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Events!
Jul 12, 2005 16:09:10 GMT -5
Post by Vertexon on Jul 12, 2005 16:09:10 GMT -5
The following is in today's Test Center patch notes: Misc - Player event actors will not speak their programmed text. This interim fix is due to abuse of the system and the event actor will be removed entirely in an upcoming change for this publish cycle
This was a really cool feature and I'll be very sad to see it go. Though I can well imagine the kinds of abusive things people were doing with them. Yet another example of why we as a playerbase can't have fun toys because some of the less mature folks would try to put each other's eyes out with them. If anyone was planning an event that involved NPC Actors, you might want to do it soon. Really, really soon.
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Events!
Jul 12, 2005 16:11:48 GMT -5
Post by Obos on Jul 12, 2005 16:11:48 GMT -5
Oh for crying out loud....
I suppose they'll be taking Vendor speech away soon too? It's only a part of the tree and all.
CRIPES!
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Events!
Jul 12, 2005 16:12:00 GMT -5
Post by Conrad on Jul 12, 2005 16:12:00 GMT -5
Fuck.
Figures.
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Events!
Jul 12, 2005 18:11:06 GMT -5
Post by dlure on Jul 12, 2005 18:11:06 GMT -5
Now that is sad.
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Events!
Jul 12, 2005 21:26:22 GMT -5
Post by summer on Jul 12, 2005 21:26:22 GMT -5
This is bullshit. I was just getting a very important event together with some others I know in a renaming of our guild.
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Events!
Jul 12, 2005 23:56:25 GMT -5
Post by Shala-ren on Jul 12, 2005 23:56:25 GMT -5
why the hell are they doing that? I'm confused.
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Events!
Jul 13, 2005 4:50:22 GMT -5
Post by AidinStark on Jul 13, 2005 4:50:22 GMT -5
Yeah i don't exactly get the reasoning behind it... but i so rarely see reason in much of their changes. I never even got to see it in action.
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Events!
Jul 13, 2005 5:22:12 GMT -5
Post by Xarah on Jul 13, 2005 5:22:12 GMT -5
Being that I'm currently a non-player who knows almost nothing about player event perks, I certainly couldn't give a definitive answer, but just from the information shared in this thread I got the impression that players are/were able to enter whatever text they wanted the player event actors to shout out, which would leave things wide open to have these NPCs relaying abusive or risque messages (am I close, Vert?). It really is a shame, as anything like that is a great opportunity for that much more creative expression in the game, but unfortunately, it's also a privledge that could be - and almost certainly would be (or already has been) - abused by morons.
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Events!
Jul 13, 2005 15:57:14 GMT -5
Post by Vertexon on Jul 13, 2005 15:57:14 GMT -5
The NPC actors worked as follows:
You buy one from an NPC Events Promoter in any hotel (I think they're like 20,000 credits each?). The actor exists for exactly 8 hours from the instant of purchase (including time spent in your inventory). It then gets permanently deleted automatically.
You can basically place the actor anywhere you'd be able to put a harvester. This includes non-city areas and player cities (if you're zoned).
You can choose the actor's species, gender, and name. You can drag and drop clothing onto the actor to dress it up. You can assign it a single animation (i.e. pointing, clasping hands, flailing, etc), a single mood (happy, sad, bloodthirsty, etc) and a single line of text to say.
Players will see the NPC in the world, and it will be named something like "Joe Bob (an NPC Actor)." They will be able to converse with it through the radial menu, at which point the NPC will play its animation and speak its text (with mood). You can do this as often as you want until the actor's eight hours are over.
The patch notes indicate they're being removed from the game due to "abuse." SOE never publicly releases the details of exploits, because it will just get people thinking about ways to game the system (possibly in related, if not exact ways).
I remember when event perks were first introduced, I saw a few complaint posts of actors being dropped that were named after existing players and saying/doing unflattering things. I don't know if that's the same issue we're talking about, but it's one possibility.
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Events!
Jul 13, 2005 19:46:24 GMT -5
Post by Bloo on Jul 13, 2005 19:46:24 GMT -5
That's retarded. Cuz technically, you can do the exact same thing with vendors if you have enough merchant skills. And if they take that away from me, I'm gonna throw a HUGE tantrum.
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Events!
Jul 13, 2005 21:06:08 GMT -5
Post by Shala-ren on Jul 13, 2005 21:06:08 GMT -5
that is retarded. So the NPC is named after someone else. Don't the things have OWNERS? Report the owner, fine him/her, or lock him/her up, or suspend his/her game (not just the one avatar) or something of that matter. Don't get rid of something that is great for events, player created events mind you.
I thought SWG was supposed to support player created content anyways. Grrr...I hope that it isn't permanent.
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