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Strongholds: current locations and "new" locations


OlBuzzard

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With the release of each new update (such as 6.0) I'm quite certain that a number of us are looking forward to the possibilities of "new" SH locations to be opened up.

 

As I understand it these are the current locations:

1. Coruscant

2. Dromund Kaas

3. Nar Shaddaa

4. Tatooine

5. Yavin 4

6. Manaan

7. Rishi

8. Umbara "Mobile"

 

Here are a couple of ideas that seem to have come up more than once. And perhaps a few ideas to go with the requests for those locations.

 

***Space Station Type***

A. Location: My personal thought on this would be to initially locate it on the outer rim. This might work well with the current story and fit well with the past stories whether LS or DS. ALSO … as a possible suggestion it should be considered to be able to relocate what sector of space (based on current map) to relocate to for a "nominal charge either in CC or credits".

B. Design features

This station should have:

1. An over all design style on the interior that simular to the "City in the Clouds" from Star Wars "The Empire Strikes Back". Development would use their discretion to design as needed or desired .. just make it fun and unique !

2. At least one observation deck to view the open stars around us … This would be a great view from a "clear domed area in the center top or bottom … that gives a breath taking view of space. This would be a real challenge for the team.. but IMO … worth it ! Design MIGHT include a loading dock for player ship.

3. Larger than Manaan ... but NOT LARGER than Nar Shaddaa.

 

***Hoth / Private Chalet [ see edit #2 at bottom] ***

A. Location: "summer resort" on Hoth :D .. JK .. You get the idea. Still will freeze the snow and keep things on ice... but a place on Hoth where the ski slopes close by will be nice. And yet … what a view. The development team knows exactly what I'm talking about !! ;)

 

B. Design suggestions. Go wild with this one. Part inside (maybe even build part of it in the side of a mountain... ) Not too large (Larger than Manaan ) … but don't over do it ! The one thing that I might suggest would be a ski slope that a player could guide their toon down the side of a long stretch for a run. AND .. a private lift back to the top ! (Just a thought). This could be really fun !

 

 

EDIT: Some have made these suggestions … so have I (in another part of the forum board ) .. but these are just my thoughts on these ideas ....

 

EDIT #2 It has been called to my attention that a good alternate location for the chalet might be Alderaan. This might be a possible compromise … As long as we get the ski lift !

 

EDIT #2 expansion :

Think of this as a winter resort / retreat / complete with a very nice ski run (and lift) ; landing pad for a ship; out door view. It's size and functionality somewhere between Mannan and Nar Sahddaa… but with a totally new look that works with the ski resort / chalet concept.

 

Go for it dev team !!

Edited by OlBuzzard
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  • 1 month later...
A Hoth stronghold would be great if the interior was warm. Or at least had warm areas. I am not talking about ice on ceiling and snow on floor with a furnace in one area melting things. I am talking about sealed warm environments (preferably with large windows looking out on the frozen tundra). The rest of the stronghold, like the docking areas and secret caves and whatnnot can be frozen cold places.
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I would be happy with any planet... IF...

 

* There are plenty of Flooring (rug) and ceiling hooks. Especially ones centered under Large and Centerpiece combo hooks.

 

* We can get to all the hooks. I'm tired of Starships hooks that I can't reach (IE: Nar Shaddaa, Manaan, and Umbara hooks).

 

* The hooks aren't bugged. IE: you can remove decorations (Yavin 4, DK issues), jukeboxes play properly (Nar Shaddaa issues).

 

* No hooks with bad rotation (Manaan), that don't sit properly on a wall (Yavin 4), that stick inside the wall (Imperial guild flagship), or that stick in the floor (both guild flagships, Rishi).

 

* There are some rooms with flat walls. Not tilted, not with things sticking out, not with fat floorboards/wainscoting. I like to put things up against walls, not just have free-standing arrangements in the middle of rooms.

 

And for a bonus...

