Droid Engineer Archive

1) Sintrosi's plan: I presume you mean the state of the profession? Otherwise I don't know what you mean. Indeed, that post is entirely, and very sadly accurate. I support every word in it with every fibre of my big hairy body.

2) The DE plan is a mixed bag, both good and bad. To be perfectly honest, though, I don't see it as a plan, so much as a vague forward-looking-statement. That being said, the biggest problem I had with it was the bit about DE-only combat modules. I DO want combat modules, but I'd rather make and sell several of these a day, than make one for myself to use during my EXTREMELY rare combat situations.

ALL I want is a market for my droids, plain and simple. Customers should have a reason to buy A droid, they should have a reason to buy ANOTHER droid, they should have a reason to come back to my shop again beyond getting batteries and another dry-erase paintjob.

Droids are supposed to be incredibly sophisticated machines, an R3 takes twin advanced brains, but what can they do? They can't even remember to keep FOLLOWINg me, nevermind help me and other players with the dreary and tiresome day-to-day tasks we're forced to perform just to play this 'casual-gamer-friendly' game.

1. yes with her plan

2. No with the rough plan. It give only minor stuff

I am one who quit DE the day it came out. I read the post and gave up all my skill points that day. I had been planning it for the previous 2 weeks. Then i heard about "the Plan". I was disappointed to say the least.

I would only need 3 things to get me back.

1. Bugs fixed.

2. Combat droids that everyone can us. Maybe even some that only a specialty class can use. Higher ranking ones that demand more money

3. A market. if the above 2 are done, this will come unto itself.

Don't get me wrong TH. I am glad you are asking for input. It is the most we have seen ever. DE are the forgotten step child of the universe. I hope you get them back on track. I keep reading the boards to come back. I plan on it, only when it seems right.

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Thunderheart wrote:

1. I need to know if you agree or disagree with Sintrosi's Plan

if you meen the State of the profesion threed? YES

2. I need to know if you agree or disagree with the rough DE plan in general

YESbut ... not the comat droid Handlerpart i would rather have new "Combat chassis" even if weeker than the probot its still a verity .. the DZ70 is a joke .. a 500 HAM 100 damage @ 2 second speed droideka or IG88 chassis would be more powerfull that a probot but only to a level of CL18 or so...not as powerfull as the pets we got now but i bet more populer

Also, please post the changes you would make to the DE plan. Thanks

some ideas to push this along a top 5 to go on

Problem 1.EXPLOIT: Cluster modules not only fit into cluster module sockets, they fit into service module sockets. This allows cluster modules to fit into cluster modules ad infinitum. This has the added effect that cluster module slots are now pointless and allows any number of modules to be placed in any droid. Clusters should only fit in cluster sockets. Otherwise you're further exploiting the idea that the droid frame used is irrelevant.

Fix: Self Explanatory on how to fix this one but IMHO I think that the crafting stations should stay 1 PER droid.

Problem 2.Experimentation on droid parts has no noticeable effect on final droid (experimentation seems to alter the part quality, but no end effect is observed... 5 point HAM difference on a probot doesn't count). Resources also fall into this area since resource properties influence the experimental property values. There is no point to experiment either on droid components or the final product. The droids seem to all function about the same

Fix: For this I am assuming that the 10 EXP that we where told we would get are still going to be implemented [thanks Sintrosi] IMHO the best way to do this it to remove stacking make it so the best unit over rides the rest. Next connect the Effective ness to the EXP and allow us to modify the Properties of some units like the medical unit so that a Level experimented on would be say 80-95 level 5 would be say 90-105% and a level 6 would be 100 – 115. This would make a good Level 5 better that a weak level 6 then you can just transfer this to item storage and data storage units and HAM bars. Things like repair units might not need it but for the most part this would help a lot. Also this would not take away from cluster units if the above problem is fixed because they become a way to fit more Types of units in Droids.

Problem 3.Skills for the Droid Engineer doesn’t reach +100 at Master. Droid Assembly and Droid Experimentation only go as high as +55. Droid Customization (currently useless) goes to +64. Other engineering professions get skill adds like assembly/customization/experimentation at novice. Droid Engineers get squat.

