Game Update 5 Interview!  
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SWG General News - Jun 28, 2008 2:27 PM EDT | Posted by RainStar

RainStar: So far, Game Update 5 is shaping up to return the spirit of Pre-CU crafting. Can we look forward to seeing something similar implemented for Armorsmith, with regards to the sheer diversity of stats and how they can be made?

Neif: While we certainly don’t want to go fully pre-CU with this Update, you’re right in that there will be more diversity and stats and production for Armorsmiths. We’re doing all that we can to bring Armorsmiths back into the spotlight while still balancing the game for our non-crafting professions.

RainStar: Also on armor, what if anything is being done/planned to deal with that a Level 22 Player can wear the best armor in the game (advanced core), which makes other cores (basic, standard) useless by comparison?

Neif: This is on our plate to look at, but I can’t officially comment on a conclusion yet as the research is still underway.

RainStar: Will the team be adding more statted sub components and loot enhancers going forward, and will they have more variety than what is going into Game update 5?

Neif: The items that you’re seeing going into Update 5 are what we will be adding. Post Update, we will always continue to sprinkle in additional content for everyone – you can expect to see more loot enhancers (maybe not just for armor) in the future.

RainStar: The deconstruct option is a fascinating way to appease both combat players and crafters, by having players be able to loot/receive weapons, and then break them down into a schematic and have a crafter make it even better. Will we gradually see this option on all weapons in the game, via quest rewards, GCW and Restuss Weapons in the future? And possibly something similar on the armor side of things as well?

Neif: We are really excited about the deconstruct feature as it rewards both the combatant and the crafter. As time goes on we will try to get away from armor and weapon schematics loot drops and have everyone use the deconstruct option. Some of the Restuss weapons will use the deconstruct options with Game Update 5. As for weapons like the GCW rewards, we will need to add a feature to the system so those weapons stay bound to the owner even when crafted. Look for it in a future update!

RainStar: Gated resources are resources that have certain stats that are not bound by the 1000 cap. Generally these types of resources have a Minimum cap and a Maximum cap for that particular stat. This can be so confusing to many, especially new players who want to be a Trader. First, one has to read all the guides and hopefully be somewhat good with math. New players wanting to be a Trader have quit the game over just this part and others have quit when trying to figure out the RE system. Wasn't the purpose of the NGE to do away with a lot of the reading and difficulty like this in a profession?

Neif: Indeed – we’ve come a long way with reducing confusing aspects to Trader, but some definitely remain. We are very proud of our crafting system – it’s one of the most robust of any MMO. With such a large system, we need to have layers of depth, although we realize that we need to make those layers of depth more clear to new players. If you want to create some basic assets as a trader, make a profit, and take it easy, you can. If you want to dive deeper into the crafting system and fine tune your work, you’ll have to get your hands dirty and start tinkering with the minutiae. The key here is to make accessible options for both types of players.

RainStar: There was a popular request to make all armor "skins" just that -- skins. This means that the real quality of the armor depends on the cores used, not the base skin. Therefore, you could take a Tantel skin, and put in assault cores to make a set of Tantel assault armor. This way we could have the "look" we want without being restricted to one type of armor like BH's and Officers are in their expertise (assault and battle respectively). The devs, a couple updates back, said they were looking into separating Munitions this way, so that armor appearance was just an appearance and not the actual armor. Any news on this? How about the same thing with weapons? (also was discussed along with Smugglers slicing/looting components to upgrade armor/weapons).

Neif: In Game Update 5 we have converted weaponsmithing over to use a core style system where most of a weapon’s stats are determined in the weapon core and then passed up to any appearance you put that core in. This offers the crafter a considerable amount of customization options for weapons. We didn’t want to fully unlink the armor appearances from the assault, battle or reconnaissance model. For example, if you see a player in Chitin Armor you know he is using assault armor and also know what weapon style would be most beneficial to use against him. We didn’t want to remove this tactical element of combat.

RainStar: Is there any way we can get the Weaponsmith side of Munitions/Engineering straightened out? Right now Engineers make half the weapons, but they can't experiment and make the top quality weapons like Munitions can, and Munitions get a lot of the higher-end certs. Any way we can simplify this to either let them both get Weaponsmith, or give one of them melee weapons and the other ranged weapons? The current system has cost Engineers a lot of business with regards to the new high-end weapon loots in instances that only Munitions can craft near max.