 

* Put a MEDIUM WALL hook near the elevator. You gave us Elevator holo signs and there is not a single Medium Wall hook to place one near an elevator. (Better yet, make that deco work on Small wall hooks, too!)

 

* Make sure all Starship hooks can convert into different hook configurations.

 

* Give us some very high ceilings. Too many Ceiling decos stick through the floor at a standard ceiling height.

Edited by Xina_LA
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A Hoth stronghold would be great if the interior was warm. Or at least had warm areas. I am not talking about ice on ceiling and snow on floor with a furnace in one area melting things. I am talking about sealed warm environments (preferably with large windows looking out on the frozen tundra). The rest of the stronghold, like the docking areas and secret caves and whatnnot can be frozen cold places.

 

I can agree with this completely... Just because it's on Hoth there is no reason to make it a dreary dead zone. My idea of a chalet … is VERY nice and cozy. A user friendly environment with perhaps what might be seen as a true resort for R & R … a place you would WANT to go !

 

And I suppose that is why some have suggested the alternate of Alderaan.

 

IMO … I can see that !

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I would be happy with any planet... IF...

 

* There are plenty of Flooring (rug) and ceiling hooks. Especially ones centered under Large and Centerpiece combo hooks.

 

* We can get to all the hooks. I'm tired of Starships hooks that I can't reach (IE: Nar Shaddaa, Manaan, and Umbara hooks).

 

* The hooks aren't bugged. IE: you can remove decorations (Yavin 4, DK issues), jukeboxes play properly (Nar Shaddaa issues).

 

* No hooks with bad rotation (Manaan), that don't sit properly on a wall (Yavin 4), that stick inside the wall (Imperial guild flagship), or that stick in the floor (both guild flagships, Rishi).

 

* There are some rooms with flat walls. Not tilted, not with things sticking out, not with fat floorboards/wainscoting. I like to put things up against walls, not just have free-standing arrangements in the middle of rooms.

 

And for a bonus...

 

* Put a MEDIUM WALL hook near the elevator. You gave us Elevator holo signs and there is not a single Medium Wall hook to place one near an elevator. (Better yet, make that deco work on Small wall hooks, too!)

 

* Make sure all Starship hooks can convert into different hook configurations.

 

* Give us some very high ceilings. Too many Ceiling decos stick through the floor at a standard ceiling height.

 

I like this !!

 

Apply this to either one of the two suggestions … and we have a definite winning combo !!

 

(nicely done BTW... )

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My suggestions are:

 

A Kaliyo styled apartment-smaller than Coruscant/DK with plenty of hooks, an outdoor patio and a starship hangar.

 

A Copero styled estate- as large as Tatooine with epic views

 

A space station- akin to Port Nowhere with options to move to new orbital locations.

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To add some more ideas for room decos:

 

This came to mind after reading the request for rooms with higher ceilings.

 

Decorations for room with modest ceilings IMO it is correct that many of the larger decos we have reach into the celling (particularly statues … etc. Many of those are intended for outside use or use near entrances of various sorts.

 

I also think that we need more decos that would work inside of just about any room that simply would fit better. This is not a negative indictment of development of current decorations available. I do, however, believe that we should see some more decos made available that would work in rooms with a moderate ceiling height.

 

I would also like to see more items to help create a "theme" of sorts. There are literally hundreds of possibilities here.

 

I have noticed several items from Onderon that would be REALLY nice:

1. The taxidermy mounted Wampa beast (and a few others.. but particularly the Wampa) that is found in the hunting lodge .

2. Several pieces of furniture scattered throughout the main building … flower arrangements as well.

3. Small artifacts found scattered in the game …

 

There is already a really nice wall relief that I have purchased several of from the rep dealer in Onderon ( A big thanks to development team for that nice wall deco !! ). A few more wall decos like that would be VERY nice.

