Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: Request to DEs who don't want to use our high end combat droids.
Isn't it called the army corp of engineers? The guys/gals who can assemble and deploy a bridge on rafts, but stand ready to defend the installation at the firing of a shot. It's a galaxy at war, folks. Engineers can't grind there way to DE in the lab exclusively.
I think its very engineer-like to have combat droids protect you. I always run out to harvesters with a decent creature pet and my cheesy probot (the one who takes three shots to kill a Kreetle). As a droid engineer, I much prefer to be escorted by a Droideka than by a Rock Beetle.
FYI, I'm a Master DE, Master Artisan, Novice Pistoler, Field Stabalizer and a 4/0/0/0 scout.
Droid_Engineer_Rho wrote:
I disagree, we could have semi-powerful combat droids for all, its just a matter of balance. Theres a number of things you could do. 1. Make them expensive. 2. Make them require regular maintance (batteries,oil bath,etc). 3. Make them die, maybe after 3 deaths, they die for good. Maintence would also give DEs a good passive income.
Respectfully, I don't like this idea on maintence.As it is, you dont even need any docs to heal creature pet wounds. I gave my rock beetle some PIE, it ate it and -- *poof* -- 400 worth of wounds disappeared. Literally as easy as pie. Healing the mind box is as fun as asking them to dotrick.
I think most reapirs should be easily do-able by Non-DEs using expendable DE-made repair packs. Perhaps vitatility could be repaired by DEs.
The droid battery issue already makes droid ownership a pain. The less my customers need me the better. I'm glad to help, but I dont want them to be hasseled needlessly.
Expensive droids with multiple sub-component layers -- that's fine with me for quality droid combat action!
You mis-accredited me for that quote. Either you chopped out the wrong name or the wrong chunk of text. :-)
That bit was actually from Mr. Styro, I believe.
I agree with Droid-Creator here.
I speak for myself and I WANT combat droids as we as a big fat nasty MDE only droid. If you Don't want it then don't build it. But don't limit the rest of us with your personal desire for less options for your profession.
PS: D-C, I think I got you back up to 3 stars now. Sorry can't get you to 5, though I think this thread deserves it.
I don't really worry about the rating though as long as its above 1 so the post doesn't go invisible.On a side note I thought about the army corp of engineers after making that post. Of course I could also mentione the navy seabees, they can build just about anything and are also trained to defend it...trained by marines...
So think before you say engineer is not a combat profession
Droid-Creator wrote:
Thanks for the 5 stars I don't really worry about the rating though as long as its above 1 so the post doesn't go invisible.
On a side note I thought about the army corp of engineers after making that post. Of course I could also mentione the navy seabees, they can build just about anything and are also trained to defend it...trained by marines...
So think before you say engineer is not a combat profession
There's only one problem, this isn't reality, we leave reality at the door (or the loading screen, whichever you prefer). Would it make sense, quite possibly, does sense matter, not at all. What matters is game balance and stability. You can't upset that delicate balance (and delicate it is) just because you want to go on a little power trip.
Jenden Morn - Master Droid Engineer - Mos Espa, Tarquinas
Owner, Operator, and Founder of DarkStar Inc.
Droid-Creator wrote:
OK, this is not a case where you can use the trite "this isn't reality" Someone said engineers do not get involved in combat, they even showed the dictionary definition from the REAL WORLD, so I used real world examples to show that line of thinking is hogwash. Sorry, you cn't support real world examples when they support your cause and say ignore them when they don't.
Who wants to go on a power trip ? I want to add another facet to my character, if you want to stay a hermit in your shop, thats fine. Just don't even think I'm going to quietly allow you and your ilk to rob me of the chance to expand my character to more than a manual factory pumping out droids.
First of all I never tried to support anything I said with reality (other than the reality of game balance issues). As far as adding another facet to your character great, thats what the profession system is all about, go pick up another profession. Just because you ran out of skill points and don't want to give anything up doesn't mean you get to turn DE into something its not. Finally, the last thing I am is a hermit, I spend the vast majority of my time around town or in the cantina, and when I'm not there I'm out with some of my friends hunting (I have no combat skills, but I do make a nice doctor). Yes, I do spend quite a bit of time making droids, thats because I sell a **edit**load of them. On the average day, if I'm not out actively selling, I'll sell 20-30 droids (in about 4 hours of gameplay), on a day when I actually try to sell droids, I'll sell about 40-50. These take me about 2-3 minutes each to make, so I really don't mind. I still spend the majority of my time just hanging around.
Jenden Morn - Master Droid Engineer - Mos Espa, Tarquinas.
Owner, Operator, and Founder of DarkStar Inc.
Droid-Creator wrote:
I imagine the ENGINEERS on the ships on which I serve might question whether engineer can be a combat profession or not. For those who do not know on a Nuclear Aircraft carrier the Reactor Officer (an engineer) is third in command after the Captain and first officer. On a nuclear submarine the captain must be a prior nuclear officer and a prior chief ENGINEER on a sub.