Fix: This I have heard is in the works. [Thanks again Sintrosi] Also this needs to be fixed in the Customization tool so that checks a players Customization skill and only let them use colors allowed by that skill.

Problem 4.Droid deeds need to show ALL the modules installed and any important properties associated with those modules.

Fix: This I think also explains itself. Right now crafting stations, repair units, & armor aren’t displayed. Also unless you are a DE its hard to understand how to read the ratings for the item and data units.

Problem 5.Droid names use the standard name filter. This may be by design, but we're calling it a bug because droids should use a modified name filter that allows for numbers in the name. Yes, Artoo-Deetoo works fine, but I've seen NPC droids wandering around with REAL droid names. So we should be allowed to do the same.

Fix: This I think also explains itself

And just for giggles ... Droidekas or IG88 chassis? ... Any time soon?

1. Agree

2. Disagree

I'd like to see bug and functionality issues addressed. These have been listed elsewhere in the forums.

the five above items if fixed would restore a GREAT DEAL of the DE confedence in the DEV's and pull the class up from the "bottom of the barrel" so to speak

1. Do I agree with Sintrosi? Yes. I believe that the most important thing at this moment is to address the bugs that are currently plaguingthe DE professionbeforeadding more droids or modules. There are spacesthat need filling, e.g. the BLL droid (also known as the BLLBoard), whose lack of function makes it virtually useless. Building a structure upona shaky foundation is not a good engineering practice . I would love to be able to experiment on my droids.

2. Do I agree with the rough DE plan? The truth is that the plan is more of a spattering of ideas than a plan. I'm not saying they where bad ideas. I just think they lack cohessiveness.

The first thing that the plan addresses is combat droids. While I would like to see combat droid, the implementation that it describes would not be my preferred choice. The one thing that is missing is which droids are going to be able to use these modules. Right now we have a jumble where every module can be used by any droid. The last thing I want to see is a surgical droid shooting at me with a rifle. To effectively implement modules, the modules would have to restricted to combat droids. Then the modules would become customizations of these droids, and give them true variety.

One thing that is vague though is what does the followingstatement mean? "ONLY Droid Engineers will be able to make and use these modules". Is it implying that only DE's can use droids with combat modules? We are a crafting class. Even though I'm not going to say I would not like to use them, I would also like to be able to sell them.

Thesecond and third points have been discussed before and I believe that most DE's would agree with them.

After this come a group of ideas which are very interesting. Increasing the functionality of the surgical droid would be nice, especially having it heal you if you are down. That show's a certain degree of intelligence that you'd expect from a droid. Adding functionality to the Power droid is also good. Right not many people own these (and really, who would but a DE). Making them attach to harvesters makes them desirable for that unique trait (uniqueness is good;same module in everything...bad). PLUS they degrade. Return business! Also, the "decoration mode" is useful for various crafters.

Now the MSE idea is just cheesy. At first I thought, well at least a Novice DE can sell something, but then I noticed th caveat that ONLY high level DE's can make these. Back to square one. So making the MSE useful was a good step, but did not address the bigger issue of Novices not being able to sell anything.

So overall, with a some clarifications, it is a good set of ideas.It isnot a plan though.

1) 100% behind Sin

2) The plan ignores ALL short term bugs. All goals seem very vague and extremely long-term

there is noooo way there are so many DEs posting, I smell many non DEs expressing their opinion here lol

But here's my opinion (and I AM a DE):

Sintrosi's State of the DE profession: beautiful post, totally accurate

DE plan as proposed: Strongly disagree, too much emphasis in DEs and their combat droids. We are crafters, not combat guys. What we want is fix all the problems we have now. After that, add more functionality modules (entertainer modules, spy, harvesting, etc.). Restrict modules to certain types of droids (and their levels). I would be fine if there were no new combat droids, but more variety of droids to make and sell

1. Agreed with the points made, but really dislike the tone that Sin employs. Telling newbies to go away is not something a correspondent should be doing.

