Full Reverse! My Experience with Reverse Engineering

Chewie, how many times do I have to say it? Lock in the damn auxiliary power! Here we are being pulled towards the largest space station in the history of the galaxy and certain doom and you're rubbernecking in the copilot's chair!

Jeez.

It's like Bowdaar 2.0 in here.

Anyways, I want to talk about all of the reverse engineering I've been doing. All told, I've reverse engineered a grand total of 0 items. Zero. Zilch. Not a single one.

You would think this would make me wholly unqualified to talk about reverse engineering, but let me explain.

I don't reverse engineer because I don't think it will be profitable. For me to start reverse engineering an item, it would have to meet the following criteria:

1A. Coveted Premium (Green) Item: That is, if there is demand for the item slot, there will be increased demand for the better versions of said item. For instance, remember the level 15 Cybertech earpieces I love to talk about? Players buy those because they have no earpiece at all. Therefore, they're more likely to shell out a few extra credits for a prototype (blue) or even an artifact (purple) item.

OR

1B. Level Cap Item: There is no twinking in SWTOR,  so players are generally only concerned with getting the "best" gear at level cap. Easier to sell a player on a +5 stat boost when they know they will be keeping it for at least a while.

2. High Net Profit: The schematics granted through reverse engineering are coupled with higher materials costs. For instance, a green level ~15 mod might require two basic Underworld Metals at ~50 credits each, where the purple equivalent uses purple metals at 500+ credits each...when you can find them. It's difficult to pass a 1000% increase in materials costs onto your buyers and maintain profit margin, especially if the benefits are slim. So the question I ask myself is, Can I reliably find the mats I need to craft this?

It's hard enough finding a craftable item that meets those criteria (I do want to try level cap mods/armorings/etc. and will report on it if I do), but then there are other factors dissuading me from reverse engineering.

First, the opportunity cost is prohibitively high. Like, equal to 10 premium and 20 prototype items (a total guess based on a bunch of different guesses from around the net) for just a single artifact schematic. Making up for that drain in resources will take time.

Then, there is an element of randomness that can result in totally useless schematics. No Smuggler worth his spice is going to fork over extra credits for a +defense blue! Or worse, a +shield purple! And NOBODY is going to want level cap +presence purples, considering that stat is completely useless in endgame. This multiplies your opportunity cost. (Note: Mods, Barrels, etc. only gain existing stats rather than gain random ones, making them infinitely more predictable.)

Now, I understand that on high population servers, reverse engineering can open the door to untapped markets. But is it worth it?

So, have any of you forayed into the world of reverse engineering with success? Any selfless souls doing it for the good of their guild? Am I totally wrong on this? Let's hear it!

Look What Phyona Got Me!

 

It's Max Rebo!

And since I'm a huge Star Wars nerd who also loves elephants, I happen to know Max Rebo's real name:

Siiruulian Phantele. Which sounds an awful lot like Cerulean Elephant. I see what you did there, Lucas...

Let's Keep a Little Optimism Here: Ten Best Things About SWTOR

We've all seen "Return of the Jedi" a bazillion times, so we know that the stolen Imperial shuttle Tydirium is blasted out of the sky by Vader's flagship because the rebels' clearance code was too old.

Wait, what?

This started as a post about what fixes/updates/additions need to be made to SWTOR. But after poking around the internet a bit, I realized that plenty of people have done that already. I hope (and do believe) this is the work of a vocal minority, but yeesh, there is a lot of negativity surrounding this game (some coming from my own guild)! Do I think that mouseover macros or UI customization or endgame bug fixes need to happen? Yes. Do these break the entire game? Are they going to stop me from playing? Of course not.

You can go just about anywhere else to read about what's wrong with SWTOR. Here you're going to read about what's right. Presented in a tidy list format!

1. It's Star Wars: Duh. Talk all day about flashpoints vs. instances or crew skills vs. professions or whatever other game system. The Star Wars license rocks and is indeed the main reason for many people playing SWTOR at all. You can't have lightsaber in WoW. You just can't. Add in John Williams' sweeping score, Corellian stock light freighters, scrolling yellow text, Mandalorian armor, and force lightning and you're in for a good time.

