Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: Droid Focus (Interplanetary Survey): Information, discussion and bug-reporting (04/23/04)
Kaldeth
Tue Apr 20, 2004 4:17 pm
#92
I see a lot of complains about this survey droid. Many wants it to include stats on resources and I am one of them. Some wants it to hand out a waypoint for the highest concentration. I dont want that. Another droid down the line that will be used for that and have a higher survey skill could and might be added later that will allow us to send a droid for the best/highest resource spot.
If/when this is added there will be complains about it only showing the highest concentration there will be complains that it dont take into account that the highest concentration is on a hillside and a place where we can't place harvs.
But back to the interplanetary droid. As of yet we dont know what will be included in the email. Maybe we get stats as well, maybe we only get a list of what resources are available where, maybe we get a timestamp on when those resources first appeared on the planet. The fact is... the interplanetary droid IN any form will be useful.
I only survey on the planet where I have my house and workshops. Why? Because I dont feel like spending several hours (worst case scenario) waiting on ships and spending tens of thousands of credits going to these various planets. It will wreak havoc on my machine and make every command a lag issue.
I will use these droids for 2 reasons. They allow me to do other stuff while they are out doing the traveling and I get to save cash. SWGCraft be damned (I have nothing against the guys running the site). It is a site run by people and the input there is only useful if it is kept up to date. This survey droid will help keep it up to date, but I dont use that site to find any resources elsewhere. I've used it in the past and the info have been wrong.
With this droid I can see if there is a specific spawn of a much needed DE resource I need. I can then make a choice. I either go to that planet and plop down some harvs on a high concentration (after I survey for the stats if not included in the email returned by the droid) Or I can check SWGCraft or another resource site. Because then I can check for stats on a resource I *know* exists as my droid told me so. It saves me from having to do the trip across the galaxy in vain.
Those of you who dont feel this droid will be useful... I am sorry, but I think you will be out of the loop. You dont have to use it if you dont have to. It is up to you and you only to decide if you wish to spend time standing at a spaceport waiting for a ship to take oyu off to the next planet and spend creds to get there or use the droid to do the job for you.
This droid a long with the other DE craftable modules that will go live on publish 8 is not the final improvement for the DE. It is the last one before the space expansion, but that means that we get more time to work with these modules and come up with ideas to improve them as well as think of other additional modules that can be useful for the players. Publish 7 was a small step in the right direction. Publish 8 is a leap. We will eventually see bigger leaps and more DE addition. And those additions, unlike the additions given to GCW, Commando, Jedi or any combat profession are additions that will benefit more then one profession.
SkyeDarkangel
Tue Apr 20, 2004 4:40 pm
#93
Not using SWGCraft is fine with me, means I'll keep the jump on you. 
Chef's NEED to move off their planet, and Weaponsmiths just have too many resources we need. If I stayed only where I started and live, I wouldn't have half the stuff I do, and my foods and weapons would be equal to a Novice Artisan making CDEF's with 342 CD copper he dig up to get Survey Experience.
If we get a name back, every Chef/Doctor in the universe is going to need to write down the exact name of every resource whenever they do a search. After all, Tatooine doesn't get "Tatooine Berry Fruit" today and not tomorrow, it has a "Tatooine Berry Fruit" every day of the week. When it shifts is what matters.
For non-organic professions you only need to see "Ditanium Steel" or "Lidium Extrusive Ore" or "Iroluun Reactive Gas", because they aren't common or constant spawns.
Imagine if your droid just told you "There is Steel on Naboo", this wouldn't help a whole lot, really. And it's not even an exact example, because there isn't always Steel active on Naboo.
The complication of writing down "Eferhem" and checking daily to make sure that theres no new Naboo Fruit called "Efarhim" against 10 different resources on all the different planets is a rather silly thing. And you need to watch those closely.
If the droids end up just returning "Irolunn Gas" without a specific name for the resource... well, you can see where that'll benefit Chef/Docs/BE's and other Organic using professions.
Since I'm basically always running harvestors on at least 2, usually 3 - 4, different planets, while in the Starport I pop my tool open to see if any stuff shifted in during the last hour or two. If something did and I can use it, I'll run around and check the stats; takes anywhere from 5 min to 30 min depending on luck, spawns, and how many times I can fail digging something up at 30% concentration at Surveying IV. A droid that doesn't tell me the stats isn't really that useful. I'd rather miss 8 hours of the stuff and just watch swgcraft. I don't know about your server, but swgcraft for Lowca is very up to date and in about a year of using it I've never been lead astray...
