Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: Reconsidering DH/DC class: Why I am starting to be 'okay' with it...
There's been a lot of people scratching their heads at my posts and change of attitudelately. I guess I would be too, were I in another's shoes....
We all know that things haven't changed for DEs fundamentally since release but the time has sort of arrived when that will cease to be the case. I think we all know that they Devs have been working very hard to give us what they believed we were after...higher-level combat droids (via the inclusion of the DH/DC class).
True, they didn't quite take the path that we wanted....but they DID do the work.
I am starting to be okay with the DH/DC thing. Is it my perfect solution? No. But, I can accept the fact that we aren't going to get our "perfect" solution.
One of the things that is starting to make me thing that DH/DC wouldn't be so bad......comments from my clients.
I wanted to be a DE to make cool droids. Yes, I want them for ME to use too. However, I also wanted them for others to enjoy. Making droids that other people would really love and find cool was a big part of what led me to want to get and keep DE in the first place.
A lot of my clients in game don't watch the forum boards too much so they aren't aware of where things are 'at', beyond the fact that there is droid 'stuff' in the works. Most of them still believed that this meant we would all be seeing higher-level combat droids sooner than later. So, I start educating them on where we stand and what the future may hold...
Whenever the DH/DC thing comes up, I always tend to hear them say....
'That would be so cool. I'd take a DH/DC class in a minute if I knew I could start using 'Roger, Roger' droids or Destroyers.'
...or...
'Man, I can't wait for them to get DH/DC out so that I can finally get a cool combat droid instead of this silly creature.'
There's a lot of comments like that. Most, in fact, are very very positive about the possibilities and, indeed, looked forward to being able to get into DC/DH. Then, last night, the final comment that made me really think.
"Why did you DEs kill off the DH/DC idea? I know a ton of people that would have loved to have been working on that right now and using them instead of pets."
I suddenly realized....my earlier vehemence against DH/DC as a way to get combat droids was all well and good for MY vision of how they should be added. But I hadn't been thinking of my clients. I had been selfishly wanting things to happen my way and my way, only. And that meant, no DH/DC class.
Now, I actually am kind of okay with it if they decide it HAS to go that way. The reason?
My clients will dig it. I'll probably sell quite a lot of them.I'll be making droids that people will love and want to use and find cool.
And that's a huge aspect of why I wanted to be a DE in the first place.
/bow
Respectfully,
I'm just luker mostly, but I am a MDE and I just wanted you to know that I share your views on this. I dont know how the skill tree of DH class will be but I'm im surely going to try it out.
Walton(TKM/Master Doc)
Waltbot(MDE/Master Artisian)
here's my beef though. droids are for all of us. they are part of star wars. you guys craft and fix them.
my droid right now is a satchel, nothing more, and i'm not going DH. i can't. nor would i want to. this isn't battlebots imo. that really bothers me. in the end, this is just one more profession that is going to need constant fixes, tweaking and balancing, and you guys are in the exact same spot you were in 8 months ago. except now you have a few more things to craft.
a lot of players will drop CH to go DH sure. but personally i think a lot more want their droids to work and be what they were in the movies. we'll see how everyone reacts i suppose. but TH, what will you say if the overwhealming cry is "NO MORE HANDLING" from the *entire* community after this change? "oops, but it's here to stay?"
I still say the Droid Commander profession doesn't make sense continuity-wise. Something just wouldn't feel right while walking through Theed and seeing 5 people with Droideka and Trade Federation Battle droids in tow (well neither does seeing a Rancor...but that's another subject).
I can see broken ones and things like out in the middle of nowhere, like it is now. Can I see Droids defending facion bases? yea, in a limited fashion.
If any profession were to get Combat droids, I would choose either Squad Leader, Smuggler or possibly Bounty Hunter. Why? SL's, because it makes sense for them to have a squad at all times (and they are probably just as gimped as we are). Smuggler's to use as tools to get past authorities (smuggler's get very few combat bonuses as is...most geared toward running in the opposite direction), and Bounty Hunter's to have a companion to track marks. I havn't met a Bounty Hunter yet (that does investigation) that didn't have some Creature Handler to assist in taking down his/her marks.
The catch is there would be certain restrictions to where and when they can be used. For example: cities is a no-no (player cities, probably).
Just some thoughts and ramblings, take them for what it's worth.
JavelinCatcher wrote:
I still say the Droid Commander profession doesn't make sense continuity-wise. Something just wouldn't feel right while walking through Theed and seeing 5 people with Droideka and Trade Federation Battle droids in tow (well neither does seeing a Rancor...but that's another subject).
The Devs do want to main continuity as much as possible as long as it doesn't confine them into not being able to make fun/cool game features and content.
I'm willing to take from the continuity thing for the sake of something that will be fun/cool.
I mean....if we followed continuity to the letter of the law, most Wookiee's in-game would be Imperial slaves, just by way of example.
/bow
Respectfully,
To tell you the truth, once I thought about the balance issues, I started to think DC wasn't such a bad idea, either. However, there are a couple issues I have with the DC idea, and they really don't have anything to do with the DC profession itself:
- DE (and other 'borked' professions, ie: Smuggler) need to be fixed/balanced before adding any new professions into this game. There's no point in adding new professions of any type before the current ones work.
- The whole uproar (at least a good portion of it)over the DC profession, in my opinion, was a kneejerk reaction to the statement that we (as DE's) wanted DC, when in fact, that wasn't the case. DE's felt like we had been kicked in the teeth, and weren't actually being listened to, when we really were just being misinterpreted.
