Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: Droids: Where we were and where we’re going.
Dhav
Thu Feb 19, 2004 2:06 pm
#248
Raleran0 wrote:
/agree
Dyna_Jones wrote:
One change I would like to see is that the regular BLL would take one regular module and the Adv BLL would hold a general module socket cluster. That way it could hold 3 modules and be a bit more useful for being one of the hardest droids to build.
If this went through it'd be nice if they changed the cap (on BLLs only) to 30. That would allow the BLL to be a lifter and make that chassis unique.
Other than that this all looks good. I feel MUCH better now that I have an idea where we're going.
I see the issue here being: as soon as that happens, EVERYONE will want a BLL, and while yes, it will drive up business for a pricy droid for us, it will also add thousands of items to databases that they've said in the past are already rather large. That's probably where we'll see the resistance: 20 items dosen't seem like much, but if you have someone who buys 5 BLL's, they've just given themselves the storage of a small/medium house, (as opposed to 30) without the cost to upkeep it. Multiply that one guy by say.. 100: you now have 15000 new items on a server, never mind all the hundreds that just grabbed another 30 (20 more than now) from only buying one BLL.
What would be nice, is if they could make the BLL carry items to scale: i.e. allow it to carry crates and larger items, and restrict the items put into Astromechs or others to just small handhelds.. spraysticks, blasters, stims, woundpacks.. food, maybe a crafting kit, etc. That would likely require them to go back and add a modifier on to each possible item in the game, and I can't see them doing that at this stage.
Another thought, would be to make the storage temporary, so that people aren't just using BLL's as storage lockers, but this just screams lost item/CS nightmare should a droid store itself, or someone go LD. Think 'dimensional pockets' from EQ lore. 
The idea of having more storage space makes sense on it, I just don't know if we can coax them to overlook the hurdles above. 
Thunderheart
Thu Feb 19, 2004 3:09 pm
#249
I just wanted to let you guys know, I'll be out of town through next wednesday - - Ill lurk a bit and read from remote locations and catch up when I get back 
Atteke
Thu Feb 19, 2004 3:21 pm
#250
Thunderheart wrote:
I just wanted to let you guys know, I'll be out of town through next wednesday - - Ill lurk a bit and read from remote locations and catch up when I get back
£100 says people will be making posts about the Dev Tracker not showing your posts again.
LeBob
Thu Feb 19, 2004 3:31 pm
#251
SWG-Runesabre wrote:
"Did you actually mean new effects, not the ones we already have as part of our profession, but brand new effects only available through the droids?"
Yes, it means brand new effects never before available to entertainers.
/cheer SWG-Runesabre
leeds
Thu Feb 19, 2004 3:41 pm
#252
SWG-Runesabre wrote:
"Did you actually mean new effects, not the ones we already have as part of our profession, but brand new effects only available through the droids?"
Yes, it means brand new effects never before available to entertainers.
Ok so this is very cool for us de people. We can now make droids people can't do without. Like it should be in a high tech age. I hope that more time can be devoted to setting up stuff like this. Of course after a bug pass.....
OceanMoon
Thu Feb 19, 2004 4:28 pm
#253
Oh... my... god. For the first time in a long time, I AM EXCITED ABOUT DROIDS! These are wonderful plans! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU, TH!
Puck_Starfire
Thu Feb 19, 2004 4:30 pm
#254
Endor on Elcipse is overpopulated? What the heck? Glad I don't play there. The last thing I would wanna see is a natural world like Endor gone Metropolis. What are they gonna do when ROTJ rolls around? Ban all the Player Cities? <hopes and prays they do>
Plzurpilot
Thu Feb 19, 2004 4:39 pm
#255
It appears that the general community is supporting 3 main additional droids
1) The seeker style survey droid
2) A droid with a slicing module to assist smugglers
3) A droid that can manage harvesters and other structures remotely. (PS: there was some mention of a power dorid that would aid in the powering of harvesters. What's up with that?)
Also we really need clarification if you ment Droid wound packs or droid repair packs (aka droid stims).
One more thing, since it seem that dorids will be used in combat more often, what about Droid Vitality packs. My R2 unit is down 2 units of vitality is there any whay for me to fix that or are droids going to be switching to a diffrent system.
raider7734
Thu Feb 19, 2004 5:05 pm
#256
Howabouta harvester telemetry module? It would simply be a way to view how much power and maintenance our harvesters have, and also it should indicate if the resource being harvested has shifted out. I would pay alot for a droid that could provide that information.
GadonThek
Thu Feb 19, 2004 5:07 pm
#257
As a customer, I have only one request over and above what has already been posted: more variety. I love variety, I buy lots of clothes, I like decorating my bar, I like owning odd things, and I would definatly buy several droids, if there were more options available. I currently own a WED Treadwell Advanced, mainly because not many people have them and I think they look cool, but I would love to see more "skins" available, like the Imperial Bug Droid(I forget the designation, you can see one f you do the Imperial Themepark) and some of the other interesting and slightly outlandish designs we saw in the movies.
