.

Skill points should be reassessed too in this upgrade. The amount we have was based on the OLD system. seeing as how we have this new system perhaps the old amounts of skillpoints are outdated as well. Maybe there should be no skill points and people should be allowed to master anything and everything they can think of!

I have so very much enjoyed the recent updates because they gave good CONTENT and that's what everyone seems to be craving so much. The wheel doesnt need to be reinvented. Just polished a bit. The proposed upgrade essentially destroys the game as it is now and turns it into something like EQ. . . . which beckons the question . . .perhaps people play this game because it's better???

I know i have said a lot . . .could go on for days . . .i am disappointed . . .disgusted . . .and i think you're ultimately ruining a great game.

Hyjaax

Source

Hmmm.... I agree.

Regards,

Edited, Sat Mar 19 12:43:54 2005 by Holllow

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#5 Mar 19 2005 at 12:54 PM Rating: Excellent

JusteneNightshadow

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Don't have time to read it all ATM but as for the non-combat professions, their revamp will come after the GCW revamp.

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#6 Mar 19 2005 at 2:02 PM Rating: Decent

EmjayR

Sage

946 posts

ok im not gonna say 2 much, mainly because i think if i do the point will be come lost in my whole hearted disappointment of what is to be come of this game.

If they want all pro's to be equal how about only one pro, one weapon, one type of armour thats pretty much what is gonna happen anyway isn't it although i bet the jedi's are all laughing themselves to death

how are they planning we get the extra skills i require? as a swordsman and doc i have what? 16 points left (just enough to get the line in question or there abouts i think) which i have used to get scout, so i can harvest the one source of money im gonna have left since solo groups have gone, pearl drops are lower, and buffs are gonna be all but worthless

oh and somethnig i only just noticed

Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rhayven wrote:
TH, I just want to make sure i am inferring from the document properly: This finally confirms that jedi will get a respec along with the other combat professions. Is that correct?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not yet, but things are leaning that way.

Kurt "Thunderheart" Stangl
Community Relations Manager
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

wasn't it said that after the jedi revamp jedis were balanced???????????????????????????????????????????

i will give it a go, but in the mean time im getting ready to leave what was once a fun game.

Wonder how the Matrix online is coming on????

Edited, Sat Mar 19 14:15:47 2005 by EmjayR

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#7 Mar 19 2005 at 2:55 PM Rating: Decent

ChandlerNW

80 posts

not going to play now. later everyone
dont fix something that works

____________________________

Run over a pedestrian, go to jail. Run over a midget, and I will purchase his corpse from you
----------------------------------------------
Eclipse
name-Whitewolf
master rifleman
TKM

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#8 Mar 19 2005 at 5:48 PM Rating: Decent

ZeroTheZab

13 posts

Whats the point of medic and doc now? And what about DOTs? This might be bad and it might be good, who knows!

____________________________

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Chemical Warfare Expert
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#9 Mar 19 2005 at 8:19 PM Rating: Excellent

SplinterCellDude

Sage

3,079 posts

Well.... I guess I got what I have wanted all along.... except tooooo much of it. I have always been an advocate for more balanced professions, but I never thought that the current HAM system didn't work. And I always thought that buffs were overpowered, but not to a point where they can only do 20% of your HAM. I think the devs pretty much loaded a copy of WoW, played it for a few hours, looked at what was good in their combat system and threw it into this, because anyone who has played WoW should be thinking that this new system looks kinda familiar. In that game, Wind ups and cool downs are for every action, there is only one thing to damage, and another stat that governs how often you can use specials, which is invulnerable to damage. And buffs are pretty much only to 20% efficiency in WoW. Of course, at that point, it reachs a more SWG-esque approcah, but it is still a little radical. Only two main damages types and 4 specialty damages? What happened to out loved 7-8 damage types? Will stun still even be in the game? And another thing I advocated. I didn't have a problem with some professions being better, as long as they were harder to obtain and not too unbalancing (*COUGH*JEDI).

In my opinion, SOE is slowing raising a dagger to their chest, and if they don't pull it back soon, they might not have a heart pumping blood into SWG.

