COMMUNITY

Contents:

1. Basic Proposal
2. Proposal Specifics
3. Example
4. Benefits
5. Final Note

Basic Proposal:

My hope is that a gear's value will primarily be determined by customization via item assembly and modification.

I feel this fits the themes of the movies as well:

• Han Solo's blaster wasn't (only) cool because it was a DL-44, it was cool because it was customized.
• Luke started his career with a lightsaber that was gifted to him (his father's), then created his own later. Later still he created a companion "shoto" lightsaber (EU canon).

Proposal Specifics:

To be more specific on mechanics, here's the system I envision:

1. Assembly basics: The Equipment/Component mechanics of the KotOR games and of Mass Effect will be expanded: The weapon or armor piece is forged and an appropriate item component is fitted into slots.
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   • Base equipment (e.g., swords, blasters, armor) can be created from smaller resources that are gathered/looted or be looted whole from a quest/drop.
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   • Components (e.g., hilts, barrels, vibration modules, crystals) can be created from smaller resources that are gathered/looted or be looted whole from a quest/drop.
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   • Base equipment, once obtained, contains a specific number of "component slots". The better the gear, the more component slots it will have. For example, a training lightsaber a Padawan wields has zero component slots. Mace Windu's would have five.
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   • Component slots might be of a particular "component type" or the piece of equipment might only accept components of a particular "type", but the slots themselves are "un-typed". For example, a blaster rifle might have four un-typed component slots, but it does not accept lightsaber crystals/components. Or a bowcaster might have two "un-typed" component slots but, like all slug-throwers, has a component slot that only accepts "ammunition" components.
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   • Base equipment items are responsible for the basic function of the item (e.g., what slot does it fit into? Are you making a blaster rifle or a blaster pistol?). It also contains base weapon stats. Some base equipment might provide unique features (e.g., poisoned blades).
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   • Item components make the item unique in other ways. They might tweak base equipment stats (e.g., +4 reflex defense), provide unique weapon features (e.g., chance to stun on hit), or provide entirely new abilities (e.g., Nightvision Goggles, Zoom-in sight for a rifle, Dual-phase lightsaber mode, Scoundrel "quickdraw" power).
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2. Crafters: Crafters create the base item or components in addition to consumable items (e.g., medpacs, stims)
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3. Loot: Some items and components are NOT forged, but are discovered in the wild. Maybe they drop from an enemy or maybe they're just a good find while exploring a dungeon. Maybe they're a quest reward. (e.g., rare Sith/Jedi artifacts, rare lightsaber crystals)

This leads to a system where crafters have something important to do, loot is a powerful force in the economy, but in the end the player has a real say over what their "epic l00t" really looks like.



Example:

For example, a Sith character (Darth Steve) might be specced for two-handed combat. Over the course of play he has picked up some rather epic loot:

• Sith alchemy longsword (quest reward)
• Archaic lightsaber battery pack (random rare MOB-drop; traded with a guildy for it)
• High-focus lens (common boss drop)
• Pontite crystal ("mined" treasure reward from dungeon)

Darth Steve is pleased with his haul. As well he should be. He gained them all honestly through completing narrative content. No faction grinding and no dungeon farming.

But, he still doesn't have anything worth equipping. He turns to the crafting community.

From the crafting community, he obtains the following:

• Cortosis coating for the Sith sword
• Synthetic red lightsaber crystal (no stats)
• Generic shoto lightsaber hilt (readily available on the "bazaar")

Darth Steve wishes he was able to buy a vibration module for the Sith sword but alas, Sith swords don't support that component slot. He will have to gain access to a "Sith alchemy" component in order to fill up the Sith sword free slots. There are alchemist crafters who can do this, but his character favors brute strength and there's a nice strength-bonus to be had if he completes a certain quest. He installs the cortosis coating, pays the forging cost and has his Sith sword.

Darth Steve is also vexed at the lack of quality lightsaber stat-crystals on the bazaar. He knows a guy who makes good crystals but he's short on scrilla. He only has three component slots available for his lightsaber though, so he can include the "high focus lens" for now until he puts together enough credits. (the color-crystal is a freebie component and does not count against him)

And so, he puts together his l33t gear:

• Main-hand: Darth Steve's Sting
  • Base: Sith Alchemical Longsword,
  • Comp. 1: Cortosis Coating,
  • Comp. 2: [empty]
• Off-hand: Darth Steve's Answer to Terrorism
  • Base: Shoto Model 3,
  • Comp. 1: Archaic "hip-pack" power source,
  • Comp. 2: High-focus Lens,
  • Comp. 3: Pontite crystal,
  • Color Crystal: Red (synthetic)

When the time comes for Darth Steve to upgrade again, he can pay to disassemble his gear, pick and choose new components, and then re-pay the forging fee.



