Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: Droid Focus: TH's 19 Answers thread...(for my 1st question). (04/22/04)
TheRealTK421 wrote:
...such as?
AudioOrgana wrote:
If we were going to get a for-sure answer, I'd like it on something that matters NOW, not a dim possibility six months or a year into the future.
- Are you planning to fix the bugs (like naming of droids) that have yet to be addressed in the two publishes devoted to DE?
- Are you aware that combat stats are not showing on deeds, making us blind when we sell our droids?
- Is there any plans to readdress the coloring of droid chassis that has crippled some DE's businesses (and has functions that will not be replaced in the deed system in Publish 8)
- Are you aware that several of the proposed modules (especially the scout ones) have limited usefulness and may need to be beefed up to make them actually usable by the player base?
- Has the Development team done as they promised and reexamined our reliance of another profession (Artisan) and have they decided to make other professions more reliant on each other or reduce our reliance (by moving the EMM's and EGP's to the DE tree as many believe they should be)?
And the big one...
- Does the Development team have a time frame on when, and if, they are following through with adding + droid skills to the DE profession, so a DE can have more than one utility droid out at a time? When they initially nerfed pets to 1 per player (non-ch) we were told that professions like DE and things like faction rank would be addressed. It never has been.
It's not about the answer...it's about what we could have brought to their attention. We knew that we would get a less than useful answer no matter what - however, we could have used it to bring some light on issues that I don't think are being addressed - not asking nicely and wasting a question with "When can we plan your game for you again even though we've done it over and over already - please, sir, when can we have another?"
The community needs to be focused on the issues at hand, not something as silly as asking when we can have permission to start doing the designers jobs for them.
AO
PS - Did anyone else note the irony in the fact that we got an answer to a HUGE question - droid crafting stations - from the Medic's question? Priceless...
Jnath wrote:
well i think the question was perfectly relevant, and something that SHOULD be addressed now, but as you have all read it wont be any time soon. The problem wasnt your question, i just think we expected more of an answer. My worry is that we will get a response similar to other things ive heard from the Devs: "That would take weeks, and i dont see that happening".
Jnath wrote:
But what he asked goes far beyond just the stupid droid handler crap. If we know the criteria that they will accept we can implement ideas that everyone agrees are the most important.
AudioOrgana wrote:
Jnath wrote:
But what he asked goes far beyond just the stupid droid handler crap. If we know the criteria that they will accept we can implement ideas that everyone agrees are the most important.
They already told us the criteria...and we met it.
And they said no.
AO
Then why was that one of our questions. I dont feel like i know what is implementable and what isnt, especially after Sodan's proposal getting completly shot down. I wanna know what will work before i waste any of my time coming up with improvements.
Jnath wrote:
AudioOrgana wrote:
Jnath wrote:
But what he asked goes far beyond just the stupid droid handler crap. If we know the criteria that they will accept we can implement ideas that everyone agrees are the most important.
They already told us the criteria...and we met it.
And they said no.
AO
Then why was that one of our questions. I dont feel like i know what is implementable and what isnt, especially after Sodan's proposal getting completly shot down. I wanna know what will work before i waste any of my time coming up with improvements.
/sigh
I'm not going to argue with you.
The point is, for the past nine months we have thrown every flavor of propsoal at them.
You ARE wasting your time if you try to come up with another one - they have already been given them all.
And, as many of us believe, in the end, they are going to do whatever they were going to do in the first place.
There are so many issues going on right now that need to be addressed. Regarless of any answer he could have given - this is content that is post-space; six months to a year away if it even happens.
It's great that you want to continue to play this little game with them, but from my position as a Master Droid Engineer who has watched and participated in the Dev/DE interaction since beta, my original statement stands : it was a useless question.
AO
/bow
AudioOrgana wrote:
TheRealTK421 wrote:
...such as?
AudioOrgana wrote:
If we were going to get a for-sure answer, I'd like it on something that matters NOW, not a dim possibility six months or a year into the future.
Um, anything that MATTERED.
Like...
- Are you planning to fix the bugs (like naming of droids) that have yet to be addressed in the two publishes devoted to DE?
If they had planned on fixing those, they would have put "Fixing naming of droids" on the list of stuff for Publish 8. So, asking that would have been pointless.
And...there's already an answer from TH to this question in the "Marching down Gorantoth's list..." sticky, as I've sure you've seen.
- Are you aware that combat stats are not showing on deeds, making us blind when we sell our droids?
I seem to recall the Probot I made a couple of nights back having the combat stats on the deed. I'll check this again tonight when I can find a way to get unstuck off my Swoop. If this is an issue, I'll see if I can't get it looked at before Tues. (and, yes, there's still items I've put in front of TH to address as short term fixes to try to nail down before Tues.)
- Is there any plans to readdress the coloring of droid chassis that has crippled some DE's businesses (and has functions that will not be replaced in the deed system in Publish 8)
You'll see this all come back on Tuesday. Since you've been reading up on the info coming for Publish 8, you no doubt have seen that deeds and chassis will have color and name customization fully functional (including Protocols, which I personally got fixed via Rubesabre and Chrysalide).