EDIT: After finishing reading all the statements on the forum, I think everyone makes a good point.... except NW. I'm sorry, but saying your leaving after reading some early spes for it is just a plain idiotic thing to do. Almost every publish or update went through a long testing process to make sure it was all working and inbalance. I think that SOE has the capability to draw the dagger away, but no one can call that now, so pretending that you know the outcome of this, and that it will be crappy just seems stupid and asinine to me. I might be wrong about the outcome, but at least I reasoned my way to my conclusion instead of being some person trying to act as though they can predict the future.

Okay, now that I got that out, I'm happy :)

Edited, Sat Mar 19 20:28:44 2005 by SplinterCellDude

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#10 Mar 19 2005 at 9:11 PM Rating: Decent

DMo

Scholar

458 posts

Blair wrote:

And again, please remember that this is In-Development. Things will change based on your feedback about the overall fun of the game. Looking forward to your comments!
[/i]

It seems like the feedback that people have been giving forever has been the need for more skill points... not that I agree with that. Now the Devs are shifting things so you have to burn more SP to be the same profession.

I always wondered why ranged professions didn't have to use the ranged support column, but to make TKs need 2H and Swords need unarmed is ludicrous. I guess the devs couldn't come up with anything else like just simply making TK skills use more points. I don't see the connection, but more importantly, when will a TKM ever need to stop TK-ing and pull out a new sword to change the tide of a battle. They are wasted SP IMO. I'd rather see the devs introduce a fifth tier to these classes so I could get something in return for those precious 14 skill points.

I wouldn't say I'm out this early, but I'm very upset that I will not be able to build my Pistoleer/TK/Smuggler now. It looks like the devs are forcing us into a position where it's not worth it to master any elite profession. BH is like that... there is no reason to do anything in BH except Investigation 3 if you want to hunt Jedi (since you can't hunt anything else worth hunting). The rest is just a waste of SP.

/folds his arms and waits for stupid CU

____________________________

-----------------
D-Mo - Medic/Doctor/TKM
Master SGT (Rebel Army) Gorath

Whitehorse - TKM, Master Marksman, Slicer, Fence, Novice Pistoleer
Staff Corporal (Rebel Army) Gorath

GreyGhost - Marksman 4/0/0/3, Scout 3/2/3/3
Bria

PaleRider - Brawler 4/0/3/0, Scout 3/0/2/0, Medic 0/1/1/0, Marksman 0/4/0/4, Novice Pistoleer, Novice Smuggler
Bria

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#11 Mar 19 2005 at 9:52 PM Rating: Decent

rixo

319 posts

Well after playing wow 4 a while and only returning to swg because i like star wars i think this change could be great if the dev's approach it right like wow pvp is really fun lots of strategy involved not just stacking im a little pissed about sp chages i thought our were perfect but it might work out nice anyway

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#12 Mar 19 2005 at 11:34 PM Rating: Decent

tantuspreliator

Scholar

88 posts

A lot of you guys are acting everything is already set in stone and ready to come out next week. I do believe that he said that they will listen to player feedback and try to make the changes that they want. I remember reading on these forums and talking to people in real life how the combat was broken, the HAM bars were too confusing, and how PvP is all about the buffs you have, not what skill you have. Now the devs are trying to fix it everyone starts crying. I guess nothing makes you guys happy. Well instead of crying and saying that it will be broken, you should provide the feedback that the devs are looking for. Be professional about it so that they take you seriously and it just may get done the way you want. From the sound of things, the CU won't come out until around the same time as the next expansion, so there is still time to have them fix things the way you want them. Just don't have them put everything back to the way it was and start complaining that they did nothing.

Edited, Sat Mar 19 23:44:33 2005 by tantuspreliator

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#13 Mar 19 2005 at 11:35 PM Rating: Decent

Yexocessej

Scholar

1,211 posts

as always, i'll stay neutral on this, i'll play my heart out for the next couple months, then when the combat upgrade arrives i'll have about 2 weeks of playtie until i'm off to hitchike through europe.

but i seriously think some of those changes are very drastic. i can understand SOE wanting to gain back some of its players lost to WOW, but this is rediculous, i've never played WOW, but i'v read up on it. and i'm beginning to see some very interesting coincidences.

but anyways, SOE, do that thing you do, i doubt you even read this board, but if you do, please take some of these long time players opinions into account before radically changing the game.

