Datacrons Without the Acrobatics?

[Kryptonomic]

So, for those of us who don't want to play the game like a mini-Super Mario clone, are there any options to getting datacrons, other than leaping around on pipes and boxes?

 

I don't mind a challenge in some cases, but I find the game itself challenging enough without then having to do precision leaps onto tiny beams -- and having to do that three of four times in a row, with one slip up forcing you all the way back to the start.

 

I'm guessing the answer to my question is "no". In which case, am I the only one that feels this "mechanic" of getting datacrons is a bit silly?

Edited September 29, 2012 by JeffNyman
grammar cleanup

[PaintSticks]

Haha i know what you mean, i was trying to get all the endurance ones and cunning ones for my main but after starting my quest i found some of them where sooooo impossible to get for me since im no pro at jumping. But i did get quite a few in my hunt, i used this site to help me http://www.swtor-spy.com/datacrons/ . I tried every endurance one and cunning one at least once, but some of them are too complicated for me. Got most of them though.

[Mechrophilia]

In my opinion, when a player reaches Legacy Level 50, their datacrons should count for all of the characters in their legacy. The prospect of grinding those things out 12 times makes my brain hurt.

[FreePrometheus]

I kinda enjoy the challenge. Plus more often than not (When looking for them with little help) Its a fun little treasure hunt. I would be dissapointed if they had made it easier. Plus, many of the places that datacrons are located, especially on the more scenic worlds, end up giving you a great view from up high of some of that scenery. It, for me, makes the challenge all that more worth it.

[Kryptonomic]

I kinda enjoy the challenge. Plus more often than not (When looking for them with little help) Its a fun little treasure hunt.

 

Good point and I can totally see making them hard to find, forcing you to explore more of the scenery. But even when you finally find them -- and let's be honest, at least on later planets, you have to go to a guide that helps you rather than discovering them on your own -- then it becomes this "grind" to get them. An example is one on Nar Shaddaa where you have to jump on the floating kiosk, that only comes by like every 10 minutes or so. Granted, that's a fairly easy datacron to get -- but I would have NEVER discovered it on my own, thus it negates any exploring benefit I may have had.

 

So the "challenge" was going to a database of datacrons, finding out that I had to jump on this kiosk, and so on. [in fact, I typed up these posts while waiting for said kiosk to float on by.]

 

I agree that these can be treasure hunts, but I think the way some of the treasures are totally hidden from sight, and how some require "lost code cylinders" that you buy from an out-of-the-way vendor or a slot key that you buy from a vending machine -- well, it just gets to be a bit much and stops up the game play for me. And, again, I say that in the context that most of this stuff I would NEVER have found just by looking around.

 

I speak, incidentally, as someone who has (so far) managed to get all the datacrons along the way. So I'm not acting all sour grapes because it's something I'm finding I can't do. I guess I'm just finding that the way these things are distributed is in such a way that it negates an actual experience of either grouping or discovery. (The only one I had to group on was one on Balmorra -- and that only required both of us pushing a button at the same time.)

 

I don't know. I guess I just feel these things could have been incorporated a bit better rather than just as a platform jumping type of exercise.

[scullzomben]

If anything, I wish there were MORE, and a lot more, of these platforming gems. Not one of them is in the slightest bit difficult to execute. I have always been astonished at people's inability to hold W then press spacebar.

[Ashton]

I just wish they'd make the matrix shard one on Taris (Rep side) obtainable by a single player. There just aren't enough people around on Taris in that area to coordinate with. Maybe make it so you have just enough time to get on the vent after activating it, before it launches you.

[Kryptonomic]

If anything, I wish there were MORE, and a lot more, of these platforming gems. Not one of them is in the slightest bit difficult to execute. I have always been astonished at people's inability to hold W then press spacebar.

 

That's a valid point that some people will like more of these. I actually like having codex entries myself as I like reading the lore. But saying none of them is difficult to execute is a matter of opinion. Some of them do require precision execution of jump and move and while I agree that this is not the most difficult thing in the world, given it is limited key presses, it can become frustrating. You could argue: then don't do it. And I agree, but for those of us who do like the codex entries, it can be frustrating. Some people have different motor skills, for example, where the precision nature of the jumps can be tricky. So your astonishment may not be warranted and your suggestion that it comes down to an inability to hold down keys is likewise unwarranted.

 

As I think this through more, I guess it's not just the mechanics per se that are as much of a problem for me, as it is the way that in many cases you can't find them without a guide. What I would like if there was some "in game" clue to the fact that you are near a datacron. Some of them make sounds, but some don't. And some are so high up you couldn't hear the sound anyway.

 

So if you're a force user, maybe some in game message appears -- "You feel the tug of a datacron near you." That would force me, in game, to explore that area more thoroughly rather than going to a guide. Maybe if you're a trooper or agent the message could be "Your sensors indicate the presence of a datacron." Again, my point here is more making it an in-game thing rather than the meta-game thing that it becomes. And perhaps the game would have "simpler" paths to the datacrons, but it would require more exploring for you to find how to avoid jumping on things.

 

So I guess my "rant", if such it can be called, is that I wish there was more thought put into these rather than just making them platform jumping exercises, with perhaps more in-game options for finding and acquiring them. In other words, it can allow you to play smarter rather than just relying on dexterity alone.

Edited September 29, 2012 by JeffNyman
Additional details

[Kalabakk]

So, for those of us who don't want to play the game like a mini-Super Mario clone, are there any options to getting datacrons, other than leaping around on pipes and boxes?

