Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: An update nothing exciting.
Hopefully now that Mounts are going live, we'll get "our" dev back.
Or was he working on vehicles too?
Yeah, but you could also have 5 of those backpack-R3s in your data pad giving you 300 additional storage.
I wouldn't mind seeing a better stacking algorithm, but I think there should still be a cap. I would just make the cap higher than what a level 6 can store so that it isn't so easy to duplicate the "best" storage droid using lower quality modules.
And I REALLY think that the Item Storage Module's "rating" in the crafting window should be the same as its actual capacity. I experimented a Level 4 module up to a "rating" of 8 last night, but the resulting droid only had 6 capacity.
Stacking modules to achieve a higher result is not a bug, it allows lower level DE to produce a higher level/desired product, BUT it does so at the cost of additional functionality. If you use two module slots to stack say storage modules to gain a higher lvl storage for example, you lose that 2nd slot for putting in another type of module like a repair module. So yesthe less-than-mastercan compete via storage for example, but he/she won't be able to compete in overall function. ThusDEs are still "driven" to reach Master to be able to make the "Best" product since stacking correctly won't allow both maximum quality and maximum functionality. Of course not being the design Dev, this is justmy take on it.
**This is of course Not touching the whole Abomination of using Cluster modules in General module sockets.
Great job. I agree with everything on the list. However,there are afew things I want to interject, since I am having one of those days where I care.
1.) Fix all of our bugs that have been here since release
There is no contest here. I completely and totally agree. These bugs range from annoying to completely game breaking for those of us who think Droids should be in the Star Wars Universe.
2.) Our modules and final product are somewhat useless
They are useless to anyone except crafters, medics, and bounty hunters. Somewhatuseless even then, in the sense that droids don't have any presence. I will make anotherplea here that modules be more than simple profession enhancements.Starwars to me is about droids. Having them be portable bubbles (i.e. medical center,private crafting station)doesn't feel like starwars. They don't participate. They aren't desirable to the majority of the playerbase other than novelty, and combat droids won't fill the gap. There are ways we can have droids that at least have the appearance of doing something on thier own without "making a profession obsolete". Either give them completely new jobs, or give them jobs to a degree that players get with skills. Be deliberateand make droids functional!
3.) Why buy a Surgical droid and put a level 6 med module in it when you can put that module into a mouse droid?
Good question. I think this has a lot to do with droids not being functional, though. Mouse droids don't do what mouse droids are supposed to do according to Lucasfilm's database on droids, and Surgical droids don't do what Surgical droids are supposed to do. Even with modules in them. So yeah, why not put a medical module in a mouse droid, which makes no sense whatsoever?
Point is made, though. We should have some sort of rational system thatenables droids to be empowered according to the droid's function. Mouse droids thattransport (or transmit)documents and surgical droids that heal is a start. Holovid recorder/players that allow entertainers to record performances to disk and make a sellable item that can heal player's battle fatigue and mind wounds at a later time (played from an R-Series droid or data terminal in a structure) is another idea.
4.) At Master level we only get 5 experimentation points.
Not to mention, at master refinement we only get 3. We cannot effectively experiment even if we had something to experiment on. Constantly failing experimentation (oh, and final assemblies) on marginally functional droids isn't my idea of fun.
5.) Being a Master DE does not matter.
Low caps, lack of module diversity, linear stacking, and lack of droid function make this a very sad fact. I don't think the problem is with stacking, I think the problem is that there is no reason to stack past level 4 (3?). And even then, I think module stacking should be non-linear. We discussed this in a thread that Drashk started. Here is a link to that:
http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=droid_engineer&message.id=36757&highlight=#M36757
Anyway, I just wanted to add some things from my perspective, since this is community representation time.
I have to agree with many here that stacking isn't in fact a bug. The fact that Master modules consume a single slot while Level 4s stacked consume two is in and of itself a benefit to being Master. People constantly gripe about the fact that any droid can do anything. Taking away thebugs with nesting clusters and putting them in schematics they shouldn't be loadable in, this "anything in any droid" function is really only applicable to MASTER DEs. Lower level DEs won't be able to provide maximum medical/data/storage capability and a crafting station in a two slot droid. Only a Master can offer that.
The other problem with taking so-called "linear stacking" away is resources. Oftentimes, the resources for the Level 6 modules simply haven't spawned or aren't available and stacking is the only available option for providing maximum module capability. For instance, on my prime server (Starsider), there was a long resource drought that prevented the construction of composite armor segments, which are used in L6 armor modules. The only way to attain maximum armor was to stack 2 L4s. Beyrllius Copper and Dioxis Inert for L6 data and Lidium Extrusive for L6 Storage only recently appeared for the first time, so the only option for maximal capacity there was this so-called "linear stacking".
Stacking needs to stay, and exactly as it is. Once things like cluster nesting and multiple crafting stations are fixed, this will become a non-issue. Only the Master will be able to offer something like like an R3 with all crafting stations, max data, and max medical (and a dozen other combinations like it).
Just some thoughts of mine....
First, I want to say that I feel a bit more confident about TH than other Red-Names. Not entirely confident of course, as that comes when results are shown. But in one week he gave us much more attention than the Devs did since release. We yelled and shouted to be heard, and what do we get? Well, a post telling us the Probot will be killed (temporarily, yeah right), a post asking us for more input when we've been screaming it for months, and then a formal appology for horrendously borking up our class in one particular patch. TH is talking a lot of talk (and at least that's something, I give definate credit for that). At least it's a first step.
Second, I think we should be clear about our priority list.....as you said, the first thing is to fix pre-existing bugs. Things that ought to work but don't. The next is to fix design flaws. That's a tricky subject....things that should work differently. Inherint droid abilities, module stacking, Master Artisan over-reliance, market options and new modules, etc. Many of our problems are ones that were design decisions that must now be altered based on testing (by testing, I mean us shelling out money for months and months). But, of course, the actual bugs come first. I just thought it might be good to define each so they know what *our* priorities are.
Icarus-6 wrote:
Well, no. That still doesn't make stacking modules a bug. That makes stacking cluster modules a bug (or alternately really, really bad design).
You misread, it is only even considered as a possible bug because by design you arent limited in the number of module slots you can fill.
Its all about perception. And youre right, really really bad design
Want proof?
Would anyone disagree with the following progression of droids?
R4 Adv --> R2 --> R2 Adv. > R3 Adv.
That is, (and just assume the word 'advanced' in this discussion), the R3 is a better, more expensive and more capable droid than the R2 advanced, which is, in turn, a better, more capable droid than an R2, and that's better than a lowly R4 Advanced, right?
But an R4 can hold three modules. Three clusters?
An R2 can hold one cluster of three modules. Equal to the R4... Or far worse?
An R2 Advanced can hold one cluster and two modules... Three clusters? Equal to the R4?
An R3 Advanced can hold two clusters... Worse than the R4?
So by the logic of allowing clusters to fit into module sockets, the best droid you can purchase is an advanced R2, and the smartest purchase is the advanced R4.
Even WITHOUT stacking, clusters lead to ridiculous results if allowed to fit into standard module sockets.
Correct me if you think I am misguided.
Hello Sintrosi! Thank you for all your hard work. I do appreciate it, and hope you stick around as our correspondent for a very long time.
Sintrosi wrote:4.) At Master level we only get 5 experimentation points.
I thought this was fixed in todays patch along with the Architects boost in experimentation points... Hardly one of our top issues if its been fixed