Once again, this would have been a question that didn't matter, since they have already 'fixed' it all on TC and for Publish 8.
- Are you aware that several of the proposed modules (especially the scout ones) have limited usefulness and may need to be beefed up to make them actually usable by the player base?
They've seen the DE communities comments, and mine, on this issue. So, this would have gotten, "Yes, we've seen your concerns." or some such. As it stands, the current modules that some see as having limited usefulness are fodder for getting tweaks down the line, if it seems they are needed.
However, they aren't going to add so much usefulness that it allows players to basically get out of entire game systems, like having to survey for stats or find concentrations. If that's what you're waiting to hear, I'm pretty sure the answer on this will always be "No." (unless we provide them with pretty overwhelming proof that such a change would be needed).
Once again, I didn't want to waste a question on this point. They aren't going to be fiddling with the current modules for P8 until they see how the metrics end up on them for awhile. I knew that...that's why I didn't pose this kind of question.
But....to answer yours, yes. They've seen the DE communities concerns.
- Has the Development team done as they promised and reexamined our reliance of another profession (Artisan) and have they decided to make other professions more reliant on each other or reduce our reliance (by moving the EMM's and EGP's to the DE tree as many believe they should be)?
That's a good question. Maybe our next question (for the next series of 19 Answers) will be this one.
The reason I didn't decide to put this up is that, in comparison to CL20+ droid issue, it simply didn't seem to have as much urgency or 'buzz' for DEs. Yes, there are quite a few that 'smart' over our over-dependence to MA. However, I see the number that want to get the combat droid issue going as much higher than that of those that care about where we are compared to MA.
As it has been stated before, MA is not an out-and-out requirement to be a DE. Yes, it helps. But it is hardly "required".
And the big one...
- Does the Development team have a time frame on when, and if, they are following through with adding + droid skills to the DE profession, so a DE can have more than one utility droid out at a time? When they initially nerfed pets to 1 per player (non-ch) we were told that professions like DE and things like faction rank would be addressed. It never has been.
.....yet. When P8 gets live, I'm planning on revising our Top 5 (top 20) to reprioritize our issues. I'm pretty sure that this issue will fall into the top 5 or so but we'll see.
This would have been a great question to ask but I'm pretty sure we'd have gotten the same type of 'answer' that we got on the current question. However, I never saw the same kind of outpouring or 'heat' on the DE boards over calling 2 utility droids, in comparison to the combat droid issue.
And...it's not as if I can't get quick answers now and again to the kinds of questions you raise here, Audio. They are all important issues...and I don't mean to suggest they aren't.
However, overwhelmingly, what I've seen DEs beg and plead for is information and guidance.
Plain and simple.
That one issue has permeated many, many DE issues for a very LONG time indeed. Therefore, I needed to prime the well to get that information flowing on the single most important long term droid related issue that DEs and non-DEs alike share.
It's not about the answer...it's about what we could have brought to their attention.
There's a lot of things you seem to think need to be brought to their attention that are, in actuality, already aware of, Audio.
We knew that we would get a less than useful answer no matter what - however, we could have used it to bring some light on issues that I don't think are being addressed - not asking nicely and wasting a question with "When can we plan your game for you again even though we've done it over and over already - please, sir, when can we have another?"
Yea, that's helpful, Audio. Sheesh.
The community needs to be focused on the issues at hand, not something as silly as asking when we can have permission to start doing the designers jobs for them.
Hmmm....well, there's a LOT of DEs here that seem to think we need some guidance on how to get proposals that will actually be accepted. I've seen it a ton and I know you have too.
I'm sorry that my question didn't fit your idea of the "perfect" question, Audio. There's no way I could have picked one that would have been the perfect #1 question for ALL DEs...
Respectfully,
TheRealTK421 wrote:
We knew that we would get a less than useful answer no matter what - however, we could have used it to bring some light on issues that I don't think are being addressed - not asking nicely and wasting a question with "When can we plan your game for you again even though we've done it over and over already - please, sir, when can we have another?"
Yea, that's helpful, Audio. Sheesh.
The community needs to be focused on the issues at hand, not something as silly as asking when we can have permission to start doing the designers jobs for them.
Hmmm....well, there's a LOT of DEs here that seem to think we need some guidance on how to get proposals that will actually be accepted. I've seen it a ton and I know you have too.
I'm sorry that my question didn't fit your idea of the "perfect" question, Audio. There's no way I could have picked one that would have been the perfect #1 question for ALL DEs...
TK, talking to you is like banging my head against a wall.
You just don't get it, so it doesn't matter.
The whole point is there are tons of other issues that DE's would like answers to. You said some of mine have been answered - well, sorry, they were suggestions as to the TYPES of questions I would like asked.
