Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: Thunderheart Says, hang on - you guys are my first priority in the morning
Cafa wrote:
One word: Battle droids.
Umm, that's two words... 
Anyways, I hope today's post on DE's is less vague and provides more specifics than the plan. 
Don't worry Thunderheart,
We're just realy really excited at the aspect of having some fun with our profession. Do your job, do it well, and we will be happy. Please underscore to the rest of the Devs how eagerly we await some of these profession upgrades...
Thunderheart wrote:
You know, Ive been working on this all day folks. Im working with the correspondent and thats how its going to be.
I'm not sure that anyone here suggested otherwise. I hope that flame-retardant suit isn't starting to come undone.
When Sintrosi and I get things hammered out, there will be more stuff here.
Okay...that's fine. Then don't give timetables for posting till the things getting "hammered out" are dealt with...that's not much to ask.
And lets set expectations now. There is no magic bullet thats going to fix things overnight.
I am 187% certain that anyone in our profession would ever believe that to be the case. Knowing what we've been through in the past...this is par for the course.
Even as it stands, once we get our "State of the Profession" posted, we're going to poll it for a week to see how all the droid engineers feel about it. Once that document is done, then we move on to the next part.
I don't know how much you'll need to poll. If the updated plan that you come up with fully addresses the items that Sintrosi put forth in your "State of the Profession" post, you'll be fine.
You folks are droin engineers - - surely you can appreciate the process of engineering a solution and moving through it step by step, eh?
Yes...true. Most of us "engineers" know that it's NEVER a good idea to talk about a timetable when you cannot fully guarantee that said timetable can be met.
Just be more careful, in that regard, and you'll be fine. Believe it.
/bow
Respectfully,
While I have no desire to stand in the path of Droidekas...
....Exploding MSEs could be made highly effective.
While they may not have the lingering power of a CM poison, the ability to set a homing target and have it move in while you escape LOS reprisal...is huge.
The ability in group battle to have these things chasing a CM or Doc providing support shoudln't be dismissed.
The notion that Pistoleers and base PvP combat types have to be watching for these homing grenades and choosing between these targetszeroing in on their support specialistsand live enemies...there's a lot of possibility here.
Now having said that...even as a non DE I wanna see droidekas too.
I guess I'm guilty of regularly being a silent lurker in this forum because I think your profession has the ability to add immense tactical depth to the game....you guys and SLs.
I'll retreat back into the shadows, but I'm hoping you guys get get 'a lot' of love. SWG will be better off for it.
Jacore
I hear you and my mandate is to work with the Profession Corresondents and find out what the issues are. I know you have pain and I am here to fix the pain.
Now, we can talk about whats wrong, what you'd like and where we are going or we can waste more time.
Which would you prefer?
(And FWIW, if you had threads locked, it is because you broke community policies...)
I understand your point on locked threads...
But I have to disagree. The standard has been somewhat arbitrarily applied, IMHO. In particular, some days it seems that when enough truly negative stuff is being posted, we get a bit of a rampage where useful stuff is locked, too.
That being said, go work on DEs. Help us Thunderheart, you're our only hope.
Thunderheart wrote:
Now, we can talk about whats wrong, what you'd like and where we are going or we can waste more time.
Which would you prefer?
TH,
Let's waste more time.
/bow
Respectfully,
Droid Dekas are a Trade Federation item that should not be in the hands of everyone who has money to buy. Not to mention, that when the Droid Dekas were officially used, there was no such thing as Rebel and Imperial force, albiet it was in the making.
Psssst! Can you slip in a droid equivalent of a Graul or Rancor for us Master DE's?
Thunderheart wrote:
Now, we can talk about whats wrong, what you'd like and where we are going or we can waste more time.
Which would you prefer?
I'd like to waste more time! Of course that might only be becuase I am a GATer.
*meanders back over to the GAT to waste more time*
Thunderheart,
Try these ideas out...I believe they fix a lot of the problems with both the Droid-Engineer Profession and the non-CH Pet Nerf (NOTE: Yes this post is mostly about droids, I just add some general pet ideas to show you the relation of the whole pet scheme---the forest, not just the trees).
(1) All players start by being limited to one droid/creature (as proposed by you).
