Droid Engineer Archive

The largest problem DEs face, IMHO is true functionality and sales potential.

Weapons, armor and ship components have a very distinctive, obvious function and result, and they decay. Quality craftmanship can easily be determined and compared by the end customer. As a result, better minerals, better crafting, more experiment points and better successes lead to a unique end product that will ultimately result in greater demand and value. Each of these items cannot be replaced or reproduced with character skills (with the exception of the TKA / MDef). In fact fighting and flying is realistically impossible without them. And the decay value guarantees repeat business and continued demand for the product.

Foodstuffs, spices and other consumables have a very defined and clear role, give an obvious bonus to the end user, and as previously mentioned, are consumable. Better materials result in better stats that are easily determined and compared by the end user. Although they do not give you abilities you would otherwise not have without them, they greatly enhance your abilities and provide a level of 'tweaking' combat performance, which goes a long way in value. This makes for high sales turn-around, constant demand, and quality/value considerations.

Droids, on the other hand, are niether clear in functionality or craftmanship, nor decay/consume nor make a significant impact on combat. With some exceptions, of course. Namely the bomb droid and the BH droids, which not suprisingly are the bread and butter of droid sales. Well, when bomb droids work and pre-nerf, that is. Although the astromech and flight computers are mandatory items for space flight programs, since they do not decay it is a one time purchase. Astromechs themselves are only used in two rebel fighter classes, and the resource requirements and crafting difficulty of flight computers is so ridiculously minimal that the market is completely flooded. And making a better flight computer or top of the line astromech (R3 as opposed to R4) yields no benefit whatsoever. Not even in response times which is ludicrous.

So what do droids give us? The ability to stick you with a stimA? Why bother when you can stick a stimE in your arm and actually notice the health bar move? An additional 10% harvest ratio if that is negligable in large groups, where you pull in over 300 units per harvest. Spambots are just incredibly annoying to most players and run out of batteries far too quickly. The essence of Star Wars? Maybe in the first year I had people buying droids because they were 'star warsy' and cool. But now everyone has one and they dont even pull it out but occassionaly. Crafting centers? How many crafters are running around after the introduction of the CL concept? My CL1 MDE/MAS/MSW never leaves the house except to go shopping. Crafting is done in the city for the experiment bonuses, or the players "garage" and so you wont need the crafting modules. Entertainers? Nice effects, but does it do anything? An entertainer droid doesnt increase the buffs granted last I could tell, but thats an idea. And finally combat droid ... ahhh, such irony that a destroyer droid can fend off two Jedi in the movies, but could not beat most Corellian butterflies in the game.

So what do we do about this? OK here are some ideas:

Droids as WeaponBots. The droid has the same CL as the player. Or minimum CL to use different droid types just like weapons. Add some variety to the droids like with weapons (stocks and scopes and such) and allow for certain loot drops that increase damage, armor, speed, etc when added to the crafting, just like with kryat weapons and sharnaff plates in armor ... they decay just like weapons do, every hit sucking away at them until they are gone or a DE repairs them (same repair rules as armor/weapons).

Droids as AggroBots. Droid sole purpose is to taunt and maintain the focus of the enemy (single target taunting only). Goes down relatively quickly and deteriorates just like armor. Only effective against targets of its CL or lower. Basically some damage mitigation or allows tactically adept groups to handle tough mobs and keep henchmen busy.

Droids as SquadBots. A droid that becomes the nerve center or squad communications, updating topographical data, enemy and friendly force positioning, assumed tactical stance based on movement and activity of hostile forces and recommended couter-actions. Converts to SL-like bonuses (+s to ranged/melee defense, accuracy, etc). Deteriorates based on deployment time and number of group members. Ref: Droid Army Ep1

Droids as BuffBots. Those pretty lightshows should enhance the entertainment value of the show, resulting in longer buff times (+max duration inspiration buffs) and/or better buffs (additional 2% xp/faction). Crafting bots for crafters that have a similar effect to resource quality or improved assembly/experimentation as the dancer buff or foods. You have to make it stack or else everyone buys the bot and the dancers cant feed thier families. An extra 1-2% doesnt unblance the game but is significant enough for crafters to take seriously. Deteriorate per # of crafting actions, and rapid deterioration for schematics. Ref: C3P0 assisting in the construction of a racer pod for Anakin in EpI.

