Crazy idea about color crystal creation

[Altheran]

Firstly, my idea cannot be implemented in current state of the game. It's an idea that came into my mind assuming the color crystal system will change.

Accordingly to what had been stated about the will that color crystal choice not being an hindrance during leveling, and to the general concensus that crystals would be "splitted" in two parts, one bearing stats, the other one the color, I assumed that color crystals would be only a cosmetic modifier without any stats.

 

In my idea, the current way of creating color crystals (getting a shematic, materials and sending a companion do it) would be still avaliable, my idea is a special way to create crystals.

In short lines, it is a cave (or a room) with a device allowing to create a custom color crystal.

 

Now let's see the details of it implementation :

 

- What is it (Lore) : an advanced device that allow to agglomerate materials into an other. This device leaves no doubts about its origin : it has been made by the Gree, and it has been found on Makeb.

 

- How to access it : it is a secret area that few people know about it. The location can be learnt by finding an old holo-map (rare purple consummable drop that need Artifice 400 in order to be used which give a quest), which will show how to go there (directed by the quest, by activating things - I haven't given too much thinking about it yet). Basically, it gets you in an area that cannot be reached by other means (at least the first time, because there will be speeder there, that you'll be able to unlock allowing you to return there as you want. But it is only the entrance of the cave/room.

The cave itself is a phase that you access with a daily quest that you pick on clicking on an object at the entrance (the end of the discovery quest is to activate the daily one). The reasons that the device is under a daily quest phase are various : the first one is that nobody likes seeing 5-6 players already waiting before a "secret device", the second one is to limit the number of crystals created, because it will be a way to create some unique crystals or very rare colors, and so it shouldn't be a way to create too much of them.

 

- How it works : The device would have a specific interface in 4 parts : 3 parts ruling the RGB code of the color, tuned by using red green and blue raw crystals (would result as a thin monochromatic glowing effect, without multiple layers like some current effects but which the color is determined by the code contained in the crafted crystal), and a fourth that could seen as the catalyzer/fuel using rank 6 energetic crystals and/or rank 6 gemstones (or higher rank exotic materials). The catalyzing/fueling part is not defined yet, which materials and how much is up to the devs to decide.

 

For the color parts, three parts, colored in red, green and blue in which up to 5 raw crystals of the matching color can be put. Each crystal will bring +51 of its own color in to the RGB color code (decimal version, 0 to 255) of the crystal. It means that putting 5 red and 5 green would result in a (255;255;0) code for a yellow crystal, putting 5 green and 5 blue would result in a (0;255;255) code for a cyan crystal, and some unique and unseen colors can be created like putting 5 red and 1 green resulting in a (255;51;0) for a vermillon crystal. Personally I'd like that at least one of the three colors must be full of crystals to set this color at 255 in order to have bright colors.

It allows a great range of colors (with only bright colors, it allows 108 different color codes) but fancy colors should remain rare... So I thought that the succes rate of the process shouldn't always be 100%, but it should always be 100% for the most classic of them (plain red, green or blue). So I thought that past the 5 first raw crystal, each additional one would remove 10% sucess rate (with a minimum of 10%). Basically the formula writed in MS Excel writing style would look like :

=max ( 10 ; 100 - (number_of_crystal - 5) * 10 )

So, a green crystal would have 100% succes rate, a cyan crystal would have a 50% succes rate, and a white crystal would only have 10% succes rate. I'd also like that past the succes roll, there would be a 10% critical chance roll that would create two item instead of one.

 

When the crystal is created or failed, the device runs out of energy and the quest is completed. The crystal is not a reward of the quest it is given automatically when the manipulation has ended, just like the bonus quest of the Trooper's Story quest on Quesh (if the bag is full, the crystal is sent by mail). I order to reiterate, you have to wait the next daily quest, so the device is usable once per day.

 

I'm not fan of darker colors for lightsabers and shots, but I know that there are some who are fan... So I also thought of a way to create them : opaque crystals. They would be found only in the Makeb area, as a single node that would spawn randomly on the whole map with at least one or more hours before respawning. These crystals could be put in all color tuning parts of the interface, but they would only give a 20% malus on success rate (does not negate the 10% minimum), no bonus on the color. That means that all the variety of greys and a black lightsaber would be as rare as the white : only a 10% success rate (added to the fact that opaque crystals are already rare, to the fact that there would be only a try per day, tha the access to the device is also rare, these colors will not be numerous in the gaming population). I really don't like black lightsabers, but it would also allow color like Viridian which from what I heard, had a certain succes in KOTOR 2. It's up to BioWare to decide if there would be lightsabers with darker glowing effects, but personally I don't like it.

 

The catalysing/fueling part of the interface that I talked about in the beginning, could also be done in order to allow the creation of non-white core crystals, but I thought of this device as a way to make white-cored-only lightsabers and blaser shots (in odrer to hardly restrain the number of black/color-cored crystal and to leave the exclusivity end-game content).

 

 

And there finishes the explanation of my idea.

 

PS : all the colors I used as exemples use the same color codes that the device would create.

PPS : If my english isn't perfect, sorry it's not my native language, and I think I'm getting a fever as I write this.

Edited November 9, 2012 by Altheran

[Jemfisto]

Very good idea and well thought out. Edited November 9, 2012 by Jemfisto

[AdamGe]

I think this is a terrific idea and very well thought out! When I first heard about SWTOR I had envisioned epic quests to attain or manufacture color crystals... this post pretty much sums up what I've kind of longed for in this game. It's too bad we'll probably NEVER see something like this (despite the fact that it would likely be very well received by the fan base).

 

Seems Bioware has elected to negate the artifice profession completely and instead sell you color crystals on the cartel market for real money... /sadface

Edited November 12, 2012 by AdamGe

[Zeeke]

/signed

 

Completly support this idea, it would be brilliant to have something like this, would be nice to get a lot more different shades and tones of colors, lets people be more unique as well.

[Altheran]

Few replies so far, but they are 100% positive feedback.

 

Other thoughts will be welcomed.

[datast]

i myself would like to see more of a mainstream idea on lightsaber crystals, with one crystal being for the color and another (or 2) for stat changes (more like kotor lightsabers).

[ItsThatGuyAgain]

I like this idea, but I don't think the special area/quest should be restricted to artificers (not without an equivalent in other professions, which would likely be difficult to implement). Instead, I think anyone should be able to access the area, but artificers should have an additional incentive to use the system, such as a reduced chance of failure when attempting to make the rarer crystals (plus the inherent benefit of not having to buy the crystals used in the crafting process). In addition to this, artificers might be the only characters capable of making the rarer colors (white, for example).

Also, I don't think the darker colors should be more difficult to acquire than lighter ones. While I don't particularly like dark crystal colors, I don't think those who do should be arbitrarily restricted by making the necessary crystals harder to find and reduce the chance of crafting dark variants successfully. They can (and should) be rare, but only as difficult to make as their rare but light counterparts. That said, I like the idea of adding "opaque" crystals in some form, but maybe instead of having a single, rare node for them, they could be rewards for a few new artifice crafting recipes. Of course, some color combinations should probably be impossible to make, such as a black saber with a black core (although how exactly you'd impose such restrictions with an RGB system, I don't know).

Aside from those two points, I think this is a great idea and would add immersion and depth to the currently limited customization in-game.