Droid Engineer Archive

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Droid_Engineer_Rho wrote:
Malitevv,

You raise a valid point about some higher-end droids (protocols, for example) having fewer (or no!) module sockets as compared with relatively lower-end droids.

But I believe that by staying within the R* family of astromech droids when making these comparisons, you can avoid that problem, and there is a VERY clear and obvious progression from low-end to high-end in terms of the number of available sockets.

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true. but then the fact that the numbers change order at the R3 throws a monkey wrench in even that logic. R4 is better than R5, R2 is better than R4, and... R3 is better than R2. The last one breaks the pattern.

I still agree with you, but I wouldn't be surprised either if they came forward and said "the R3 isn't suppossed to have more slots than the R2. The reason it's higher up in the schematics list is that the picture is cooler."

Droid Engineers are not the focus of this patch. No where has it been said that Droid Engineers are the focus of this patch. JustG made mention that there might be a focus on Droid Engineers in this patch, but that was many weeks back and there are such things as set backs that hold up a developement plan. From all indications, this is NOT the Droid Invasion that everyone thinks it is. The Droid Invasion is still 'In Development'.

Heh, yeah. That caught Thunderheart a while back, where he made the assumption that an R2 was a low-end astromech and an R5 was high-end.

Basically, the problem arises because in the star wars world, these droids are named in order of development, but the R4 and R5 were later 'economy' models that were dumbed-down a bit.

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Droid_Engineer_Rho wrote:
Malitevv,

But I believe that by staying within the R* family of astromech droids when making these comparisons, you can avoid that problem, and there is a VERY clear and obvious progression from low-end to high-end in terms of the number of available sockets.

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I wouldn't call it very clear... it goes 5,4,2,3 afterall. Just a joke... it is quite clear. Just as the exploit is quite clear. It does not make logical sense for it to work the way it does, the names are different, and the fact that it's responsible for the infinite stacking of modules makes it more clear. There are a few camps here: those who know it's an exploit and don't use it, those who know it's an exploit and use it, those who know it's an exploit but try to delude themselves into thinking it isn't, and those who don't know it's an exploit because they're 5 years old.

Then I want to know when the Droid Invasion is really coming. We ought to at least by the focus of that patch.

Since we're having such a lovely discussion about this, I thought it would be good to post the ACTUAL, current, and accurateslots that are in game now. Armor slots aren't included in this list since they're not subject to this socket module discussion.

R5 1 Module total (achieved by using) 1 General Module

ADV-R5 2 Modules total (achieved by using) 2 General Modules

R41 Module total (achieved by using) 1 General module

ADV-R4 3 Modules total (achieved by using) 3 General Modules

R2 3 Modules total (achieved by using) 1 Socket Module

ADV-R2 5 Modules total (achieved by using)1 Socket Module and 2 General Modules

R3 3 Modules total (achieved by using)1 Socket Module

ADV-R3 6 Modules total (achieved by using)2 Socket Modules

there are also those who think its an exploit and don't use it, but see that so much is irrational in the skill tree that there's no reason to assume that this is logical, and therefor make no assumptions.

Actually Virtanis, the progression should go as follows

R51 Module total (achieved by using) 1 General Module

R41 Module total (achieved by using) 1 General module

ADV-R52 Modules total (achieved by using) 2 General Modules

ADV-R43 Modules total (achieved by using) 3 General Modules

R23 Modules total (achieved by using) 1 Socket Module

R3 3 Modules total (achieved by using)1 Socket Module

ADV-R25 Modules total (achieved by using)1 Socket Mod& 2 General Mods

ADV-R36 Modules total (achieved by using)2 Socket Modules

Message Edited by Drashk on 01-16-2004 11:54 AM

Message Edited by Drashk on 01-16-2004 11:55 AM

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Malitevv wrote:

true. but then the fact that the numbers change order at the R3 throws a monkey wrench in even that logic. R4 is better than R5, R2 is better than R4, and... R3 is better than R2. The last one breaks the pattern.

I still agree with you, but I wouldn't be surprised either if they came forward and said "the R3 isn't suppossed to have more slots than the R2. The reason it's higher up in the schematics list is that the picture is cooler."

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Please tell me you honestly don't believe this. I cannot believe someone could be... that "challenged" with intelligence if so.

Adv R3 has 2 clusters. Adv R2 has 1 cluster and 2 sockets. It's quite different. I would be surprised if they came out and said the adv R2 and adv R3 should have the same number of modules, because a) adv R3 is higher up on the skill tree than adv R2 and b) the design of them is completely different.

From now on, I'm calling the people who use the GMC exploit what they truly are. They are

CHEATERS

Drashk, I kept the progression list in order of when a DE is able to build a certain droid... not ordered by number of modules.

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Virtanis wrote:

Drashk, I kept the progression list in order of when a DE is able to build a certain droid... not ordered by number of modules.

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You get R4 and Adv R5 at blueprints 2, adv R4 and R2 at blueprints 3, adv R2 and R3 at blueprints 4 and adv R3 at master.

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TheRealTK421 wrote:

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BriaArtisan wrote:

where's the real content -> March

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Edited to: "where's the real content -> August"

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You know TK, as pissed as I am that devs are putting things like AT-ATs and life day posts before fixing DE, I do take a little comfort in the fact that the more time it takes them to push stuff through, the more time we have to comment on the droid invasion s(t)uper-plan and help it get fixed...

