SWG Tales

Welcome to paid beta testing year 2! *cough*

Ekade wrote:

Novall wrote:
If you want to have any kind of say at all about the CU...then I suggest doing it. I'm not knocking you at all Ekade, cause I know I really really really dont want to grind novice profs again...its been so long. But with a change as huge as this, its really our duty to get in there and test things out. Otherwise, when something bad happens to your prof...there gonna ask if you caught it in TC before it went live. Then where ya gonna be?

If I honestly felt like I had any kind of say, I would. I don't think they would listen to me whatsoever. By the time it gets to TC, they just want to know if it works, not what we think of the design.

Franky, it is not my job to test their stuff. These things should be well tested and well balanced long before I see them.

No MMO that I have played or know of has been able to accomplish that Ekade. Its just not realistic for online games.

Novall wrote:

Ekade wrote:
Franky, it is not my job to test their stuff. These things should be well tested and well balanced long before I see them.

No MMO that I have played or know of has been able to accomplish that Ekade. Its just not realistic for online games.

/agree. If you don't want to test it, then you don't have to get on TC. However, the complexity of these games, and the fact that they are constantly changing and being improved upon means they require testing.

They honestly don't know what impact changes to one system/aspect will have on the rest of the game as a whole. Without stress testing, there is no way to be sure in a system as complex as SWG.

And from what I hear from correspondants and what the devs have said, it has been thoroughly tested already, now they just want even more of us to get in there and rip it apart!

Ekade wrote:Franky, it is not my job to test their stuff. These things should be well tested and well balanced long before I see them.

Ah.. but this is not the case. I can guarantee Sony does not have a very big internal beta team if they have one at all. They have willing customers that sign up for these beta programs. Why pay someone when people will play for free?

And who's Franky?

Jabe

From what I remember, planets such as dathomir and yavin, for certin creatues and NPC's will require grouping, so No soloing rancors or NS, also the gorax,Krayt dragons and many other creatures will be the same way.
Now You will be able to solo your professions they have said that already many times, they said they are not forcing grouping, you can solo your profession but if you want a pearl for your jedi toon, or tissues for your next big gun...find friends.

KirtViza wrote: I think we are looking at crowd control differently then they are explaining it. ....

.... if say DWI our doc/healer is getting attack and we cant seem to pull the aggro away, here comes Keer the master pistoleer to pull it away.I think crowd control has alot to do with AI aggro and who they attack so on so on

For the Crowd Control argument, I think Kirt's hit on what may be the essence. Check the Pistoleer and Carbineer role descriptions. They mention "flow of combat" and "reducing combat effectiveness". Instead of direct damage these sound like speed brakes and distractions.

The Carbineer will affect enemy attack speed it says. Denying an opponent an attack round or forcing a round to be used for changing position fits with that.

The Pistoleer will "soften up targets", "moving quickly around the field." Even now, the Pistol is the fastest fire for all weapons. Rapid shots cascading the target area could make enemies hesitate or distract attention for a short time without causing major damage. In Kirt's scenario the Pistoleer would be less a tiger's claw, but more wasp's sting. Not nuking the aggro on the Doctor, but being that mosquito swarm that you just can't resist swatting at and blinking in.

A pistol might not be scary, but...what if you had 2 of them? One for each hand, dual wielded, with rapid fire AoE like the 4th of July! (Oh Dev Lords, please deliver it to us. :lol:)

And Smuggler, the notes claim, will be the preeminent Crowd Control profession. The "new line of skills" that delay enemy action for a time could be more dirty tricks to fake out the enemy for a minute. Picture Han Solo in Episode 6, pulling the shield bunker crew outside into a trap. And again on the Death Star in Episode 4, bluffing a squad of Stormtroopers into retreat with nothing. Two cases of either pulling, or pushing the Aggro.

Guessing sucks, but it's a good skill for "Angst Control". *wink*

Call me crazy, but it looks like Smuggler is getting a lot of love lately. With the proposed revamp of actual smuggling and the evolution of the smuggler profession into an integral part of group combat, I am kinda stoked to see how it plays out. The releases have said that a smuggler will be a must for any group seeking out the high end content areas...this could rock your face off pretty hard.

