The datacron system is awful and needs to be redesigned from the ground up.

[carnac_fett]

Datacrons serve three purposes.

 

1. Certain datacrons provide the player with a color-coded Matrix Shard. At certain locations throughout the galaxy, these shards can be combined with other shards to create a Relic item that confers sizable stat bonuses.

 

2. Datacrons that don't provide a Matrix Shard give the player a stat bonus instead. They are usually rather small, but there are many, so they may add up to be significant over time. We will have to wait and see.

 

3. Finally, each datacron provides the player with Star Wars lore.

 

 

Judging from their purposes, Datacrons should be...

 

1. Explained adequately - perhaps introduced via a quest.

 

2. Placed in locations where it would make sense to find a milennia-old piece of technology. For instance, in old ruins or caves, or perhaps in some criminal's vault of stolen treasures.

 

3. Reachable and obtainable using the skills players have been developing through doing quests and flashpoints. Namely, fighting enemies or navigating dialogue.

 

...but what Datacrons actually are

 

1. Never introduced ingame - you won't know what or where any of them are unless you stumble across them ingame or a mention of them on the internet.

 

2. Rarely placed in locations that make sense. They are often impossible to spot from a 'normal' area ('normal' meaning on the ground where people usually walk, and not atop precarious piping or dangerous piles of debris), forcing players to search areas for conspicuous rock formations, sloping pipes, or piles of boxes that may eventually lead to the hidden datacron.

 

3. In addition to being extremely difficult to find without consulting a guide online, most do not require the use of any normal gameplay skills. Instead, they require skill at precision platforming. Further compounding the difficulty - the keyboard and mouse are imprecise platforming tools, the game's engine does not lend itself to Super Mario 64 style platforming, and many of the 'platforms' used in these sequences (such as pipes and piles of debris) have glitchy collision. You will often find yourself jumping onto a pipe and sliding off the side or hitting an invisible wall mid-jump thanks to a nearby obstruction having a 'collision box' that is larger than the object itself.

 

Solutions?

 

1. Introduce the datacrons through at least one quest on the starter world.

 

2. Place datacrons in locations that make sense. When a player sees a ruin or vault stuffed with old relics, they should think "Oh! This looks like the sort of place a datacron would be hidden in!" and perform a thorough search of the area.

 

3. Players spend 99.9% of their time in TOR engaging NPCs in combat and dialogue. Datacrons should follow suit. Instead of being hidden at the end of frustrating and buggy gauntlets of precision platforming, they should be guarded by tough enemies or a tricky but fair puzzle.

Edited December 21, 2011 by carnac_fett

[StratisX]

100% agreed.

The Datacron system is almost like it was thrown in for the "lulz" with no real explanation or anything...

 

[Thormart]

It's there to encourage exploration. I like it.

[Meorum]

It is designed to give a reward to explorer types.

 

If you enjoy that sort of thing, then kudos! If you don't, then don't worry about them. Do what's fun for you.

 

/problemsolved

[Grammarye]

Lord you can't win. People complain about it being a static set of planets with nothing to do & no ambience and when something is introduced that requires a bit of exploration & thought, people complain.

 

It's not a requirement, if you don't like it don't use it, and you can always Youtube the answers anyway if you're that type. Me, I like exploring.

 

Also, holy yellow text.

Edited December 21, 2011 by Grammarye

[OSUNightfall]

I agree with solution 1. None of the others, though. Edited December 21, 2011 by OSUNightfall

[Nocturneus]

Heaven forbid a game developer reward players for exploring in the world they created. Personally, if I see a glowing cube in the world I can click on, i'd probably click on it. I don't need a quest to tell me to.

 

Communist MMO concepts for ALL...

[DisKorD]

What ever happened to learning an MMO as you go? Why does everyone want everything on a platter?

 

Consider the datacrons easter eggs. You stumble upon one..and you go ooooooooo. Plus...the first 3 datacrons on Korriban are so OBVIOUS that there's no way that someone doesnt even stumble upon one. Once you get it and get a codec entry...read it!

[DWarrior]

It's there to encourage exploration. I like it.

 

This as well

[neomage]

I think they are done right. Encourage exploration and many require you problem solve to figure out how to get to them.

[Beastfury]

They give permanet boost as such they are MANDATORY for any serious player.

[rynecrimson]

"imprecise platforming tools"

 

??

 

Really?

 

I mean, glitchy terrain, ok, i haven't really encountered any yet, but i can see that. valid.

 

But keyboard and mouse being 'imprecise platforming tools??' Um, dude, last i checked you have wwwwaaaayyy more control with these tools than a game controller. maybe it's just me tho.

