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The Friday Update 11/12: Crew Skills...What do you think?
Tiller
Member LegendaryPosts: 11,449
This is a new way of doing it. It's like they took ideas from a few games, combined them, and made it better.
http://swtor.com/info/systems/crew-skills
If you are a SWG vet, Look at it like your crew takes the place of your crafting tool, menus are replaced with dialog.
If you are an EVE fan, the crafting time should be nothing new to you.
SWG Bloodfin vet
Elder Jedi/Elder Bounty Hunter
Comments
When it comes up it should be at this link
http://www.swtor.com/news/news-article/20101112
Massively: We're curious about how crafting will work in SWTOR -- how will the player participate? What will the player be doing in terms of crafting compared to his companions?
Daniel Erickson: I was always a huge crafting fan in all the different games. There were games that I was just a full-time crafter in; that was all I did. And what's great about crafting? The prestige is great, saying like, "Look, I can make these amazing things." The social aspect is amazing. I want people coming to me and saying, "Hey I heard you're the guy to do this." I want to be able to support my friends; I want to be able to do all this. The exploration and the complexity and learning the system is really fun -- I want to get deep into crafting, I want to learn how to do recipes that nobody else can do, I want to sort of master my system. The financial output, if it works well, is nice, right? Saying, "Hey, I'm actually good enough that I can make some money at this. I can do this piece."
The part that is not terribly exciting is standing in one spot and watching a progress bar over and over and over again. And that's literally all that we removed. By taking [crafting] and putting it onto the crew, what we said is, OK, crafting has a real cost. So you can't keep doing it constantly -- it has a time cost. So instead of watching a progress bar for 30 seconds, you actually know, "OK, I put my companion on this, and this is going to take six hours."
So kind of like a factory in Star Wars Galaxies, only it's a character?
Yes. If you wanted to play the old-style crafting game, and you wanted to watch that progress bar for 20 hours, I mean, you could. You could just stand there. But this is always the part that seems monotonous. So [in SWTOR], I'm the crew boss. I decide what we make. I'm the guy that knows all the recipes. I'm the guy that knows how to do everything. And then I'm putting all of these people to work as my whole crew, into one unit -- your companion characters are all a unit with you. And so, one, it makes all of your companion characters useful, which is nice. Two, it puts in skills for people who aren't ever going to be real crafters. People who are not really into crafting are going to take mission skills, so their people are still going to be useful, but they're going to run them on missions all the time. But serious crafters say that it's a super deep system.
[I] can't talk too much about it, but you are going to be able to make stuff that is among the top stuff on the entire servers. And there are going to be people who know things that almost nobody else on the server knows how to do.
So we would get recipes that are super rare?
Yes. There are elite, rare recipes. People who want to dabble in crafting, can, and can be successful in it and make themselves a little bit better. People who are not terribly interested in crafting can do the mission system and still get some cool stuff out of their companion characters. People who are really into crafting have a huge, complex system that they're going to be able to go into and become masters at.
So if a player hates crafting (as opposed to just being ambivalent about it), can he really get away with playing that way? Would you be crippling yourself if you don't craft or play that part of the game?
Absolutely not, because what you're going to do is go take your mission skills, you're going to build up loot and build up stuff from your mission skills, and then you're going to go buy stuff from your local crafter.
What about the flipside of that -- is it possible to focus so much on crafting that you neglect everything else, and can you actually pull that off (if you wanted to)?
You probably could. One of the interesting things is that mission skills are, at the aggregate, a positive. Crafting can sometimes be [the same], sometimes not, depending, right? Opening your own business can be risky. But by cleverly balancing the two, you could in fact set up shop, and you should be able to if you've got somebody who can get you supplies, or if you're auctioning your supplies.
The best stuff is always going to come from other players, and then be made by other players. There will be stuff that you can craft that is among the best stuff in the entire game. So very close to the top tier that you could get for anything.
Some more info http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=4677938#edit4677938
To be more precise, players can have up to three crew skills but only one of those can be a crafting skill. The fictional reason is that you only can have room for one crafting table on your ship, but the real reason is that we don't want all players to be self-sufficient.
We call the system Crew Skills because they are skills possessed by your amorphous crew as a whole. If your crew can go treasure hunting, you can order any of your crew members to run treasure hunting missions. Vette may have a bonus to treasure hunting (being a native treasure hunter and all), but to be honest we currently have these bonuses set to be relatively mild - we don't want people to choose NOT to take their favorite companion out on the field with them because the economic bonus to keeping them on the ship is that much greater.
more info http://swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=4678566#edit4678566
So just to throw a couple more stray thoughts about our philosophy.