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#14 Mar 19 2005 at 11:47 PM Rating: Decent

rixo

319 posts

the devs are taking a chance and you never know witha chance but it is better than standing around so i say jump in that fire and revamp the game they might get burned but its better than where they are now

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#15 Mar 20 2005 at 3:02 PM Rating: Decent

Rubeydoo

Scholar

78 posts

Darn... I thought the combat upgrade was just going to be like new weapons and armor that has special damage types and protection so I can finally kill something harder :(

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#16 Mar 20 2005 at 4:01 PM Rating: Good

Holllow

Sage

860 posts

JusteneNightshadow the Braindead wrote:

Don't have time to read it all ATM but as for the non-combat professions, their revamp will come after the GCW revamp.

I think the poster I quoted from the official forums was being sarcastic & facetious Justene. =P

Regards,

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#17 Mar 20 2005 at 4:57 PM Rating: Decent

SeoiOtoshi

Scholar

422 posts

one good thing that people have been complaining about for a long time is going to be changed. you can now be a brawler-style BH. if you notice the "proposed change" to the BH is only ranged support from the marksman tree instead of master marksman. (yes i'm aware that any elite brawler prof will cost more skill points).

I must agree with a previous poster. right now, combat is about buffs and stacking. it has nothing to do with the ability to think, plan, strategize, etc. brawlers and defense stackers win, hands down. litte johnny who has no ability to think, but just read that the best template for pvp winning was "x" and ground it out in five days can take someone in pvp who decided that they liked a certain profession which wasn't as strong. (um....yeah, i'm a pistoleer, can you tell?) I don't know if this CU will make it so that someone with brains and skill can take any idiot with a different profession, but, to me, at least they are trying.

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#18 Mar 21 2005 at 12:37 AM Rating: Decent

thepimpmonk

342 posts

Quote:

I have played and mastered every combat profession in the game. I have never been in a situation where I found that one profession was useless or pointless to have. Sure swordsman can attack the mind pool and kill things . . .but so can rifleman . . .and carbineers can attack the action pool . . .and pistoleers the Health pool. Everyone has the strengths and weaknesses already. There is no need to go to a 1 pool policy. Why would anyone want to pick up a carbine if their specials just attack action? Why not everyone become pistoleers so that the health pool can be completely attacked. This doesnt FIX or BALANCE anything. Instead . . .people will find the professions that deal the most damage to the health pool and use those. You will have commandos with flame throwers and pistoleers everywhere. Stack those burns and bleeds everyone.

Ok that is pretty freaking dumb. All the proffesions that deal other than health dmg will be revamped to do the same dmg. Cmon guys the devs arent THAT stupid.

BUT! i agree: Dont fix something that isnt broken. Right now in igame im having a great time. Only people that complain are Jedi.

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#19 Mar 21 2005 at 1:00 AM Rating: Excellent

JusteneNightshadow

View User Forum

Guru

3,166 posts

Greetings!

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.

There are a lot of posts and a lot of concerns for sure. We'll answer what we can and while going through the rest of your comments, we'll be looking over some of the more complicated questions as a group early next week. Some of your concerns will require a few people to review them so we can get you the best possible answers.

Quote:

BBFAnobi wrote:
After reading about 10 pages, i want to ask a question i saw on the first page.

What happens to all of your modded clothing and seas that we spent hours looking for or spending millions of credits for?

This is a great example of the type of question we'll need to review as a group to get you the best answer. From a general sense, this type of thing will be covered in what we are calling the "Item Conversion" part of the process. Because of SWG's highly customizable crafting system, each of these items exists in the database as a unique item. Different items may be handled in different ways, so rather than post a general answer, we will collect these types of questions, review them with the CU dev team and come back sometime next week with more specific answers.

Quote:

atytula wrote:

Quote:

Thunderheart wrote:
We will be sticking with the single Health bar. The Action and Mind bars will still be used, but they will be pool points for specials.

I knew all my posts about taking away mind and action incaps was not a waste I have been asking this on these forums in the first 6 months since release.

No, your posts were not a waste

Quote:

DeQuosaek wrote:
"Medical crafting will be handled by the crafting line in Medic as well as Bio-Engineers."

and Medic is a requirement of Doctor, I would say he will still be able ot craft.

Yes!