If the stats aren't listed, I'd imagine there will be a small handful of people who still survey by hand everyday, and they might find these useful, but I think overall after a week or two of them being around people won't want to bother anymore. It's enough work just to watch a list of all the resources and their stats, much less send off a droid to all the different planets every 15 minutes and wait.
By the way, isn't it kind of silly to be pushing data for a Publish out when stuff still isn't even working correctly? I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but if the email is still blank... why are they giving me code? 
Message Edited by SkyeDarkangel on 04-20-2004 07:43 PM
Javac
Tue Apr 20, 2004 4:48 pm
#94
DroidTech666 wrote:
I've been searching and I only have 10 Vertex Crystalline Gemstones in my inventory on Bloodfin. Haven't been able to find any on vendors at all.
If Vertex Gems are used by Armorsmiths, it looks like only the multi-millionaire DEs on Bloodfin will be able to afford making survey droids! If people already want 20cpu, it doesn't look good for survey droids on Bloodfin at least.
Any chance it could be switched to a different gemstone that Armorsmiths don't need? Or maybe a sneaky DEV would kick off a spawn of gemstones in time for Publish 8?
I suggested a while back to ditch the Vertex requirement since it's so in-demand by armorsmiths. I'm sure there's other named resources that aren't as required, but TK said it was unlikely that they'd change the reqs.
SkyeDarkangel
Tue Apr 20, 2004 4:50 pm
#95
Javac wrote:
DroidTech666 wrote:
I've been searching and I only have 10 Vertex Crystalline Gemstones in my inventory on Bloodfin. Haven't been able to find any on vendors at all.
If Vertex Gems are used by Armorsmiths, it looks like only the multi-millionaire DEs on Bloodfin will be able to afford making survey droids! If people already want 20cpu, it doesn't look good for survey droids on Bloodfin at least.
Any chance it could be switched to a different gemstone that Armorsmiths don't need? Or maybe a sneaky DEV would kick off a spawn of gemstones in time for Publish 8?
I suggested a while back to ditch the Vertex requirement since it's so in-demand by armorsmiths. I'm sure there's other named resources that aren't as required, but TK said it was unlikely that they'd change the reqs.
He also said that we might be seeing more spawns. But neither was really elaborated upon. Pray hard! Maybe you'll get an new usable droid that will cause Vertex to spawn so you can make the IP Survey droids! Too bad those will require Ba'lat'aan Crystaline Gemstone and Skevon Reactive Gas.
Kaldeth
Tue Apr 20, 2004 5:23 pm
#96
SkyeDarkangel wrote:
Not using SWGCraft is fine with me, means I'll keep the jump on you.
I dont use SWGCraft because the few times I've used it, it have been wrong, making me waste both time and money on a fruitful trip. With the implementation of the survey droid and the email telling us the exact name of the resource, but no stats, I might be using swgcraft more to find the stats of those resources.
Chef's NEED to move off their planet, and Weaponsmiths just have too many resources we need. If I stayed only where I started and live, I wouldn't have half the stuff I do, and my foods and weapons would be equal to a Novice Artisan making CDEF's with 342 CD copper he dig up to get Survey Experience.
DE's are also forced to move off planets to get all the resources they need to make everything in the DE skill boxes. The fact that about 60% or more of the DEs resources are name specifit. (lidium extrusive, Dolovite Iron, Beyrllis copper and so on) makes being a DE very hard. The fact that I only harvest one my own home planet now is that I dont have a reliable way to know if there is a specific spawn on another planet. Other then asking a friend that might be there or take my chances with a out of game site like SWGCraft.
If we get a name back, every Chef/Doctor in the universe is going to need to write down the exact name of every resource whenever they do a search. After all, Tatooine doesn't get "Tatooine Berry Fruit" today and not tomorrow, it has a "Tatooine Berry Fruit" every day of the week. When it shifts is what matters.
Every day before and after the server reset I check on changes in resources. All gas, chem and inorganics. I use the /notepad to keep track of this and I do write down the specific names of any new spawn. I also include the date of the spawn, which is pretty accurate since I check twice every day. I also sample each of the new spawns to check the stats which I then email to a few of my friends. One of them have her home set up on another planet and the other dont have the same amount of time online as I do.
