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Beast Master Expertise System

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TIE
Wildlife Photographer
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Joined: Sat Sep 11, 2004 10:29 pm
Location: Eclipse

Postby TIE » Tue Apr 10, 2007 2:31 pm

[url]http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/posts/list.m?topic_id=299298[/url]

It is common on TC very soon and then ingame!
Master Pikewoman, 8)
Master Creature Handler,
A little bit of Medic,
Oh and don't forget some scout!
martyk
Expert Kashyyyk Biologist
Expert Kashyyyk Biologist
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Location: THE FIRES OF MOUNT DOOM!
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Postby martyk » Mon Apr 16, 2007 12:03 pm

Ooh! In this new light I'm even getting excited about this. Not enough to rejoin SWG but enough to monitor this very closely.
SHAZAM!
velm
Posts: 87
Joined: Fri Nov 26, 2004 7:01 pm
Location: Bloodfin

Postby velm » Mon Apr 16, 2007 6:37 pm

i dont have too much of a warm fuzzy since they made it an expertise system. a fair amount of the new professions rely heavily on expertise.

commando looks to be the best profession to put points into BM as they not gain that many specials from expertise.
MCH/Master Scout/ Rifleman 2/2/1/3/ Ranger 0/0/3/0

(actually, i dropped the ranger and became a master rifleman before the NGE)
r0zm4n
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Apr 20, 2007 8:56 am

Postby r0zm4n » Fri Apr 20, 2007 8:59 am

[color=orange:602a0ee302]boo hiss my old account here got toasted :(

no matter! CH is coming back and I thought I'd see if SWGC was going to rise phoenix like from the ashes :D

Here's hoping.

/xx

Cass[/color:602a0ee302]
TIE
Wildlife Photographer
Wildlife Photographer
Posts: 37
Joined: Sat Sep 11, 2004 10:29 pm
Location: Eclipse

Postby TIE » Sat Apr 21, 2007 11:05 am

More info on the incubators. :D

[url]http://starwarsgalaxies.station.sony.com/players/content.vm?id=66936&resource=features[/url]
Master Pikewoman, 8)

Master Creature Handler,

A little bit of Medic,

Oh and don't forget some scout!
r0zm4n
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Apr 20, 2007 8:56 am

Postby r0zm4n » Mon Apr 23, 2007 4:40 am

[color=orange:6d649113e0]I'm grinding up an ent on TC (along with about a squillion other folks) :lol:

Should make CL90 before Ch6 hits, give me a good chance to check out BM before it hits live.

I'm really looking forward to this.

/xx

Cass[/color:6d649113e0]
Iakimo
Field Biologist
Field Biologist
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Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 10:31 am
Location: Somewhere north of Bree. (\"Oh... real life? Erm... Huntsville, AL... I think...\")

Postby Iakimo » Mon Apr 23, 2007 5:12 pm

Hmmm... that 3x-mutated rancor looks like a nightmare -- and an honest-to-goodness Triceratops-type mutant? The Mutation/Incubation system sounds like pretty good stuff for former bioengineers.

Let me ask you this: Are natural creatures of the same level still identical in their stats? For example, are Gaping Spiders now presenting some sort of variation in their effects on players from what you would expect if you were fighting, say, a Reptilian Flyer or a Bull Rancor? In other words, have the devs reintroduced things like DoT-based damage and varying resistances and armor ratings among creatures?

And also, I'd heard the devs had significantly toned down the level-based damage multipliers. One of the lingering bits of resentment I harbor from all the way back to the Combat \"Upgrade\" was seeing creatures become instant death or desultory one-shot kills based solely on their level. Can anyone give me a fair assessment of the state of affairs with this issue? I keep wondering if the devs have finally figured out that pasting a level-based character system on top of an environment built for a unilevel, attributes-driven system was a BAD idea.

That said, I'm still rooting for the SWG Emulator Project.
Iakimo Wioga, Jedi Padawan
Former Master Bounty Hunter/Master Creature Handler

SOE SUCKS!!!
r0zm4n
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Apr 20, 2007 8:56 am

Re:

Postby r0zm4n » Tue Apr 24, 2007 7:26 am

[quote:dee3d0d8ca=\"Iakimo\"]
Let me ask you this: Are natural creatures of the same level still identical in their stats? For example, are Gaping Spiders now presenting some sort of variation in their effects on players from what you would expect if you were fighting, say, a Reptilian Flyer or a Bull Rancor? In other words, have the devs reintroduced things like DoT-based damage and varying resistances and armor ratings among creatures?[/quote:dee3d0d8ca]

[color=orange:dee3d0d8ca]funny you should ask :P from Blixtev, yesterday:[/color:dee3d0d8ca]

[quote:dee3d0d8ca=\"Blixtev\"]
With our newest code about to hit TC I wanted to give you some heads up about some combat additions. In order to add some flavor to Beasts we added quite a few special abilities for them, something like 70+ variations and levels. We added these specials to appropriate level NPCs and creatures as well. Another big addition is the addition of a variety of combat stats players can tweak on their Beasts during incubation. These stats will also be found on Wild NPCs and creatures. You will see things like dodge, misses, criticals being applied to you from the NPC/Creature side. Some of these stats also found their way onto player characters. Over all combat should be a bit more interesting. A feedback thread will be going up in the next few days.

Just wanted to give everyone a bit of a warning, be wary when you venture into the wilds, and the team really hopes you enjoy Chapter 6!
[/quote:dee3d0d8ca]

[quote:dee3d0d8ca=\"Iakimo\"]
And also, I'd heard the devs had significantly toned down the level-based damage multipliers. One of the lingering bits of resentment I harbor from all the way back to the Combat \"Upgrade\" was seeing creatures become instant death or desultory one-shot kills based solely on their level. Can anyone give me a fair assessment of the state of affairs with this issue? I keep wondering if the devs have finally figured out that pasting a level-based character system on top of an environment built for a unilevel, attributes-driven system was a BAD idea.