2. Missions: I know there are plenty of players who mash spacebar and 1 or 3 and I feel sorry for them because they're missing the core experience of this game. Missions,  and especially class missions, are so much more engaging than ever before. The voice acting is generally fantastic (I have to make a female Trooper, I hear she's voiced by female Commander Shepherd from Mass Effect), drawing you in to every step of your character's adventure. Considering the sheer number of lines spoken, I consider the dialogue system a major achievement. Not everybody agrees. We have a close friend and guildy who may be leaving the game because the talking "interrupts [their] cleave." I think Phyona addressed this best on our guild's facebook page, where she wrote

"I guess it has to do with how into your character you are. I'm obsessed (borderline in love) with my character so I listen to all the dialogue intently and flip out on people when they talk over it haha. I despised questing in WoW and adore questing in this game, which is a huge deal for me. I can understand that if all you want to do is the actual gameplay, the story can be frustrating, but I genuinely believe that if you find a character you really connect with, this game is unlike any other. For me, the major difference between this and WoW was that in WoW everything I did was to achieve a goal (leveling in one way or another), and in SWTOR, you're meant to savor and experience the journey. If you can manage to embrace that intention, I think this game will evolve (it's still just a fledgling) into something incredible."

You Just Can't Bear to Let a Gorgeous Guy Like Me Out of Your Sight

To which Phyona, my significant other, would likely respond, "I don't know where you get your delusions laser brain."

I suppose there's a Leia (or a Chewie) for every Han and she's mine.

Without getting all mushy on you, Phy is a huge part of my life and concurrently my gaming. It took 10 levels for my Scoundrel to meet Phyona the Jedi Guardian, but they've been inseparable ever since. Well, almost...

Anybody with a gaming buddy knows about the struggles involved in playing an MMO together. Such a large percentage of content is based on level that it can be difficult to find content to do together while leveling. Inevitably, somebody has a day off or doesn't feel like playing or has to give their wookiee a bath or whatever, and vroom, one player is off like a ship that made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs. The gulf that can result from just one or two sessions of solo adventuring can tear two toons apart!

With respect to SWTOR in particular, one of the adverse side-effects of having such excellent story content and dialogue is that going back to repeat content isn't fun for either party. One person gets stuck waiting, waiting, waiting. The other can't enjoy the content to the fullest knowing their partner is itching to slice through some rakghouls. Not that I miss WoW's lack of compelling quests, but at least it made adventuring together a bit more accessible. You were in for the miserable, boring grind together, I guess.

Perhaps the easiest way to combat this is by creating alts, i.e. you have one character that you only play with your partner. But without fail, you get attached to that character, right? That's the one you have to play.

I find it curious that a game that is at its most fun a multiplayer endeavor often separates you from your friends, at least until level cap. And this isn't like WoW where the whole point was to play with your friends at cap. I absolutely love running missions with Phy and watching the dynamic between our characters unfold.

Then again, Phyona says that my unenlightened Smuggler only slows her galaxy-saving Jedi down, so what do I know?

What do you guys think? Do you have a leveling partner or are you in this for just one person? Prefer grouping with strangers? Or does a guild fill this void as it often does?

Punch It!

I guess I have to introduce myself.

I'm a pretty big Star Wars fan. Goldenrod would translate: he's read every single Star Wars novel from The Truce at Bakura through the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, wears a Millennium Falcon technical readout t-shirt, and even played the Star Wars CCG. I found the galaxy far, far away at a difficult time in my childhood and it served as exactly the kind of imaginative escapism I needed. I love everything about it. Even the prequels. I said it. I love the prequels.

Being, in general, a huge nerd, I also love MMO's. My lovely girlfriend, a fellow Star Wars fiend, hooked me on WoW way back when, and we enjoyed several years of high-end raiding, pet collecting, and pvp.

So you think I was excited when I learned that Bioware, developer of the esteemed KOTOR games and Mass Effect, was developing a Star Wars MMO? Just a bit. Phyona and I started playing SWTOR during launch week and it's everything we hoped it would be. As an outlet for my obsession, I decided to make this blog.

As times goes on, my ramblings will focus on:

-Smuggling: being the best smuggler you can, whether you're a scrappy scoundrel or a sharpshooting gunslinger. Tips, guides, theorycrafting, and Kessel-Run-time-reducing advice. Nothing better than talking shop for those who have fallen in love with this class.

-Credit Making: I was one of those lucky WoW millionaires and I'm already hard at work applying everything I've learned to SWTOR. Don't get stuck running spice shipments for vengeful Hutts; check back often for the inside scoop on how to stockpile some credits.

-General Game Thoughts: Where I try to do the impossible and produce objective, lucid articles about what Bioware is doing right or wrong.

-Whatever I want: Updates on our guild's progress; postings of me acting in a smuggler-POV "Star Wars Kid" video where I mime cover, Dirty Kick, and blaster fire; love letters to George Lucas; and whatever vaguely SWTOR-related content I think somebody might want to look at.

I hope you'll come along for the ride. Please do comment or ask me any questions you may have. After shooting first, of course.

I'll close with the first of many Han Solo pics you will see on this blog: