Suggestion concerning mount speed

[photometrik]

I've heard countless complaints both in game and between my friends concerning mount speed in SWTOR. There have been arguments on both sides regarding this issue. Some say mount speed is fine, and some say it is too slow. Here are the suggestions I've heard so far:

 

1. Increase the difference between levels 1 to 3 of speeder piloting slightly. Maybe a 20% speed increase per level instead of 10%?

 

2. Many people have already mentioned modifiable orange quality speeders. I won't go into detail regarding this because it would be beating a dead horse. Suffice to say, I really like this idea.

 

Finally, my own personal suggestion that my roommate and I came up with between the two of us:

 

3. Most areas have roads of some sort. Designate these roads as "personal speeder paths" that will gradually increase your mounted speed to a maximum of +100% on top of your normal mounted speed. The number doesn't have to be exact, as long as it stacks with your current speed (so faster mounts are still faster even on these roads). If you are trying to get somewhere fast...stay on the roads until you are closer to your destination. As soon as you leave the roads, your mount begins to slow down until you return to the normal mounted speed of your vehicle.

 

So, there you have it. Thoughts? Suggestions?

Edited January 24, 2012 by photometrik

[Dan_McMan]

 

Finally, my own personal suggestion that my roommate and I came up with between the two of us:

 

3. Most areas have roads of some sort. Designate these roads as "personal speeder paths" that will gradually increase your mounted speed to a maximum of +100% on top of your normal mounted speed. The number doesn't have to be exact, as long as it stacks with your current speed (so faster mounts are still faster even on these roads). If you are trying to get somewhere fast...stay on the roads until you are closer to your destination. As soon as you leave the roads, your mount begins to slow down until you return to the normal mounted speed of your vehicle.

 

So, there you have it. Thoughts? Suggestions?

 

I like this third idea quite a bit. Seems reasonable and beneficial, if a bit of a chore to implement.

 

I am also for the idea of speeders getting a speed boost in general... Start at 100%, got to 125%, then finally 150%. That seems fair.

[SethMcloud]

Yeah sorry BW but 330k for 10%? Haha, yeah, I think I'll take my chances. It doesn't even feel like a "speeder".

[photometrik]

I like this third idea quite a bit. Seems reasonable and beneficial, if a bit of a chore to implement.

 

I am also for the idea of speeders getting a speed boost in general... Start at 100%, got to 125%, then finally 150%. That seems fair.

 

I agree! 25% increase in speed is much better than the paltry 10% we currently get.

 

Yeah sorry BW but 330k for 10%? Haha, yeah, I think I'll take my chances. It doesn't even feel like a "speeder".

 

I feel your pain on this one. I also believe that the difference between mounted speed ranks need to be increased a little bit, which was my first point. However, I don't think regular mounted speed should go over 150% even for rank 3.

 

If you want to combine the three ideas I laid out it would be something like this.

 

150% Rank 3 speeder training + 50% speed mod + 100% speed increase on roads = 300% total speed increase. I think this would be the best way to appease everyone and use all the good ideas I've seen so far.

[AeonWeapon]

I totally agree with this. The speeders dont' feel ike speeders, they're the speed of a bicycle. And it doens't make sense to have the first rank be a 90% speed increase, and the other ranks, which are so much mroe expensive, are only a 10% increase.

 

I would go as far as to say it should be rank 1 = 100%, rank 2 = 150%, rank 3 = 200%

 

They should be almost as fast as the taxis. Think of the speeder chase in the forest in Return of the Jedi, the scenery was flying by. This isn't WoW, we're not riding horses and other animals, these are rocket propeled, repulsor lifted, hovering vehicles, and it's ridiculous for them to be no faster than a horse.

 

However, about the moddable orange speeders: That would be cool, but it wouldn't work, because once you get a speeder and right click it, it is no longer an item, it becomes an ability. It would be cool though if the speeder had it's own tab in the character sheet where you could equip mods to it, like our starships.

 

Taking it a couple steps farther: Maybe even equip some weapons on them (star wars speeder bikes have built in blasters), and make some speeder chase side missions like in KoToR. At the very least we should have swoop races with our speeders, like in the KoToR games, and rank 2 and 3 of speeder piloting would get us into rank 2 and 3 speeder races.

Edited January 24, 2012 by AeonWeapon

[iain_b]

/signed

 

110% "speeder" is slow. I would be in favor of a modest bump for levels 2 and 3.

 

90% / 110% / 130%

[photometrik]

However, about the moddable orange speeders: That would be cool, but it wouldn't work, because once you get a speeder and right click it, it is no longer an item, it becomes an ability. It would be cool though if the speeder had it's own tab in the character sheet where you could equip mods to it, like our starships.