One of my ultimate, all time wants for SWG would be a droid mount, like the small "taxi droid" that appeared in Episode 1 on tatooine.
One of my ultimate, all time wants for SWG would be a droid mount, like the small "taxi droid" that appeared in Episode 1 on tatooine.
Ablon
Thu Feb 19, 2004 5:25 pm
#258
Please use this link as a droid reference: http://www.starwars.com/databank/droid
I really like the direction of publish 8. It definitely integrates droids serving a purpose for sales, dancers, and combat. I think that the purpose of a droid and what it can actually do in the game is what will promote a Star Warsy feel and stabilize our profession. But there is something missing and that is graphic immersion which in my opinion co exists with functionality.
- For example take a R2 unit which is packed with all sorts of tool-tipped appendages that make him a great starship mechanic and computer interface specialist. We dont ever get to see those devices or use them in SWG. Why?
- Protocols droids serve no purpose. They need playability. An example would be Mr. C3PO. He translates.
- Content- make sure it fits with the Star wars Universe- here is an example from just that universe below. Much of the anti-droid sentiment existing in the galaxy is unwarranted bigotry, but even pro-droid activists will find it hard to defend the rights of droids bearing arms. The memory of droid armies is still fresh in many minds, and the legions of mechanized troops used by the Trade Federation and other corporate interests paved the way for legislation that eventually did away with the soulless infantry. Relics from that era still exist, such as the battered chrome war droid known as IG-88. The tall, cylinder-headed and heavily-armed mechanical bounty hunter responded to Darth Vader's call to capture the Millennium Falcon during the events surrounding the Battle of Hoth. Another issue is
Playability
- Droids can fix harvestors. Allow droids like WED Treadwell located at http://www.starwars.com/databank/droid/wedtreadwell/index.html to be able to affect the status payment for a harvestor by fixing the harvestor. This would act as a payment. These droids would become quite common and would help the DE market.
- Med droids- these work great.
- Assasin Droids: Perhaps the oddest being that could ever become a bounty hunter is a protocol droid. Yet it happened in the case of 4-LOM. This droid answered the call sent out by Darth Vader to capture the Millennium Falcon after the Battle of Hoth. 4-LOM is a humanoid droid, with a matte-black finish that is scarred and pitted. It has an insect-like face with large, compound photoreceptors. 4-LOM carries a massive blaster rifle.
- Assasin droids could be made to accompany Bounty Hunters. They could also be used as militia in cities and player cities as well as for space pirates.
- Serv-O-Droid:Type:Communications / business droid /Affiliation: Criminal . A sun-addled humanoid droid found in the streets of Mos Eisley, this particular mechanical has been spotted vacantly meandering through the corridors of the port city. Here is the criminal droid that many are looking for.
- Dark troopers: The dark troopers were first unleashed shortly after the Battle of Yavin, on the unsuspecting Alliance installation of Tak Base. The Empire launched the droids via hyperspace capsules, in a fashion similar to the distribution of deep space probe droids. The inhuman soldiers tore through all resistance, and devastated the Rebel outpost on the planet Talay.
- Have the dark troopers made only by DE's loyal to the Empire.
- FX-7\med droid: The sturdy FX-7 medical assistant droid aids both live and droid doctors in medical procedures. The FX-7 is a cylindrical droid, with a number of retractable appendages. Here we have a possibility to add this droid to medical centers as well as player battlefield med centers.
- Imperial V Mark Sentry Droids; Seen hovering alongside Imperial desert stormtrooper patrols in the dusty corridors of Mos Eisley were these small, sleek probe droids. They are carried by miniature repulsorlifts and their bulbous bodies are packed with sophisticated sensor technology. These could be used for spying.
- Combat droids: I would laugh if a mse droid could attack me. Make them tough- dual blasters.
But what is missing is how do we actually see the functionality without graphic immersion? And what do our droids actually do?
Message Edited by Ablon on 02-19-2004 04:35 PM
Keatsnam
Thu Feb 19, 2004 5:47 pm
#259
I am not a DE, but as a consumer I am psyched about the changes!
In addition to my usual droid wishlist (like make protocol droids translators), please consider the following if it hasn't been already: provide details about the installed droid details when you examine the droid or select it in your datapad.
Maybe this has been addressed (I've only had about 1 hour of playtime since Publish 6), but I don't think it has been.
I've purchased deeds for identical model droids that have different, sometimes multiple, modules. However, once you generate the droid from the deed, you have no idea what they do, or an indication of a module's effectiveness percentage.