Jabe Adaks wrote:

Ekade wrote:Franky, it is not my job to test their stuff. These things should be well tested and well balanced long before I see them.

Ah.. but this is not the case. I can guarantee Sony does not have a very big internal beta team if they have one at all. They have willing customers that sign up for these beta programs. Why pay someone when people will play for free?

And who's Franky?

Jabe

Don'f forget about the "Sandbox" server that has been going on now for months. Long enough ago that I had forgotten about SOA asking the correspondents to get 5 respected players from each profession's community including the non-combat professions.

Tailors were called "Team Hawt Pants". I remember that.

The Combat upgrade will be on TC today BTW.

Hate to say it but... TK getting limited? It's about damn time.
I am sick of every single decent pvper having TK. Its ridiculously overpowered.

Despite the fact that Teras Kasi were supposed to be able to contend with the jedi, I dont see anything here that says that they wont be able to. Maybe not just with TK... but you can still mix and match classes... TK is more of a "self defense". Makes sense. If you wanna be able to do huge amounts of damage, throw in the swordsman class with it.

Some abilities aren't weapon specific? Did I read that right!? AWESOME!
That means some of your heavy damaging swordsman specials could be used... in conjunction, with TK, or vice versa.

Not sure if I'm gonna keep doctor... I don't like the idea of having to be on the back lines helping people. Especially if I have a big ass scytheblade I could be swinging. Still... Self buffing, state immunity, and did I read that correctly... Speed buffs in the new combat system?

Jabe might not like my buff junkie attitude.
But still! I'm always looking for an edge in combat.

KirtViza wrote:The Combat upgrade will be on TC today BTW.

How the heck do I get in the test center?
I've never been able to figure that out.

Rebecca wrote:

KirtViza wrote:The Combat upgrade will be on TC today BTW.

How the heck do I get in the test center?
I've never been able to figure that out.

Yes I would like to know this too, anyone?

toront wrote:

Novall wrote:

Ekade wrote:
Franky, it is not my job to test their stuff. These things should be well tested and well balanced long before I see them.

No MMO that I have played or know of has been able to accomplish that Ekade. Its just not realistic for online games.

/agree. If you don't want to test it, then you don't have to get on TC. However, the complexity of these games, and the fact that they are constantly changing and being improved upon means they require testing.

They honestly don't know what impact changes to one system/aspect will have on the rest of the game as a whole. Without stress testing, there is no way to be sure in a system as complex as SWG.

And from what I hear from correspondants and what the devs have said, it has been thoroughly tested already, now they just want even more of us to get in there and rip it apart!

Oh, I understand the concept of beta. I am just saying I don't see it as my job to test their stuff. If they want to pay me to design and test their game, I would do so gladly.

One thing that I have never understood is why SOE always used a broadsword when a scalpel was more appropriate. Every "nerf" was overdone. Then never made subtle tweaks to keep things under control and balanced.

Jabe Adaks wrote:

Ekade wrote:Franky, it is not my job to test their stuff. These things should be well tested and well balanced long before I see them.

Ah.. but this is not the case. I can guarantee Sony does not have a very big internal beta team if they have one at all. They have willing customers that sign up for these beta programs. Why pay someone when people will play for free?

And who's Franky?

Jabe

Franky?

He's the guy who will be moving in with Ekade after some Zabrak who is not as funny as he thinks he is leaves for MxO.

Ekade wrote:

Jabe Adaks wrote:

Ekade wrote:Franky, it is not my job to test their stuff. These things should be well tested and well balanced long before I see them.

Ah.. but this is not the case. I can guarantee Sony does not have a very big internal beta team if they have one at all. They have willing customers that sign up for these beta programs. Why pay someone when people will play for free?

And who's Franky?

Jabe

Franky?

He's the guy who will be moving in with Ekade after some Zabrak who is not as funny as he thinks he is leaves for MxO.

Um, I'm not going anywhere. And I AM as funny as I think I am.