That said, I'm still rooting for the SWG Emulator Project.[/quote:dee3d0d8ca]

[color=orange:dee3d0d8ca]short answer, No. The same problem still exists to the extent that if you're cl30 and you shoot a cl80 mob it's just a quick trip back to town via the cloner. The flip side is, that for the longest time, if you're a high CL, the entire game was a walk in the park. We're never going to get back the days of danger and excitement where a random mob of shaupauts on naboo could cause trouble for the hardiest of vets, the outcry from the NGE wusses would be deafening. What I can say, hand on heart, is that the game systems are finally in a place where a PreCU and PostNGE vet could say honestly that it's back together and working pretty darn well.

If you are an old vet thinking of returning do yourself a *HUGE* favour. We all luv to catch that 'great game luv' bug, don't gimp yourself from the outset. If you come in and see that everything's different (and trust me EVERYTHING is different) don't see it as a brick wall to you reliving the old days and give up. Learn the new system and you'll like it, seriously, it's pretty smooth now and there's lots to love and get excited about.

Either that or wait until the completed chimmy-emu goes live.. sometime after hell freezed over I suspect :twisted: [/color:dee3d0d8ca]
martyk
Expert Kashyyyk Biologist
Expert Kashyyyk Biologist
Posts: 165
Joined: Sat Nov 27, 2004 4:42 pm
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Contact:

Postby martyk » Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:24 am

Ok, have you even taken a look at the Emulator? It's nearing completion, they already have beta servers up. As many NGE players have said themselves, don't knock something you know nothing about.

I will, however agree with you that the NGE is a good game. However, in my opinion, and I'm sure the opinion of many others, it just isn't the game we fell in love with and, well, we're bitter about it getting mauled. I myself will admit that I like the NGE, it is fun, though not as much as old SWG and not enough to spend $25 on a month.
SHAZAM!
Iakimo
Field Biologist
Field Biologist
Posts: 88
Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 10:31 am
Location: Somewhere north of Bree. (\"Oh... real life? Erm... Huntsville, AL... I think...\")

Postby Iakimo » Tue Apr 24, 2007 4:29 pm

Heh... \"pretty smooth\"... well, I did burn a game card over the Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays, just to see how SWG was doing. I got so bored with it, I didn't even sign on after a couple weeks. The game had basically devolved into Commando Wars, with players indiscriminately spamming volleys of high explosives and medic area heals (complete with their gaudy \"magical-looking\" particle effects) into gigantic furball melees. And of course, there was my Elder Jedi in the middle of it all, suffering not a whisper of collateral damage. And all those gaudy effects brought my aging Athlon-XP 1700 to its knees.

About the only productive thing I did was offer up a rant or two on the SWG Forum, explaining why I was still disappointed with the game, and to express wait-and-see-type support for their development of the \"Beast Master\" profession. Basically, the two main issues I cited were as I'd indicated in my earlier post: I do NOT like the way the level-based system segregates what was once a giant, heterogenous set of playgrounds into isolated zones; and the utter lack of statistical diversity in the in-game species.

Egad, could it be that the devs have actually [i:b5f69c6abc]listened[/i:b5f69c6abc] to our complaints after all this time?

The development of the new Beast Master system was an interesting first step. The restoration of diversity in creature stats and abilities is a second step. Still, even if I extrapolate those two elements onto the game-as-it-was as of Dec. '06, I personally would still say SWG has a LONG way to go before it's worth playing again. BUT, it's not such a long way that I couldn't conceive them getting it done.

Basically, I think the next step would be for the player community to get across the point that the current system, with it's 90 character levels, is basically like having 90 games in one package for the devs to balance in [i:b5f69c6abc]some[/i:b5f69c6abc] way. In short, a 90-level system is a game-balance nightmare, for which the only viable solution is have 90 separate regions (more or less) for characters to play in. That's the standard approach -- basically have a world chopped up into [i:b5f69c6abc]Risk[/i:b5f69c6abc]-looking zones, in which everything in that zone is roughly of the same level. But here's the problem: A set of \"zones\" is NOT a \"world.\"

What I miss of classic SWG was the open, expansive feel of the in-game environments. I actually [i:b5f69c6abc]felt[/i:b5f69c6abc] like I was exploring worlds. Today's game is still free of obvious visual borders, but the cohesiveness of the environment is gone. Perhaps a way to put this to the devs would be to point out that having a system with 90 character \"levels\" (each segregated by whatever drastic level-based damage multipliers are in effect these days) leads to the requirement for them to develop 90 separate \"gamelets,\" rather than a single, solid GAME.

The question hanging over the devs in this \"90-gamelet\" scenario is, do they have the sack to actually DEVELOP all 90 of those gamelets? I think not.

What do you think? Anyone think such a presentation of the issue might get the devs to thinking?

Basically, I would like to see a system in which a character's power is not determined so much by a behind-the-scenes multiplier, as by incremental increases in accuracy, evasiveness, and the ability to use better and more powerful equipment. The characters' \"hit points\" (aside from buffs) and general toughness remained relatively constant throughout their development. The way I see it, THIS (aside from the flexible pre-CU profession system) was the defining characteristic of the pre-CU combat system.

Would such a revival alienate the kiddies playing post-NGE SWG? Impossible for me to say. I'm not sure how many people in the current game are \"kiddies,\" and who are adults. All I
Iakimo Wioga, Jedi Padawan

Former Master Bounty Hunter/Master Creature Handler



SOE SUCKS!!!

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