2. So vague I don't even know what to agree with.

Changes?

Short term issue: the Player City Shuttleport, when built has a Protocol droid in it. However, we are not required to provide one as part of the schematic! Similar issues with other buildings like the med center that when placed contain droids, yet we are not even required to provide a chassis. Please get this changed ASAP before it goes live. This one simple change alone would make many, many DEs happy and provide a huge income boost in the short term when the PCs land and the building frenzy that ensues, while we wait for the next few months for these other issues to filter through and be coded.

First point: Need clarification on combat stuff. Extremely strongly disagree with any proposal to have DE-only combat droids. We're engineers, not fighters.

Combat Modules: A good idea, sorta, but it needs far more detail and should only be usable in combat-chassis. Allows the ability to create a droid with a mix of capabilities. BUT, in order to tie the crafting professions far more tightly together, the "combat module" should allow the placement of a weapon (or weapon parts) produced by a Weaponsmith. In addition, a combat module could contain a (replacable?) shield generator from the AS line.

I vaguely like the idea of putting a combat module into any droid chassis type. It would add quite an element of surprise to the game as you have no idea whether the R2 unit is going to be helping heal or if it will blow your arm off. However Some limit on this needs to be in place. Have combat modules of different levels and only allow low-level modules to be fitted to any droid, and the higher levels only fittable to combat chassis. Perhaps, with a smuggler slice on them, you could drop the level of a module by one or two, thus increasiing the value of being a smuggler too.

Droid Calling: If you take the idea that you posted in the CH Pt3 thread of having ability to call extra droids (or any form of pet) at higher levels of the profession, that would be excellent. Also really liked the idea raised there of profession-specific certs that allow extra calling or modifications of the profession skills (Surgical Droid/Doctor combo example used was good)

Droid Repair: No idea what this one is about. The issues raised there are actually bugs that need to be fixed, not other items. Chargable tools? Yes, good idea, but don't limit it to repair. Apply it as a general design philosophy to all modules. Keep the med module as is, but add a Stimpack module, which is stocked with stimpacks and the doc can instruct the droid to heal (or do the auto incap thing), repair tools is good, survey tools with charges, weapons with charges or the PSGs, Slicing module needing clamps for breaking terminals Etc

Give uses to some of the other droids - make protocol droids useful. Make languages cost a skill point each, let the droid do the auto-translating if currently called. If the BLL is called, reduce the cost to redeed structures. Give it massive amounts of item storage etc.

Also, the thread started by Sin about suggested building types contains a heap of great suggestions for uses of droids.

A timetable and suggested set of where the new capabilities would fit in the existing skill boxes. Something equivalent to what you did to the CH thread.

Finally, a statement of how the Dev team sees droids fitting into the SWG universe. If we know how they fit, then we have an idea where they might be heading, or not heading as the case may be. Without a goal, it's hard to know if we're lost.

1. I agree with her plan, couldn't have said it better myself.

2. I agree with the DE plan except one thing (well, probably more, but I'll take what I can get for now, and complain more later)...DE-only combat droids would only be a good thing if they were as game imbalancing as CH pets such as Rancors and Grauls. Just take that thought into consideration when either designing our new pets, or when re-doing the CH skill tree. Our biggest should be upwards of the CL70 range like the CH cap...or there's some serious game balancing issues going on here. As for the non-DE combat droids, they need to at least be on par with other non-CH pets, or we are simply loosing more business and defeating the point of asking for more combat droids. The probot-style HAM and armor would be sufficient, but more firepower would make the new models worth buying for many people.

Also, and probably first and foremost: Fix our bugs FIRST. Many of the bugs are covered in the plan, and is much appreciated. Concerns like the 10 item limit need to be addressed, as well as Level 6 armor being useless if 2 level 4's can be used as a cheaper but equally effective substitute. Either increase resists on droid armor making level 6 useful, or decrease the stacking effectiveness. Data storage needs to be looked at seriously. All that is storable in them is schematics. Most people don't use more than a couple at a time, making the upper cap of around 150(?) very useless. Switch the caps for item and data storage and it would be a perfect solution. Either that, or re-impliment pet storage in droids. Re-impliment mission/waypoint storage in droids. Put limits on how many would be acceptable, but data storage needs SOMETHING to put in it, or it's just another useless mod that we can't sell.

