Suggestion for before the FRS is officially ready...

[keylorn]

Let me preface this by saying this is a constructive idea post and not a FRS complaint post.

Since the full FRS system is not coming in the near future, and it makes sense as to why, I have a suggestion that I've ran by others who loved it:

1) Enable the rankings system
2) Disable rank skill bonuses
3) Allow us to play for Force Ranking XP and climb/maintain the ranks
4) The point? To play and compete for the higher rank titles. (Jedi Sentinel, Jedi Consular, Dark Jedi Enforcer, Dark Jedi Templar, etc)

There would be no issue to worry about in regards to balancing combat as no skill bonuses change. The balance of combat would be literally exactly the same as it is now. It would promote PVP--Jedi would want to compete for their titles. When Jedi who are forced to be overt are in combat, guilds will defend their people. It is fun for everyone. It would even change the Bounty Hunter vs Jedi dynamic for the better as it would generate more action. I haven't spoken to any Bounty Hunters, but when they realize it will make certain Jedi come out of their houses they will want it just as much as the Jedi themselves.

Thoughts?

[2sproductions]

I do like this idea, this will enable awakening to get the FRS sooner than expected. However the issue will remain that jedi wont be able to kill jedi. Considering the FRS bonuses is what enabled a higher ranked jedi to kill a lower class jedi. So no matter what balance changes will still need to be made to allow jedi to actually fight and kill the opposite faction jedi.

[keylorn]

I do like this idea, this will enable awakening to get the FRS sooner than expected. However the issue will remain that jedi wont be able to kill jedi. Considering the FRS bonuses is what enabled a higher ranked jedi to kill a lower class jedi. So no matter what balance changes will still need to be made to allow jedi to actually fight and kill the opposite faction jedi.

That is one of the balancing issues that I am sure will be addressed in the future. But in the interim, this is just something to give the players without changing the actual system itself as it works right now. It's up to us how we use it. Jedi can choose to fight alone. We can fight in groups. We can fight with our guilds. We also get FRS XP from killing Bounty Hunters. If skill modifiers for moving up in the frs ranks are disabled, and we get only titles for moving up, then unless there is something I am not considering we will not be fundamentally changing anything about how the game is played right now other than creating a reason for people to play more which I view as a good thing.

[2sproductions]

agreed, this option would allow it to be entered into the game without changing the actual aspect of the jedi besides robes.

[Cynar]

There's a lot more to it than just turning on rankings for titles. You are talking about recoding a section just to accommodate titles. I think it's a lot more simple since our coding staff is small to keep on track and get the village done first, rather than stop what they are doing to rework something that isn't what it needs to be. Jedi have really had plenty of attention already and don't need anymore until the base professions are complete.

While I do like and applaud the idea, our dev time is better spent on implementing A, fixing B & C, instead of jumping to D and making it something pretty for the short term.

exa:
A- Village
B- Jedi leveling
C- Knight trials
D- FRS

[keylorn]

There's a lot more to it than just turning on rankings for titles. You are talking about recoding a section just to accommodate titles. I think it's a lot more simple since our coding staff is small to keep on track and get the village done first, rather than stop what they are doing to rework something that isn't what it needs to be. Jedi have really had plenty of attention already and don't need anymore until the base professions are complete.

While I do like and applaud the idea, our dev time is better spent on implementing A, fixing B & C, instead of jumping to D and making it something pretty for the short term.

exa:
A- Village
B- Jedi leveling
C- Knight trials
D- FRS

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my idea Cynar.

In regards to the points above about the village, Jedi can already unlock. Jedi can already grind. The Knight trials already function. Don't get me wrong, these are amazing changes that are going to push this server to the next level. But this change in the short term would have a positive impact on the entire server in generating more action for the players. It would also bring in new players from other servers who would be attracted to the PvP and the new feature. SWGEmu is LOADED with players who would love a hard mode server like ours that has PvP action. This would be best for the servers long term growth and future, no?

Also, I have a question that I didn't consider when I made this post. At Knight, the Rank Member box, the skill modifier bonus don't seem to be enabled or working. Would the other bonuses throughout the ranks even be working as things are right now? If not, what is there to change in the code other than turning on the FRS at all and letting it run with broken skill modifiers?

Once again, I'm not trying to be argumentative. I appreciate your willingness to engage in dialog on the topic and explain to me why or why this can't happen in regards to these specifics around the balancing and coding aspects so that we can understand what's up. We know this is a hobby project and are being patient, and just like to understand and stay informed. This project has an amazing staff who make this the best swg server there is.

Thank you all for your time as always,

-keylorn

[Cynar]

No problem man, as long as it's civil and not demanding I don't mind responding. I don't do much these days except talk with the staff, give occasional advice, and check the server logs. I would try to give you more details, but our devs we have working have very limited time to explain some of the why's and why nots. Lets just say they have a tangible roadmap that they work by with time allotted and what they think it is possible to accomplish in their timeframe.

I have seen their roadmap, which I won't call it a roadmap anymore, more dev scribbles than anything. They have a lot that has been worked on and been in private testing the last 8 months. Much of which brings in fixes and stabilization of core code and a bit of custom features to help staff not have to police the players as much as we've had to. I won't go much further than that.

I have left a lot out as per request of the dev team. When they feel things are ready to open for public testing then it can become more public discussion. As for the FRS, well it will happen I can promise you and it will be more than titles and robes. Awakening doesn't push out updates as fast as we used to because it's easier to test the hell out of something then it is to clean up player and object databases for 3 weeks as a result of being impatient.

I know a lot of other servers try to impress by posting updates weekly or bi-monthly. Trust me, they are making minor changes to lua scripts and making it look like they did a lot of work. When really the code was already there, they just turned something on or off and made a changes to some names. We are in slow & steady mode here and will be for the foreseeable future. The game just passed it's 13th anniversary this summer and isn't getting any younger. We have a lot of competition to contend with between consoles and other mmo's these days. Stick around, more to come in the near future!

[Drakathos]

I got an easy fix for the jedi vs. jedi, we all just wear pink hawtpants problem solved! Join the movement of pink hawtpants!

[JohnFromSteam]

I got an easy fix for the jedi vs. jedi, we all just wear pink hawtpants problem solved! Join the movement of pink hawtpants!