Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: Answers for the list of Droid Engineer Questions.
I’d like to start off by giving Sintrosi and you folks a lot of credit. ffice
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The following questions come from my community. If I could please get some answers that I can give back to my community I would appreciate it. The biggest question seems to be "when" with the DE plan. And whether it is solidified or not.
The DE plan is in progress, which is why I haven’t said anything. I’m trying real hard NOT to make promises that won’t come true, so I’ve been quiet and you’ve been patient and I humbly thank you.
As such, I want to give you as many answers as possible and until the future becomes a little clearer, this is the best I can do.
(I was giving Sintrosi some grief about this in the Correspondent forum but that’s ‘cause I want to see him blow a gasket so I can see if he leaks oil…. 
)
1.) Is it a bug/exploit or intended that you can stack general module socket clusters together (allows for infinite stacking) as well how they fit into the droid. What's the word on this?
Yes it is a bug and a fix is in progress.
2.) Stacking of modules, ie: two level 4 modules = 1 level 6 module. Is this supposed to happen?
Yes, this is “as designed”. Stacking different modules is a game challenge. Some stacking will cause good results and some will cause not-so-good results. Knowing the difference between the two is a DE’s skill.
In the not-too-distant future, this will be more visible in the weeks and months to come and we want to improve the “examine” of such modules to make comparing different arrangements much easier.
3.) Droid armor, it's been bugged for a while now (intentional bug), is this on the "look at list" at least.
The big bug list that Sintrosi gave to me has been given straight to the developers and QA team and is in progress. Some will be easy to fix and some will take a bunch of work.
4.) What does mechanism rating mean for crafting stations, and is there a correlation with the rating on architect made crafting stations? If so, could you give us a hint on how it correlates?
In short, this gives you a better chance to resist critical failures. It works like Quality Modifiers on Crafting tools.
5.) Droid complexity. What's the official word on this? (Our probots say CL16 when obviously they are not ...)
This is not the same as “creature level”. It relates to the kind of tools and stations a DE has at their disposal. Basically, a Custom Tool in Private Structure will give you your best yield of droids.
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13.) Were there additional droid features intended for release, but which didn't make it for whatever reason? What features and why were they dropped?
The big ticket item here is Combat Droids. We are working hard to get Combat Droids and functional Repair Kits in the game ASAP. Combat droids will be a big item for you folks to make some credits and the repair kits to repair said combat droids should also be a good income and really work to the benefit of the DE profession on many levels.
As far as the reason anything at all is dropped is development time. The goal with SWG was to get the basic platform up and running. Then after that, everything else can be added. Now that ffice:smarttags" />
14.) Are there any plans to limit the modules and level of those modules in droids? (A MSE is still just as useful as the Advanced R3).
Great question, though Im going to answer as if R3=R5.
This is part of the module challenge. In short, the MOST advanced MSE will never be as useful as the MOST advanced R5. It all depends on the modules you put into it.
But if you fill an MSE with very good modules and an R5 with poor modules, then yes, the MSE might be more useful…
15.) Will the normal Protocol (not ADV) and the BLLs ever have a function in the game?
Yes. We want to make humanoid droids have combat capability in the second round of upgrades to the DE’s. We also want to give Protocol droids a role in missions and in getting players to cool and interesting parts in the game world…(personal heralds of a sort). That’s going to take some serious design time though.
16.) What was SOE's reasoning behind droid permadeath? What was the reason(s) why droid permadeath was eventually lifted?
Droid turnover. For example, if combat droids never took damage, then you would sell far less than if they took damage. Of course, you haven’t seen this yet, because the droids in the game are basic utility droids. Once combat capable droids are in the game and there are repair kits and the like, all of the things attached to this question should go away.
Forgive me, but Im still playing with my first MSE droid and Im going to answer this question with limited knowledge (though Im still learning more and more every day 
) but the reason permadeath would have been pulled is because the repair kits were pulled. If there is no way to repair them AND there was decay, then the odds are stacking up against them. I didn’t dwell into the issue because it will be changed soon anyway.
17.) What plans for the Space Expansion are there for Droid Engineers?
Yes, but I can’t say yet.
The R5 is the LOWEST of the astromechs.
The progression, from worst to best is:
R5,R4,R2,R3
Just so you don't answer as if 'High level item' = 'Low level item' too much :-)
I was giving Sintrosi some grief about this in the Correspondent forum but that’s ‘cause I want to see him blow a gasket so I can see if he leaks oil….
Thanks TH... it's wonderful to see a little extra frustration put on someone who has already been so patient.
As far as the reason anything at all is dropped is development time. The goal with SWG was to get the basic platform up and running. Then after that, everything else can be added. Now that Player Cities, Mounts and Vehicles will be in the game, we’re going to be hitting everything else pretty hard.
So just in time for Christmas, after dragging a couple hundred thousand of you through the mud, while making millions we think the game is finally starting to work and we'll really be working on this soon. I'm sorry, I have very little sympathy for how busy you are or how much work you have to do. Telling me about it doesn't make it go away or get it done any faster. I'm certain your boss doesn't let you get away with as many excuses as you use in the boards.
Grumble Grumble Grumble
TH I would like you to go further into clarrifying the MSE vs R5 question because by your answer I'm not quite sure you understood (or I understood your reply).
Right now, an MSE can be given level 6 components which an R5 can also be given. As an MSE equals the R5's slots this means an MSE can equal the capability of an R5, even though the two droids should be miles apart on capability.
What the DE community is asking for is a limit of the level of modules certain droids can take. For instance, an MSE should only be able to use level 1 modules.
Thunderheart wrote:
The power upgrade for Probots will be pushed out to live in the next publish. Basically, they follow pet rules. After the publish, Probots can be created to the exact same as a Level 10 Pet (keeping in line with the new pet rules. If probots were more powerful, then it would devalue the CH pets…)
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This part bothers me. Making probots the "exact same as a level 10 pet" would be a big drop down in power from where they are now by my estimations. Also, CH pets SHOULD be less valuable than droids to NON creature handlers.
I'm sorry, but it's true. People want to use droids, but when the CH pet alternative is equally (or more as it is now) viable they are reluctant to do so because of the other inherent issues with droids.
Wow... a fairly thorough, clearly explained and thought out post from TH about our profession... what is this strange disturbance in the force.... my WORD... its the DE profession getting some serious Dev Love...
Zzyzzx Maver
"Got Droids?"
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