Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: Project: Droid Engineer Rebuilding our Profession (Phase 1)
Sodan-droiddreamer
Sun Nov 28, 2004 12:22 am
#27
Orthell wrote:
If they have droid commander as a profession, then the better be some heavy kicking droids! I want HK-47, I miss that droid! A really good hunting droid could be made if they improved the combat capabilities.
I'd settle for droideka, battle droids and super battle droids. They could use the same module system, the higher the combat rating the more HAM and damage. The existing artwork and system could be used. Through in some chassis specialization like the optional subcompoment of a shield generator for droidekas and some cool stuff for superbattle droids (maybe limited number of missles requiring manual reloads).
Drashk
Mon Nov 29, 2004 2:45 am
#28
I just added the first of three new posts that I am in the process of writing.
I think the Droid Model Redesign is something that could be added with moderate programming issues and would actually help to address a number of current issues that we have now.
The next thread that I am working on will bring a few of the Experimentation changes that I mentioned in a Chassis System Upgrade that weren't dismissed and incorportate them into a different approach on a decay system that is more like the Vehicle Decay system then the Droid Decay systems that we have discussed in the past.
The third thread, which I hope to have posted in the next few days, will address taking what we have now and sprucing itup a bit to be more attractive to Droid Users.
To top those three posts off, I will release the behemoth (well at least in my mind it is a behemoth) of a discussion thread, in the form of what I think would be a good route for the Droid Commander profession. I hope to have it completed sometime in the next 2 weeks.
To those that feel that Phase 1 is lasting to long, let me ask you this - How long do you think the actual program time would be? Nothing will happen overnight. Project: Droid Engineer (Phase 1) is a good representation of how the development process happens.
The longer we take in discussing what we want to see done with our profession, the more we can actually flesh out full ideas. In the past, many of the ideas that have been suggested have been limited in scope or not fleshed out very well. With the Project: Droid Engineer series, I want to make sure that we look at topics from different angles and flesh each topic out a lot more.
We will hit Phase 2 after we brush upon a few more topics in Phase 1. Phase 1 is designed to start the process of discussion and information gathering. During Phase 1, so far, we have touched quite a few different topics and have narrowed the field of items that the Community would like to see done, and what we would not like to see done.
Phase 2 will take what we discuss in Phase 1 and add flesh to it. During Phase 2, we will discuss and vote of different routes of approach on how to achieve the best goal. Phase 3 will put all this together in a Monster series of posts geared towards outlining what it is exactly that Droid Engineers would like to see done. Hopefully, this can all be completed by mid January / early February, right before serious non-Combat Upgrade discussion begins. Even when Phase 3 is 'complete', we still won't have control over what will happen during the non-Combat Upgrade. What we will have is a lot of discussions threads that we can point the DEVs at and say, 'This is what we want to see.'
We don't want a repeat of 'Please help me understand your change ofheart.'
fav
Mon Nov 29, 2004 11:43 am
#29
Everyl wrote:
I think master DE should be able to craft Battle droids,SBD and droideka.
They dont have to be uber like the in the death watch bunker. I just think it would make sense.
High lvl DE would be the only ones able to use them. Kinda like Creature Handler rules.
Dont you guys think the currents droids are ridiculus in combat?
Those 3 droids are already in the game. Is it asking too much that droids experts, riggers, be able to use them?
I agree 100%. I think there should be certain professions that can use those droids though. Like for example:
- Any class can use a standard battle droid
- Any novice elite profession (TK, Carbineer, Doctor, etc) can use an advanced battle droid
- Novice elite combat professions (TK, Carbinerr, BH) can use astandard droideka
- Advanced droideka should be resitricted to certain elite combat professions: Commando, Bounty Hunter, Squad Leader (for example) and should be a certification granted in one of the tier4 boxes or at master.