(2) Add Droidekas to the game - STOP...don't move on yet...hear me out.
There are three major problems with droids now...(1) No function differences between droids, (2) droids need more functions--they aren't useful for combat, and merely serve as movable med centers/crafting stations, and (3) they never wear out, thereby killing the future demand.
Now, in the "Creature Nerf Pt. 3" Thread, you mentioned that you are considering bumping probots' stats a little to compensate a bit for the creature nerf. This is a bad idea. Why? Everyone already buys ONLY one droid...a probot. Why? Probots do everything that every other droids can do because they take the same modules as the others. You are simply reinforcing players tendency to buy ONLY probots, and those probots to be the ONLY droid the player ever buys.
You also mentioned making DE only combat droids. This is also a bad idea. Most Droid Engineers have posted in response to this saying that they are crafters, and want combat droids to sell to OTHERS to preserve a market, not just to use themselves. They have continually asked for combat droids to sell to others, not to become another CH class.
Instead, do this: Put Droidekas into the game as craftable droids (as Droid engineers have been asking for). Give them slots for ONLY 2 modules (1) an armor module; (2) a weapon type module. Give them a low vitality (25-50) so they wear out somewhat quickly. Make 8 different types of weapon modules, each with a different damage type (acid, energy, stun, etc). Give Droidekas 1000 HAM, light armor, and whatever resistances bestowed by the armor module. Make them usable by all players.
Now, if you look at the above proposal you will notice several things: (1) It encourages people to buy multiple droids--a droideka for combat situations, another for crafting and healing--because droidekas can have ONLY combat functions; (2) the droideka is not any more unbalancing than the probot--it has only slightly more ham, and it wears out quickly; (3) droidekas can have substantial weakness--the player chooses a damage type that might be highly resisted by the mob; and (4) it starts on the path of droid specialization--one of the things DEs have been asking for.
(3) Give certain classes the ability to call a second Droid. DE's should get to call a second droid of any type. Doctors and Combat Medics should get the ability to call an extra droid with a medical module. Weaponsmiths, Armorsmiths, Chefs, etc. should get the ability to call an extra droid with a crafting station module.
Alternatively, you could limit certain professions to droid types...ex: artisans can only call a second droid if it is an R2 or treadwell; Doctors can only call a second surgical droid. This would keep the classes from calling a second combat droid with a medical/crafting module and abusing the system.
NOTE: All the the classes I have listed are elite professions...the second droid should ONLY be given to elite professions.
(4) Implement the functionality ideas you listed in your first droid post.
(5) For Faction pets, every player starts with the ability to call ZERO faction pets. There are 15-16 ranks that players can advance through. IN ADDITION TO the 1 creature/droid all players can call, give players the ability to call an extra 1 faction solder after 5 ranks, 2 faction solders after 10 ranks, and 3 faction soldiers at Colonel (highest rank for both rebal and imp). AT-ST's might be limited to one per player at Colonel, but I am not suggesting any limits.
(6) For creatures, creature handlers get to control 1 to 2 extra creatures (ONLY, not droids or faction pets) based on their advancement.
(7) NO MATTER WHAT, no player can EVER control more than 3 pets (as in droids, creatures, OR faction pets) at a time. All of the previous numbers are modified by this standard.
Now, I believe this comprehensive plan addresses all problems possible with droids and pets.
Players don't want to be limited to ONLY one pet. They aren't, but have to earn the right to have more than one.
Players don't like that the game has arguably turned into poke*** with all the creatures, but love droids and have asked for more droid usefulness. They get it.
Devs want some limits on pet use to prevent unbalancing. Players are limited to one droid/creature, with exceptions in certain classes. Further limits could be used to limit players to only one combat droid (limits on droid types). Faction pets (already nerfed to only be useful against factional targets) have to be earned, and are further limited by the 3 pet max rule.
Droid engineeers want diversity of functions in droids. They get it.
Droid engineers want players to be able to handle multiple droids to better sales. All players now have a reason to buy multiple droids, further boosted by the fact that certain players get to call a second droid.
Droid engineers want repair/decay needs. Combat droids (Droidekas) break down and need to be replaced.
All players love droids and want more of them. Now they have a reason to buy them.
Everyone is happy, don't you think?