Droids as SurveyBots. The maintenance payment for droids was a great idea, but not implemented well enough. A SurveyBot should be designed to either a) locate actual resource deposits of greater than 50%, b) deposit funds and energy in harvestors, c) collect resources and/or d) place harvestors. Make it risky - a droid has a chance to be eaten by something nasty each time it goes out, depending on the planet you send it to and the survey level of the crafter. I will never place a harvestor with a crafting character - too dangerous at CL1 and impossible to clear nests to make room for harvestors. Ref: droid use in moisture vaporators on Tatooine in EpIV.

Droids as SpaceshipBots. Likely one of the best use for droids is in space, where the lack of atmosphere makes EVAs clumsy and dangerous for living organisms. Droids could perform automatic ship repair in addition to commands. Load repair kits (similar to stimAs) and they use them as required. POB ships could allow for droids to man turrets similar to the automatic turrets on NPC ships. Accuracy dependant on droid level (which in turn is dependant on flying level) and on the quality of the droid. Droids could also be used to assist with space mining, a rather tedious undertaking IMO. Deteriorate based on number of turret shots fired, space minerals retreived, repairs performed. Ref: ummm, every Star Wars movie made.

Basically put - you have to make droids consumables or else there is no demand and thus no market. But making droids deteriorate makes them even MORE worthless unless thier benefit outweighs (or is at least equal to) the cost of buying new bots as the old ones "break down." Most crafting professions follow this outline to allow for lucrative business enterprises and constant drain of character money to keep the economy in check. Make them worthwhile and balanced with other profession abilities, and allow the crafting of droids to have enough variety in statistics so that it doesnt come down to CPU (like what happened with SW). Definately allow for loot drop add-ins, so you (SOE) can have some control over drop rates and thus the economy. As much as I love getting orders for decorative droid chassis, it would be nice to have people send me tells once again, asking for this cool droid or a droid that can do A and C but not B.

I think droids are a very real, very integrated part of the Star Wars universe. Lets make them worthwhile enough that we actually see them in the game.

With all respect and appreciation of your hard work,

Leyana

Kettemoor MDE, MAS, MSW

Jenden wrote:
Ok, I've decided to ask this question to both you guys and the devs. Need to get a good feel from you guys so K know that I'm not heading off in the wrong direction fighting for things no one cares about, and a feel from the devs so I know whats possible. So please answer these questions as simply as possible. Keep all discussions out of this thread, just state your opinion and move on.

* Where do YOU want to see the Droid Engineer profession going?

I'd like to see the profession become the hub for all things droid. Droids are a major part of Star Wars and should be a major part of this game. Subsequently, A DE's life should be about making droids to suit different needs whether it be maintainance, combat/protection, protocal or recon.

* Why do you think anyone should want to BE a Droid Engineer?

To be able to make powerful combat droids, nosey probe droids, entertaining and social protocal droids and clever and useful maintainance droids.

* What contribution to SWG do YOU want to see Droid Engineers making?

Their contribution should be to create what every other player seemingly cannot live without. They would make the droids that protect the weak crafters, or simply go and collect their resources for them. They should be able to make Protocal droids - The only way to understand more than a couple of languages. they should be able to make insidious probe droids, so Imperials can root out rebels or Bounty Hunters can find their marks. They should make powerful assassin droids, for those rich enough to afford a little 'help' getting rid of an unwanted assailant or rival businessman.

It is important that the role of each droid is specific to it's chassis. Firstly because it means you won't see anything immersion-breaking like a protocal droid fighting Rancors. Secondly, it will make a DE's profit higher, as a whole new chassis and droid would have to be made in order to complete a different role.