Neif: With Update 5, crafting player weapons will fall solely on the shoulders of the Munitions Traders. Engineering is losing the capabilities to craft player weapons and making room for them to craft droid weapons in an upcoming Chapter. We weren’t really happy (and neither with the players) with having a profession that could craft identical items as another profession -- and the items were far worse. We anticipate that engineers will see an uptake in business with the future addition of Droid Commander.

RainStar: Will you be looking into the lack of randomness when it comes to the elements received upon separation of the hydro enzyme and the possibility of adding some sort of device or consumable to morph them to a different element? Currently the elements are more of one kind instead of a mix.

Neif: We aren’t planning on changing the way you refine the hydrolase. We set it up so that there is a random element to keep the crafters continuing to process those hydros until they get the very best five of a kind to use in a beast, be it through crafting or trading with another beast master. What better way to be a trader than to trade other people your excess of one good element for their excess elements?

RainStar: As of now we have no information on the changes in expertise. Are there plans in at least a slight reduction in point costs to be a full fighting BM?

Neif: The amount of expertise points spent by beast masters is designed to prevent them from taking the very best combat expertise of other professions and mixing that with the power of a maxed-out beast. Ideally, the beast gives them just as much power as the expertise a character would spend in their core profession.

RainStar: Have you considered making a requirement in quality for a pet to be stuffable? Say a certain number of hydro points or a certain level or BFF before giving the stuff option. At least that would keep the market from being overwhelmed.

Neif: For now, we’d like all beast masters to be able to stuff their beloved pets. No discriminating on their qualities.

RainStar: Will we possibly see the addition of pet modifiers in the form of attachments, food and entertainer buffs? Also from the entertainer side of things, how about possibly adding some sort of crafting buff that would reduce the incubation time and/or bring some sort of quality bonus to the pet or a mutation bonus?

Neif: Right now we don’t have any planned interaction for beasts and entertainers. However, we did put in some more reverse engineering items that could help beast masters during the incubation process

RainStar: I know its late for this update but as things are right now, the expense of making a 60 point pet and the cost of making the purchase are high for the casual player. After comparing the 60 pointers to say the 25 to 30 pointers, the differences between the two are much less than the average player knows. Could more be done to widen the gap between the very elite pets and the so so pets? If not, will the resource cost on crafting be taken down any?

Neif: The thought that a 60-point pet is a by-product of the player’s desire to have the very best beast they can craft. We didn’t want to set up a system where anything but the 60-point pets was useless, hence a 30-point pet is still very viable in combat and accessible for casual players. If a player must have the best beast it is going to cost top-end resources for the privilege.

RainStar: Have you ever been a beast master in SWG?

Neif: I was actually a creature handler back in the day! I was really excited when we began work on the beast master – it was a great opportunity to refine what worked with CH and add on the mutation game / pet loyalty aspects that were missing with the original system. I think the beast master profession achieves a great balance between casual players who just want a pet and to create their creatures, and a full engineering beast master who wants to make top notch, high-end creatures.

RainStar: What are your thoughts on mutations and the upcoming BM pass??

Neif: Going back to the previous question, I think mutations serve a great purpose to offer an increased, exclusive reward to players who put their all into their DNA engineering. Mutations serve as that ultimate high-end ceiling, and the visually mutated creatures are instantly recognizable as something new and intimidating for new players. Okay, maybe the mutated chuba isn’t intimidating, but it still looks cool!

We have some great enhancements in there, mainly systematic stuff that makes beast master life more enjoyable. Beast happiness is now easier to keep, new coloring of pets will make some crazy sights to see, new special attacks, and bazaar clean-up all just help out the profession. The great thing is, Beast Master is an expandable profession, meaning we can always introduce new content for that profession in the form of new DNA, new mutations, etc. We’re looking at Hoth as a potential place to add a beast master reward as well.
Destruction option is wel cool ! - dat je een wapen kan destructen tot een schematic, welke weer door een Weapon Smith beter gemaakt kan worden .