Benefits:

This system allows Darth Steve to:

• Upgrade his gear without replacing entire items
• Control the outward appearance of his items
• Choose if he wishes to quest, loot, craft, or buy components/items
• Give his l33t gear sweet unique names
• Pursue bonuses and effects that match his character's "strategy" in combat
• Break apart items he no longer needs and sell off certain components/items that aren't soul-bound to his character
• Determine which "item type" he applies a piece of epic loot to, giving him a better chance of looting something useful to his class

This system puts Darth Steve in control and that's what being a Sith is all about.



Final Note:

I am not proposing a "crafting system" or a "looting system" but rather a general "gear" system that includes both crafting and looting sub-sytems. It also includes obtaining gear via quest reward and vendor purchase. Item decay might apply to some crafted items to maintain demand, but the system can work with or without.

Thats a pretty cool and thourogh (sp?) system and thats also the realistic way i imagined the system to be... (maybe without a crafter community that are ONLY crafters) but yeah somthing like what you are proposing would be possible for them to implement... i just hope they read some of this...

I agree with you. I don't like the un-specific slots though, prefer them all to be specific to a certain part of the weapon. I don't actually want much variety in base weapons, especially lightsaber, where they just change components. In fact, how about base weapons don't actually exist, but when you have the required "components" (case, power cell, barrel) you can put them together to make the weapon, and take it apart again.

I also had another idea which links in wth this. The upgrade components should all be player crafted, with resources from enemies, and the components have varying effects depending on resource quality, crafter skill, and luck.

So if you kill a hard sith, instead of getting his lightsaber, you get some good quality cortoise, as opposed to the low quality stuff his goons may have, and you can use this to make a better blade/augment your blade, which will be better if crafted by a player who specialises in crafting blades (player economy)

I don't remember what interview it was in but one of the dev said TOR will be a Loot based game.

Nice idea thou.

A loot based system doesn't exlude the OP's idea.

Whats the difference with an epic boss dropping a rare 'epic' gem that can be used to craft an epic weapon then dropping just the weapon.

Infact it would be more real and heroic if that dropped gem was turned into a heroic item by a crafter. Creates more story.
And the devs have been looking at a way to introduce crafting in TOR.

To me this idea is sound and it would be my personal favourite.
Other games have done this.

Exactly :P loot based does not mean that crafters can't have a hand in it. And there realy isn't a point in bothering with a crafting system if crafters can't provide any real help to high end characters.

That's the way to go, if you ask me.

It's always remarkable to see the First Armor Piece or Weapon that might go into manufacturing and produced in the loads months down the road... It's like, "I was there when that armor set was first discovered..." Rather than, "I was there when I saw my friend loot the armor piece." lol

In SWG there was this armor set called RIS, and it was quest oriented. Probably the coolest thing during SWG Pre-CU if you ask me. You had to get RARE components off different animals spreading across the Galaxy. The teeth of a Kimogila on Lok, the feather of a Peko Peko on Naboo. Then once you had all the components together, you could finally create the piece of armor. After you turned the armor piece into the quest giver, you now had the armor piece as a schematic to produce for other players and sell.

It's a lot cooler if you ask me if you put armor out there, and people have to discover/craft it. Rather than just straight up ganking the same monster over and over until you get the whole set.

I dont actually mind updateing equipment as long as my character can do it himself and at no time EVER are we to rely on someone else to update/create our equipment.

If my looted armor needs upgradeing, I should be able to upgrade it myself and not need to drastically over pay some other player to upgrade it for me.

Same for weapons

Basically I want KotOR system in SW:TOR.

Crafter based economies suck donkey balls and are made to punish the new and poor.

Let players find their own items, update their own items, and do away totally with crafter CLASSES in general.

KotOR 2 had the best crafter style of any games.

Nice post OP, I definitely like the idea and it's innovative. There sadly isn't enough crafting and customisation in MMOs currently and this would be a refreshing change.

There was another post similar to this although they also mention decay for items which I don't think is out of the question since the more you use a component, especially taking it apart and reassembling it again, there will be times it will be worn and damaged. So you'll need to replace it which either requires you to obtain the said item again or purchase it, fueling the economy instead of inflating it.

Having said all this though, I can see how much of a balancing nightmare it can be from a development point of view if there are tons of crafting and customisations that players can come up with.

will you please create your own MMO so i can enjoy the crafting system there? i really love these ideas, as they are a great mix of loot and crafting, and yet still allow for the elusive customization possibilities.

the only other thing i would suggest is looking at LOTRO's new legendary weapon system, in which a player's weapon levels up with them. i always hated trading up in MMOs, especially when you lost a particularly cool item because it was no longer as good...