 

Along those lines I'd like to see more decos (like the wall relief and the afore mentioned Wampa beast) found at the rep dealer instead of just the CM.

 

BTW... it should be noted that IMO we have all sorts of cantina decos … it would be good to see some other really nice arrangements that would reflect something else as well.

 

Sorry for the mess !! Just some random thoughts I thought I'd like to share as long as we're in that kind of mode.

 

I hope this doesn't take away from the idea of still looking forward to some NEW LOCATIONS !!

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I'd love to have the new Floor and Wall taxidermy decorations. They would make great trophies!

 

There is a new Onderon pack available through the CM... and it's pretty nice. BUT... I'd love to have access to more items (similar to the palace decos) as well as the ones we've just mentioned. And yes .. a few floor and wall taxidermy items would be great !!

(maybe even a SWTOR version of a LMB !! ) :D:D:D

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I dont really care where the stronghold is, but personally i would love Korriban. I only have 1 request/suggestion: like the statues in Yavin 4 are changed with moss and green fluff to suit the theme of the stronghold, can we plz have this on the new stronghold aswell so it fits the theme? For example if the new stronghold is on Hooth its suitable that statyes and other decos are covered with ice and frost.
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I dont really care where the stronghold is, but personally i would love Korriban. I only have 1 request/suggestion: like the statues in Yavin 4 are changed with moss and green fluff to suit the theme of the stronghold, can we plz have this on the new stronghold aswell so it fits the theme? For example if the new stronghold is on Hooth its suitable that statyes and other decos are covered with ice and frost.

 

I would be interesting to see if they development team were able to take a common item (statue or speeder for example) … and if it were displayed in various environments .. (ie Hoth) … then perhaps there would automatically have certain "affects" such as snow / frost / ice "affects" appearing on those items.

 

I'm not sure if that would be possible. There would have to be (from a programming stand point of view) a series of "if / then" related entries to indicate WHERE that environment was … then the desired affects displayed on the item in question. PLUS … if that item (such as a speeder for example) were able to fly from one location to another on a planet where different environments were available … at what point would that change.

 

At lot of work to enhance the esthetics of a game … BUT it would certainly do a LOT for the emersion in a game.

 

On a final note: this would be much the same added detail as the "sunlight" affects that BW added in the fleet stations / forests … etc. in the latest (6.0) release.

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Well, some of the decorations already become mossy, wet, dusty, or rusty depending on which stronghold you put them in, I don't see why they couldn't add ice... unless they already thought of future expansion and have an ice effect ready to go.
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Well, some of the decorations already become mossy, wet, dusty, or rusty depending on which stronghold you put them in, I don't see why they couldn't add ice... unless they already thought of future expansion and have an ice effect ready to go.

 

hmmm … interesting.

 

Ya know … that same "affect" whether … ice … dust clouds or dirt swept areas or other weather related items could really make this game very interesting from an esthetic / art work point of view. I've already noticed several improvements along the way.

 

Hopefully we will continue to see this sort of attention to detail in our next new SH … preferably one that is either in the form of a Space Station (as mentioned earlier) … or as a Chalet (ski resort) . ;)

 

(yeah … I know … yet another shameless plug !) :D

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Personally I would love to see a ship stronghold. Similar to the guild ship just smaller and designed as a player base of operations/home. Something you can move to different planets (i.e. the view out the window changes, and you have the option to exit to that planet when you leave). The mechanics for both of these are already in the game. I would also love to see a hanger with your personal starship docked in it...which you can go on and leave if you want.

 

I know some people will say "then we wouldn't need guild ships". But that is not true. You still need guild ships for conquest, for group summons, for a huge place to gather or do events, etc. Plus, few people will ever be involved in decorating a guild ship (it is usually just the GM and a few officers that do all of it).

 

In fact, I would love to see two type of personal ship strongholds. A warship (corvette), and a luxury ship (hutt style). Just think of all the decoration packs BW could sell on the Cartel Market. And, many of the decorations they design could be used to decorate guild ships as well. So, it would be a money maker for them as well.