- This kinda falls under the first point, but adding utility droids that will help/enhance most players in this game also need to come before the DC, and hopefully we'll be seeing this in the next few months.
I think as long as DC is done right, ie not a clone of the Creature Handler, and the highly borked professions are fixed first, it can be a welcome addition to the game. And if DE's want to be able to use the droids, then we have enough skillpoints left over to take up that new profession...
/bow
meeuki wrote:
i'm not a DE. i don't mind seeing combat droids particularly. it's better than someone sending in his pet tusk cat imo.
This is, in part, my point. If we are going to get 'handlers' in the game (and we are, folks, get over it), I'd prefer that there be more DHs than CHs. It really IS more Star Warsy.
here's my beef though. droids are for all of us.
There would still be droids for everyone...nothing would be different. Would you have to give something up to get a higher level combat droid?
Yes. But you have to give something to 'get' other things in the game no matter what. I had to give up 2 DE trees and 2 MA trees to be able to Master CM. That's the way it goes...
my droid right now is a satchel, nothing more, and i'm not going DH. i can't. nor would i want to. this isn't battlebots imo.
Well...it's not battle bots right now. But it is 'PetWars'. Would you rather it stay that way?
that really bothers me. in the end, this is just one more profession that is going to need constant fixes, tweaking and balancing, and you guys are in the exact same spot you were in 8 months ago. except now you have a few more things to craft.
Well...I share your concern over addding a new profession to babysit. Apparently, Runesabre does as well. I guess we'll find out more in the future on how they think they can avoid that situation.
a lot of players will drop CH to go DH sure. but personally i think a lot more want their droids to work and be what they were in the movies.
I don't think we will ever see droids really be "what they were in the movies". It's just not possible via the technical limitations and the time/money to code what would be needed to even marginally approach that level.
We need to stop asking to go to the moon when just getting into orbit is a lot more close to what's possible.
we'll see how everyone reacts i suppose. but TH, what will you say if the overwhealming cry is "NO MORE HANDLING" from the *entire* community after this change? "oops, but it's here to stay?"
I'm sure they wouldn't say that. What they might say is...
"Well, if you're all really so against all of this, we'll work to take it out and redo it. It's going to take a LONG time to pull off and we will have a LOT of balance issues, bugs and growing pains to deal with along the way."
If that is their answer....would you still want them to remove CH and DH from the game? I wouldn't. I'd rather have them busy on building my Wookiee-compatible X-Wing, thank you very much.
Respectfully,
To be honest, for me it's something I would not particularly like, but could live with.
The single biggest concern I have is this: Howcan youto fill an entire skilltree for Droid Handler?
Basicly I would worry about it either being a tree devoid of most content, or usurping a lot of abilities that really should be part of the Droid Engineer tree.
But as it seems to be the thing that will get much of the stuff implemented, I wouldn't stand in the way of it. I wouldn't be overjoyed about it either
/bow
duncje wrote:
To tell you the truth, once I thought about the balance issues, I started to think DC wasn't such a bad idea, either. However, there are a couple issues I have with the DC idea, and they really don't have anything to do with the DC profession itself:
- DE (and other 'borked' professions, ie: Smuggler) need to be fixed/balanced before adding any new professions into this game. There's no point in adding new professions of any type before the current ones work.
I would very much agree with this. Fix current issues/professions first...but keep an eye (while you do) on what will happen down the line.
- The whole uproar (at least a good portion of it)over the DC profession, in my opinion, was a kneejerk reaction to the statement that we (as DE's) wanted DC, when in fact, that wasn't the case. DE's felt like we had been kicked in the teeth, and weren't actually being listened to, when we really were just being misinterpreted.
Okay...I really agree with this. We were misinterpreted, basically. That misinterpretation led to a lot of negativity and animosity from which we still have yet to recover. The fact that I was kind of 'sticking it' to my clients that really did want this hit home with me last night. It's really what made me think, "You know, I may not love this idea....but it will be good for many clients and we'll finally get higher end combat droids." I guess I'm just starting to see that this might be a compromise solution that I can accept, especially considering that there's likely been a TON of work done to build it already.
- This kinda falls under the first point, but adding utility droids that will help/enhance most players in this game also need to come before the DC, and hopefully we'll be seeing this in the next few months.
We only need address the checkers problem. I really hope that the new utility droid changes won't just be eye candy. If that's all that's possible, maybe we should rethink what we are asking for here....
I think as long as DC is done right, ie not a clone of the Creature Handler, and the highly borked professions are fixed first, it can be a welcome addition to the game.
Absolutely. Iagree with that, big time. And....fortunately, this is exactly what Runesabre said that he wanted for the DC/DH profession (not a copy/paste of CH).
And if DE's want to be able to use the droids, then we have enough skillpoints left over to take up that new profession...
Yup...that's the tradeoff.
Respectfully,
but you have to think.... why do you play? because it's the newest feature rich mmorpg? or because it's star wars? at what point do you have to say "ok that's undoubtedly fun, but it's starting to sacrifice some of the things that make star wars cool."
especially when you have an idea like utility droids. we all want to be able to have fun with droids, it's a very important part of star wars. this change does not help the playerbase who has no interest in combat droids, it does not help DE's who have no interest in becoming DH, except where business is concerned, so how much fun does it end up being? in the end, it's just a more starwarsy CH class, pandering to those who want to make combat easier, and it will open up a whole new can of worms.
TheRealTK421 wrote:
I'm willing to take from the continuity thing for the sake of something that will be fun/cool.
I mean....if we followed continuity to the letter of the law, most Wookiee's in-game would be Imperial slaves, just by way of example.