Star Wars Galaxies: Remaining Correspondent Issues Posted

First off, my apologies for this taking so long. I fear that you will look at this list and still wish for much more detail than I can give. The main difference between this list and the earlier ones is that it consists of stuff we're committed to doing either now or soon.

Some of the items that are listed are not going to make it in this update. They're still high priorities, it's simply that they're not making it in time.

Some professions are getting shorter shrift than others. In some cases, it's because we judged the priority level to be lower relative to other professions (weaponsmith, for example). In other cases, it's because we're still working on what we can do and what more fixes we can add (droid engineer, for example). In other cases, it's because the stuff we want to do is fairly extensive and it won't make the cutoff for this update (squad leader).

My apologies for not posting these in each profession forum, but I am late for a dinner engagement. Maybe the correspondents can get them reposted to the appropriate forums?

Creature Handler
· Pets will now regen in the datapad, even when stored from the radial menu - applies to all pet types
· Pets current wound/damage will be saved even when the pet is auto-stored - applies to all pet types
· Pet control devices will not be deleted unless the user selects the DESTROY option - applies to all pet types
· PCD's will say "this pet is dead" if the owner tries to use the PCD after a non-CH pet has been killed - applies to all pet types
· The "store" button is back on the radial menu again - applies to all pet types
· Pets will not randomly decide to run back to the place from which they were called - applies to all pet types
· The 'release' command is now the 'store' command - applies to all pet types
· Destroying a PCD says "You have released your pet to the wild", unless it wasn't that kind of pet
· Non-CH's are limited to 2 non-aggro stored pets max (can still only call 1 CH pet, max)
· CH's can store two creatures, in addition to their "+Stored Pets" skillmod
· Non-CH's cannot call aggro pets
· Aggro and non-aggro pets are not counted seperately against the stored-pets limit
· PCD's cannot be transferred unless the pet knows the "transfer" command (this doesn't mean the pet has to be out, the pcd can still be transfered via the secure trade window)
· Faction-perk pets cannot be traded.
· Pet stats reduced due to vitality follow this formula: - applies to all pet types
o 75 to 100 = no stat reduction
o 50 to 75 = 25% stat reduction
o 25 to 50 = 50% stat reduction
o 1 - 25 = 75% stat reduction
· Pet stats will never be reduced more than 75% due to vitality loss - applies to all pet types
· Pets will never permanently die due to stat reduction - applies to all pet types
· Droid pets will suffer vitality loss the same as CH pets do (instead of permanent death)
· Note that faction-perk pets are will still permanently die when incapacitated.
· Creatures commanded to attack a target will actually attack it, instead of just running at it and stopping (happened with targets farther away that 50 meters) - applies to all pet types
· Pets will not switch targets in combat unless commanded to attack something else - applies to all pet types
· Pets will switch targets in combat when commanded to attack something else - applies to all pet types
· Pets commanded to "follow" or "stay" in combat will stop fighting, and either follow, or stay, until commanded to attack something - applies to all pet types
· Pets will not stop guarding when commanded to follow or stay in combat (i.e. they will resume guarding after combat) - applies to all pet types
· Training XP will be based on the creature's adult level rather than the current (baby) level
· Taming XP will be based on the creatures adult level rather than the current (baby) level
· /tellpet will work the same as "/say " or "/shout ", but without the spam - applies to all pet types
· Creatures won't "relearn" a name that they already know when being taught commands
· Pets will leave groups properly. If given the "group"-command while already grouped, the pet will disband. - applies to all pet types
· Added the "You cannot store for x-seconds" missing string (Replacing "Prose Cannot Store Yet" ) - applies to all pet types
· Added the cant-store-yet message to the "release" command, which is now the "store command" - applies to all pet types
· Pets will properly "store" when their master boards a shuttle - applies to all pet types
· Fixed a bug that allowed CHs to call more pets than they should have been able to
· Fixed a bug that allow pets to be stored in droid data-modules - applies to all pet types

Artisan:
All of these fixes probably won't make this update, but we still have them as high priorities:
· Harvesters are granting structure exp rather than generic crafting exp. Should be changed.
· Resource shifting is too unpredictable, and should be able to be predicted in some manner. We are hot on the heals of a resource issue and are trying to nail this down.
· Harvesters are being buried by POI and Lair spawns. This is a known issue we are looking into.
· Would like to see a way of tracking harvester and structure maintenance rather than having to go to the particular structure all the time.

Chef:
· Architects currently can't craft medium and heavy floral harvesters due to bugs. When selected from the crafting kits, an endless "Downloading Item Blueprint Data from your Datapad" message is received. Fixed.

Droid Engineer:

Everything that says "applies to all pet types" in the creature handler section also applies to droids.

A lot of fixes went in the last update for the DE's, so we haven't had too much chance to do more yet. The top things that we see us doing in the near future (but that may not be in time for this update) are:
· There is no mechanism in place to heal the white bar of a droid. We are going to add a repair kit for droids that artisans can make. This should take care of things for you.
· Huge increase in the number of combat droids available for players.
· Greatly increase the amount of droid customization.
We realize you guys still need a lot of lovin' on the profession just in terms of bugs to look at, and we're using Gorantoth's list as something to march down. But the DE bugs are proving to be pesky critters that are hard to stomp.

