Posted by Zlatto | 26 Comments

Zlatto’s Bazaar: Reverse Engineering Theorycrafting

Zlatto’s Bazaar is the one-third Wall Street, one-third criminal empire and one-half gossip rag. You need to keep up on the Bazaar if for no other reason than to keep an eye on your competitors. Don’t be a Ho-tah and visit often.  Your comments are encouraged, especially if they make me credits…

Hello, all you GTN moguls-in-training! I’m glad you decided to stop by so we can talk about the exciting math of Reverse Engineering! With the NDA gone, I wanted to get into some of the exciting non-combat mechanics of the game. No spoilers to worry about here, it’s all about crafting and Reverse Engineering in mass quantities to enable us to look a bit behind the curtain of ‘random’ as defined by BioWare.

I am not a statistics guru, but because I am skilled in short-changing purchases in any monetary unit of the known galaxy, I figured it would be best for me to share my accumulated numbers with you, and then together we could decide what they mean. I expect there is a closeted math geek or two that might read the column, so lets hope they decide to chime in and give us some deeper analysis.

This article will assume that you are all up to speed on the process, risk, and rewards of Reverse Engineering. If you are not yet a guru on the topic, take a quick moment and read Momus’ informative article on the subject found over here in Blasters, Beggars and Credits. For now, I’ve decided not to dive into the itemization gain seen at each level of Premium (green), Prototype (blue) and Artifact (purple.) That discussion could barely be covered with a 12-part series and would require more time than I can spend at the moment.

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Posted by Lethality | 15 Comments

Blue Milk & Cereal: Thanksgiving Edition (Or, Should TOR Have In-Game Food?)

 

 

No day would be complete without the breakfast of Jedi: Blue Milk & Cereal.  Every morning, the team at Ask A Jedi will get Force-induced thoughts coursing through your head with delicious issues from around the galaxy! Join in the discussion below to make your voice heard!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our readers in the US!

This would seem like the perfect time to do a Blue Milk & Cereal on wether or not TOR should have in-game holidays, but we did that a while ago. Instead, I thought it might be interesting to focus on one of the central themes of Thanksgiving: the feast! While it certainly isn’t only reason for the season, it’s better than talking about doorbusters.

Traditionally, MMORPG’s have had food and drink items in-game for characters to consume. Sometimes these would provide a combat buff, sometimes a restorative effect and sometimes just something fun and social. In many cases, these items were also available for players to produce via in-game crafting and gathering systems.

Until recently, we didn’t know if Star Wars: The Old Republic would have food or drink consumables. None of the Crew Skills offered the ability to make these items, and only recently, with the drop of the NDA, we learned that some cantina vendors sell a few select items such as  Peppered Bantha Steak and Spiced Nerf Milk.

But is that enough? Should these kinds of consumables be more widespread, and perhaps craft able by players? Let’s talk it out below!

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Posted by Lethality | 13 Comments

Blue Milk & Cereal: Do You Craft For Fun Or Profit?

No day would be complete without the breakfast of Jedi: Blue Milk & Cereal.  Every morning, the team at Ask A Jedi will get Force-induced thoughts coursing through your head with delicious issues from around the galaxy! Join in the discussion below to make your voice heard!

Crafting has always been a big part of MMORPGs. On one end of the spectrum, it might function as an entire gameplay path of progression, while on the other end the system can be as simple as click-n-build. And systems existed everywhere in-between. The first Star Wars MMO, Star Wars Galaxies, garnered praise as having one of the best crafting systems in a game – ever.

Along with that, developers have also had different visions for the role of crafting in their game. Blizzard is famous for stating that professions in World of Warcraft aren’t intended to be money makers, but to be fun and a way to enhance your character. In Star Wars: The Old Republic, BioWare has stated that they want dedicated crafters to gain recognition on their server, and also be able to make some money.

So when you craft (if you do) do you do so with the intent of equipping yourself and your guild with the best possible gear for the level they’re at and the role they play? Or are you in it for the credits, playing the market and keeping a close eye on supply and demand, producing products en masse for sale?

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Posted by Zlatto | 18 Comments

Zlatto’s Bazaar Special Edition: Gathering To 75 Before Level 10…It Is Possible

Zlatto’s Bazaar is the one-third Wall Street, one-third criminal empire and one-half gossip rag. You need to keep up on the Bazaar if for no other reason than to keep an eye on your competitors. Don’t be a Ho-tah and visit often. Your comments are encouraged, especially if they make me credits…

Zlatto here, with a special message from the other side. You can get your gathering to 75 before you can craft a level 1 item. Remember you cannot craft without a companion but gathering can be done solo.

“Tell us how Zlatto!” is what you must be saying at this point. First, raise your right hand and state the following oath.

I solemnly swear to use this knowledge for personal gain, to wreak havoc on the economy of my server, and to at least over charge players by 3%.

Beware – Spoilers Abound

The info below talks about specific locations and mobs at those locations,  it does not impact story but I will use specific examples.

Now, Zlatto’s gathering loophole. As I think about it is not really a loophole, just that it is assumed that gathering begins after your starter world. After all, the first trainers you run across are on your space station, before you hit your capital world. So the logical process is to move along your story line until you are led to the crew skills.

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Posted by TwinHits | 10 Comments

United We Stand: The Craftsmen’s Guild

United We Stand is an Ask A Jedi series focusing on guilds, groups, and other communities in Star Wars: The Old Republic. By examining the communities that we form, we can create a stronger game for ourselves, build relationships that will last a lifetime, and perhaps even change the world itself.

I know we’re supposed to continue with our model of how to build a guild today, but I had an idea this morning that I want to share with you and see what you think. In the meantime, keep working on your core message and send it to me if you want any input or help! A few weeks ago, one of our Ask A Jedi crafting columnists Zlatto asked in a comment, “What about the concept of crafting guilds?” Crafting guilds have always been a thing that people want and talk about, and some people will stand up and say, “Let’s make a crafting guild!” but they won’t have a plan or a purpose. I want to propose to you a model for a crafting guild, tell me what you think.

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