The Cool Factor

In my recent "rant," I proposed that Kabam change the game in numerous aesthetic ways to make the game more various and, thus, interesting. To their credit, Kabam has achieved this with the new Dread Omen Raid maps, which are cinematically wonderful. It feels  like I'm playing Star Wars while running through the different destroyer nodes, even if, as it has been pointed out to me, the Mess Hall looks more like another control room than a cantina -- bring on the Chef Vader Boss, already! Who? Well, this guy:

"I find your lack of salt disturbing."

All joking aside, Kabam has made aesthetic changes that do, unquestionably, make the game visually exquisite. I mean, Uprising is essentially a cartoon. And for a cartoon, these new Raid maps look great. But, what other changes could they make? Aye, there's the rub -- as that famous British playwright, Billy the Kid, once wrote.

Why propose any changes at all, though?

Well, Aaron Loeb at Kabam likened the life of a mobile game like Uprising to that of television shows. Core audiences keep the show -- or game, in this analogy -- afloat. How do long-term players become long-term? Well, they're invested, simply put. Now, as we know, The Force Awakens  was put in the very capable hands of a guy you may have heard of, J.J. Abrams. And he did a terrific job! More to the point, Abrams and his go-to company of writers understand that audiences want more than simply a good story. They want cool.  In the final season of another J.J. Abrams project, a television show called Fringe  that ran on Fox for several years, two main characters break the fourth wall and discuss the issue of cool.  Ostensibly, this brief scene was a nod-and-wink to the core audience of the show:

As an interesting footnote, go listen to Governor Adelhard's little speech about the Anoat Sector that plays in the background at Konn-Nevos Spaceport. Sound familiar? If that isn't the voice of actor John Noble, who plays the character of Walter on Fringe  depicted above -- and who, coincidentally, did voice work for the mobile game Infinity Blade -- then it's an excellent impersonation.

Anyway. The propositions I make below aren't simply pragmatic in character. In my opinion, they'll increase the Cool Factor of Uprising. Of course, the more complex the change or addition to the game, the higher the Cool Factor tends to, ahem, rise. Why do I want Kabam to step up their game? In a word, because a Star Wars MMORPG should be cool.  If all you want is a high PR, in other words, then I gently suggest that you stop reading this post and go grind a Raid map or two.

So, rather than simply complain, as I did in my aforementioned post, I compiled a quick, spitball list of potential changes ranging from "easy" to "keep dreaming," and not necessarily just  aesthetic ones. Let's start with the easy changes first and then discuss those of the difficult ilk.

Cartel Banner Borders

As I've previously discussed, the great strength of a post-Cycle 5 cartel is its social character. An essential characteristic of cartels is rank. Each CM (Cartel Master) has their own, individual way to determine cartel member rank, but, at the end of the day, this rank shows some kind of personal achievement within the group.

With this in mind, I'd like to see borders added to the cartel banners that reflect the rank of a given player. A gold border for CM, a silver border for Officer, a bronze border for Regular, and no border for Recruit. It would be a nice touch.

Pragmatically speaking, players would immediately see their ranks in CC (Cartel Chat) as well as GC (Global Chat). As far as our cartel goes, newer low-mid-level players would know outright who to ask about gameplay, since that's one Officer responsibility. As far as GC is concerned, if I want to discuss any aspect of running a cartel with another CM, for instance, then I'd know who to PM.

Cartel Messages

I began this blog because, in the main, cartel communication in-game stinks. The only way that a CM can send a message to every member at once is in the cartel header. That's dicier than Twitter. So, I propose that Kabam devise a way for CMs to message all members in a single communication, ideally as mail that would appear in our inbox. Perhaps the addition of a Cartel Inbox would work nicely. While not strictly an aesthetic change, this could potential prove very useful.

Barring an inbox message, how about an alternative to the PM (Private Message)? A Public Message that every member received would prove invaluable. For instance, what time is the next IB, again? From a CMs perspective, a reminder might stimulate gameplay. And I'm sure Kabam is all for that.

Lando Again

I've posted a lot about the Lando missions, so I'll keep this one brief. In light of the new Dread Omen Raid maps, I propose several different new maps for the Lando missions. Of course, Kabam would have to implement this on its given tier system. Each tier would expand to, say, three different maps, each with unique features. Running the same mission every time is yawn. Make the Lando missions cool. 

Time Zone Bullets

Ever wonder what time it is for another player? I propose that Kabam add a small bullet or clock icon next to the time stamp in both CC and GC. Color code the icon according to time zone, and add a time zone legend in-game. I'd hope that this presumably simple addition to the game would promote social play.

Bev Plar Faction Missions

Thus far, we've seen Imperial and Kouhun missions offered by Bev Plar. I propose mission crates for every Faction. But wait, there's more. As a Best Reward, offer Faction Reputation and Silver Faction Currency instead of gear or crystals. Anyone who runs Best Reward missions probably needs neither of the latter.

What's more, rather than require chromium for these Faction Missions, require bronze Faction Currency instead. Essentially useless bronze Rebel medallions suddenly become useful again, for example. Additionally, such Faction missions would bolster a player's Faction Rank. Doesn't this make sense?