* What should make Droid Engineers important to SWG?

As I've said, Droids are an integral part of Star Wars. Watch the movies again sometime, notice how droids are performing virtually every laborous task? Now ask yourself why you should run to your harvesters, why you should be running around looking for a specific player, or why you should be able to speak a dozen languages without even a headache? These are jobs for droids. They should become essential to the experience. If every player doesn't at least have one droid in their datapad - there is something wrong.

Other professions should come to rely on particular kinds of droid. A BH will almost certainly want a good probe or recon droid in his/her line of work, and a Doctor or combat medic should get a benefit from having a medical droid at their desposale.

WANTED


Rieko Terook
i Known Rodian Smuggler i
i Captain of the Astral Sword i
i Leader of the Mooncursers i

Reward Offered for Information

I really want to make my alt toon a DE just because i really think the droids of star wars are coo.

The thing keeping me from gridning it is the fact that droids arnt that big of a necessaty in SWG.

I will most likely end up trying it eventually even though i will prob spend more time and credits then what ill ever make in this profession.

The thing i think that would make DE exciting is to introduce vehicles of war into SWG and give DE the ability to make parts and droids to suit these .

The galactic cival war should be relying heavily on DE's for battle droids, vehicle electronic componets , Space driod parts ( which is mostly already in game ) .

This would put some credits in the DE's pockets for once and mak eit worth while to build droids.

* Where do YOU want to see the Droid Engineer profession going?

I would like to see more droid schematicswith the possibility of crafting limited use powerups for cybernetic limbs. I would also like to see the ability to have more tahn 1 droid out, but not limit this to DE's.

For whatever reason they feel is appropriate. I became a DE mainly so I could make astromechs and flight computers, since then I have become more interested in all of the facets of the DE.

I would like to see the DE's supplying most, if not all, cybernetic and robotic components.

The products we make are what make us important, so the more scematics we are capable of using, the more contribution we can give to the SWG community.

woops ignore that

and this

Well they way I see it the game is basicallygeared around the combat professions, which is cool by me.

In regards to this I would really like to be able to make droids that support this much more effectivly and in a variety of manners.

First off I would like more effective combat droids.I would like to see actual combat droids, like in the movies that are capped at CL 54. I would also like to be able to equipthese combatdroids with a weapon so that that droid could use it in combat.

An example would becreatinga commando droid orariflemandroid etc., and then being able to equip it with that sort of weapon so that it can be used in combat. As it is now every player can use a droid regardless of lvl or profession so this in no way gives any player an advantage that others cannot have (remove jedi getting tif from their droids for this).

Smugglers: I would like to see droids specifically for smugglers and thier new missions. Some sort of droid that would allow them to overide secruity doors and things of that nature (like R-2 in the movies). And then place special loot and stuff behind these doors making the droids wanted.

These are just some examples and there are more options like a squadleader droid that can store commands or maybe even mark specific tagets, ora creature handler droid that can bark commands to creatures, a BH droid that can remove them from radar, or a jedi droid that can warn a jedi if a BH is near (to counter the radar disabling droid).

To complement this I would like to have the ability to repair droids be granted to DE and the higher lvl droid the more DE you need, example lvl 54 combat droid can only be reparied by a master droid engineer.

I guess in a nutshell I would like to see the droid engineer profession support the community in a much larger way.

Also I would like our lvl in the profession to actually mean something. If you are not a 12pt weaponsmith using the best of resources you are at aconsiderable disadvange. This should be the same for droids too... specifically these combat droids. So that how you experiment and what you put in the droid makes a very noticable difference. I would also like for players to be able to see this difference when they buy droids and us when we craft them.

I guess i just want a little droid engineer love.

