Droid Engineer Archive

I must confess I'm a bit disappointed by the direction the Droid Updates are taking. I'd like to see more cannon Star Wars material in the game -- protocol droids who program binary load lifters for useful tasks, treadwells who repair/augment harvesters, R2s that carry holographic messages and repair/augment starships. These things would add much more flavor to the game (for me) than blastomechs and advertising-barking droids. Please, developers -- take another look at the films and give us droids who perform functions like those in the films.

I like the idea of adding utility to droids, they need that.

Anyway, hey need to be seen more, and frankly, there's no reseaon in the world for my TKA to pull out a CL 10 droid, or a non CH pet in battle. They die. They decay. Eventually I have to replace them. That is worth more effort then the measly 36 damage they do to the Tusken Warlord I'm soloing. So I never call them unless it's as a Mount, or for a utility droidfunction.

No one wants Droids to be like GSPs, Rancors and Kimogilas. I don't want the issues that come up when the uber template is Master CH/Master Droid Handler. What I would like Droids to be is easier than pets. It should be easier to care for a droid than a pet. Droids should be smarter and better armed than pets, but in now way able to withstand the same degree of punishment.

What I propose is making the Maximum power/CL of a droid roughly 50% that of a Master CH pet. In return, Droid Handling skills should be much easier to obtain. I envision a skill tree placed like the Politician tree, except without a Novice or Master Box. Each tree could be for handling a differentvariety of the higher than CL 10 droids, and the Droid Handling XP would be gained in a manner similar to Creature Handling XP.

I understand that you have already decided against using certifications for combat droids above CL10. The reasons you state are that it imbalances combat too much, and that it isn't fair to other players who have had to spend points to access pets higher than CL10. From what I see, the Droid Commander profession is not something that is terribly high on anyone's list of favorite solutions. So why not choose a solution that answers both your concerns as well as the concerns of those who do not want to see another profession like the CH. Certifications can do this, and, I submit, they can also be architected in a way that answers the main concerns the Devs have with Certifications. The way to do this is to scatter certifications through the other professions as others have suggested, but charge extra skill points to unlock them.

For example, assume that there is a droid certification atMaster Pistoleer that allows the master pistoleer to control a CL30 droid. If my character gets to Master Pistoleer, he does not automatically get this certification for free. If he wants it, he must pay the number of skill points it would cost a CH to control a similar level pet. If it costs the CH 45 points to allow him to control a CL30 pet, then the certification would cost the Master Pistoleer 45 skill points in addition to the skill point cost he already paid for master pistoleer.If he wants to have the droid, the pistoleer has a tough decision to make... will the droid be more useful to him than the other professions he could gain with those 45 points? These certifications could be scattered through out every profession, in every skill box if you wanted. They could make droids of many various levels available at various levels and various costs, which will give every player more options, but with appropriate costs.

This solution allows for your concerns that people not get additional combat power for free. It makes it fair to CH characters by making droids of equivalent level cost the same number of skill points. It answers the desire of the players who do not relish seeing a Droid Commander profession. It allows for every player to have access to a droid that is truly useful to him, thus increasing the use of droids, the market for droids and the starwarsiness of the game. It adds interest to every profession, and helps to make the professions less cookie-cutterish. Finally, I think that this solution makes more sense within the Star Wars universe. It makes droids much more accesible to everyone which in turn makes them much more prevelant, and thus makes the game fit much more into the world presented in the movies.

I expect that the devs will say that this solution is more difficult than just adding a new profession, and it may be;I believe it is well worth the extra effort.I am disappointed that many of the decisions I have seen made since I joined beta almost a year ago seem to have been made with a "what is easiest" mindset, rather than a "what is best" mind set. Please don't let this issue be another instance of that kind of thinking. This game and these players deserve better.

I am also posting this message in the In Concept forum in the hopes that it is not too late for such an implementation.

I remember waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back on the old forums even before beta, when the game was still conceptualizing, part of the plan for mining resources had a very good use for droids.

Instead of having to go out and check your harvester yourself, what if you could get droids to program to go out, refill power, empty the hopper, and deliver the goods back to you (or in your declared residence)

I can see this being HUGE in demand

I'd imagine it would be very buggy to start with, but in the end would be a massive asset and make droids not necessarily needed, but WANTED