Droid Engineer Archive

Ootwo wrote:

"So really, the "target market" for our most useful droids is anybody who wants to hold 10 additional, decay-free items, or any medic profession, or any crafting profession. This game doesn't have to revolve around combat, although it does seem that way sometimes.

Of course all this goes out the window with Publish 7, but currently this isn't a bad deal."

Can you clarify what you mean by that last sentence? Pub 7 adds potential low level combat functionality to droids. They're not taking away any of the item storage or crafting station functions droids already posess. I fail to see where anything "goes out the window" with this next publish. the only catch I can see is that because of the way combat modules stack, you can have a CL10 combat capable droid OR a droid with storage and crafting station features. That functionality is a big trade off for a little extra help in a fight, but considering how combat oriented this game is, the trade seems fair to me.

Chris

BTW, for the record, I only have two problems with Pub7 based on what I've read:

1) The complexity and the number of subcomponants required by combat modules. Jeez, aren't these thing complex enough as they are? Crates of subcomponants are starting to litter my house as it is....

and

2) R series droids with combat mods. They're astromechs! They're the swiss army knife utility droids of the Star Wars universe, not bad ass blaster slingers.

Also, I'd like to see combat droids added to the list of scannable contraband introduced with the uncrackdown. They are illegal after all and if a combat capable R3 isn't the equivalent of a sliced gun, I don't know what would be.

Chris

I hope you guys can light a fire under someones arse, cuz this is a killer. For the guy who keeps contesting the uslessness of the changes, have you ever used a pro-bot to fight? A piket can tear one to peices in no time, the only good it does then is when it runs away thats one less mob you need to worry about. Not to mention it does not stand as an effective tank, as aggro is way too easy to take away from the bot. Now as stated the advanced probot will be less than lv10? I see no real change to this profession that is benificial in the least. Stim packs, which will be a headache to make and cost tons to buy enmasse. That'll do well when I solo, everytime I get back to the outpost I can toss a heal on my droid which I left by the mission term. That said, the droid was helpful when I was 0002brawler and a 0122 marksman, I picked it up for 10K and it did help keep me alive. Now, that 10K was alot for me with no armor and crappy weapons. After this patch lands, a droid which is not even a cl10 will cost much more than 10K if not for resources, simply for the headache, will do less for me, but I can heal it through purchasing stims for a weeks salary in newbie land. Great.

"Publish 7 does allow some low level combat functionality in droids that don't currently have it, the R2 and R3, but it takes away utility functions from the currently useable combat droids, ie., the probot.

The ADV Probot that is currently on live is a Lvl 10 Combat pet, and it can hold 2 utility modules. The ADV Probot that is currently on test has 5 slots for either Combat or Utility modules. TH has said you need 6 Combat Modules to stack to get a CL 10 droid. So, by this, you get a less than Level 10 Probot if you max out its combat ability, and NO utility. If you wish to use 2 of those slots for utility, you would end up with a maximum of 3 combat modules, which doesn't come close to CL 10 according to how we've been told the combat modules should work. If this Publish goes live in its current state, it's a a big decline in functionality, not an increase."

It's a decrease from it's current level of functionality, but brings it into line with every other droid's module system once the publish goes live, assuming that it stays the way it is. I agree that it's stupid that an Adv R3 is a potentially more powerful combat droid than a probot, but I think that the system over all, trading crafting and storage functions for combat functions, seems like a fair way to go. I don't think that there should be a model of droid out there that can be all thing to all people. I don't want to sell one Omni Droid to a customer, I'd much prefer to sell three or four droids tailored for different purposes.

My idea to put the probot back on top combat wise and kep the R series the spunky little utility droid that they are: No combat capablility for the R series PERIOD and make 5 combat modules stack for maximum combat strength. Lower the complexity of combat modules and I think we'll have found a decent middle ground.

Chris

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DarthIguana wrote:
...I think that the system over all, trading crafting and storage functions for combat functions, seems like a fair way to go....

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This is really how the system currently works. You can sell a droid with a ton of utility, say an ADV R3, that you can throw 6 utility modules into, or you can sell an ADV Probot with only a little bit of that utility (2 modules) and the ability for combat. The tradeoff system works fine as it currently is.

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duncje wrote:

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DarthIguana wrote:
...I think that the system over all, trading crafting and storage functions for combat functions, seems like a fair way to go....

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This is really how the system currently works. You can sell a droid with a ton of utility, say an ADV R3, that you can throw 6 utility modules into, or you can sell an ADV Probot with only a little bit of that utility (2 modules) and the ability for combat. The tradeoff system works fine as it currently is.

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Not exactly. As it stands now, there's no trade off between utility and combat capability because combat functions aren't an option on any droids except the probot and the DZ70. Currently, a probot is a probot: A CL10 combat droid. The 2 utility modules are on top of that, so you get a CL10 with some extra utility. An R3 might have 6 utility modules but it will never be a fighter. Under the new system, the rules are the same for every droid: a CL 10 probot will have no extra utility, same as a CL10 R3 combat droid so the power / funtionality curve has been leveled for the probot.

Chris

Well not that any of you really care, but I've resigned DE. Not to be beating a dead horse, but to summarize my complaints:

• Mastering DE is just as time consuming and complicated as the other elite crafting professions.


• DE has no market for repeat customers.


• Iput x amount of time into crafting a droid, a weaponsmith puts x amount of time into crafting a weapon. WS sells his for 500k, I sell mine for 40k. Anyone with a 2nd grade math education can figure out who's the winner here.


• Half of the profession features and products aren't simply "unbalanced" or need "tweaking," that flat out DON'T work.


• The simple economics of the Droid market creates DEs who are overworked underpaid.


• The future published show absolutely no sign of improving this ravaged profession.

All in all I ended up spending a huge amount of time to make little to know money. There is absolutely no reason for me, or anyone for that matter, to choose DE over the other elite crafting professions - the numbers just don't add up. I hung around hoping these issues would be resolved, alas, it looks hopeless for the near and intermediate future. As such, I will not be wasting another minute of my time trying to deal with someone else's poorly thought out catastrophe.

I've enjoyed reading this board and have found the DEs here to be some of the most intelligent and helpful gamers in this community. Should this profession ever get properly fixed, I hope to supply any of you on Bloodfin with plenty of business.

Regards,

Mathe Sharn

Tal-N: Why are you here, anyway? If I was as ignorant as you I wouldn't let on.

There will be no Droid Commander profession for the forseeable future - maybe in the Space Expansion.