Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: Modules, modules, and more modules!
I am of the opinion that droids in Star Wars should be like Swiss army knives, x1000. We can achieve this if the powers that be introduce A LOT of new modules. This will help us make more droids, make them more present in the world, and MUCH more useful to us and their owners.
I have come up with just a few module ideas that I think would really help DE's and the state of droids in the game as a whole. PLEASE, I'd like to keep this thread constructive, so if you can come up with good ideas for new modules, post them here. Imagine having 20-30-40 different module types, which cater to all the classes in the game?! 
Self Destruct Module:
Built in conjunction with Weaponsmiths, perhaps.Can only be placed in Probot droids, basic or advanced. When the droid is incapacitated by an attacker, the droid activates a self destruct mechanism which destroys the droid >>permanently<< while doing 300-500 damage to the attacker. If higher level combat droids are developed by Sony, they should also have the ability to receive this module.
Shield Generator Module:
Built in conjunction with Armorsmiths, perhaps. Can be placed in any droid type. Treats the droid as a portable shield generator, allowing it's protection to be assigned to two PC's within a short range. Players only, no pets or creatures can receive this protection.
Harvester Modules: (Four distinct module types: Mineral, Gas, Flora, Chemical):
Built in conjunction with Master Artisans, perhaps. Can be placed in any non combat type droid. Allows the droid to perform very basic harvesting abilities (roughly half that of a personal harvester), but it's mobile. Consumes a higher rate of power than normal.
Vendor Module:
Built in conjunction with Merchants, perhaps. Can be placed in any non combat type droid. Allows the droid to act as a portable, mobile vendor. Can contain only as many items within it as can fit within it's storage module (which must be included in the droid also). Advanced modules may also allow you to program "sale pitches" as one might find in the Merchant skills. Useful for visiting big cities and making new sales.
Tactical Combat Module:
Built in conjunction with Squad Leaders, perhaps. Trains the droid to utilize sensors and advanced tracking algorithims to relay, predict, and plot enemy activity in combat, while relaying this information to all >>group members<<. This translates into a +5 ranged accuracy bonus for all members in a group (just an idea, can be something else also). Can only be placed in a combat droid.
I like these ideas, and the concept behind making droids more functional through modules.
Let me interrupt my own post with the obligatory:
Before adding more modules, they really need to fix the existing ones
Now that that's out of the way and need not be repeated, some other modules...
Holo-projector -- Allows the droid owner to record a message and send it in-game to another player that is online. I think development is already done for a "blue-ghost" of players, so when the message is played, it would appear like the person that recorded the message. The droid would cover the distance between the sender and the recipient, and incur some travel expense based off of how far it had to go (some fraction of the cost of shuttles, likely). Why do this instead of just send in-game emails? This would look cooler, for one thing. Maybe if the droid has a storage compartment, it can deliver items this way, too. << Note: I don't think this module or functionality will exist on the game, but I can dream, can't I? >>
Server Module -- While in a cantina or similar facility, the droid owner can deposit food and/or drinks and/or some appropriate amount of money, and the droid will then go around the area and serve these items up to patrons. I'm not sure what the transaction would look like. I mostly just have this idea from watching Return of the Jedi recently, and watching R2-D2 serve drinks aboard the saiil barge.
Retrieval Module -- With this module, the droid can be given a command and, on its own, it will travel to the various corpses and lairs and whatnot that you would normally have to go to for looting and do the looting for you, putting items in its storage module. I don't know about everyone else, but I sometimes have a hard time finding the bodies I just shot for looting.
I like these ideas, and the concept behind making droids more functional through modules.
Let me interrupt my own post with the obligatory:
Before adding more modules, they really need to fix the existing ones
Now that that's out of the way and need not be repeated, some other modules...
Holo-projector -- Allows the droid owner to record a message and send it in-game to another player that is online. I think development is already done for a "blue-ghost" of players, so when the message is played, it would appear like the person that recorded the message. The droid would cover the distance between the sender and the recipient, and incur some travel expense based off of how far it had to go (some fraction of the cost of shuttles, likely). Why do this instead of just send in-game emails? This would look cooler, for one thing. Maybe if the droid has a storage compartment, it can deliver items this way, too.-- Note: I don't think this module or functionality will exist on the game, but I can dream, can't I? --
Server Module -- While in a cantina or similar facility, the droid owner can deposit food and/or drinks and/or some appropriate amount of money, and the droid will then go around the area and serve these items up to patrons. I'm not sure what the transaction would look like. I mostly just have this idea from watching Return of the Jedi recently, and watching R2-D2 serve drinks aboard the saiil barge.
Retrieval Module -- With this module, the droid can be given a command and, on its own, it will travel to the various corpses and lairs and whatnot that you would normally have to go to for looting and do the looting for you, putting items in its storage module. I don't know about everyone else, but I sometimes have a hard time finding the bodies I just shot for looting.