It's just so simple, TK. We gave them every flavor of proposal possible. If you do not understand at this point that they are going to do whatever they are going to do regardless of any "proposal" that we come up with you are not very smart.
If you do not see how the past nine months has been, as you termed it once upon a time, a "whitewash", I feel sorry for you.
You are trying to help the Development team stall us again, to keep us occupied doing something that in the end will not matter.
The point is that there are other concerns that are about NOW, not some fantasy for the future.
On top of it all, it just was not the place to ask the question in the first place - there was no way that question could be answered as fully as it needed to be in a couple of sentences.
So, again, my statement stands : it was a useless question, no matter which way you look at it - it was pointless to ask when you knew you wouldn't get a proper answer in that format, and it was pointless because it doesn't matter what the answer is : the discussion has happened, we have given them every type of plan, proposal, suggestion regarding it already. You are asking people to repeat themselves for the 100th time on something that we all know is just to keep the community occupied until they decide to do whatever they do.
You need to fill the next six months/year up with something to keep people distracted, and I truly feel sorry for those DE's that fall for it. Been there, done that - and if you think otherwise, you haven't paid much attention to the DE profession since this game went live.
There wasn't a "perfect" question - but there are some that would have been a hell of a lot more helpful.
AO
Message Edited by AudioOrgana on 04-22-2004 09:36 PM
TheRealTK421 wrote:
Audio,
AudioOrgana wrote:
What a waste of a question...
AO
Are you saying my question was a waste or his answer was.....'not desirable'?
If there is a better question, I'll start a poll or something for what the next one should be.
However, I'll still be beating the "Marching down Gorantoth's list..." thing...so I may be able to get even more info on stuff. That's my plan, at least.
/bow
Respectfully,
TK,
I hope you didn't take offense to my comment...let me clarify it as this...
I feel shorted that TH went ahead and answered that question with a vague (easy to dodge and ambiguous) answer that is akin to "It will be addressed sooner or laterin the combat balance,"and told us something that we already knew (that it was a hard question)and shorting us out of an answer that mattered.
Until this past week, I think higher level droids was an item at the very top of the DE agenda. The lack of marketable products was killing us.As of this week,we now have a confirmed greater variety of droids with really cool utilities (that I think people will want to buy) and better combat droids with goodHAM stats (that everyone will buy).
Although, I still want droidekas to be craftable, I have a lot less sense of urgency about the droid market. For now, I think we will be in decent shape, and am not convinced that we still need CL30+ droids or the droid commander to survive.
Was your question relevant? I think very much so. I think that devs are going to re-propose a droid commander profession/mini-profession at some time or another, and would rather us debate, come up with, and propose it than the alternative (devs clue us in to their defective proposal after it is 90% done and say swallow it or get nothing).
However, in the context that we ARE getting some better combat droids to sell, I am miffed that TH said "gosh, that's a hard question....I dunno....I might try to get you some more info in the future" instead of asking you for a different answerable question.
I don't you fault you for choosing the question...you had good reason to ask it, and it is an important issue. I am pissed, however, at TH wasting a chance to give us relevant information and (yet again) feeding us a lame Obi-Wan "patience my child."
*shrug*
Message Edited by Daker-Naritus on 04-22-2004 09:03 PM
AudioOrgana wrote:
there was no way that question could be answered as fully as it needed to be in a couple of sentences.
Daker-Naritus wrote:
...he didn't know it was coming.
Message Edited by AudioOrgana on 04-22-2004 10:25 PM
In the past she has brought up really excellent counterpoints and replies to the
various answers/non-answers the devs/TH have presented to us in the past,
but in this thread i feel that AO is too completely overwhelmed with the bitter
history of DE-treatment that she has lost all perspective.
#1. The GENERAL DE topics have nearly been exclusively regarding the entire DH/mini-DH/Hybrid/20+ issues.
Dead horse or not, that is what the overwhelming topics of droid-related discussions have been about.
#2. If Thunderheart actually delivers on a set of rules/guidelines for DEs to follow, then this was possibly
one of the best questions TK could have asked, based on the CURRENT buzzworthy posts on the DE forum, if not
overall.
#3. AO's issues are still all valid as they were the last 50,000 times she brought them up, but her priorities
are not everyone else's priorities, much less in the majority.
In conclusion, TK did a pretty good job fielding that question, because it has the POTENTIAL to provide the community
a LOT more information than has been achieved in the past regarding the 20+ issue.
Now, its up to Thunderheart to actually keep up his end of the deal, by providing us the guidelines in the near future.
Think of it this way. In order to answer such a question TH is probably going to have to sit down in a meeting just about this question. Given how much is on the devs plate right now I don't see this happening *NOW*. Maybe they'll fit it in next week, or the week after. We'll just have to see.
Why is no one a bit outraged about this clarification.
LadyLeala wrote:
DOES THE QUALITY OF THE ACTUAL CRAFTING STATION MODULE MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE ON THE CRAFTING PROCESS?
Can you please clarify that just a tad? Thanks very much!