Yes that may be naively wishful thinking, but I would rather take the chance that things are implemented late and right than rushed and wrong. Oh, wait...this is SOE, where rushed and wrong is the company motto...nevermind.

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Drashk wrote:

Just an observation here, but I find it interesting to see some peoples reactions after having asked that bugs be fixed first, before new content is added.I also find it interesting to see that people were hoping new content to be added, even though the community has voiced that it would like to have more of a say into what is added.Yes, many of these items should have been addressed in the first months after release, but unfortunately Player Cities, Mounts, and Vehicles took center stage.Those three items have changed the way that many people play SWG.

Everyone really needs to keep in mind that none of our issues are going to be fixed overnight. New content takes a long time to develop. I've made my thoughts clear to TH that communiction is a major issue, especially in regards to items such as the Droid Invasion.A lot is happening right now and the only advice that I can give everyone is to be patient.There are no quick fixes to our profession.

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You know Drashk, I am happy they are fixing bugs first. I still think that it isVERY important that bugs like the ones stated above get fixed before new content is added.

However, (respectfully) I think every DE that posts on this forum has a right to be pissed.

First, almost all of the bugs that are being fixed in the next patch have been there since day one. Being that other professions have been fixed several times since the game came out a year ago, I think it is silly that the profession with more bugs than any other is just now getting these fixed.

Second, devs have been telling DEs that they are "next" for months, yet each month more and more projects get pushed in front of DEs. Prime example: AT-ATs and the GCW revamp. This is total new content that has been developed and implemented throughout the time that DEs have been "first." In addition, I remember from a poll a while back that only something like 10%-15% of the SWG galaxies population is even factional (I looked for the survey but couldn't find it). If they are going to develop total new content that effects 10% of the population, why not first fix major bugs that effect 5%?

Third, and most importantly, devs keep spouting crap information, and probably deserve every bit of the criticism they get. Two weeks ago on the SWG website the devs posted the following:

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Quote:

There are two parts to the "Droid Invasion". The first component is the adding of combat functionality to droids with "combat modules" that can be crafted by Droid Engineers. The second component will be a reiteration of the Droid Engineer profession. In Development ideas will be considered for the month of January and planned for implementation in Late February. Points of focus will be:

Droid Combat Functionality

New Combat Droid Models
Combat Module ideas and basic rules for combat modules for all droids
Things to Consider

The role of combat droids in MMO combat and
The repair of combat droids and the crafting of repair kits
Droid combat and owner's Faction modifiers
Droid Engineer Revamp

The Droid Engineer profession will be reiterated as much as possible with a focus on combat droids. Many of the existing profession issues are In Production and will be In Test In January.

Request for Comments:

The community is invited to make comments and suggestions about the proposed changes from Monday, January 5th through Wednesday, January 21st. (Thread will be posted during week of January 5-9 with more details)

NOTE: I bolded and underlined some stuff

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Ok...so here we have the devs giving us 3 bits of crap information:

(1) They tell us that the DE profession is getting a MAJOR overhaul inLESS THAN2 months at the time. Whether or not bugs get fixed first, this is a relatively specific statement that says that devs aren't waiting until things are perfect and are pushing the changs for February. I think that everyone is justifibly freaked out at the tiny timeline the devs have specified.

(2) They tell us that the profession is getting the exact same overhaul that the devs proposed over 2 months ago, and that most DEs had multiple problems with (regardless of which camp they were in). Additionally, the devs say they are again asking for comments on the plan, despite the fact that players provided that very same feedback over 2 months ago. So not only were players provided with a super fast timeline, but also indications that the devs didn't listen to anything they said the first time, and were only giving them a short time to respond the second time.

(3) They tell us that they are going to post details about the plan for us to comment on starting Jan. 5. It is now Jan 15th, and we are now down to less than 6 weeks before the proposed publish date. If there are any changes that need to be made, it will take at least a month to fix and re-test, giving us less than 2 weeks to comment.

Now, please take this with a grain of salt, because there are certain things I know that are happening behind the scenes that we cannot see. For example, I KNOW that you are doing a great job for us. How many other correspondents have procured a portion of the proposed patch noted ahead of time? Additionally, you have been conducting surveys to poll thoughts so we can hit the ground running we we actually do get a look at the plan. From your "consensus" posts, I am VERY confident that we are being well represented to TH and the devs.

However, if players are pissed at TH and the devs beceuse they keep feeding us promises they can't keep and stupid, half-assed, un-thought out solutions to problems because they don't have time to do things right, I think they are well justified.DEs aren't mad they are getting bug-fixes first, they are mad that devs are putting their bug fixes last and not meeting their promises on new content.

Yes we all should be patient. I would be more than willing to wait 6 more months for combat droids if it meant that devs had meaningful discussions with us on how to implement them and the devs took the time to make sure the implementation was done right. However, that patience runs out when devs constantly give us timelines and deadlines that are constantly broken. If the devs were honest and realistic with us, I would be more than patient. Since they haven't been honest, I'll just stay mad. Personally, my MAIN concern is that no matter how well we are represented, the devsTHEMSELVES don't have the time or the patience to listen to us and do things right. They have painted themselves in a corner and are now going to push to put the DE plan out as fast as physically possible (meaning no time for comments). Considering how crappy their current plan is, I am afraid. We all should be afraid....VERY afraid.

But that's just me...