Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: The real droid method...(or, selective crafting)
With the recent news of the "adding weaponry to existing droids" controversy, and the ongoing "any module in any droid" controversy, I'd like to share with you the one thing that I do...and that we can ALL do as a community to make the droids in SWG closer to thier movie counterparts...
I call it the "real droid" method...(or, selective crafting)...it basically involves boycotting certian droid configurations. We as DEs....the only ones who can make the droids...have the power to control what kind of droids get made and which ones don't. I make sure that any droid I make fits star wars. For instance.....
The only Droid I use a medical module in is surgical droids.....and most get a Chem crafting station too
R-series astromechs always have the crafting stations (as being pretty versitale they can be programed to help with any such work) and almost always have a repair module installed.
Probots have the armorbut NO other modules.....
I don't make LEs anymore....because they cannot REPAIR.
They only droid types I will install any weapons into will be Probot, Dz-70, or any combat droid types they give us. I will refuse any orders for "R2 with med range blaster" (politely, of course =)
That is by no means a comprehensive list..but you get the idea. I am at a point where I can afford to not produce any droids that just plain don't make sense in the Star Wars universe. I invite any other DEs to take the same approach, untill the Devs make droid more movie-accurate, it's up to us to do it for them.
Not a chance of this happening in any significant way.
R2 is the best seller hands down, bar none. I won't slit my throat because of a dev decision I might not love.
I like this post. 
I already do this. I get quite a few requests for the advanced probot with the 110 med module and something else. I refuse each and every one, because a probot is not a surgical droid. If any modules, it should get data and storage. If someone wants that, I will gladly build it. Want a medical module? I will gladly build you that as well. In order to get people to go along with it, I sell under the market. I really don't want to do that, but when I make someone buy two droids instead of one, they want something for their trouble. So I give them a good deal.
My point is this, we as players can point how the game doesn't feel like star wars all we want. It is our right. I feel by making droids that do not fit in with star wars we take away our right to voice the fact that the game is not what it is supposed to be. It just seems to much like a person in a group that is going to commit a crime, if you don't do anything to stop it, then you are just as guilty as those who commit the crime.
Hmmmm.
While I agree with your sentiment and admire how you wish to maintain the "true" Star Wars feel I'm not sure I can agree with what you propose.
I think that a lot of this stuff that is going on IS Star Wars in that Star Wars is unpredictable. People are cringing at droids having weapons- Jedi's wearing armor- BH's using pets- as if there were lock down rules to everything that happened in the movies. There weren't though. The thing that attracts me to Star Wars over Star Trek is that nothing is what it seems and the feeling anything can happen. The chaotic nature of ships not working- everythig being dirty and worn- princesses disguising themselves as bounty hunters,
What if I wanted to make an assassin droid like the one in cloud city that basically was a black 3PO unit with a gun. Who is to say it isn't Star Wars when it'sIN the movie.
Now I'm not saying I would like to seeevery R2 unit gunning downgrubbers and the like- but frankly I didn't expect to see R2D2 flying around in AOTC either, but there it was bigger than... well it happened. So apparently that is Star Wars too.
Also we (none of us) is privvy to what goes on in the DEVs meetings nor do we really know the precise details of why this is happening or that is happening- We assume laziness and certain things were already put into work- but until someone officially announces you can put a Probot style blaster in an R5 unit maybe we should cool our jets a little.
Not to mention, we all love the movies so much we tend to forget that this game really is a different animal. The movies show you the circumstances ofONE circle of people and the incidents that help dictate the future of the SW universe. In Galaxies we are kind of playing out what was going on everywhere else in the GALAXY. A lot of things can happen in a galaxy. So you MIGHT run into a Bounty Hunter who uses pets to run down his mark. Or a jedi who wears armor 'cause it use to be his fathers and he considers it lucky. Or you might run into some smuggler chick who juiced up an R2 unit with deadly shock in case she got in a tight spot on a mission. ALL of this would, In my opinion, be Star Wars. Actually I could see Wattohaving something like that.
So I agree with you- I too, would like to keep the game close to the Star Wars feel- and will do what it takes to keep it that way,but is what WE consider to be Star Wars to us Star Wars to everyone else? And should wekill the unpredictability that make the movies so fun?
Tevin Stargunner
Radiant
P.S. I don't know if you would see people running around with Rancors in a Star Wars film but we see it every time you log on-
well maybe it's just me...I've never had a problem completely selling out my vender in 2-3 days, and these are all configurations I've been using for a while.
You ever think maybe your R2s are outselling your Surgicals because the same modules are available in both? Thats after all part of the problem all of us have to deal with. If your a customer do you but an R5 for 8k credits or a surgical for 18k when they both do the same exact thing? But if you need a medical module and they are only available in the Surgicals....you spend the extra10k.This isn't about money, don't get me wrongo. But I do think by limiting the modules to the droids that make sense to have them, we actually end up selling more droids. Just my theory.
And I am by no means advocating killing your own market to make a point. This is directed to those who are more concerned with feeling like they make droids in the Star Wars universe than those who want to make more credits. In a role-playing sense, I find this much more rewarding.
Hotdog:
I do agree with alot of the points you had to offer. Yes, in Star Wars there should always be the exception to the rule. My problem is, as soon as a the patch hits, the exception will BECOME the rule. Everyone and thier mother will be running around with gun-totting protocol droid, or a grenade-launching R5 (hey didn't Hasbro make one of those? hmmm....)
case in point: I made a villian charecteronce that rode a Rancor. Everyone was like "hey cool!" Its Star Wars, it's a suprise to see...anything can happen right? Now suppose EVERY villian you encounter has a Rancor? Not so cool.