Greater Variety of Species

Anyone who has given the forums even a cursory look eventually comes across a post or two about expanded Species for Uprising. NPC Rodian and Mon Calamari characters already populate social areas where player avatars appear, for example, so why not add these species for player characters? Rodians play a consistent role throughout Uprising's storyline, in fact. What's more, Sullustan seems easy enough to add, too. How cool would this be!?

Character Customizations

With the introduction of fragments -- or shards -- into Uprising, you have to wonder if Kabam simply took a page from the Star Wars: Heroes playbook, which bases character creation and development on a shard system. When it comes to character appearance, I'd like to see Kabam borrow from not only Heroes, but also, and more specifically, the aforementioned mobile game, Infinity Blade 3. In the latter, you can customize your character's stance. Why would I want to do this? Well, characters in Uprising all stand the same. In a word, it's boring. The antithesis of cool. I'd like our characters to have individually developed stances. Heroes does this, too, but in a different way. Take a look at the distinct looks of these Heroes characters:

Darth Sidious got his robes at The Sith's Wearhouse.
You're going to like the way you look. They guarantee it.

While similar in stance, each character has its own unique twist. You can see this most readily with Luminara Unduli and Princess Leia. Uprising could utilize a change of stance feature to allow players a higher degree of individualization. Speaking of which, let's move on to our next and most implausible of all changes.

Dazur Dar Crates and New Side Story Missions 

First, the Dazur Dar crates are terrible for high level players. A 100 Holodisc Contraband crate just dropped 50,000 credits and a 4* crystal for me. Really? The rewards for these crates either need an update, or Holodiscs should be easier to come by. Add full pieces of Legendary Vanity Gear to the 300 Holodisc Contraband crates, for instance.

Now for the insanity.

If Kabam really wants to ratchet up the Cool Factor of Uprising, they not only need to do something about the stances of characters, but their appearance as well. In general, many players don't bother with appearance because it costs precious resources to obtain Blueprints for any usable gear set above the 5* level. The ones who do are generally Commanders and Generals who collect Vanity Gear like candy. But, not all long-term players have the time to earn these ranks and thus the cool vanity sets. I propose that Dazur Dar help rectify this lack of cool for many long-term players.

Kabam could develop new Rumor crates that serve to forward the Force Power side story quests. What might these entail, you ask? Well, there are a number of potential routes:

I. New Trainers. Of course, this means new Force Powers, too. Thus far, however, we've yet to see Combat Passive and Non-Combat Passive Force Powers. How about a Combat Passive Force Power like Knight Speed that upgrades Hit & Run Rank 3? Or how about a Non-Combat Passive Force Power like Mind Trick that rewards the player with Major Influence buffs wherever they go?

Oh, and by the way, why the hell isn't Force Lightning a Directional Force Power yet? How about a Targeted Force Power that freezes enemy attacks, as Kylo Ren uses in The Force Awakens? Like I said, the goal here is not just pragmatic, but cool. 

II. New Swag. Why not offer a number of different Rumor crates to let the player explore varied missions that yield a variety of Vanity Gear pieces? Luminara, pictured above, serves as a great example. If Jedi left behind a lightsaber, albeit a broken one, then other Jedi gear potentially exists in the Anoat sector, too. How about a cool set of robes that aren't necessarily even Jedi gear? A lot of characters in the Star Wars universe wear robes, the majority of whom are just extras in the films and television shows. They shouldn't be that hard to come across.

And what about, on the other hand, a Rumor crate that yields a Vanity Gear set for Tanks and Attackers? At this point in the story, the Clone Wars are long over. But what about an Imperial Rumor crate that leads to a dark, dusty Imperial warehouse filled with not only outmoded clone gear and weapons, but also some nasty Security Droids? Heck, that's so cool even I might run the mission, despite my lightsaber! Or, what about a Diplomat Rumor crate that rewards the player with a Leia-like appearance? You, Kabam, have Solo and Skywalker appearances covered already, bros.  My point here, of course, is that such Rumor Crates would introduce an new, cool element of choice into the storyline of the game.

III. Lightsaber Mods. If you think the above is crazy and that I should keep dreaming, well, hang on to your lunch. While I doubt Kabam will ever  do anything this cool, I've got to suggest that, again, they borrow a page from Star Wars: Heroes and introduce Mods, or modifications, for lightsabers. This would require as many Rumor crate missions as they could imagine into existence!

Since the lightsaber begins at 5* broken and ends at 9* maxed, I propose that a player can begin to make Tier 1 Mods to the lightsaber at 7* maxed. This would include basic aesthetic features. Players could finally change their blade color. They could, at Tier 1, also change design elements. How about a longer, slightly curved hilt?

8* sabers maxed reach Tier 2 Mods, which would upgrade Ranged Protection, Block Chance, and Crit Chance. No need to add anything additional. Mods only enhance the properties of the lightsaber that already exist. Now, here's where this pitch becomes very interesting.

9* sabers maxed reach Tier 3 Mods, which would upgrade Attack Rating, Utility Rating, and Armor Rating. The genius of this modification system is that, once a player reaches Tier 3, the Mods replace the need to ever level up the lightsaber again.  In theory, a player could continue to modify their lightsaber by running Rumor crate missions that drop RNG modification mats forever.   You hear that, Kabam? Forever.  Talk about long-term!

So these are just a few ideas off the top of my head. What do you think would make a cool change to Uprising? Feel free to comment in the box below!