Here's how I would rate the combat effectivness of each droid:
+ Standard Battle Droid would be on par with (or slightly stronger) than a Probot
+ Advanced Battle Droid would be 150% as effective as a Probot
+ Standard Droideka would be 75% as effective in combat as the NPC enemy version
+ Advanced Droideka would be 110%as effective in combat as the NPC version
I wish i knew all the hitpoints off the top of my head so I could give some solid numbers. Some might feel that I'm making the droids a little under-powered, but I have two reasons for doing this:
1: I don't want to detract from the combat effectiveness of Creature Handlers (cause I know several CH who love their profession and would kill me if I made it obselete)
2: Since most of these droids can be operated by nearly every profession I would want to discourage their use as a "pwn machine" in PvP. (Although I think all-droid duels would be really really cool.)
That said...
My idea for SBD would be to make them about %50 as effective as the NPCs (still powerful) but make the schematic to build one a random loot item or quest item similar to the KSE Firespray schematic or the schematic for RIS armor. This gives DE a boost by making the SBD an elite item similar to the DE-10 pistol, or AV-21 speeder. The schematic should probably be a drop from a droid in the deathwatch bunker, geo cave or neutral corvette. I'd drop it in fragments just like the KSE Firespray and put a max use on the schematic like 5 units to keep the SBD rare.
So that's my two cents.
BillyBobthe50th
Mon Nov 29, 2004 3:46 pm
#30
that sounds good. This means I can use any combat droid under your system 
(with the exception of advanced droideka) What about the blastromech? where would that fall into the scheme of things? Also heres some other combat droid ideas
(with the exception of advanced droideka) What about the blastromech? where would that fall into the scheme of things? Also heres some other combat droid ideas BLL with ship laser cannons instead of cargo pads.
Treadwell with sawblade arms.
R4 with missle launcher rack in conehead.
With high level combat droids I can finally be an asset to my guild, who primarily does krayt hunts and has no use for droids. But thats all gonna change soon with the CR and DEs getting good stuff.
Message Edited by BillyBobthe50th on 11-29-2004 02:50 PM
OkanoDroids
Mon Nov 29, 2004 5:06 pm
#31
How about adding different types of droid power-ups that enhance a combat and/or crafting droids performance? These might help bring more traffic to our shops... And occassionally, you might get a bugged power-up that would give your Probot the power it needs to take on a NS solo (<==dreaming).
Orthell
Thu Dec 02, 2004 5:41 pm
#32
One simple request, give creature harvesting droids an option to automatically clean a corpse of whatever meat it's set to collect. It can be a pain targeting each corpse and telling my droid to harvest it. If it had an option to toggle an autocollect mode, that would be so much easier.
Oh yes, and give all droids lightsaber and force powers too! (J/K)
Oh yes, and give all droids lightsaber and force powers too! (J/K)
Mercman116
Sat Dec 04, 2004 5:58 pm
#33
There are more than a few things wrong with the profession of DE. I am going to list a few in hopes that something will be done about it. Of course 'something being done' relies upon the devs not fixing jedi(again) or feeling the need to mess with a game mechanic that works perfectly fine. To prove this point I have but to ask you other DE's out there one simple question; How many of your droids work the intended way? 1: The Surgical droid DOES NOT function as a med mod. 2: The Treadwel droid DOES NOT function as a structure mod. 3: (Come to think of it) the structure mod DOES NOT WORK AT ALL!!! 4: Armor levels 4-6. DO NOT WORK! 5: The Droid Repair mod DOES NOTHING!!! But these issues (ignored for MONTHS by the Devs after yet another shortsighted NERFing) pale in comparisan to the evils vested upon us from the minions of SOE. The Theft of our Saleable items. 1: We had but one uber marketable item. The one thing people had to buy from us over and over... the Unprogrammed Droid Chip. Now how many have you sold after the interface revamp? 2: How many Sorage Moduals and Droid Customization Kits have you sold since the upping of the time the paint stays on the droid? Whats the point of rebuilding our profession if it is going to merely be hit with short-sighted NERFS and bugged products? Why have a cool new Droidka if it dosnt work? Conall Herlock Master DE Bloodfin
Drashk
Tue Dec 07, 2004 3:30 pm
#34
I think I once again need to remind the community that the purpose behind Phase 1 of this series is to being the discussion of different topics to the table, to show the Developers that we can bring such discussions up, without the flames of the past.