Message Edited by Anarchicgorilla on 10-14-2005 09:18 AM

Message Edited by Anarchicgorilla on 10-14-2005 09:21 AM

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Jendenwrote:

Ok, I've decided to ask this question to both you guys and the devs. Need to get a good feel from you guys so K know that I'm not heading off in the wrong direction fighting for things no one cares about, and a feel from the devs so I know whats possible. So please answer these questions as simply as possible. Keep all discussions out of this thread, just state your opinion and move on.

* Where do YOU want to see the Droid Engineer profession going?
* Why do you think anyone should want to BE a Droid Engineer?
* What contribution to SWG do YOU want to see Droid Engineers making?
* What should make Droid Engineers important to SWG?

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The main thing I want to see happen in our profession is more interactive crafting, and emphasis on experimentation and quality. I'd like to be able to actually affect the effectiveness of my droid in various areas (damage, speed, etc. would be nice, but hell I'd be okay with just plain old "effectiveness" rather than what we have now). I want to be proud of the fact that I have the highest rated combat modules in the galaxy; at the moment, I just feel like it's a waste of time.

I'd like Droid Engineering to be more like bio-engineering. Bio-engineering is a very complex process... now, of course, we can't go collecting DNA from droidekas. But we could have a similarly complex process for crafting droids.

There aren't many advantages for being a Master DE. Most of the items we craft don't require experimentation, and many of the commonly used items can be made at a Novice Level. I could do just as well with DE 4203. DE4203 would allow me to make BH droids, most crafting droids, and craft Level 30 combat droids. So WHY am I still a Master DE? Go figure...

Here's a couple of things that should get some attention:

A. Experimentation
If experimentation played a role in our crafting, there would be a reason for becoming a Master Droid Engineer. It would alsomake the profession a little more chanllenging. Experimentation should effect a droids damage output, defensive capabilities, storage capacity, and crafting station efficiency.

B. Useless Droid Modules ==> Structure Maintenance Modules, Stimpack Dispensors, Creature Harvestors
I like the 'idea' of these modules, but they should be readjusted.

Structure Maintenance Modules should provide some information on the harvestors it maintains. How much maintenance/power is left, and whether it is running or not. In fact, it'd be great if you could chose a different resource via droid. Right now, it putscredits into a structure that would otherwise automatically take it out of your account. Weee!

Stimpack Dispensors should dispense something other than stim A's. Maybe increase the timer, and allow for Stim Ds.

Creature Harvestors are a little difficult to figure out post CU. I've only used them a few times.I gota bonus to harvest when I was grouped with the droid. Otherwise, I was penalized, receiving less bone/meat/hide for using the droid ungrouped. Why not just group the droid? Because groups are alot smaller these days (8), and there usually isn't room for the droid.

• Creature Harvestorsneed to be more straight forward. Use the droid and get x% bonus for harvesting. Not, use the droid when grouped, facing west while burst running.


• AND, why not have them harvest without having to target a corpse and give a command? With the lag that we're playing in, the droid takes too long to acknowledge the command. The droid should automatically harvest any dead creatures killed by the group.

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OkanoDroids wrote:

Structure Maintenance Modules should provide some information on the harvestors it maintains. How much maintenance/power is left, and whether it is running or not. In fact, it'd be great if you could chose a different resource via droid. Right now, it putscredits into a structure that would otherwise automatically take it out of your account. Weee!

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Abema wrote:

* Where do YOU want to see the Droid Engineer profession going? - I would definately like to see Droid Engineers having more of a role. Combat droids should be the same level as Bio-engineered pets. Droid engineers should be able to make and manipulate enhancing limbs (arms and legs). Droids need more uses. In POB ships droid should have a role of repair. Delivery droids would be interesting (a droid people can use to trade items across long distances). Driver droids would also be nice (have a droid pilot a ship or multiplayer land vehicle for you - the droid would take up one seat). I think the key for the future of Droid Engineers is function, function, function. I heard there was once proposed a droid engineer profession similar to creature handlers (called droid commander or something). I think that was a great idea that was never realized

Why do artisans make droid batteries?

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