I'd name them appropriately if I could, but a bug is preventing me from changing the name on at least one droid. I'd just like to be able to select a droid in my Datapad and be able to say, "Oh yeah, that's my crafting droid" without having to test them with trial and error.
In addition to my usual droid wishlist (like make protocol droids translators), please consider the following if it hasn't been already: provide details about the installed droid details when you examine the droid or select it in your datapad.
Maybe this has been addressed (I've only had about 1 hour of playtime since Publish 6), but I don't think it has been.
I've purchased deeds for identical model droids that have different, sometimes multiple, modules. However, once you generate the droid from the deed, you have no idea what they do, or an indication of a module's effectiveness percentage.
I'd name them appropriately if I could, but a bug is preventing me from changing the name on at least one droid. I'd just like to be able to select a droid in my Datapad and be able to say, "Oh yeah, that's my crafting droid" without having to test them with trial and error.
Lord_Piper
Thu Feb 19, 2004 6:24 pm
#260
Hello TH the Dev team, and fellow players. These Changes look good, I will post some issuesthat may come up inline in red.
Droid Engineer Issues Addressed:
* Wound Repair Kit - The Droid Repair Module already heals wounds. While as a whole players hate that they can not heal their own droid's wounds, if this does infact heal woulds, we need another function for the Droid repair module.
* Droid Battery consumption rate halved (enabling them to last twice as long) - Many people have given ideas how experimentation can enhance the use of droid power consumption. This fix is great, but you may want to keep these ideas on the table.
* Droids will no longer be susceptible to poisons, bleeds, /warcry or /intimidate
Droid Engineer Issues Addressed:
* Wound Repair Kit - The Droid Repair Module already heals wounds. While as a whole players hate that they can not heal their own droid's wounds, if this does infact heal woulds, we need another function for the Droid repair module.
* Droid Battery consumption rate halved (enabling them to last twice as long) - Many people have given ideas how experimentation can enhance the use of droid power consumption. This fix is great, but you may want to keep these ideas on the table.
* Droids will no longer be susceptible to poisons, bleeds, /warcry or /intimidate
A basic overview of the combat module functionality looks like this:
* Combat Droids will have all the fighting functionality of a regular combat-capable creature (CL10)
* These options will function like creature pets.
* All players will have the ability to own and operate these combat droids.
* All players will now be able to have both a CL10 creature pet and a CL10 combat droid called out at the same time.
* Combat Droids will be crafted.
* A combat droid is a droid that is capable of attacking things, in addition to other potential droid capabilities that can be added to droids currently.
* The normal crafting process is used, and a combat module is included in the droid.
* Combat module will only mount in droids capable of combat. They can be placed in one of the general droid module slots that already exist on the droid chassis’, seen during the crafting of the droid.
* Combat module is crafted in exactly the same fashion as other droid modules, using a draft schematic, resource ingredients, and previously crafted component ingredients.
* Combat modules can be crafted at varying quality levels, which can be seen when the module is examined.
* Combat modules stack and if more than one of them is placed in a single droid, they have a cumulative effect.
* To have the strongest combat droid, six 100% combat modules must be used in constructing a droid.
* These options will function like creature pets.
* All players will have the ability to own and operate these combat droids.
* All players will now be able to have both a CL10 creature pet and a CL10 combat droid called out at the same time.
* Combat Droids will be crafted.
* A combat droid is a droid that is capable of attacking things, in addition to other potential droid capabilities that can be added to droids currently.
* The normal crafting process is used, and a combat module is included in the droid.
* Combat module will only mount in droids capable of combat. They can be placed in one of the general droid module slots that already exist on the droid chassis’, seen during the crafting of the droid.
* Combat module is crafted in exactly the same fashion as other droid modules, using a draft schematic, resource ingredients, and previously crafted component ingredients.
* Combat modules can be crafted at varying quality levels, which can be seen when the module is examined.
* Combat modules stack and if more than one of them is placed in a single droid, they have a cumulative effect.
* To have the strongest combat droid, six 100% combat modules must be used in constructing a droid.
I have always been in favor of Droid combat modules. I however, dislike the system of combat modules setting which droids can attack. The player base have been pushing for the droid frames to have at least some meaning, this further degrades that.
I feel it would be much better to make combat modules add to the % of the Droid's attack, attack speed or chance to hit, not give the droid the ability to engage in combat. This would make it clear what droids could and could not engage in combat.
I also think it is better to use the droid defensive module slots not the service module slots for combat modules (yes they would have to have the number raised). This allows for balancing combatand service modules separately, to help Keep balance in the function of the different droids.
CL10 Pets are fine as a low level defender. The problem many people face are after you get strong enough to face the bigger things the the game, they become too weak to stand up to anything. My customers are dismayed that I can not provide them with any help against the harder things they enjoy fighting. They love the feel of droids and would enjoy using them as a combat profession. If this above statement does not include future droids that will go above level 10 and require some sort of player sacrifice, then I don't see a problem. If you are however, suggesting that droids will never rise above CL10, I think this is a big blow to the player's need for droids.