Not sure if this really counts as an option per se, but for some of these, other players may have powers that can help you. For example, someone with knockbacks or Force push powers may be able to shove you across a gap, or someone with a grappling hook may be able to pull you up to various parts along the way.

 

Still, it requires knowing someone with those powers and trusting that when you duel them (so they can use the powers on you), they aren't just going to kill you and stand over your corpse laughing at you.

[Wassawp]

We do need Datacrons unlock for the legacy.

[tausser]

I've simply stopped grabbing them unless they only require walking up to to get.

 

It seerms the devs themselves got bored with the whole Super Mario business, too, as most of the ones on the later planets, with a few exceptions, are actually pretty easy to get.

[FINNT]

I would welcome legacy datacron entries. But whats the point in ancient datacrons if every stooge (priest, peon and sacristan) could just found them on the street. Seriously.

[Rypht]

It's a terrible trend the devs have started, and I will hold Bioware forever in contempt for any future mmos that decide jumping puzzles should be considered. Yes, I've seen the videos of Guild Wars 2, and while I don't play it, I blame Bioware for it.

 

PC MMOs aren't platform games, and shouldn't aspire to sink to those levels.

[uniz]

personally i have a self imposed time limit of 15 minutes for these. with a keyboard, mouse, lag and no game pad i just get what i can and move on.

 

i do know of a guildy who would waste hours getting one of these but again he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. each their own i guess.

[grombrinda]

Just do the nar shadda ones, you'll be a pro jumper before to long ^^.

[Izorii]

I dislike all the instant death drops the stupid jumps and the having to follow a guide because its requires such a series of insane leaps that I would die 30 times trying to figure it out. However these sort of things are now so common in MMO's I doubt it will be changed. Maybe they will make them legacy bind, if we are lucky (although then people would be angry they would need a rep and an imperial to get them all)

[ViciousFett]

Honestly, I don't want group with players who are too uncoordinated to preform spatial platforming.

BW needs to put more of these kind of road blocks in the game so unskilled players go away.

Edited September 29, 2012 by ViciousFett

[Sarfux]

I think these days since games are so easy everywhere they should make a building on every planet called "The Datacron Emporium" then you go in there and you talk to a seller (fully voiced seller of course) and they will ask you what datacron you would like and how many credits it is. Like a shop

 

BAM!!! lol

[Ohamsie]

I would like datacrons unlocked to legacy as well, the only problem becomes when you start a new character they would be super overpowered. Maybe they could do it so that it only unlocks the datacrons for a certain planet once you reach that planet? Or it unlocks the datacron once you discover it's section on the map? I'm not sure that would be something they would be able to do.

[Eillack]

We do need Datacrons unlock for the legacy.

 

This is sooo true!

[Mechrophilia]

I would like datacrons unlocked to legacy as well, the only problem becomes when you start a new character they would be super overpowered. Maybe they could do it so that it only unlocks the datacrons for a certain planet once you reach that planet? Or it unlocks the datacron once you discover it's section on the map? I'm not sure that would be something they would be able to do.

 

...An excellent addendum to the legacy-datacron suggestion.

[Rypht]

I would like datacrons unlocked to legacy as well, the only problem becomes when you start a new character they would be super overpowered. Maybe they could do it so that it only unlocks the datacrons for a certain planet once you reach that planet? Or it unlocks the datacron once you discover it's section on the map? I'm not sure that would be something they would be able to do.

 

How about gain that planet's datacrons when you complete the questline for that planet (and I do mean the planet questline, not the character storyline quests on that planet, although, not the bonus quests since some of those come in much later)? That way you don't really gain any advantage before you normally would have it, but you're properly up to speed for the next planet.

[Ryric]

I also wish they had datacron legacy unlocks. They could also gate them behind act 1/2/3 - finish the act, get all the datacrons for that act's planets. Or they could make them part of the individual legacy buys and gate them by character level like the early speeder piloting.

 

But honestly, having them all unlocked right from the word go would unbalance you on the starting planet and maybe the capital world. After that you can almost have more advantage by having your lv50 funnel always up to date blue/purple equipment to the alt anyhow, which is perfectly doable now. So maybe have them unlock once you get your ship.

 

I'd like to also have legacy map sharing too.

[RazielHex]

If anything, I wish there were MORE, and a lot more, of these platforming gems. Not one of them is in the slightest bit difficult to execute. I have always been astonished at people's inability to hold W then press spacebar.

 

My wife has some trouble with it. She's not twitchy. She doesn't do PvP because she's not twitchy. I help her get the more precise ones, like the ones in Nar Shaddaa and Taris that require falling and jumping on small steel beams.

 

Some people just have trouble with this, but that's no excuse for getting rid of it. Introducing teamwork, like sorc/sage pulls, SW/JK jumps, and the like, can make the impossible simple.

[hooty]

Sorry if this was already said, but I don't have time to read the whole thread. Pair up with a shadow (I think it's a shadow that has force pull). They could go ahead and pull you through tough parts. Or, it might work with a Vanguard? they could harpoon you as long as you're in dueling range. If you are a knight they could go ahead and you could leap to them etc...

 

Or come to terms with the fact that datacrons are optional and if you are not willing or able to perform the necessary feat then you don't get the datacron. There are some 'crons which I decided I'm not going to get. I'm not a fan of jumping etc. but some people are and I'm not going to advocate taking this tiny bit of the game that is "their thing" away from them.