Droid Engineer Archive

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Roadego wrote:
Trolling does nothing for your credibility, sorry we couldn't have a little debate back and forth without it turning into a mockery. Have a good day guys.

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Nailliar wrote:

Are you smugglers Really Serious that you want to run around following the other 90% of the server population as some sort of illicit goods Valet.?? You get paid 50 cr to carry someone else sliced armor and goods thru town for them or from planet to planet? And you think that is your new better role?

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I'd pay 50 creds to have a smuggler follow me around, wait while I craft at home, then follow me back with me to town where I'd hang out in the cantina, flirt with the twi'leks, and wipe rancor poo off my boots. Here, hold my hanky. Soudns very droid like.

Come on folks, the real smuggling is in big time shipments of the drugs you guys push, not some noobs helmet.

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Solo4114 wrote:

Look, it's quite simple really. Each profession has a unique purpose in the game (or at least SHOULD have one). Each profession has its little corner of the universe, into which NO ONE should intrude without having invested skill points. It's like being in a union. If you ain't paid yer dues, you're just a scab.

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Solo4114 wrote:

Sodan,

That's what we call in argumentation a "reductio ad absurdum." It doesn't really address the issue in this case. The real issue is not the storage of items. It's the storage of contraband.

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I disagree completely. My response was more like reducto ad nasuem in that bullcrap arguments for DE nerfage when DEs are gimped make me want to vomit.

Here's a hanky for your boot.

Someone, somewhere wrote:

"Allow droids to be slicable in order to avoid contraband scans."

That is brilliant!
It meshes with our current abilities, keeps us from having to turn into crafters, and allows droids to do cool, unique things.

One caveat though
The droid storage compartment would have to reduce by a % based on success. So a 30% slice on a 10 unit storage droid would give you 3 units of contraband storage.

It's ok by me to allow players a way to carry small amounts of contraband. Everyone has a small stash, and we shouldnt have to babysit everyone who needs to carry a unit of spice or a sliced blaster. However, the storage needs to be very limited so that only we can still smuggle large ammounts/orders across the galaxy or help large strike teams get into sensitive areas.

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Sodan-droiddreamer wrote:

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Nailliar wrote:

Are you smugglers Really Serious that you want to run around following the other 90% of the server population as some sort of illicit goods Valet.?? You get paid 50 cr to carry someone else sliced armor and goods thru town for them or from planet to planet? And you think that is your new better role?

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I'd pay 50 creds to have a smuggler follow me around, wait while I craft at home, then follow me back with me to town where I'd hang out in the cantina, flirt with the twi'leks, and wipe rancor poo off my boots. Here, hold my hanky. Soudns very droid like.

Come on folks, the real smuggling is in big time shipments of the drugs you guys push, not some noobs helmet.

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Considering that existing game mechanics mean that you can put 10 crates of spice in each droid, I'd say that droids can hide significant shipments.

There's no encumbrance in SWG. I can hold a million units of steel in 1/20th of a cargo pocket. Imagine what would happen if the Devs grew a spine and implemented a REAL smuggling system, one where certain resources were contraband, resources that professions would need to make advanced gear. That's what a lot of Smugglers know needs to happen for a true player smuggling economy to develop. If that were to go live, then Imperial Officers and anyone with a Droid could effectively smuggle better than someone who invested skillpoints to be a Smuggler. That's just plain bad game design, and the sooner the Devs fix taht up and limit contraband movement to Smugglers, the better. Obviously, some peoples' sense of entitlement to contraband skills has already grown deep roots. The Devs need a powersaw in a big way, because a good many of them have no Smuggler title over their head.

"This is a workaround of game mechanics"

That's a mighty big assumption, especially when you realize that this was posted on the Test Center forum a couple weeks ago. While the devs do have a tendency to remove any use we find for data modules, they haven't removed the fact that stored items are immune to decay and I'd say this falls into the same category.

"The droid storage compartment would have to reduce by a % based on success. So a 30% slice on a 10 unit storage droid would give you 3 units of contraband storage."

Perfect.

Message Edited by CapnSteve on 02-12-2004 05:20 PM

Sodan,

Your posts are so constructive.. they make me want to cry. Pass me a hanky.

Assuming that this IS a bug and that it WILL get fixed, what do you suggest the smuggler and DE communities do about it?

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Sodan-droiddreamer wrote:

Ok, now this is a constructive post, though imperfect in application IMO. As long as smugglers have to use a DE component, this seems like a cool idea to me. Don't like the limited duration. One time slice determines scan avoidance. I've always been a fan of droid helping smugglers.

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I like that idea. A Droid Upgrade Kit needed for slicing just like AUKs and WUKs are needed for armor and weapon slicing.

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Sodan-droiddreamer wrote:

But this is a load of bullcrap:

You have the following options to smuggle contraband...

- Spend 19.2k faction points to become an imperial officer > 100% scan avoidance

- Spend 20k credits for a droid with a storage module > 100% scan avoidance

- Spend 121 skill points for master smuggler > 95% scan avoidance

The second optionsonly allows 50 slots of storage and that is five droids that are a pain to manage. The other options involve 150 items AND still allow for droid use for another 50 items.

