Post
by Lexx Yovel » Sat Aug 29, 2009 5:38 pm
Okay, I read all the posts and gave this some thought. I will (finally) offer my own input.
I think like Arev said, Ramd's idea is a good one. It just requires fine-tuning to prevent it from being abused by new or inexperienced players.
I do agree the program should only be limited to Commandos and Jedi. We won't coerce Commandos or Jedi to respec, but we will let them know that they are eligible for a program which supports them respeccing to a support profession.
Entertainers and Traders are obviously needed professions, but it wouldn't make much sense to fund a Jedi/Commando respeccing to an Entertainer. Not only does it deprive us of a viable combat profession, the player would likely not want to be an Entertainer or Trader in the first place. In addition, it requires that they level back up from CL 1. If a Jedi/Commando really wanted to respec to Entertainer/Trader, they could do so for virtual no amount of money, by using respec tools (as opposed to expensive respec NPC's).
Arev is right when he says Bounty Hunters are sort of an "inbetween" profession. We don't have too many of the, but at the same time they aren't as low in supply compared to Medics or Spies. Nonetheless, we should consider allowing Commandos/Jedi to respec to Bounty Hunter if that is the only alternative profession they will consider.
I think 50% of the respec cost is reasonable. Arev's suggestion of 75% seems a bit high to me. But how about this. How about if the respec cost is something below like 5 million, we pay 75%, but if it's anything above, we pay 50%?
I also like the idea of a mentor. Though the only problem is if we have a shortage of Spies, and someone respecs to Spy, we won't have any Elder Spy to train him/her. So I think the best we can do is offer members who respec weapons/supplies, and information guides.
I also like the idea of rewarding members for staying in their profession. One concern a member brought up to me after the guild meeting is if someone respecs to another profession, but decides to respec to his old profession after deciding he/her doesn't like the new profession. By offering loyalty credits, this encourages members who respec to stick with their profession for a while, before respeccing back. I think it should be increased to 2 months though, instead of 1; but that's just me.
Also, as Arev pointed out, we should only make this program eligible for a select group of members. In my opinion, we shouldn't offer this program for anyone below CL 80, and anyone who hasn't been in the guild for at least a month. This saves us valuable resources for members we know won't be leaving RID anytime soon, and are already levelled up considerably.
Auren's concerns are certainly valid though. I would much rather prefer an experienced Commando or Jedi over an inexperienced Smuggler, but as Ramd and Arev pointed out, we're severely lacking in diversity. The point of this program is to make new professions accesable to those who wan't to respec. There are no doubt a number of Jedi and Commandos in RID who want to respec, but cannot do so due to lack of funds. For those who enjoy Commando or Jedi, more power to them. We won't punish or look down about those who do, but rather provide them the option to become another Combat/Support profession.
