Droid Engineer Archive

Title says it all. Keep it constructive. You can rant all you want in your own post but I am getting tired of hearing the negative attitude which does no good but drag down everyone's morale, so dont do it in my post. The information given here will be what I use to send in my follow up answers to his questions.

Any flames and attacks will ensure I skip your post here.

What types of droids would you like to see in addition, and what functions would they have?

What kind of Combat Droids would you like to see? (I would also expand on this by how else can we change and make varied combat droids aside from models.)

I can handle the rest and the follow up questions to Q asking for clarification. I just want to give you a chance to say your peace here. Constructively.

Thanks guys.

In addition?

All of them and a few not in the movies.

What function?

I would like to see droids able to accept and tranfer Data files and objects.

I would like to see language skill completely redone so protocal droids can translate. (Why do we even bother haveing languages?)

I would like to see specially equiped droids to be able to record holo messages and even more advanced droids to be able to tape and playback entertainer sessions. (one time use and the disc has to be crafted by a entertainer)

I would like to see player written scripts being written for droids who have speech capability. For example. a protocal droid who is scripted to respond to certain events with 'Oh my' and 'We're doomed' A medical droid scripted to have a good (or bad) bedside manner.

I would like to see power droids able to power harvesters and droids.

I would like to see labor droids able to maintain buildings and harvesters.

I would like to see treadwell droids able to repair items (based on specific modules of course) and/or limited factory function.

More specific modules and less general ones. For example. a armor or weapon or droid or etcrepair module. a type 1-6 damage or health wound or action wound of stamina wound or etc medical module. preferabley with a actual name like instead of weapon repair module have it be a hydrospanner attachment.

I would like to see binary load lifters being able to lift either A) more stuff than usual for its storage space B) being the only ones able to redeed and place structures (its carrying them) or C)both

I would like to see Medical droids able to heal on their own (at a reduced capacity when compared to a doctor.)

I would like to see modules have certain "Units" of space they take up and droids have a unit limit based on its design. For example a mouse droid would have one unit. That means only low end items can be placed in it because high end ones would take up multiple units per item. R2 droids would have a great number of units in them.

I would like to see more specific names for the modules and more modules alltogether. Perhaps instead of mobile crafting stations let them give you skill bonuses for being out with you. (crafting skills)

Let skills have skills of their own. If I make a mouse droid le me be able to give it a forage module so it can run around foraging for food.

Let skill data be craftable by the apropriate profession. Master Doctors make the medical data 6 data while the DE's use the data to help make the hardware to install in a droid "for example"

Remove permadeath. It makes no sense.

Remove combat droidsand put them all in a elite elite profession that is combat orienteated. everything but the low power droids require that profession (similar to the CH proffesion.Give droids CL's and only let non Elite elite DE's us CL 10 or below ones)

I'm no EU fanboy, so I may be somewhat inaccurate on this, but I think I recall somebody telling me that there were only ever six or so IG series assassin droids in existence, and they are fully sentient, with free will and creative thinking and such, thus making it unlikely that we'd ever be able to build them, even though they'd be pretty cool.

For a few less-obvious ideas for droid chassis, how about...

The pit crew droids from Ep. I -- the "hit the nose" ones?

The "death star droid" from Ep. IV, the one that looked like a silver protocol type droid, but more evil with big black bug eyes.
(http://ebay3.ipixmedia.com/abc/M28/_EBAY_331a35ed5dbadcd3942b04e8d1dce04e/i-1.JPG)

"FX-7," the droid with lots of arms that looks kind of like the unholy offspring of the union between an R2 and a Treadwell, but is actually a medical droid.
(http://ebay0.ipixmedia.com/abc/M28/_EBAY_e4f45dec712abb2113e5c153dba2040c/i-1.JPG)

The little shiny black interrogation droid used against Leia on the Death Star?

Combat Droid: THIS THING.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3142221730&category=2476

This droid from the Lars homestead:
http://ebay1.ipixmedia.com/abc/M28/_EBAY_0d36bdc5135dc4fd4fd53b1b9d7edf03/i-1.JPG

The waitress droid from the diner in Ep. 2.