No, you the player cannot craft currently - which is to say you cannot choose to watch the progress bar fill up yourself. That being said, to us, watching a progress bar has always been the least interesting part of crafting in other MMOs. The part of being a crafter that is interesting to us is things like finding rare schematics, finding hard-to-find components, and the social game of finding customers and suppliers. We really wanted devoted crafters to be able to focus on these aspects of crafting, and not so much on the 'watch a progress bar go forward' part of things. Crafting should be a social thing - staring at a progress bar is not.
No, you don't see companions running missions out 'in the real world'. While I laugh at the idea of a stream of companion characters filing into the palace on Alderaan, it's unfeasible for a lot of reasons.
The real test of the value of crafting is less about whether companions or players are swinging the hammer and tongs, and more about how the itemization of crafting is balanced in a way that the gear is useful. Crafting is important to the systems team, and we're devoted to ensuring that crafted gear has a place in the economy, especially at the endgame, and doubly especially for the devoted crafters.
It's worth noting that we really want the system to support the casual crafter (the guy who is taking crafting largely to outfit himself while levelling up) and the devoted crafter (the guy who wants to be known as the best Armormech in the galaxy). Supporting the former means making the system accessible and easy. Supporting the latter means ensuring that hard work can allow you to provide goods and services that almost no one in the galaxy can. The systems design team is striving to satisfy both groups of people.
My own personal goal is that some crafters can get so good that players all over the server seek them out. My problem being a crafter in most other MMOs is that you tend to become a guild's pet at some point, and you're expected to do all of the work for free. We want those devoted crafters to be exceptional enough that they can actually demand a price, and that people will actually break out of the guild in order to pursue those goods and services. The system isn't there yet, but we have plans...
Quote:
Originally Posted by MorgonKara
Are the three crew skills a permanent choice or can you experiment with different combinations and change them?
You can unlearn skills. If you relearn it later, you must progress it up again. (You will not lose your schematics for crafting skills, but they are inaccesssible until you reach the proper skill level).
http://swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=4678613#edit4678613
I thought this thread was actually about them posting it... you TRICKED ME!
lol, they are having some problems I think
You can watch this while you wait, it has Vader!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFA-rOls8YA&feature=topvideos
http://www.swtor.com/info/systems
Pretty interesting. The fact it works offline seems friendly to casuals. Which is a good direction for Bioware if they're wanting this game to appeal more to the masses.
This is exactly what I wanted. People who prefer gathering on their own can, but I won't have to do it but still be able to do my own stuffs!
Finally, something that gives me the choice of playing my own way. I actually always hated crafting / gathering. But this time, "I will do it"!
<a href="http://www.enjin.com/"; alt="swtor guild hosting"><img src="http://sigs.enjin.com/sig-swtor/23d3ae4fb19b441f.png"></a>;
I really loved the video, the animation looked great... the player was also riding a speeder.
Seeing it in action really makes me happy. Its nice to know you can keep all of your companions back at the ship doing something, but still gather things yourself if you wanted to. Its a very cool idea.
Gathering was annoying in most games, Aion it's the worst. I got to the point where I just ended up buying the resources I needed to craft, so it was people who could deal with gathering that where making all the money in that game. BioWare might actually have taken the suck factor out SWTOR for once.
But this game no innovation! WOW clone piece of crap will fail. Fail PvP. Fail Craft.
Oh wait.....
Man, this looks like the best crafting system ever concieved. Supposedly certain crafters will rise as the best on the server as well!
YAY! HYPE!
Playing: Tera, BF3, ME3
Waiting on: Guild Wars 2
I wonder if this means we can have pets and grow plants since there is bioalysis, or is it just for material?
Who knows, there are some unknown skills!
Playing: Tera, BF3, ME3
Waiting on: Guild Wars 2
I thought that was the best part. Gathering materials in WoW could be very annoying, kill everything in front of your node just so somebody could sneak in and steal it after all your hard work. This will allow me to wipe out the enemies while my companion grabs the materials, or If I want I could send in my companion and grab it myself.
I usually hate crafting and gathering, but this has me intersted.
hmm.. i know its unusual for me to say anything positive about this game.. but that trailer actually looked interesting.. not enough to make me decide to buy the game when it comes out yet.. but.. it is a positive aspect of the game.
I have always hated farming mats and crafting in general. This looks pretty interseting. I can actually craft without getting bored out of my skull, not to mention that I'm not gonna be wasting good killin time doing it.