And lastly, and probably the most important: Make sure it all works BEFORE you push it to live. I'm willing to wait a little longer iff the final product actually does what it's supposed to do.

1. I need to know if you agree or disagree with Sintrosi's Plan.

I think Sintrosi's Plan hit the nail on the head. IMHO, everthing that was presented in that post was accurate.

2. I need to know if you agree or disagree with the rough DE Plan in general.

I disagree totally with the DE Plan presented by SOE.

3. Also, please post the changes you would make to the DE plan.

This statement proves without a doubt that no one has heard us (MDEs) and that we have been ignored.

Has SOE not been listening to the people that pay their salaries? The first order of business is for the Devs to sit down and read every post in this section and make a running list. Everything we have complained about, questioned, and cheered, is here. We should not have to repeat ourselves over and over again. As of today, SOE has not implimented any of ourissues or concerns. We have heard rumblings, but that is all.

I realize not evey suggestion can or should be implimented. If that is the case, then tell us. Customer servivce and communication has always been SOE worse fault. You can change all that by talking to us on a regular basis. If all we hear is silence, then that is a screaming signal you do not care about us. When people feel that you don't care, they will leave,never look back, and talk trash about you.

Do not give us anything new until you fix what you have already started. How can this team of Devs possibly impliment anything new, when what they have done thus far is completely broken? Furthermore, if they can't fix it, then you need a new set of Devs.

I am a MDE by choice. Do you know how embarazing it is to tell people, "I'm sorry, I can't do that, becasue Droids are broken or SOE nerfed that feature."MDEs should be able to make, customize, and program ANY droid that is in the Star Wars Universe and make it anyway we want to (within limits allowed by the SW universe), period. You want to keep the elite droids to a minimum, then make the resourses rare. Crits to a MDE should be less than .01%, (1/1000) or never. Customization once done should stick and not fade. Give us the same amount of experimentation points as everyone else. Make the level 6 armor effective, or make us use only armor from an Armorsmith. Allow us to incorporate any weapon we want into a droid during experimentation (again limited to what is known in the SW universe). That way we have to buy weapons from weaponsmiths.

Give us a tank droid of some kind so that when we do go out to remote places looking for resourses we have protection. I should not have to be Pistoleer and a rifleman too, just so I can survive the wilderness. Make Droids decay over time like weapons and armor. If I shoot and destroy a droid, then I should be able to harvest some parts some of the times from the droid corpse (even C3P0 was rebuilt after being blasted apart when he arrived in Cloud City).

Read what we have written, listen to what we have to say, and talk to us on a regular basis.

Gossimer Whitewing. MDE, Master Artisan, Novice Pistoleer, Rifleman 4, First Aid 1, Bio Chemistry 2, plus some scouting skills.

DE only using combat droids = no good, MSE bombs good for a laugh..fine, need to try to stick to the SW universe approach on what droids can do what...in other words no r2's with lasers.

Since this is my 2 credits worth I'm going to make use of it...


I AGREE with sintrosi's plan and I haven't the foggiest clue what the 'rough' plan is. OH, and if you **edit**ing developers could get your head out of your A$$ sometime that would be just great! AM I MAD?

YES!!!!!!!!!!!


PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ASKING US WHAT WE WANT SINCE GAME RELEASE, AND WE'VE BEEN TELLING YOU EVERY **edit**ING DAY! STOP ASKING US AND GIVE US A MAJOR PATCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO, DON'T WAIT TILL THE 'MONTHLY' (MONTHLY MY ASS) PATCH TO GIVE US THE UPDATES. GIVE THEM TO US AS SOON AS THEY'RE DONE, PREFERABLLY YESTERDAY!

If you don't like my anger I don't care, just F-U-C-K off!