For non-organic professions you only need to see "Ditanium Steel" or "Lidium Extrusive Ore" or "Iroluun Reactive Gas", because they aren't common or constant spawns.
Well yeah. But isn't it the same for docs/chefs? If a component asks for Tantooine fiberplast you can launch the droid, travel to tatooine or check swgcraft and see if it have spawned. Any profession that needs a specific named resource have to do this. Grinders can use any flora, chem, inorganic meat or hide. It is when the crafters are going to make sellable or usable items that specific resources comes into play. And the ground rule is the same for them all. Stats have to be high in the right area for a good item to be crafted.
Imagine if your droid just told you "There is Steel on Naboo", this wouldn't help a whole lot, really. And it's not even an exact example, because there isn't always Steel active on Naboo.
I dont think that even in it simplest form the email will only tell you that "Naboo have steel, chemical, flora and water" I think it will tell you that "Naboo have Idium steel, Conifer wood and Berrie fruit" But we wont know yet how the email will look.
The complication of writing down "Eferhem" and checking daily to make sure that theres no new Naboo Fruit called "Efarhim" against 10 different resources on all the different planets is a rather silly thing. And you need to watch those closely.
A spawn lasts between 6-8 days. Using the ingame notepad (which can be edited in windows) and make a structured list with the various types of resources seperated. Steel, copper, berries, water, gas, fiberplast and so on, makes the task to check not being so tough. Even if the email would include that I would still use the notepad for easy access then have to wade through several emails to find the right one
If the droids end up just returning "Irolunn Gas" without a specific name for the resource... well, you can see where that'll benefit Chef/Docs/BE's and other Organic using professions.
Not sure I understand what you mean. If a component or item asks for Irolunn gas, then an email telling you that gas is in existance on a planet will be very useful. If the email only states that there is a gas on planet X, then it wont be useful
Since I'm basically always running harvestors on at least 2, usually 3 - 4, different planets, while in the Starport I pop my tool open to see if any stuff shifted in during the last hour or two. If something did and I can use it, I'll run around and check the stats; takes anywhere from 5 min to 30 min depending on luck, spawns, and how many times I can fail digging something up at 30% concentration at Surveying IV. A droid that doesn't tell me the stats isn't really that useful. I'd rather miss 8 hours of the stuff and just watch swgcraft. I don't know about your server, but swgcraft for Lowca is very up to date and in about a year of using it I've never been lead astray...
I am on sunrunner and SWGCraft have failed me more times then it have helped me, which is why I dont use it. And for me as well as everyone else an email with the stats listed would be extremly useful, but an email with only info of the name of the spanw would still be useful. As each crafting profession have atleast 1 specific resource. Knowing that that perticular resource have spawned on another planet will allow me to go to check the stats, knowing full well that it can be crap stats, but also that the resource in question will be there.
If the stats aren't listed, I'd imagine there will be a small handful of people who still survey by hand everyday, and they might find these useful, but I think overall after a week or two of them being around people won't want to bother anymore. It's enough work just to watch a list of all the resources and their stats, much less send off a droid to all the different planets every 15 minutes and wait.
I am willing to bet that there are DE's spread out pretty much on most planets. the DEA can be useful to send out a email to those DE's about the stats of the resources found on 'their' planets. I rather have the survey droid do it, but we might not get that info. And wouldn't you rather send out the droids on their 15-30 minute run (hear experimentation is screwie so the better the droid the longer it takes) then have to travel to the various planets your self? Knowing that when the droids return with their info you can plan your route better as you will know which planet might have the resource you are looking for. (Edited in)I dont know if other professions also have a community where they help eachother out with information about new spawns specific to their professions. (Edited in)
By the way, isn't it kind of silly to be pushing data for a Publish out when stuff still isn't even working correctly? I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but if the email is still blank... why are they giving me code?