[chucklebutt]

Quite a informative and thought out post. I commend you! You're right though, many times they are stuck out in the corner of a map where there is literally no reason to ever go. Without a guide, it would be very difficult to find all datacrons just by doing missions.

 

On Hutta (Imperial Agent and Bounty Hunter starting world) there's one datacron in a heroic area, just on the other side of the grate that you can see if just normally killing the groups. You can get to it very easily by backtracking a bit and turning to head down the other tunnel. I think that's how they should all be, in an area where you would normally do missions. Not just limited to tops of moutains or in the corner of maps where you have no need to go.

Edited December 21, 2011 by chucklebutt

[neomage]

They give permanet boost as such they are MANDATORY for any serious player.

 

guess they should explore and find them then..if they are serious

[carnac_fett]

I'd like to clarify that I love exploration. However, a love of exploration will not get you any further than the starter planet datacrons. Instead, you need to become skilled at keyboard platforming through glitchy environments within a clunky MMO engine. Edited December 21, 2011 by carnac_fett

[imtrick]

The OP sounds an awful lot like "It's too hard to get datacrons," to which the only response I can muster is "are you kidding?"

 

They're not hard to find. If you really must get all of them, all it takes is a few moments of research. They should not be all right out in the open; that would totally destroy what is probably one of their most important features. They encourage exploration.

 

This seems to me to be a huge complaint over nothing using some really shoddy arguments. I mean, since when are the keyboard and mouse imprecise? This strikes me as the complaint of someone who's run out of real issues to complain about.

Edited December 21, 2011 by imtrick

[puablo]

Hear hear, I agree with the OP. I do like that they are out of the way and obscure, and hard to find without a guide, but they shouldn't be IMPOSSIBLE to find without a guide! Some are just in weird places that you will probably stumble on to, or at least easily see, and that's fine. But others - I'm looking at you Coruscant - require so much jumping that it feels like I'm glitching the game to cheat somehow, not find a deliberately placed stat booster.

[Grammarye]

They give permanet boost as such they are MANDATORY for any serious player.

Perhaps you'd prefer if all players just started out with those stats. Heck why not just start at level 50 too whilst we're at it. This levelling progression is awful & badly designed, people have to spend all this time shooting simple low health trash mobs when they'll be engaging real elites & champions with a full team at level 50. It clearly isn't what they should be learning to do and as such I demand it changed!

 

Sigh. Why is it so-called serious players on the forums have to attempt to change the game to exactly what caters to them? Surely a serious player is capable of dealing with something new, challenging, dare I say different?

 

Thank god it's a theme-park MMO only - any sandbox elements people would just drown in.

But others - I'm looking at you Coruscant - require so much jumping that it feels like I'm glitching the game to cheat somehow, not find a deliberately placed stat booster.

It is true to say that some are over the top. That does not equate to the entire system being broken.

Edited December 21, 2011 by Grammarye

[Bigguyonarock]

Datacrons serve three purposes.

 

1. Certain datacrons provide the player with a color-coded Matrix Shard. At certain locations throughout the galaxy, these shards can be combined with other shards to create a Relic item that confers sizable stat bonuses.

 

2. Datacrons that don't provide a Matrix Shard give the player a stat bonus instead. They are usually rather small, but there are many, so they may add up to be significant over time. We will have to wait and see.

 

3. Finally, each datacron provides the player with Star Wars lore.

 

 

Judging from their purposes, Datacrons should be...

 

1. Explained adequately - perhaps introduced via a quest.

 

2. Placed in locations where it would make sense to find a milennia-old piece of technology. For instance, in old ruins or caves, or perhaps in some criminal's vault of stolen treasures.

 

3. Reachable and obtainable using the skills players have been developing through doing quests and flashpoints. Namely, fighting enemies or navigating dialogue.

 

...but what Datacrons actually are

 

1. Never introduced ingame - you won't know what or where any of them are unless you stumble across them ingame or a mention of them on the internet.

 

2. Rarely placed in locations that make sense. They are often impossible to spot from a 'normal' area ('normal' meaning on the ground where people usually walk, and not atop precarious piping or dangerous piles of debris), forcing players to search areas for conspicuous rock formations, sloping pipes, or piles of boxes that may eventually lead to the hidden datacron.