 

It just makes sense that such a hero as your character becomes would have command (ownership) of a larger ship than just his personal craft. Heck, you could even make it part of the story. I.e. when you finish rise of the hutt cartel you gain access to purchase the hutt luxury ship stronghold. When you finish KOTFE you gain access to a warship stronghold.

 

A personal ship stronghold just seems the next logical step to me. We already have a good variety of planet-side strongholds. We already have most of the tools developed to make it (guild ships, views of different planets, instant planet travel, environments that can be modified and re-textured, etc.). It is something that would need new decorations (so cartel market transactions and purchase of cartel coins for BW). It is something different. It makes sense to the story. And, I think a lot of people would like a ship stronghold (i.e. a larger ship they can decorate). And, a corvette would be about the right size of a stronghold (i.e nar shadda, manaan stronghold size...maybe even a little bigger).

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While I do like some of the improvements, such as weathering effects on statues, many of them I don't like.

For example, too many decorations now have sound FX, making many of my rooms an unpleasant cacophony of buzzing, beeping, humming, and chirping.

 

I also don't understand making upgrades nobody requested in the forums, while not fixing outstanding bugs.

Especially bugs that stop people from using decorations they paid real money (Cartel Coins) to get.

Edited by Xina_LA
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While I do like some of the improvements, such as weathering effects on statues, many of them I don't like.

For example, too many decorations now have sound FX, making many of my rooms an unpleasant cacophony of buzzing, beeping, humming, and chirping.

 

I also don't understand making upgrades nobody requested in the forums, while not fixing outstanding bugs.

Especially bugs that stop people from using decorations they paid real money (Cartel Coins) to get.

 

hmmm

 

Valid point. Also some times ambient noise or sounds should have a separate "adjustment" in S/H … perhaps separate from normal in game ambient sounds... All too frequently it's personal taste. And as such "making personal adjustments" might be a good thing !!

 

I believe that someone in another thread requested that the outside noise of traffic on the Coruscant was overwhelming. Frankly it can be. IMO .. when inside the building the sound should be a bit less while inside of the SH. Perhaps that should be another suggestion is that "ambient" sounds IN STRONG HOLDS be "adjustable" ???

 

The over all shadowing and lighting affects are fine: particularly the new ones !!

 

Bug squashing is always a good solid step to ensure better customer relations in any game .. or company who deals with productions / products. It's just good common sense.

 

I'm glad that BW has addressed several SH bugs in the past. I sincerely hope that they continue to strive for the highest possible mark in future Strong Holds …

 

Which brings me back to the start of this thread. I really am looking forward to the possibilities.

 

I was just thinking this evening what it would be like to log in and show up in a SH that is a space station with a domed room … observation deck. If done correctly that should be an absolutely breath taking view. Yes it would be a real challenge for the 3-D graphics designers … but WOW !! what a view !!

 

Schussing down the snow covered mountain side and a tram ride back to a beautiful chalet … Oh yeah !! ;)

 

What ?? You thought I'd pass up another chance like this for another plug ???

 

:D:D:D

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Well folks .. the new SH is available on PTS. I would strongly recommend that you look at it. I have.

 

 

If You like big castles similar to the house of Organa …. then you're in luck. From a technical stand point of view it is really nice. But for me personally … I really was hoping for something different. There is even a Killik cave. The Killiks were also the one thing in the original story that I would have probably done something different. I'm not going to run down the development team over this. They made a choice. They have done very good work. Yes there are a few tweaks to be made... but over all for those who were looking for a representation of Alderaan theme for the SH... I'm certain that it will NOT disappoint.

 

As for me personally … I guess I'll just hang out with what I have for now.... make a few minor changes in the decorum .. And just sit tight to see if one of the other ideas happen.

 

 

I would recommend the new SH to those who like the style described …

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