The following is part of the update information coming for Smuggler. Thanks Justene for the newsbyte! This is the second in a series of posts on a smuggler revamp. The goal of these posts is to discuss ideas that can be integrated into a final profession revamp proposal. In this thread we're going to talk about the contraband system and the idea of smuggling missions. These two issues will be discussed together, because they affect each other. I've thought about and written down my own conception of how a contraband system update and a new type of smuggling mission would work. These ideas aren't necessarily refined or complete. I want to create a debate through which we can work out a reasonable approach to improving the smuggler profession. Everything here is debatable, so feel free to question, discuss, or add any ideas you have. Contraband Concept The game’s contraband system will be changed to include a greater number of illegal items, a range of legality levels, and increased penalties for being found with illegal items. Legal Ranges & Punishment Items will now have a range of legality. The following legal ranges will be implemented. -Quasi-legal. A player caught with quasi-legal goods will be attacked. -Banned. A player caught with banned goods will be attacked. The player’s visibility will increase slightly for each violation. -Highly Illegal. A player caught with highly illegal goods will be attacked, the goods confiscated (if the attacked player is defeated), and the player’s visibility will increase. Highly illegal objects cannot be transported via the standard travel system by anyone other than a smuggler. The player must use the new smuggler travel system in order to move highly illegal goods. (This new system will be discussed later.) Illegal objects will display their legality in the examine properties list. A faction aligned player who is caught with contraband will lose a percentage of faction appropriate to the degree of the crime. Imperial aligned players will now only be immune to scans regarding quasi-legal goods if they have the rank of corporal or better. Old sliced weapons and armor will be converted to have the legality level of "banned.” Scan Frequency Contraband scan frequency will be somewhat increased. Scan bottlenecks will be introduced at various locations in major cities, such as starport entries and medical centers. Contraband Visibility The game's "visibility" system will be expanded. Any player can now accumulate small amounts of visibility for a contraband infraction. The amount of visibility will be dependent on the severity of the infraction. Smugglers may attempt to find out or reduce the visibility of any player by slicing a bounty hunter terminal. Failure to successfully slice the terminal will result in the smuggler being immediately added to the terminal. Clamps cannot be used in this form of slicing. (This will be a new type of slicing, not wire cutting.) More information on this is available in the slicing section. Smuggling Missions Concept Various criminal organizations throughout the galaxy have found financial success in moving illegal substances and goods from one place to another. The vehicles of these transfers are the smugglers, men and women who store their morality along side coffers full of questionable goods. The smugglers are brave and often brash individuals who risk their lives for monetary gain on a daily basis. The smuggler revamp will introduce new missions to simulate the smuggling underworld. Basic System Smuggling Missions are received from various underworld bosses, called "suppliers’. Jabba, Lady Valarian, and other key criminal characters, as well as new characters, will offer smuggling missions. Smuggling missions are only offered to smuggler characters. The difficulty of the mission will scale to the average tier level of the smuggler’s skills. At its core, a smuggling mission is similar to a delivery mission. The player is given a crate of illegal goods to move to another contact. The player must then return the payment for the goods to the source of the mission. Ex: Jabba gives the player a crate of 50 narcostims to deliver to a cantina in Mos Eisley. After the player delivers the narcostims, she receives a payment of 12,000 credits. The player then returns to Jabba and delivers 8,000 credits, pocketing 4,000 as payment for the job. There are no skill boxes specific to smuggling missions, but the smuggler’s skills in scan avoidance and slicing will come into play. Cargo Legality Smuggling mission cargo is highly illegal. Any non-smuggler caught carrying a crate of any item to be delivered from a smuggling mission will be attacked and have the cargo confiscated. Due to the illegality of the cargo, the authorities may occasionally hear about a particular supplier’s intent to move goods. Smugglers on a smuggler mission may encounter attacks from planetary or Imperial authorities, depending on the difficulty of the mission. Killing these enemies is not necessary to complete the mission. The target for a smuggling mission will only wait so long to receive the delivery. If the player does not deliver the goods within a reasonable amount of time (dependent on mission difficulty), the mission will be lost and the player will receive some visibility. Withholding Cargo The player may choose to withhold part of the delivery. In the above example, the player may choose to only deliver 30 of the narcostims to the contact in Mos Eisley. If the player chooses to withhold cargo, s/he will only be paid a portion of the actual delivery fee. The amount of the payment will be directly proportional to the amount delivered. In order to split a container of mission supplies, the smuggler must successfully slice the container’s locking mechanism. The player may also choose to withhold part of the money to be paid to the supplier. For example, the player might deliver all 50 narcostims, but only pay Jabba 6,000 credits. Withholding cargo or pay will result in the smuggler earning a small bit of visibility. Thus, a smuggler who chooses to defy the crime lords who supply her with jobs faces the possibility of execution at the hands of a hired Bounty Hunter. The more difficult the smuggling mission, the greater the visibility gained for cheating. Cargo Contents Smuggling mission cargo often contains items that are components for smuggler crafting. Narcostims, for example, might be a component used in the creation of the spice, Glitterstim. Thus, a smuggler will need to occasionally withhold some of the cargo from a mission if they wish to enter the spice business. In the interests of the player economy and current game balance, spices will remain craftable. Now, however, smugglers will "assemble" various components into spice packages, instead of chemically brewing them. Experimentation will be added...more details later in the spices discussion. Smuggling cargo may also include crates of low or mid level spices. The player may choose to withhold these spices and resell them to other players if they wish. Space Integration There will be elements of smuggler missions involving space zones & space gameplay, but I can't discuss many space details. The player may have to pick up or deliver goods in space. Players without JTL will not be required to go to space. This is an "after space ships" feature. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I can't stress enough that this is very preliminary design work. This isn't a guarantee of implementation. There is no timeframe, except "sometime after space." This is all subject to potential change. If we find out one system is going to be more work than expected, we might have to replace it with a different idea. Keep an open mind. The goal with the changes to visibility is to add more risk to the smuggling profession. Smugglers who play fast and loose with their suppliers will find bounties on their heads. Visibility will scale to the nature of the violation. Sifting a few components off the top of a delivery will only result in a minor increase, where as keeping an entire crate to yourself will result in more. The goal is to allow players a choice and scale the risk to their play style. Please discuss... Brandon Reinhart / GreenMarine SOE Designer, Star Wars Galaxies Original thread can be found here.