Tailor:
· Master Tailor skills are missing the ability to create 55 custom colors. Some of the brighter colors cannot be made, yet NPCs have them. We're fixing this issue so that Master Tailors can make all the colors.
Weaponsmith:
· Some schematics are listing the resources required incorrectly. An Advanced Vibro Unit says it requires "solid_petrochem_type3" instead of "Solid petro fuel class 3". The icon displayed is also incorrect. Should be fixed.

Healing tasks that aren't making it in this update, but are on the list as high priorities:
· Look into making healing go into the combat queue 100%.
· Investigate /healmind within standard stimpack range and given the error "No Valid Medicine Found" when you have plenty of ranged stimpacks.
· Investigate making disease packs more useful.
· Investigate making /medicalforage more useful.
Medic/Doctor
· Add smarter find medicine code.
· Make disease packs instigate combat.
· There was a request to investigate /healmind within standard stimpack range giving the error "No Valid Medicine Found" when you have plenty of ranged stimpacks. This is fixed.

Combat Medic
Combat Medic is losing out in this update, I fear. The top thing that we see to do is to investigate making CM Support line more useful.

The manual mentions terrain negotiation. We're adding some terrain negotiation and also burst run efficiency.

Armorsmith
· Armor layers/segments - Some tweaks have been done to make layers more useful.
· Armor encumbrance - Encumbrances on some armor components have been lowered.
Entertainer/Dancer/Musician
· Add /denyservice to dancer for a particular obnoxious player
There's more on the way for the entertainer types, though:
· More dances, more instruments, more songs, more flourishes, more effects. These are things we will add throughout the life of the game.
· You also may have seen the thread earlier today about tackling the issue of money earning-there's several different approaches, and we'd like to discuss them with you more.

Squad Leader
We're looking at adding a fairly large amount of functionality to Squad Leader, and because of that, it won't make this update. The stuff we're looking at:
· Follow Me:
o Everyone in the group enqueues /follow on the leader
· In formation: Using code similar to AI's followOffset: the group follows the leader in column, wedge or line formation
· Hold Fire & Fire At Will
o No one in the group is allowed to initate combat, although they can defend and can defend vs. anyone attacking a member of their group
· Group Attack
o Ayone not already in combat will enqueue an attack vs. the leader's look-at target
· Cease Fire
o Everyone in the group enqueues /peace.
· Assign Position:
o The group leader can assign group members to "Front Line", "Support" or "Ranged" squads. Group Attack, Cease Fire, Group Cover, OffensiveStance, DefensiveStance, Hold Fire and Fire At Will can then be directed to these individual squads
· OffensiveStance
o Gives the group a temporary bonus to damage. The bigger the group the better the bonus, lowers defense.
· DefensiveStance
o Gives the group a temp bonus to defense. The bigger the group the better the bonus, lowers damage.
(i.e. Assign your tanks to "Front Line" and enqueue DefensiveStance on the front line group, then assign the ranged guys to "Ranged" and enqueue OffensiveStance on that group, etc.)
· Group Heal
o No, it doesn't heal the group: It changes the look-at target of anyone assigned to a support position to the leader's look-at target, and gives the system message "You have been ordered to heal ". Used by the leader to tell his healers who to heal. So you still have to push the button yourself (because he might not need a heal - he might need /firstAid or the like.
· Group Cover
o Enqueues a /assist for the group vs. the leader's look-at target. i.e. if I want everyone to shoot what Dan is shooting, then I look at Dan and enqeue Group Cover.
· Forced March
o Non-combat group burst-run sort of thing. Broken as soon as anyone in the group engages in combat.
· Smoke-em-if-you-got-em
o In a camp, out of combat, everyone in the group gets a mind regen bonus. The bigger the group the bigger the bonus.

General stuff
This stuff cuts across multiple professions, and in some cases is merely cosmetic stuff that is getting rolled into the update because others were working on it.
· New skill names for many professions. Nips and tucks to Medic skill names.
· Group xp fixes which should make grouping much more desirable again.
· Converted "power installation" functionality to "/addPower" command
· adding field requisitions to factional camps
· added text to requisition UI prompt to let players know what the cost multiplier is at that time
· energy to power conversion update (potential energy attribute >500 means more power output up to 2x)
· radioactive sampling causes ill effects
· GCW terminal fixes
· updating hq terminals with similar fixes
· debugging firework show crafting
· fixing existing firework shows
· added additional UI method for adding show events
· additional installation destruction confirmations
· adding "no reclaim" status to turrets
· gambling station name update (Star Warsy names for these now!)
· allow merchants the ability to change their shop sign graphic
· Allow harvesters to reclaim power and maintenance fees
· Signs for shops CAN now be changed. Player house sign system supports 4 sign types.
· RIS Armor quest

I realize that this won't answer everyone's issues, but we see this as being the first step, not the last. We'll be back through with another sweep--this is just what we were able to accomplish this week. These changes will be going to Test Center for at least a week, and we're currently planning on copying one of the other servers over so that advanced characters can be used in testing.

-Raph Koster,

Creative Director