Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: An elite crafting profession where your most expensive good is like 55k...
Kayler,
KaylerBrodie wrote:
Things to take into account when crafting droids:
- Every time I hit the assemble button there is a risk It will critically fail
- Every time I experiment there is a risk it will critically fail
- On final assembly I could lose everything to a critical fail.
With respect to the item in yellow...
Keep in mind, since Experimentation is pretty well 'borked' at this time, this won't actually matter.
You could critically fail on Experimentation but your droid will still have the same basic practical use/features and one on which you had "Amazing" success. Droid experimentation doesn't really yield practical benefits to the end product.
/bow
Respectfully,
in regards to the chef comments:
I don't know jack about chefs but don't they make food that gives buffs, ie, that is a good that constantly needs to be replaced like a weapon enhancment or stimpacks, because the higher end players, esppvpers are going thruthem alot.
compare that to a probot droid that you really only need one of....well you don't NEED ONE but you get my drift. it's a one time sale.
oh, and with architects, take a high end item like 150k + BER 13 extractors, you think they are going to sell just one per customer? No, people buy 4-10 (or however many they can afford). Again compared to DEs where a guy buys*one* 30k droid and is pretty much done as a customer - period.
again, just pointing out that if we're going to sell one droid per player (in most cases) it would be nice to have a high end droid to offer the wealthier players....
TheRealTK421 wrote:
Kayler,
KaylerBrodie wrote:
Things to take into account when crafting droids:
- Every time I hit the assemble button there is a risk It will critically fail
- Every time I experiment there is a risk it will critically fail
- On final assembly I could lose everything to a critical fail.
With respect to the item in yellow...
Keep in mind, since Experimentation is pretty well 'borked' at this time, this won't actually matter.
You could critically fail on Experimentation but your droid will still have the same basic practical use/features and one on which you had "Amazing" success. Droid experimentation doesn't really yield practical benefits to the end product.
/bow
Respectfully,
So if I craft a +1 crafting module it will be good as a +15 in a droid?
TheRealTK421 wrote:
It's all in how you pitch the product. Seriously. You MUST sell the user on the actual (or perceived) value of the product in question. Just imagine...
Yup, I do all that. When I get that far, at least. When I said that it took me an hour to sell 2 of the UberCrafter R3s I could have also said it took me an hour to get 2 people to respond to my spamming.
Once someone talks to me, it's a done deal. My prices are (generally) so low that all I have to do is attract their attention - there's no selling necessary at that point.
Even 75k for this R3 model is a bargain for the exact reasons you mention. Every Architect I know sells high-end crafting stations for roughly 1k per point. Meaning that a +43 Crafting Station runs 43k. If you want all 4 of them you're talking 172k. Or you could buy my R3 UberCrafter and get the same 4 crafting stations PLUS the ability to use them anywhere you want for 75k. Less than half price.
My shop is out in the boondocks. There's no foot traffic. I figure if people are willing to come out there to buy my stock that they deserve the price cut... and typically once they have bought from me they come back over and over and bring their friends. But I still don't get that much traffic.
I guess my frustration (such as it is) was showing. I do know how you guys do it - you have much better locations than I do and you don't mind the "selling" part of the transaction. I'd rather just make the droids and help people learn how to use them - I've never liked the "selling" part where I have to run around advertising my shop and my wares. 
Better be careful then. I may just start putting in orders for cheap R3's then making my business just reselling them
Hey, works for me!
I have thought about that in the past... hook up with someone who is JUST a Master Merchant. I'll supply the Droids, someone else can supply the weapons, armor, clothes, etc. The Master Merchant does the selling and maintains the shops and, of course, earns whatever markup that they can manage. I just supply droids at my "going rate" and if the Master Merchant wants to double the price and re-sell them, that's cool.
Droid_Engineer_Rho wrote:
Ackis, are you serious? That's terrible!
I must admit, I've been awfully pleased with the other DEs I've met on my server (Kauri).
Yup... for the most part the DEs I've met have been good. I'm also a very "vocal" and opinionated person (as you can see by my post count) which has earned me some enemies. It's all good now... I'm in a player city so I really don't have to worry about any of that anymore. LOL
Kayler,
KaylerBrodie wrote:
So if I craft a +1 crafting module it will be good as a +15 in a droid?
I'm not sure I'd say that is true (since I've not really made +1 crafting modules).
Most of mine end up at about 12 or so.
/bow
Respectfully,
/bow
Kollos wrote:
My shop is out in the boondocks. There's no foot traffic.
I don't get a ton of foot traffic either. I might make a vendor sale every few daysor so. I find that it helps to find a good spot where the market is anddrive them TO your vendor.There seem to be a good number of ways to build a clientbase.
Keep in mind, all...
Master DEs on most any server are outnumbered about 1000 to1. I'm serious.
That means you have about 1000 potential clients!!
I don't know about you...but I've notsold anythingclose to 1000 different players (and I feel like I've sold a lot, too).
So...ourmarket(even for repeat business) is out there, it just has to be 'cultivated'.
As an example:
About 2 months, a client purchased 2 Adv. Probots with no modules (combat-only,max. armor and that's all). Just today, I got an/tell fromhim and he ordered 4 more.
So...you might not make a repeat sale right away...but it will happen, if you stay incommunication with your clients.
I figure if people are willing to come out there to buy my stock that they deserve the price cut... and typically once they have bought from me they come back over and over and bring their friends. But I still don't get that much traffic.
Best as I can tell, word of mouth is the best way to build your clientbase.
You do want to spend time educating/selling those that are new to droids but from there, it's all about keeping the repeat business of those you've sold to in the past.
If you can do that.......you'll be fine, I promise.
I guess my frustration (such as it is) was showing.
It's okay...I let mine show here a lot too.
I do know how you guys do it - you have much better locations than I do and you don't mind the "selling" part of the transaction.
I actually don't think my location is fabulous. I'm about 1.5km NW of Kor Vella (Corellia) and I have to drive people TO my shop. My shop (as many DE shops) is a "destination"...not something that one finds by accident. These days, location matters less, since most people can be not-too-far from a player city shuttleport and vehicles make travel.....a joke.
Also, I wouldn't say that I particularly care about the "selling" aspect of being a DE. As a matter of fact, I've tried quite hard to automate the process of educating/selling clients. This is key.
I guess that I take the position that...
It's better to sell droids to 10 people at 100k than to sell to 100 people at 10k (or that idea).
Respectfully,