All these little things...a protocol droid re-programed as a bounty hunter...an MSE with blaster carbine concealed in it's shell to act as a suprise assasin. A battle droid that just wants to heal it's master (an elf that wants to be a dentist...)...all interesting ideas if they are unique...and in that reguard I like that we will have the ability to make them this way. The problem is almost everyone who has the ability to make them, WILL. And then all of a sudden, It isn't "hey, that smuggler modified her R2 so it could help her in a tight spot!" it's "Oh an R2...what kind of gun does it have?"
If at least a few of don't keep droids they way they are intended, then droids will ultimatley just be combat droids, one and all.
The vast majority of my sales come through my vendors. To support this business, I do factory runs of just a few standardized models, reasonably priced and useful to many players. Within this range of droids, you get what you expect: A surgical droid is a medical/food crafting droid, and an R2 unit is generally a crafter's assistant type machine.
However, I'm a master of my craft, and if someone contacts me for a custom order, and it is outside the normal range of droids, I'm willing to make it. That's where weird droids like assassin protocols and sabacc-playing astromechs should come from, IMHO.
I feel that a measure of restraint exercised over the majority of production, combined with a few 'specials', is an effective way to roleplay this universe.
ShaleDeralic wrote:
Hotdog:
I do agree with alot of the points you had to offer. Yes, in Star Wars there should always be the exception to the rule. My problem is, as soon as a the patch hits, the exception will BECOME the rule. Everyone and thier mother will be running around with gun-totting protocol droid, or a grenade-launching R5 (hey didn't Hasbro make one of those? hmmm....)
case in point: I made a villian charecteronce that rode a Rancor. Everyone was like "hey cool!" Its Star Wars, it's a suprise to see...anything can happen right? Now suppose EVERY villian you encounter has a Rancor? Not so cool.
All these little things...a protocol droid re-programed as a bounty hunter...an MSE with blaster carbine concealed in it's shell to act as a suprise assasin. A battle droid that just wants to heal it's master (an elf that wants to be a dentist...)...all interesting ideas if they are unique...and in that reguard I like that we will have the ability to make them this way. The problem is almost everyone who has the ability to make them, WILL. And then all of a sudden, It isn't "hey, that smuggler modified her R2 so it could help her in a tight spot!" it's "Oh an R2...what kind of gun does it have?"
If at least a few of don't keep droids they way they are intended, then droids will ultimatley just be combat droids, one and all.
I wish I had phrased it this way
What ShaleDeralicsaid
ShaleDeralic wrote:
You ever think maybe your R2s are outselling your Surgicals because the same modules are available in both? Thats after all part of the problem all of us have to deal with. If your a customer do you but an R5 for 8k credits or a surgical for 18k when they both do the same exact thing? But if you need a medical module and they are only available in the Surgicals....you spend the extra10k.This isn't about money, don't get me wrongo. But I do think by limiting the modules to the droids that make sense to have them, we actually end up selling more droids. Just my theory.
No. To clarify. I sell any medical droid for the exact same price. 26k = Med 110 and food chem craft.
You can get it in MSE adv - 26k
R2 - 26k
Surgical - 26k
LE Repair - 26k
The R2 units sell 10 to 1 over any thing else with the exact same modules at the exact same price. Same functionality and same price, R2 selling that many more means only 1 thing: People like R2D2. That's it. I'm not about to tell a customer they can't have their dream of owning the R2 just because the devs make decisions I'm not crazy about.
Simple as that.
I think this is great and should be the way the droids are made to exist in SWG, but it won't happen with a boycott.
The problem is the same thing would happen with the droids as the vehicles when they first came out. Everyone was yelling don't sell for under 10 credits per unit. 10 minutes after the patch launched people were selling vehiclesfor 5 cr per unit and in some cases even less. You would just end up losing sales and customers because you won't make what they want.
Hmmm, well anyone else is welcome to do this, but I wont. Droids, especially R2's are meant to be versatile droids with multiple uses. Think of it this way. He said that he will only put a Med Module in a Surgical Droid. That is like saying that a doctor cant do anything but heal. Doctors and people who work in hospitals are all real people with real lives. A doctor cant only do doctor stuff, they could have a family, or a second job. They couldjoin the Military as well, any time they wanted. They could have fun and go to themeparks. They could be a murderer and rapist, and carry guns too. IMO, Droids should be able to do all these things. They just shouldn't be able to do them as well. Most doctors cant go out with a gun, and kill hundreds of enemy soldiers. But if the doctor quit being a doctor, and joined the military and got training, they should be able to kill people and stuff. I think droids should be adaptable, and we should get something to change modules within and droid as well. In the Star Wars Universe, anything could happen. If Luke wanted too, he could reprogram 3PO to shoot people and kill. Sure he doesn't want to but it IS always an option. I respect your idea and your opinions and dont object to this in any way, but my opinion is that droids can be adaptable and do many different things.
These droids that can be re-programmed shouldn't be as effective as a droid that is meant for that purpose. An R2 with a medical module should be able to function as a doctor would, but not as effective as a surgical droid. If a slicing module is ever implemented, a droid such as an R2 should be able to slice things, just not as effectivly as a Smuggler. There should be a limit to what droids can do, but they should be able to do a lot. Droids can be programmed to do do anything within there physical limits, and this is what I believe. I will not put Med Modules only in Surg Droids. I like droids and think they should be able to do a lot more than they can know even. I also suggest that you change the name of your plan to ONLY "Selective Crafting"
I craft Real Droids, and don't like that you and trying to say you droids are "More Real" than mine are. Real droids can do many things, not only 1 thing. Droids that can only do a few certain things LOL ! THAT is not realistic. Thank You and Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it.