 

^This. I apologize if my original thoughts on this weren't quite clear. I was using "orange quality" as a descriptor only. But essentially what you said is exactly what I mean. A speeder tab on your character window (with a pull-down menu at the top to select individual speeders to modify) would be perfect. Some of the mods I've either thought of myself or heard people mention before would be things like this:

 

1. Passive speed boost, obviously.

2. Very fast speed boost for a limited duration on a cooldown.

3. Reduced chance of being knocked off your mount, even by grenades and other abilities that normally would do so instantly.

4. Explosives that knock people back when you do eventually get knocked off.

5. Blasters or missile launchers.

6. Cloaking devices for a limited duration.

 

Of course, some of the mods like Passive Speed / Limited Speed Boost would be things you would have to pick and choose between. It gives us options based on personal preference. Bioware could do sooooo much with this, and the other ideas presented in this post.

[Thaltom]

3. Most areas have roads of some sort. Designate these roads as "personal speeder paths" that will gradually increase your mounted speed to a maximum of +100% on top of your normal mounted speed. The number doesn't have to be exact, as long as it stacks with your current speed (so faster mounts are still faster even on these roads). If you are trying to get somewhere fast...stay on the roads until you are closer to your destination. As soon as you leave the roads, your mount begins to slow down until you return to the normal mounted speed of your vehicle.

 

That's actually kind of a cool idea. I'm going to put my own twist on it though. Thinking about it from a dev's point of view.

 

The speeder roads begin by giving a +5% move speed bonus for every 10 seconds spent traveling on them up to a maximum bonus of +50%. At level 35 players can learn the passive ability: Pathfinding. Pathfinding increases the maximum speed bonus to +100% and the bonus accumulation to +10% every 10 seconds. Pathfinding costs 30,000 credits.

 

This way the devs get a credit sync (which they like) and we get faster zone travel.

[AeonWeapon]

That's actually kind of a cool idea. I'm going to put my own twist on it though. Thinking about it from a dev's point of view.

 

The speeder roads begin by giving a +5% move speed bonus for every 10 seconds spent traveling on them up to a maximum bonus of +50%. At level 35 players can learn the passive ability: Pathfinding. Pathfinding increases the maximum speed bonus to +100% and the bonus accumulation to +10% every 10 seconds. Pathfinding costs 30,000 credits.

 

This way the devs get a credit sync (which they like) and we get faster zone travel.

 

 

This is a cool idea, but 10 seconds would be too long for acceleration, most speeder trips only take a couple minutes anyway, I'd say maybe 2 to 5 seconds. Also consider if you stop and open your map, get your bearings, then have to accelerate again. Considering that it would be restricted to roads, it's not a big deal to have the acceleration happen fast.

 

Should call the ability road rage lol... or driver's education lol... kidding.

Edited January 24, 2012 by AeonWeapon

[Theplayer]

i think it should be at least 200%, have you seen the movies, those things go like more than 400%, 110% is not a speeder bike thats how fast a bike goes.

[J-Sheridan]

Give Speeders a tab similar to how ships get theirs

Create upgrades for speeders that increase armor, shields, speed

 

Most likely going to come under Cybertech since they get all the other mods related to ships and making speeders.

 

Speed wise:

 

Sprint - 50%

 

Passive ability gained at level 1 that increases by 2% per level until the players get to the first speeder tier.

No more having to turn it on after you die - Extremely annoying in PVP

 

 

Tier 1: 100%

Tier 2: 150%

Tier 3: 200%

 

This would effectively make every tier worth getting and get more functionality out of it at least for a basic flyby.

 

Future expansion ideas:

 

Throw in weapons, cloaking devices to avoid combat, customisation options like naming, paintjobs blah blah.

 

Probably for turning them into a racing game w/e

[photometrik]

That's actually kind of a cool idea. I'm going to put my own twist on it though. Thinking about it from a dev's point of view.

 

The speeder roads begin by giving a +5% move speed bonus for every 10 seconds spent traveling on them up to a maximum bonus of +50%. At level 35 players can learn the passive ability: Pathfinding. Pathfinding increases the maximum speed bonus to +100% and the bonus accumulation to +10% every 10 seconds. Pathfinding costs 30,000 credits.

 

This way the devs get a credit sync (which they like) and we get faster zone travel.

 

Glad to see people actually like the idea! I thought it made perfect sense, seeing as you could obviously travel faster on the beaten path than over rougher terrain. At least with less risk of bodily injury or serious kaboomage.