I agree. but it's been like this will all the latest patches. a few trickles a week or so before it goes live. The info about the survey droids might not be in until the final patch-update. Just hope they include some info into the email
Message Edited by SkyeDarkangel on 04-20-2004 07:43 PM
Message Edited by Kaldeth on 04-20-2004 05:29 PM
Jenden
Wed Apr 21, 2004 12:21 am
#97
the one with 21 was 21%, couldn't make it any worse without sacrificing uses (since they depend on the same resource stats)
Javac
Wed Apr 21, 2004 12:27 am
#98
At least progress is being made, stuff like the time delay is why we've got TC. Big thanks to all the TC DE's!
Now, if only Vertex would spawn on my server ... nobody wants to sell any at less than 20cpu since it's needed for Stun layers.
Now, if only Vertex would spawn on my server ... nobody wants to sell any at less than 20cpu since it's needed for Stun layers.
WarHero1016
Wed Apr 21, 2004 3:37 am
#100
This is the stats on the Vertex that we just got on Tempest
ER 998 CR 926 DR 973 HR 994 MA 361 OQ 930 SR 892 UT 974
not bad hey? Vertex is not that rare on Tempest
Wire3k
Wed Apr 21, 2004 4:25 am
#101
I am on sunrunner and SWGCraft have failed me more times then it have helped me, which is why I dont use it.
Here's a thought - why don't YOU help keep your server updated? I check my home planet of Tantooine on Radiant at LEAST once a day and update, if it's kept up - every resource on the whole bloody list takes all of 5 min to prune and update. You don't need a heck of a lot of people with various home planets to get this done. If I happen to travel elsewhere - I'll double check those planets as well.
SWGCraft is as good as the folks that are willing to put in a little time to update it. Something a lot of folks may not even think about - SWGCraft is an AWESOME
advertising tool for the resource merchant. I don't even sell resources, but because my name is all over the place - I get folks contacting me regularly. If I had time to actually harvest and deal in them, I'd make a killin. I've made some extremely beneficial contacts that way as well - and I have an evergrowing mailing list of folks I send a heads up to if I happen to see a fresh spawn of somthing juicy.
If these droids are worthwhile - i.e., return stats, names and types - I'll probably go thru a boatload - just to update Swgcraft on the planets we tend to be a little shy on coverage.
The story of the Little Red Hen comes to mind - everyone wanted to eat the bread - but no one wanted to help make it.
Kaldeth
Wed Apr 21, 2004 5:19 am
#102
I could contribute to SWGCraft by adding information from the planet I survey. The reason I dont?
I find it confusing to read the charts.
I know many rave about SWGCraft and I am sure it is a very good site for finding the various resources. But it is an out of game enviroment. I do a few lists daily of new resources and email it to a few friends. Thats the extent I am willing to spend on doing it. I read that the ingame notepad can be used. My note pad is filled up with other information that is of use to me (amount of various resources I got, schematic components, important notes and such) I have no desire to add more information to my notepad that I have to scroll through. If SOE would add a few more tabs on the notepad it would become even more useful.
Elmseeker
Wed Apr 21, 2004 6:18 am
#103
Jenden wrote:
Ok, I ran some tests, it looks like they got the quality backwards. I made a 21 quality 12 charge seeker and an 80 quality 7 charge seeker. The 21 quality one is taking 24 minutes and the 80 quality one is taking 51 minutes (both have same quality tools and are going to lok from tatooine). I also tried sending the 21 quality one to dantooine and it had the same time, so it appears relative locations of planets doesn't matter.
I believe the person who originally posted that experimentation as working stated that it was the other experimentation slot that gave charges, not quality. they stated they did not, in fact, know what/if quality did as they hadn't used it yet. This being said, couldn't it be possible that better quality droids take long because they are gathering, compiling and returning more data about what is available?
zeeraz
Wed Apr 21, 2004 7:28 am
#104
WhileI love the idea of this droid, I also feel that the need for a rare, named material for a one shot droid is really not worth it. Now if they made these droid more like the BH probots and seekers this would be a huge boon. Not only useful but a good resell for DE's. I really hope the DEV's rethink this one a little before it goes live. I mean I have a really hard time using a rare, expensive material to make a one shot droid that probably won't sell rather then just selling the material to an armor smith for big bucks that I know will sell.
. Now if they made these droid more like the BH probots and seekers this would be a huge boon. Not only useful but a good resell for DE's. I really hope the DEV's rethink this one a little before it goes live. I mean I have a really hard time using a rare, expensive material to make a one shot droid that probably won't sell rather then just selling the material to an armor smith for big bucks that I know will sell.