The topics are not meant to be taken as any form of action nor are they supposed to be a prioritized action. Each topic brings something different to the forum discussion table and gives the Developers insight into our motivations as a Community.
If you don't agree with a topic, then state the reason why along with what you would do to modify a proposal. The how tos and what nots of each proposal are not as important as the discussion behind each proposal. I've set the proposals as being rather specific, such as the Development team would set up after internal discussion, so that the community has a chance to look at such a possible proposal and list what it is they do not like and what they do like.
Arguing over how we get to a certain destination isn't as important as actually picking the destination in the first place. This is the root of the problem many seem to be stuck on; to many are trying to use the same map, yet no one has figured out where we are going yet......
R2D2v2
Sat Dec 25, 2004 2:12 am
#35
It would be nice if droids could be mounted on the Landspeeder with you so that they can move along with you as you are out and about. That way you wouldn't have to wait for your combat droid or call/store after each mission. I think players would find combat droids more useful if they could keep up with you when you are going from mission to mission. For that matter it would make it more likely that players would keep any droid out like med, stimpack, harvest, trap, etc...
Morris Goldwater
Master DE
Flurry
Qlint
Tue Jan 04, 2005 6:13 pm
#36
Okay, here is my idea, such as it is, this has not been thouroughly thought out, but is just sort of a, well just an idea:
Droid vendor modules
similiar to merchant barker modules, but they can sell what ever is in there droid storage compartment say up to 10 items, and you would have to be a merchant to use it, but park your droid in front of the Theed starport, or by the bazaarr and sell some items. the extremely limited space would keep them from eliminating structure vendors, but they would be extremely desireable because they could be placed any where.
Devlah
Tue Jan 11, 2005 5:38 pm
#37
There are many ways we could improve our existing droids that have limited or no functionality currently.
The Binary Load Lifter:
Could be the only droid to hold more than 10 items. It could be a function of the chassis rather than any modules, though you could allow modules to augment that as well.
My suggestion would be that the BLL chassis alone offer a base storage capacity of 50 items, the equivalent of a backpack. This combined with any other functions afforded by modules could greatly increase the value of this particular droid type. Given it's nature, you might want this one to be a bit more power hungry.
As a side note to this item, I would reccomend that an objects volume should be taken into account more.
A crate of 50 Stim-Bs for example, should take up more space than my spraystick, yet I can fill up my inventory with them if I so choose, or I can place them in my backpack. Take into account that a stack of 100K worth of any material will also seemingly take up the same amount of space as a single unit, and you start to see some very unrealistic storage and transporting going on. Encumbrance from carrying items of this type would likely be the answer. A simple calculation of strength vs. Item number would turn that stat into something other than a simple measure of how often you can use a special attack or how much damage you take. It would also make things like droids with storage modules, or the BLL in this case have more usefullness.
The Power Droid:
By benefit of the chassis alone, the Power droid should be the only droid that can be called in tandem with another droid. If I'm not mistaken, the chassis already allows the use of the power supply function. This is fine as long as you have it for the sole purpose of powering someone elses droid... Making it possible to call this droid out regardless of whether you already have one out or not makes this droid more usefull "as is" by the sheer fact that now you can use it to power your own droid. Add in the possibility of repair functions or crafting modules, and you have a viable field support droid.
The Protocol Droid:
This chassis has the potential to be extremely versatile. Lets tangent for a moment and bring up the subject of languages. As everyone knows, it costs no points to learn a language. Therefore, there is no point in having a translator function because anyone can choose to learn a language at no cost. This COULD be remedied by placing limits on how many languages a single person may learn, or by making it cost points.
My suggestion would be to limit how many languages a single character may learn, as this would have the least impact on existing characters, simply allow them to pick and choose which languages, out of their current pool of languages they'd like to keep, and drop the rest.
Back on topic again.....There is more to the Protocol Droid Chassis than the simple translator function, there is an inherent nature to this particular chassis that no other one has that has great potential for use...
