Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: To Thunderheart, Runesabre, JustG Explain why the Hybrid DE wont work.
All the pure crafter Droid Engineers that I know on Eclipse are gone. The master DE, craft day in and day out in their shops then they burn out and cancel their accounts. Usual time between starting DE and cancelling, about 4 months. Before you pure crafters go blastic on what I just said, I'll state right now there are execptions. But in general, what I've just said is true.
I've played as a hybrid part crafter, part combat character and I have out lasted sever generations of the so called "pure crafters" by picking up my pistols when I'm burned out and spend time enjoying some of the game content. In short, I recharge my batteries. Why so much weight on what are essentially short-time Droid Engineers?
I've heard and understood the reasons why the DEV's have said that certifications wont work. Well, have to agree they do have a point. What I have yet to hear is their reason why the Hybrid Droid Engineer (Droid Engineer with Droid Commander added into it) wont work. The only objection I've heard so far are from pure crafters who are worried that their might be such an influx of new droid engineers that they might actually have to start competiting. In short, the most obnoxious, self-center, and selfish reason imaginable. Ever heard of a free market cause that's what it is. None of us have any right to own it.
To the "pure crafters", please just bite your tongue and hold your replies. Give the DEV's a chance to explain why this option has been ruled out. I'd really like to hear their response. So stay listen in but stay off the channel and don't try and get this thread locked just cause you don't like this option.
I think a large part of this is the simple fact that people voted 'no' to this hybrid in hopes of certification system....though I will say, it won't be a matter of just a huge influx of DEs. ..There really wouldn't be a market anymore, unless we ended up with somehow a certain branch of DE that they could just go up it and then buy them off everybody else. Kinda like Docs who just go 0340 I suppose.
demosthenes810 wrote:
I think the biggest problem is that you should not be going up engineering IV to get a combat profession...
Don't forget about DZ70s too.
Virtanis wrote:
demosthenes810 wrote:
I think the biggest problem is that you should not be going up engineering IV to get a combat profession...
Might as well take away the Probots then, by your logic.
/bow
Respectfully,
Tell you what, lets table the discussion and see if the DEV's can tell us why this hybrid DE option will or wont work. Okie?
I think most of the pure crafters that last long, have multiple accounts.
I will definatly move on to a new game before getting another account here. I guess its just a stubborness, i have developed. A habit.
A Jedi would help. But I cant grind a Holo prof very easy while maintaining a robust set of DE skills.
If I am to keep DE I will need combat droids. I am in limbo now because of the 'Droid Invasion', Im 2 boxes from DE master and VERY stessed for skillpoints) and I would hate to give all that work up now when I might get somthing i want in the next two months.
So I log in. do my harvesters. maby make some droids or paint kits to sell. not much. log off.
I *would* be trying some of this marvelouse 'content' i hear about. I would be questing with my friends. I would be trying to get a droidsmiths toolkit. I would be fairly imersed. I do have more time for 'r/l' this way.
But If I had a way to keep the things i think are important for my 'role' (DE in this case) and quest and combat too. Then I would be playing the game, instead of haunting the boards.
Combat droids are the answer for DE needs to adventure. And they can be an answer for other crafters as well.
In my guild and city, there is quite a turnover of players leaving. Of the ones that I am aware of thier reasons for leaving. Half of them would have stayed if they had, Multiple char slots, or, more skillpoints, or, the ability to have both a noncombat 'role' and a competitive combat ability. Of those that stay, more have multiple accounts. I havnt tallied it. But it looks like SOE loses more Biz this way than they get from multiple account players. And the players they lose tend to be more casuals who would be giving a better money/server time ratio.
For Fun, or Profit, Give crafters droids ! (the plan, in the answer thread would work) Give Entertainers and BEs somthing too. Or, give us more skill points. Or another char slot or a Jedi. Or probly watch us 'move along'.
If there are pure crafters, who are satisfied with out combat and such things, then this will not hurt them either. They arnt going to quit cause someone else can use one of thier combat droids. or cause they can too. The crafter that cares about adventure will allways be spending some skill points in adventure friendly areas that the pure crafter will spend in biz/crafting friendly areas. The 'pure crafter' will allways have a crafting advantage over the 'true hybrid' Likewise a pure Entertainer might like to be able to tailor thier own cloths. But most would probly like to be able to hunt and quest effectively with thier friends.
I can see why a pure crafter can want to have some advantage themself. But not why they want to screw someone else.
Checkerwise, the DE's Ritz crackers are like apples and oranges. You cant really play ball with them very effectivly !
Though it would be nigh impossible to change, adding Ranged Support 4 from Marksman to the prereqs for DE would satisfy the Hybrid combat/crafter requirement.
Too bad this didn't come up pre-Beta. 
>Though it would be nigh impossible to change, adding Ranged Support 4 from Marksman to the prereqs for DE would satisfy the Hybrid combat/crafter requirement.<
I think Engineering 4 is the perfect prerequisite. Its artisan friendly (they need combat, and support droid love) And, intuitive. Enfgineers work droids good ? YES
To deal with other issues I suggest a distributed cert.
Part in DE, novise and up one branch 4 boxes.
Part in Master DE box.
Part in master Artisan box.
Advantages.
DE and Crafter/Artisan friendly
Those in need of checkers can now have some. There could be high level non combat droids as well that crafters could benifit from. (survey or harvester droids, heavy repair units. Whatever.)
Allows a low cost (35-54) limited cert for the masses.
Combats can get some affordable droid help without having 'too many checkers'. Droid Sales.
Costs lotta skillpoints for max cert.
The max cert (Master DE and Master Artisan) would cost 145 skillpoints. Thats more than master CH. These well earned checkers could then be accepted. Like having your checkers and eating them too. (g)
The Only issues it does not totally deal with is what to do for Entertainers and BEs, And what other bits of perck to give to other artisans to balance them. But that is not really our worry here. We are doing droids here. The other balances can come in other 'invasions'.
ArdenStarmariner wrote:
Tell you what, lets table the discussion and see if the DEV's can tell us why this hybrid DE option will or wont work. Okie?
Simple - it won't work because it's not balanced.
And before anyone goes off on that, balance does not mean combat. Get it through your head or you will always be frustrated by choices that the Devs make regarding crafting professions.
Droid Engineer is already a full-fledged crafting profession. Granted, we're pretty borked right now, but we're about to be re-worked to fix that. /knockOnWood. In theory, we have all of the perks of being a full-fledge crafting profession, and we are considered balanced as an overall game entity.
If the Devs were to add hybrid combat abilities to the Droid Engineer profession, we would no longer be balanced. We would still be a full-fledge crafting profession, but we would then additionally have (presumably significant) combat abilities. We would have the best of both worlds, and that would mean that we would be decidedly unbalanced as an overall game entity.