So, was someone saying something about engineer not being a combat class ?
Well, I am a real life non-military engineer, and I can tell you that just because an engineer understands the schematics and designs of a system, as well as the system's application intent, does not mean that they will be able to use the system correctly in its intended process. This is because the application process almost always requires different skill sets than those skills required to build the system.
Here are some examples:
- A software engineer designs a financial records system for a client. A set of functional requirements will be determined by those who understand the financial process and their needs, most likely a financial manager, or many even an accountant or some sort of business specialist. The software engineer then takes those requirements and, using his skill sets in database design, client portals, etc., will create a system to meet those functional requirements. When the system is complete, the financial business specialists, who know how to use the system, will be the primary users, and the software engineers role at that point becomes technical architecture support.
- A civil engineer designs a traffic control system for a busy city intersection. This system will allow traffic lights to change more dynamically based on factors such as congestion, time of day, etc. Most importantly, the system must be incredibly easy to use, so that (most likely) law enforcement authorities can just 'flip a switch' to change the traffic system's behavior. So, while the civil engineer knows how the system works, it is the responsibility of the local city government and/or police to determine how to best utilize the system.
- A mechnical engineer designs a new food processing factory. While the engineer will understand all details of the factory and its mechanical workings, the engineer is not trained in understanding the food market, supply and demand for that market, nor even necessarily the supply chain that will supply the factory with materials.
- An aerospace engineer can design a new fighter aircraft. The engineer, given his vast knowledge of aerodynamics, physics, metallugry, etc., will be able to design and build a top-notch figther craft that will stand up to very high tollerance factors. However, it is the job of the fighter's pilot to know how to fly the craft and put into practice all the necessary protocols related to flying. And more important, the pilot must be trained in combat fighting and rules of engagement, skills that I doubt the aerospace engineer will have, with the exception of needing to understand them for any direct system functional requirements.
Military (and non-military) in-the-field engineers are one broad classification of engineer. Sometimes the application process owners are indeed engineers or previous engineers themselves, as in your example of the submarine captian. In my experience, the engineers (design, construction, support) and the process owners (users) are almost always distinct groups of people.
And in terms of SWG, it's just a game, where rules are loosely based on reality and by no means reality itself. Games are governed by game rules. 
Droid-Creator wrote:
I never said all engineers could use everything they make, I was making a rebuttle to those who were basically saying "engineers are never involved in combat"
Indeed. But in terms of a Navy engineers, are they truly performing combat-related activities related to engineering, or are they acting in technically non-combat support of the ship's systems? In other words, the engineers run the reactor, maintain the munitions, fill the launch tubes, etc., butwould not the true combat-related desicions fall to the captain? I'm just trying to understand the combat-engineer argument better.
Don't forget the Army engineers and seabees mentioned also, both are combat trained to go along with their engineer skills.
Droid_Engineer_Rho wrote:
Sodan,
You mis-accredited me for that quote. Either you chopped out the wrong name or the wrong chunk of text. :-)
That bit was actually from Mr. Styro, I believe.
Oops sorry! The poitn remains the same however: I don't want a DE to be needed (apart from expendable repair-packs) for most droid repairs and basic maintence.
Given a choice between a pet that you could easily heal and one that had to goto the shop every day, which would you choose?
Daker-Naritus wrote:
HOWEVER, we need to be able to sell those droids to others AS WELL AS use them ourselves. Then the profession has the choice of what we want to do. Regardless, we need better things to sell before the devs turn us into CHs. There are already 20 combat professions. If you want combat, diversify into one of those (you have enough skill points to do both). There is ONLY ONE profession that can make and sell droids. Turning this one profession into the same thing that there are already 20 of should not be an option. Considering how prevalent droids were in the movies, those droids should not be limited to only DEs.
Dood, have you even been reading what I've been typing???
"Can you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?"
Combat droids can be DE only and people can still use them.
Use the CH model. It already exists, it's easy to put into the game for DE, and people already understand how it works. Three very big pluses.
CH is an elite profession. DE is an elite profession.
Building combat modules and combat droids are scattered in high level DE skill boxes to keep dabblers from building thier own combat droids.
Droid levels and stored droids are placed in low level skill boxes of the DE tree (or better yet, just one branch, like Experimentation) so people can take a few skill boxes and use combat droids.
This doesn't make DE a combat profession. You can call itcombat support like CH if you like.
It lets DE build droids, and players use droids.
You might not like CH. But whatever you think, the system seems to work.
Everyone is running around with creature pets.
If people that want to, replace some of those creature pets with droid pets, then we sell droids.
BTW,
I don't want combat.....
Perhaps I've never stated that before. But Iwill now.
I wanted to play this game because they claimed it had one of the best crafting systems yet.
And it has droids.
I am a crafter and that is what I will always be.
I want to build droids, I want to sell droids, I want people to use droids.