I wasn't expecting anything like this, what a pleasant surprise. I think Bioware is heading in the right direction with this part of their game.
"Mr. Rothstein, your people never will understand... the way it works out here. You're all just our guests. But you act like you're at home. Let me tell you something, partner. You ain't home. But that's where we're gonna send you if it harelips the governor." - Pat Webb
Some more info http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=4677938#edit4677938
To be more precise, players can have up to three crew skills but only one of those can be a crafting skill. The fictional reason is that you only can have room for one crafting table on your ship, but the real reason is that we don't want all players to be self-sufficient.
We call the system Crew Skills because they are skills possessed by your amorphous crew as a whole. If your crew can go treasure hunting, you can order any of your crew members to run treasure hunting missions. Vette may have a bonus to treasure hunting (being a native treasure hunter and all), but to be honest we currently have these bonuses set to be relatively mild - we don't want people to choose NOT to take their favorite companion out on the field with them because the economic bonus to keeping them on the ship is that much greater.
This looks awesome! I know a lot of people have been hating on SWTOR, but come launch time all the people who said things like "this game is gay! GW2 is going to be the bestest game EVAR!!" will be playing along with the rest of us.
It's because this system is actually interesting to people who never liked crafting in any game. It might be more of a draw than even BioWare realized.
I can honestly say I like this, yay!
A lot of things that have happened to MMOs to streamline them and make them more casual friendly kill my feeling of immersion, but this system, for me at least, increases immersion. Noice.
Playing: Eve, LoL
Played: EQ, SWG, EQII, MxO,DDO CoX, WoW, & LoTRO
Awaiting: GW2, Rift, Earthrise, TOR
My only fear was that every player could be a jack of all trades by being able to do every skill. Now we see that only 3 skills can be chosen and only one of those skills can be a craft. So we should see an economy. Ofc players with alts and gold farmers can do everything. But it is much better than one character doing it all. I like this system a lot. Nice to see craftng with so many options to it.
How many people long for that "past, simpler, and better world," I wonder, without ever recognizing the truth that perhaps it was they who were simpler and better, and not the world about them?
R.A.Salvatore
Proffessions will give another reason to play alts, besides the story. So this should be a welcomed addition to those who aren't really into the story telling aspect of the game.
I'm really interested in what these other unnanounced professions are. And really wanna see more on Bioanalysis. The explanation on it is really vague.
Bioanalysis – the practice of collecting genetic material from creatures and plants
Slicing sounds really interesting as well.
Originally Posted by DamionSchubert
So just to throw a couple more stray thoughts about our philosophy.
No, you the player cannot craft currently - which is to say you cannot choose to watch the progress bar fill up yourself. That being said, to us, watching a progress bar has always been the least interesting part of crafting in other MMOs. The part of being a crafter that is interesting to us is things like finding rare schematics, finding hard-to-find components, and the social game of finding customers and suppliers. We really wanted devoted crafters to be able to focus on these aspects of crafting, and not so much on the 'watch a progress bar go forward' part of things. Crafting should be a social thing - staring at a progress bar is not.
No, you don't see companions running missions out 'in the real world'. While I laugh at the idea of a stream of companion characters filing into the palace on Alderaan, it's unfeasible for a lot of reasons.
The real test of the value of crafting is less about whether companions or players are swinging the hammer and tongs, and more about how the itemization of crafting is balanced in a way that the gear is useful. Crafting is important to the systems team, and we're devoted to ensuring that crafted gear has a place in the economy, especially at the endgame, and doubly especially for the devoted crafters.
It's worth noting that we really want the system to support the casual crafter (the guy who is taking crafting largely to outfit himself while levelling up) and the devoted crafter (the guy who wants to be known as the best Armormech in the galaxy). Supporting the former means making the system accessible and easy. Supporting the latter means ensuring that hard work can allow you to provide goods and services that almost no one in the galaxy can. The systems design team is striving to satisfy both groups of people.
My own personal goal is that some crafters can get so good that players all over the server seek them out. My problem being a crafter in most other MMOs is that you tend to become a guild's pet at some point, and you're expected to do all of the work for free. We want those devoted crafters to be exceptional enough that they can actually demand a price, and that people will actually break out of the guild in order to pursue those goods and services. The system isn't there yet, but we have plans...
Wow.
I honestly have to say I'm impressed.
Just when you think you have all the answers, I change the questions.
This game has Kevin Durant written all over it.
That means future win.
Just when you think you have all the answers, I change the questions.