The Humanoid form.
Why limit the existing combat modules to the simple function of using an integrated blaster?
Why not afford the Droid Brain some actual uses?
A trapper or harvesting droid needs to be programmed by someone with those skills.
A stim-bot needs to be loaded up and programmed by a Medic or Doctor...
How about a TK combat droid? How about a droid following you around with a Laser Rifle?
Limited functionality and effectiveness of course, and the abilities governed by the skill of the one doing the programming. This would allow a more diverse line of combat oriented droids, without having to actually add more of them. Though to be honest, a few additional cosmetic options would be nice..A selection of heads, arms torsos, etc. during the assembly process would be nice, as well as some solid color options.
Thinking IG-88 here...
The Treadwell Droid:
This multi appendaged chassis would obviously excell with bonusses to the repair ability, not to mention the option to maybe repair vehicles, armor, weapons, etc.
______________________________________________
Chassis specific options aside, there are some options that could be added to droids in general to make them more usefull without having to change too much:
Someone mentioned the idea of having droids be able to carry out a set of pre-programmed actions much like a Macro. Seeing as how we already have the waypoint command, this really doesn't sound like too far of a stretch. It's implementation could be very similar to how we program our Astromech droids and flight computers. Write the macro using the same language we use currently with maybe a couple changes taking into account the droid perspective. I personally would like to see droids bound to structures that would not require the player to be logged in to maintain them. This would be very usefull for those who are not combat oriented, and would like to defend their home, harvestors and factories from agressive predators and criminals. Perhaps adding the local garage to the programmed patrol point would be prudent as well.
I could see a concerned Mayor, lacking a dedicated Militia, contracting a qualified droid engineer to equip the town or city with a Droid Control Tower, to regulate and govern a small number of droids to perform some civic duties such as defense against those Tusken Raiders, or Demon Stalkers from harassing the good townfolk, or maybe assist in maintaining the civic buildings, thus lowering the overhead cost in the long-term.
_____________________________________________
Not sure if this is in line with what you were asking for, but I thought perhaps these ideas might creep into the mix and maybe help out some.
ratdeath
Thu Jan 27, 2005 4:03 am
#38
With the removal of recursive macroing it will eliminate buff services provided by players who run bots, entertainers and docs mostly as far as I know. Personally I don't mind us loosing that if we could buy buffs and recordings to buff ourselves using a droid or two, don't have to be as good as if a real entertainer or doc does it, say up top 80% of their capability, so it would still give an extra boost finding a real entertainer or doc.
What's needed:
A module for a droid to apply buffs to players, one for docs, one for dancers and one for musicians.
Empty shells for docs to produce buffs ready for droids.
Blank discs for entertainers to record music and dances (holos).
This enhance the market for docs and entertainers while not taking anything from them, it also make it possible for players to get buffs without having to find someone to do it for them, helps people who dont have hours to spend ingame or playing off hours. It also if done right creates a new market for droid engineers.
Pro's:
* eliminate the need for buff bots
* new market for entertainers and docs
* new market for droid engineers
Con's:
* not as good as real live buff from an entertainer or doc to make a difference for those who choose to provide these services for real
Yup.. hmm thats it I guess
What's needed:
A module for a droid to apply buffs to players, one for docs, one for dancers and one for musicians.
Empty shells for docs to produce buffs ready for droids.
Blank discs for entertainers to record music and dances (holos).
This enhance the market for docs and entertainers while not taking anything from them, it also make it possible for players to get buffs without having to find someone to do it for them, helps people who dont have hours to spend ingame or playing off hours. It also if done right creates a new market for droid engineers.
Pro's:
* eliminate the need for buff bots
* new market for entertainers and docs
* new market for droid engineers
Con's:
* not as good as real live buff from an entertainer or doc to make a difference for those who choose to provide these services for real
Yup.. hmm thats it I guess
Talmor1
Thu Jan 27, 2005 10:24 am
#39
I just want seeker droids to be fixed and stop letting Investigation III BH droids from using them an infinite amount of times! Really is frustrating that we loose business from this!