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RaiCella wrote:

Sodan,

Your posts are so constructive.. they make me want to cry. Pass me a hanky.

Assuming that this IS a bug and that it WILL get fixed, what do you suggest the smuggler and DE communities do about it?

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Dammit! You beat me to it! I was going there, but I never thought someone would voluntarily wipe with a rancor poo hanky. "Rancor Poo Hanky" would make a great Smuggler-DE rock band, BTW.

My solution since you asked:

Back off. Let DEs make droids that can actually do things. Item storage, crafting stations and medical modules are the ONLY things that DEs can make. That is my position.

If the devs determine that this issue needs addressing, then a comprimise whereby smugglers use DE consumables to slice droids with item storage to allow for some lesser smuggling ability seems reasonable to me.

Before any further impairment of DEs, there needs to be a great improvement of the profession. Remember the droid invasion? It turned into the chef, Imperial Crackdown and smuggler patch. After that insult you guys want to take away from DEs. Seems a little crappy, thus the bile from me.

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electricnomad wrote:

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ideas wrote:

2. Smugglers get the ability to make smuggling compartments, which can be crafted into high-end backpacks by tailors, and into item storage modules by DEs. Because this is a craftable, it allows *everyone* to get some small amount of scan-free storage but keeps Smugglers as a crucial part of it.

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The problem there is that Smuggling skill can then be sold off, and we're back to square one.

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..Unless you read my whole post. Here's the pertinent caveat:

Since there are not enough smugglers to every player in the game to have one following them around, a smuggleritem or a buff-likesmuggler involvement is necessary. Here's the alternative:

Step 1. I need contraband protection for my harvester run. I run to town for a smuggler's help, but s/he is helping any one of the98% other non-smugglers. He cannot help them AND ME because he has to be close to us to provide his protection.

Step 2. I sigh and take my chances without the smuggler. The smuggler gets nothing from me, I get nothing from him.

Step 3. Eventually I get used to living without a smuggler, as always, because there just aren't enough smugglers in the game for every player who needs one.

So, what I advocate (at the bottom of my e-mail) is a way for smugglers to provide instant-access to their services (an item or a quick "buff") that does not require them to follow me around all day. With such an involvement, I will be able to get smuggler services far more often, and I will continue to seek them out, rather than coping without them.

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ideas wrote:

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electricnomad wrote:

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ideas wrote:

2. Smugglers get the ability to make smuggling compartments, which can be crafted into high-end backpacks by tailors, and into item storage modules by DEs. Because this is a craftable, it allows *everyone* to get some small amount of scan-free storage but keeps Smugglers as a crucial part of it.

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The problem there is that Smuggling skill can then be sold off, and we're back to square one.

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..Unless you read my whole post. Here's the pertinent caveat:

But a service should always be BETTER than an item (like doctor/entertainer buffs vs. food/spice buffs -- the services are better than the items).

Since there are not enough smugglers to every player in the game to have one following them around, a smuggleritem or a buff-likesmuggler involvement is necessary. Here's the alternative:

Step 1. I need contraband protection for my harvester run. I run to town for a smuggler's help, but s/he is helping any one of the98% other non-smugglers. He cannot help them AND ME because he has to be close to us to provide his protection.

Step 2. I sigh and take my chances without the smuggler. The smuggler gets nothing from me, I get nothing from him.

Step 3. Eventually I get used to living without a smuggler, as always, because there just aren't enough smugglers in the game for every player who needs one.

So, what I advocate (at the bottom of my e-mail) is a way for smugglers to provide instant-access to their services (an item or a quick "buff") that does not require them to follow me around all day. With such an involvement, I will be able to get smuggler services far more often, and I will continue to seek them out, rather than coping without them.

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When in doubt, I push for greater independence and interaction among players. It's the line on which the Devs have hung this game since Beta, and I like the idea.

So my responses to your situation would be any of the following:

1. Don't be a Rebel. Neutrals get almost no penalty for contraband.


2. Put away the contraband. It's the equivalent of a powerup, and shouldn't be a game-breaker if you can't use it.


3. Hire some muscle. I'll bet a lot of players would love to RP bodyguards or take a break from destroy missions. Track them down and bring them along.


4. Hire someone to do your harvester runs. Again, people are bored with destroy missions. Hire somebody to get your resources for you. Hell, hire somebody to HARVEST for you. It'll save you time if you find it boring.

There are a lot of other options than carrying contraband or worrying about being attacked. Gutting the Smuggler profession and siphoning off our inheritancedoesn't need to be the answer, nor should it. It's like Imperials demanding contraband immunity so they can have a perk - hey, there are other options for perks rather than stealing the contraband movement abilities from a proefssion designed around contraband movement. If the Devs finally implement a REAL contraband system and REAL smuggling, they'll have do deal with the system that's in place now. I want that system to be intact and not divided up among every profession. There's a reason not all professions can hunt bounties or heal battle fatigue or giev 3000-point HAM buffs. I want there to be a reason for Smugglers to exist by the time the devs implement a robust system for smuggling that exceeds the primitive system they just introduced.

Selling off the skills in any fashion will mean that wouldn't ever be possible.