Pit droids could be toned down maintnance droids.

the death star droids is a Roche protocal droids. The Verpine (cool race idea BTW) make all their droids insectile then wonder why it didn't do so well in the open market

FX-7 yes would be a good surgical droid alternative or perhaps a Nurse role

Isn't that the D270?

Combat droids. See above post.

The lars droids looks like a treadwell to me

The interrogation droid was not a DZ70. I believe the droids Darth Maul was using while searching for Qui Gon and Obi Wan in Ep. I were DZ70s. The Ep. IV interrogation droid was smaller, sleeker, had no obvious eyes or anything, and didn't have any manipulators as such, just assorted surgical tools and a big nasty syringe. You know, exactly the sort of thing you DON'T want to see in the context of an interrogation. :-)

The Lars droid seems to be a relative of the Treadwell, but isn't quite the same. The Lars droid looks a bit sturdier, and the notable difference is that huge binocular head. One can't help but imagine that droid has REALLY good vision for some purpose.

Which reminds me, this isn't droid-related, but I note that there is absolutely no sort of visual magnification tool in the game. Even EQ has a spyglass and some magnification spells, and Luke uses binoculars in Ep. IV. So I'm thinking we REALLY need some binoculars in the game.

Some of these ideas are from the movies:

In ANH, R2 is able to detect the presence of tusken raiders in the distance. This can translate to SWG by enhancing the radar while an astromech droid is out.

Find a use for binary load lifters. The most appropriate would be for it to run off and collect resources from your harvestors for you. This is related to my next idea.

Droids should be persistent and they should be able to function away from their master. I should be able to feed a binary load lifter the waypoint of my harvestor and have it go and get resources from it. Of course, there should be risk involved with this. This is where the jawa factor could come into play. Sending a droid off to do some task should have a risk that your droid will be stolen by jawas. Reclaiming your droid would be possible by using force or perhaps payment to the thieving jawas. This could add a much needed rivalry between jawas and droid engineers/owners that I think should be in the game. I should have a reason to despise those stinking rodents.

Where the heck are ASP droids? This is the most common droid in the galaxy, and we cannot make them nor are they anywhere to be seen.

Droids need more dialog, plain and simple. Is it that hard to let us set what phrases a droid can say and what events may trigger these sayings? Perhaps introduce a bit of randomness into this and make it so some droids simply wont shut up at times. This could be combatted with a restraining bolt, a popularitem taken from the films.

Make droids unique. I'm tired of having someone come to my shop and say "Can you make me a storage and medical crafting station droid?" They should be coming to melooking for a specific droid for their purpose. It should sound more like this. "I'd like an R3 droid please. They are the ones that let you craft medical items, right?" Modules should be reserved for setting the level of the appropriate function.

Protocol droids need to be used for translation, if not translating between players, then translating between players and certain npcs. Perhaps make certain missions only solvable by being able to translate a mysterious language. What would one need to do this? A protocol droid!!!

That's all I can think of for now.

Something I do want to see are the Episode 1 and 2 Combat Droids. However, I think those should come at the same time as Certs. I feel Certs need to be handled a very specific way, so as not to ruin Droids. The idea of Droids is that they're usable by almost anyone....a Crafter has as much use from a Combat droids as a combat profession. However, we don't want *anyone* to use the higher end ones. Therefore, I suggest the following method for doing certs...

Have them generically skill based. In the second tier of every Basic skill tree, have the cert "Low End Droids" be obtained. This allows people to use what are considered "low end" droids of Combat, Crafting, Medical, etc. At the novice skill of every Elite profession, have the "Medium Droid Certification" be obtained. This allows people to use medium droids, obviously. And then, at the second level box of every elite profession, have the "High End Droid" certification be obtained.