Edited January 24, 2012 by photometrik

[Thaltom]

This is a cool idea, but 10 seconds would be too long for acceleration, most speeder trips only take a couple minutes anyway, I'd say maybe 2 to 5 seconds. Also consider if you stop and open your map, get your bearings, then have to accelerate again. Considering that it would be restricted to roads, it's not a big deal to have the acceleration happen fast.

 

Maybe you are right. Every 5 seconds works better.

 

To take it a step further: a unique speeder that is available on via crafting that accelerates to a maximum of 150% on roads. A type of formula one racing speeder, heh.

[Daemonjax]

It isn't 220k for a 10% speed boost... It's 220k for a new speeder model. The speed boost is just icing on the cake. Edited January 24, 2012 by Daemonjax

[Heedlix]

I like this acceleration on a road idea quite a lot.

 

But the biggest gripe I will sing along with is the tier bumps. They are so insignificant it's depressing.

 

My toon just hit lvl 43 and I haven't yet bought lvl 2. I thought about waiting until 50 and just getting 2 and 3, but then realized that will set me back more than 500k credits.

 

IMO -

Tier 1 - 90%

Tier 2 - 125%

Tier 3 - 175%

 

Beyond that, you should be able to get epic mount drops from Operations that may boost you another 25% or 50% in hardmodes.

 

Also, speeders that could carry more than one person would be fantastic.

[Bansheedragon]

I have to agree with this.

The difference in speed between my run speed boos and my speeder feels insignificant.

 

The difference may be greater than it seems, but to me it dont feel as if I'm moving much faster than when I'm running on foot.

 

And the cost of the additional speed is horrendous compared to the increase in speed you get.

 

210k and 330k just to be able to fly at 10% higher speeds?

 

Why in the world do I need to buy a higher rank "license" for speeder use anyway?

To me that that would be the same as me having to get a "better" drivers license if I want to drive a Ferrari over a BMW.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in wow you did not need a better riding skill just to use a better mount did you?

 

The whole system is flawed if you ask me.

[Bansheedragon]

It isn't 220k for a 10% speed boost... It's 220k for a new speeder model. The speed boost is just icing on the cake.

 

Actually its 210k for the rank 2 speeder skill so you can use the 10% faster speeder, on top of that comes 25k for the speeder itself for a total of 235k just to get 10% more speed.

 

Not everyone is able to make large amounts of money in a short amount of time.

There are actually players that do have a difficult time making money for various reasons.

[UA_Wookie]

3. Most areas have roads of some sort. Designate these roads as "personal speeder paths" that will gradually increase your mounted speed to a maximum of +100% on top of your normal mounted speed. The number doesn't have to be exact, as long as it stacks with your current speed (so faster mounts are still faster even on these roads). If you are trying to get somewhere fast...stay on the roads until you are closer to your destination. As soon as you leave the roads, your mount begins to slow down until you return to the normal mounted speed of your vehicle.

 

Me no likey. This game is already on rails a bit too much and you're asking to stay on those rails for an added benefit?

 

There's already little reason, for people that like to explore, to play this game. Let's not add more reasons why explorer types don't like this game.

Edited January 25, 2012 by UA_Wookie

[Thaltom]

Me no likey. This game is already on rails a bit too much and you're asking to stay on those rails for an added benefit?

 

There's already little reason, for people that like to explore, to play this game. Let's not add more reasons why explorer types don't like this game.

 

The road won't run everywhere in the game. Look a Taris, there are some roads here and there but you still have to get off the beaten path to do just about every mission.

[RenegadeArcher]

I agree. Time to put the "speed" back in speeder.

[princeofgotham]

It's really wrong what they've done with mounts yeah. The only real motive I got right now for buying the last mount skill would be to get new mounts because of their model not their speed and that is badly thought out. Not to mention how lore-breaking flying mounts would be if they ever get implemented - and that's why they won't, which on the other hand is why having to stay at 110% forever seems like a horrible idea.

 

IMO you can really get funky with it without it ending up being ridiculous.

 

100

200

300

 

 

200 and 300 should get down to 100 in places like Empire/Republic fleet for example just so it wouldn't turn into a racing track.

 

 

If there's epic mount drops - THEN give em a 10-20 percent increase over the 300, maybe 50

 

 

Not only do mounts feel slow but mounting UPs the FOV which usually adds to the illusion of speed so imagine how fast they really are if the FOV was left untouched. I dunno, it would've all probably been alright if it were tigers and raptors but come on.

Edited January 26, 2012 by princeofgotham