 

3. In addition to being extremely difficult to find without consulting a guide online, most do not require the use of any normal gameplay skills. Instead, they require skill at precision platforming. Further compounding the difficulty - the keyboard and mouse are imprecise platforming tools, the game's engine does not lend itself to Super Mario 64 style platforming, and many of the 'platforms' used in these sequences (such as pipes and piles of debris) have glitchy collision. You will often find yourself jumping onto a pipe and sliding off the side or hitting an invisible wall mid-jump thanks to a nearby obstruction having a 'collision box' that is larger than the object itself.

 

Solutions?

 

1. Introduce the datacrons through at least one quest on the starter world.

 

2. Place datacrons in locations that make sense. When a player sees a ruin or vault stuffed with old relics, they should think "Oh! This looks like the sort of place a datacron would be hidden in!" and perform a thorough search of the area.

 

3. Players spend 99.9% of their time in TOR engaging NPCs in combat and dialogue. Datacrons should follow suit. Instead of being hidden at the end of frustrating and buggy gauntlets of precision platforming, they should be guarded by tough enemies or a tricky but fair puzzle.

 

This has got to be a troll...

[carnac_fett]

Perhaps you'd prefer if all players just started out with those stats. Heck why not just start at level 50 too whilst we're at it. This levelling progression is awful & badly designed, people have to spend all this time shooting simple low health trash mobs when they'll be engaging real elites & champions with a full team at level 50. It clearly isn't what they should be learning to do and as such I demand it changed!

 

Sigh. Why is it so-called serious players on the forums have to attempt to change the game to exactly what caters to them? Surely a serious player is capable of dealing with something new, challenging, dare I say different?

 

Thank god it's a theme-park MMO only - any sandbox elements people would just drown in.

 

I have always believed that a game should play to its strengths. Players who wish to focus on PvE should be able to engage in PvE to gain items that allow them to grow more powerful in PvE. Same for PvP.

 

It would make a lot more sense to me if these datacrons, in their current implementation, did not offer stat bonuses but instead bonuses to the distance and height your character can jump. Perhaps they can offer resistance to fall damage?

[crazysam]

It's there to encourage exploration. I like it.

 

yeah!

 

it was made to be simple but still hard to find.

[HanoverFist]

This kind of thing has been in games since the dawn of RPG.

 

There is no system, they are simply peppered here and there for us to find.

Really , what is so hard about that?

 

Not that I disagree with some of your suggestions, its just that there is already enough spoon feeding in MMO's.

Edited December 21, 2011 by HanoverFist

[Grammarye]

I have always believed that a game should play to its strengths. Players who wish to focus on PvE should be able to engage in PvE to gain items that allow them to grow more powerful in PvE. Same for PvP.

 

It would make a lot more sense to me if these datacrons, in their current implementation, did not offer stat bonuses but instead bonuses to the distance and height your character can jump. Perhaps they can offer resistance to fall damage?

I can see where you're going, but does it really matter? It's not a requirement that every part of an MMO be a mini-game. Consider lore objects. You don't have to go seek them out, but they give an XP boost. Is that bad? Do you want that changing too?

 

I guess I just don't see the burning issue - if someone were asking me to prioritise this in development, I would want to see the business case and have someone justify why a developer or more need spend time on it. By all means improve the incredibly difficult ones (yes there are some I think a platforming sadist spent time on).

Edited December 21, 2011 by Grammarye

[nynik]

I felt the concept was explained by the various references to holocron technology in at least the Jedi Knight and especially the Consular experience. Holocron, Datacron and Noetikon.

 

Moft of the jumping puzzles, and they are puzzles if you don't fetch the how-to's off the internet, actually suit the Datacron in question. A particularly difficult one on Coruscant was the endurance +2 iirc, which actually made me laugh considering how long I endured the harsh penalties of missing a jump or exploring up a path that led nowhere, and having to rethink my approach all over again.

 

Its not perfect, there could be more to it, but it certainly isn't bad either.

[sobelius]

I agree the concept could be introduced in some way, but since these are essentially exploration puzzles I don't mind the platforming aspect -- it makes for a nice mini-game. I *loved* the challenge of figuring out how to get to one of the glowing things I spotted in the Coruscant water works. It took me two tries to get there, but the sense of accomplishment when I made it was much more rewarding than just walking into some place on ground level and clicking on it.

 

I had no idea what a datachron shard was until I got one, and even then, when I found the place to use it I still had to experiment to figure out what was going on. Turns out I have only one of the three I need. OK. Cool. Now I have something to look forward to finding/discovering.

 

By the time people reach level cap I don't think the bonuses from these items will be so significant as to be mandatory to have *every single one* to be effective. Truly serious players understand this. Players who think they have to have every single stat bump possible are not truly serious -- just OCD.