Now what does this do? Precisely what it should. It allows everyone to use droids, but they must work their way to it. They have to live in the world and earn their keep before using the best droids. No longer can newbie players use the higher ones, as you see. However, it also doesn't limit it....it doesn't force certain droids to certain classes only. The Crafter can have a bodyguard droid for defense, while the Marksman uses the same droid for offense. Yet both of them earned a couple levels in their skill tree to be able to do that.

Now, after that, I think there should be some "elite" Droids that only a Droid Engineer can use. Battle Droids and Advanced Battle droids can be in the Medium and High certification levels. However, the Droidekas should be an Elite droid that only a master Droid Engineer can use. Other "elite" droids are given to the Engineer at various phases of his/her career, including Droids that can power harvesters, repair Structures, probe outlaying landscapes, etc.

Summary of all the droid ideas that I can remember coming up in the bazillion constructive threads -

• Survey modules - short range survey for anyone to use


• Survey modules - droid could go hunt for resources


• Sample modules - droid could function as a mini-harvester


• Hopper runs - droid could go get your hopper materials (BLL?)


• Power for factories/hoppers (would require world persistant droids)


• Power generation - droid could dump power stored over time (a walking capacitor)


• Slicing modules to assist smugglers - could increase smuggler effectiveness


• Reduced effect slicing modules - useable by anyone, would be nowhere near as effective as a smuggler


• Juke Box module - could play music - possible dancer skill enhancer


• Light show module - could provide a light show for entertainers


• Mini-Factory droid - could operate as a factory, but at a much slower rate (another possible BLL use). Perhaps specialize these modules as doctor (stim pack) factory, cloth factory, etc.

This is all I can think of right now - it is late.

Well, I gave my direct responses in the actual thread.

Although I was very happy that it was finally posted, I'd hate to see what the answers looked like before they were "rewritten".

The "what do you want?" things were a little silly.

This is why I will again encourage in the next vote to vote for things that can be fixed/changed that are already in the game - because anything else is months down the road, if not years.

I also wonder why other professions got responses to both of their sets of issues, where we only got responses to the first set.

I honestly am trying very hard to see the logic behind the Devs treatment of DE's, but I can't.

None of the other advanced crafting professions interest me in the least. And combat in this game is tedious at best - I can only do it for an hour or two before getting bored and wanting to do something else.

I would enjoy the DE profession much more if I didn't have to constantly apologize for the state of it to my customers.

Audio, who realizes this is a scattered post, but I have so much to say, yet it's all been said - I can only place emphasis on the things that weigh most heavily on my mind

Weneed different type service droids. Ones that can go out and power, fix harvestors, and gather resources from the hopper.

Anything to make droids play more of a role in this game instead of them just being mobile crafting stations.

Please also consider removing permadeath from droids. This makes no sense having droids die.

Allow talking droids to talk more. Currently they say very little. More people would be interested in droids that do more talking.

Here is my response to the dev's post.

Thank you...that wasn't so hard now was it? One simple response is all that I was looking for from the devs instead of being completely in the dark. I just hope it's not a one-time deal.

I really think our field is going to be blessed in the long run. Right now it's very obvious that the profession has been thrown together without a thought.

Now, for those that are upset about perma-death on droids, well I can understand why it's necessary but admit that they should have choosen a better time to implement it. Also, instead of leaving droid corpses all over the place we should be given the ability to salvage the droid for later use, such as salvage a manipulator arm, or motive unit so we can at least get a little something back from the experience.

I think that one-time use corpse retrieval droid would be fun, and shouldn't be difficult to impliment honestly.

I also think that we could have droid mounts a la a type of Mech droid. Heck...it could even be a type of armor for battle too ....BATTLE MECHS!! ...ok, sorry, I just got way excited over something that isn't ever going to happen..hehe

I also want a K-9 droid a la "Dr. Who's pet"

Given the housing item issues, a welcome and *simple* to implement Binary Load Lifter feature would be a GOOD amount of storage - say 100 items. Really, that's functionality rather implied by the name and supported by the rather immense resources needed to make one. Also, the Advanced needs module support, please.

A good droid, difficult to make, with desirable features. I'd love it.