I feel it would be much better to make combat modules add to the % of the Droid's attack, attack speed or chance to hit, not give the droid the ability to engage in combat. This would make it clear what droids could and could not engage in combat.
I also think it is better to use the droid defensive module slots not the service module slots for combat modules (yes they would have to have the number raised). This allows for balancing combatand service modules separately, to help Keep balance in the function of the different droids.
CL10 Pets are fine as a low level defender. The problem many people face are after you get strong enough to face the bigger things the the game, they become too weak to stand up to anything. My customers are dismayed that I can not provide them with any help against the harder things they enjoy fighting. They love the feel of droids and would enjoy using them as a combat profession. If this above statement does not include future droids that will go above level 10 and require some sort of player sacrifice, then I don't see a problem. If you are however, suggesting that droids will never rise above CL10, I think this is a big blow to the player's need for droids.
Publish 8: Droids Rebuilt
Droid Engineer Issues Addressed:
* Droid HAM Experimentation to make droids more powerful has been implemented
* Display for power meter
* Droid Customization Kit
- kit useable by anyone
- customization lasts longer
* Customized appearances for Droid Deeds so that Droid Engineers can display the models they sell.
* Display for power meter
* Droid Customization Kit
- kit useable by anyone
- customization lasts longer
* Customized appearances for Droid Deeds so that Droid Engineers can display the models they sell.
It is still an early look, but here is our goal for Droid Modules:
Entertainer module: Entertainers would get a certification so that only they could use this droid (no combat functionality is added so its different that the combat certs). This module would allow an entertainer to queue one of 10 different new effects (smoke, lighting, etc.) The advantage is that the droid won’t consume entertainers HAM (just batteries). Each module will represent a different effect. So with 10 different effects, there will be 10 Entertainer modules which means the higher level droids with more module slots will be more useful for queuing different effects.
NPC cantina'sdo not allow droids to be called in them anymore. This change may want to be reviewed if we are going to have entertainers using droids.
Entertainers have complained in the past that the effects do nothing. This means a droid that does effects still does nothing, perhaps allowing effects to enhance buffs or BF healing rate would be welcomed.
Please make sure that these effects can be used with the /tellpet command, and not from a radial menu. These need to be run from a macro, and not used from clicking on the droid. Hard to use droid functions will simply go unused.
NPC cantina'sdo not allow droids to be called in them anymore. This change may want to be reviewed if we are going to have entertainers using droids.
Entertainers have complained in the past that the effects do nothing. This means a droid that does effects still does nothing, perhaps allowing effects to enhance buffs or BF healing rate would be welcomed.
Please make sure that these effects can be used with the /tellpet command, and not from a radial menu. These need to be run from a macro, and not used from clicking on the droid. Hard to use droid functions will simply go unused.
Merchant Barker module: This would give droids the ability to bark advertisements, give waypoints to shops, have additional information available so players could list prices, services, etc through a radial menu command.
I share the concerns over many droids spamming chat as many others have addressed. Some good ideas how to solve this have been presented in this thread. I feel the simplest solution is to tie this to the skill check that the vendor barking is tied to. While it does not solve it completely, it does greatly reduce the problem.
I share the concerns over many droids spamming chat as many others have addressed. Some good ideas how to solve this have been presented in this thread. I feel the simplest solution is to tie this to the skill check that the vendor barking is tied to. While it does not solve it completely, it does greatly reduce the problem.
Covert Detector Module: The covert detector module would allow a droid to detect and disable a covert detector in an area.
Exploding Module: This combat ability would consume a droid in a fixed damage blast. - I have some balance concerns here. If the damage done by the exploding droid is too high, then it becomes easy to destroy lairs safely, and can create problems in PVP. If the Damage is too low, it simply makes it a worthless module.
I will watch how this is implemented before I comment further.
I hope that this Feedback on these changes helps, and I will be looking forward to how they will turn out on the live servers.
One comment I would like to make in regards to this publish. One of the core problems DE's face is we have nothing to separate ourselves from each other. This is why you hear such a big cry to fix experimentation. This was not addressed at all in this fix. This is a large problem for DEs and we hope that it is not being ignored, just simply not addressed at this time.
I will watch how this is implemented before I comment further.
I hope that this Feedback on these changes helps, and I will be looking forward to how they will turn out on the live servers.
One comment I would like to make in regards to this publish. One of the core problems DE's face is we have nothing to separate ourselves from each other. This is why you hear such a big cry to fix experimentation. This was not addressed at all in this fix. This is a large problem for DEs and we hope that it is not being ignored, just simply not addressed at this time.