When the team looked at the buff system and the way it currently works, the upside is that many players enjoy the playstyle and the interaction while the downside is that the way buffs currently exist, it is unbalancing the overall game system. The goal was to retain the playstyle for players that enjoyed it because it is a great facet of the way the SWG world works, but we needed to both balance it and make it work so that buffs aren't a barrier to a casual game session.

Buffs will still be part of the game and so will the playstyle. Doctors will need to use the character respec to redefine their skill set, but that playstyle is preserved. Buffing won't be a requirement for casual play, but they will be a good thing to have for long game sessions, PvP, PvE and all sorts of activities, but they wont be a barrier to just jumping in and having a fun game.

Aside from the need to get you folks more information (which we're working on), Here is a list of some of the concerns gathered so far:

* Item Conversion Details
- Modded clothing
- Buff Packs
- Potent Weapons
* Ranger, Creature Handler and Entertainer outlook
* Details on skill point allocation and the process
* Details about how player health progresses

Please keep the questions coming!

Kurt "Thunderheart" Stangl
Community Relations Manager

Source

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#20 Mar 21 2005 at 3:28 AM Rating: Decent

cookiemonstar

2 posts

my only complaint is that it sounds like they are balancing the professions. why? jedi and bounty hunters are suppose to be the two deadliest combat profs in SW and all the others have their own strengths and weaknesses. they shouldnt be equal. im used to having one bar of health cause i used to play fxi thats no change to me but having any job/prof equal is dumb. and to add something make a bh be able to hunt other players other than jedi.

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#21 Mar 21 2005 at 3:32 AM Rating: Decent

cookiemonstar

2 posts

dont equalize the profs. jedi and bh should be strongest then all the others fall into there places. and they should make it so a bh can hunt other players other than jedi.

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#22 Mar 21 2005 at 10:53 AM Rating: Default

Elodarian

339 posts

this is a Combat Upgrade????????

Only in America can you refer to a reduction in an INCREASE a cut, and combat upgrade that screws the game to heck an IMPROVEMENT...

I know I just started playing SWG... I love the game, especially after playing some EQ I this weekend.
But, if the DEVs make this "improvement" I will NOT be buying the Rage of Wookies. While I plan to keep the Station Access Pass (because of EQII), I will NOT be playing SWG again except for there excellent space combat sim.
(****wonders when the JTL will get balanced****)
Its not fair that I can't step out of flight school and NOT have a YT1300...

Yeah, RIGHT!

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#23 Mar 21 2005 at 11:43 AM Rating: Decent

ElessarGram

37 posts

I'll give this a try even thought I think the changes to the Buff system really suck. I can understand toning down buffs but to limit the to a max of 20% is horrible. I spent months grinding for medic and doctor for a 20% buff??? I don't think so!! If worse comes to worse I can alway try out D&D Online or Middle-earth online. I think that comes out at the end of the year. Once Star Trek Online comes out I'll be dropping all of the above! The devs at Perpetual Online are at least listening to potential players BEFORE the release the game.

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#24 Mar 21 2005 at 11:54 AM Rating: Decent

Worme

Scholar

98 posts

Anyone think that reducing the novice profession skill point requirements to 10 instead of 15 is a good idea?

I want more skill points please even if i can only master 2 x elite combat proffessions i want to be able to dabble in other professions just a little, i.e. now i have to choose between novice medic and novice scout for my template and i would really like a bit o scout in there.

I noticed that BH and Commando are gonna cost less SP - thats a good start.

I think the devs should be freeing up more sp not making it cost more for the elite proffesions - Just put the restriction on two elite profs per toon.

Come on You know it makes sense, otherwise people will be going to new games, please dont shoot yourselves in the foot.

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#25 Mar 21 2005 at 12:07 PM Rating: Decent

selraq

1 post

Ok hang on time out, I just surrendered all my 2 handed weapon skills because they weren't necessary for TKA, and now with this combat update I'll need those skills? Thats BS, were talking 91,000 xp that I had, all gone because it wasn't needed and now it will be, somehow i dont think that is very fair.

Edited, Mon Mar 21 12:09:46 2005 by selraq

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#26 Mar 21 2005 at 12:08 PM Rating: Decent

SonsOfNaboo

1 post

Hmmmm, sounds to me like you are gonna lose even more players. What we need is more planets and quest. not make even more difficult than it already is. it is hard enough to do the DWB or the corvette. now it seems impossible. What are you thinking????

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