Droid Engineer Archive

This is a better version of my FRESH idea to the droid problem.

We are tying to achieve balance. The goals we want out of this profession are...

1. more combat droids, and useful droids.

2. to be able to sell to anyone, and them being able to use them.

3. To be able to use the droids we create

4. allow newbie droid engineers something useful to sell.

The problems with this are...

1. If everyone can use a uber droid then everything gets nerfed and weaker droids will be the result.

2. The adding of the droid handler profession will kill all we wanted from picking droid engineer.

3. Adding certifications will totally destroy the idea anyone can use droids.

4. If they do add the droid handler profession you will have to give something up.

Here is the answer to all these problems

Create a "faction point system" to using higher level droids. This will still let everyone use them, but cut out the newbie. Once you reach a high level of "droid handling skill" you will be able to buy the battle droids, droidekas, and all the rest they throw in. You will not lose this skill because you would not use the faction points to buy the droids, those would come from your local droid engineer . The less FP's you have the crappier droid, so you can buy from a novice droid engineer stimulating the lower droid engineer's economy. Thus resulting in a galaxy where anyone can use any droid, and there are no "droid handlers" or certifications restricting use. And the most important reason we wont have to give up that medic skill or weapon skill we love so much to use droids.

I cant think of any problems with this. And i use the term "faction point" for lack of a better one. I really want droid engineer to be the best profession in the game. Look on the bright side, it can get much worse

If you see something that wont work, or something that i forgot. Please feel free to post your response.

I think droid engineers Should, have some advantage using droids. Thier points are tied up in it, that they cant use for combat abilities. Everyone else can, so far, have just as much use of the droids, by spending relatively insignificant 'credits'($). And I dont like the idea of a new droid handler branch. I will already have to cutskills I dont want to lose, to master droids.

As to what advantages. The only thing that strikes me as uncontestable, definitely good ideas are.

Allow At Least two droids 'out' at one time. Thats the only way the repair droid, and power droid, gain any usefullness to your own droids.

Allow more droids in the data pad. A droid engineer should be able to store, like maby at least as many droids as the basic frame types they can make. At least more than we can now.

For droid engineers i see these as definate must haves. Whether the abilities of non droid engineers should be expanded in this direction. Im not clear about. But I Do think droid engineers should have advantages that non droid engineers dont. And, without spending yet more points. (to be just a self proficient droid engineer i must master artisan and start climbimg the architect tree. And I as most people want to be able to be good at combat as well)

I think a droid engineer should have some chance at being, effective in combat. The same can be said, of weaponsmiths, amorers, tailors and entertainers. Not an easy task. But for droid engineers,, not really so hard. More stored droids and more droids 'out' at once would certainly help. Maybe in general crafters could be given some balance by there being a perk to using somthing you have built yourself. Dancers, maby some evasive abilities. Musicians,, I dunno, I'd think of working it from some charisma like angle or maybe a attack dexterity like effect.

I know, the idea that 'you cant have it all'. But in SWG, I think the vast majority want to have a chance at some equality in fighting abilities. Maby an additional char to do the fighting would fill the need. (thats in addition, i think, to a 'hardcore', 'rare' Jedi) But I think most of those who are drawn to 'arts' and crafts', as I., Also feel the need to be proficient at combat. Without having to buy a 2nd account. I just sort of refuse to buy a 2nd account. I didnt in DAoC, to be able to transfer stuff. And now when they have allowed it with housing, I am here, in SWG.

Summary

Allow at least droid engineers, more stored droids, and more droids 'out'.

Allow droid engineers some advantage, to using droids, over non droid engineers.

Allow those in the ~'arts and crafts' to have a chance to be competitive in combat, Or allow a 2nd (3rd with Jedi)slot, so one can have an experience of both.

[On the issue of data storage. these additional character slots, need only store character data. An account could still be limited to the 10 lots, ans one bank account. that could be shared by the characters.]

Maby I should have made this a seperate thread. But its jolly well here already.

so this is what it comes to. the way i see it. Everyone can use the droids using the "droid handling faction point" method but only droid engineers can pull out more than 1 droid at a time, because we get more points for going up the DE tree.

Points can max out at different levels and to be the uber droid army mother f_cker you need to be DE.

This idea is progressinjg along good, is there anyway we can get a dev to see it before they put in droid handler. That would be tragic.

Atomic - We must be on the same wave length because I was coming here to post the same thing! I think it is a great idea. Let me offer you some of my ideas regarding a "faction point" tree not just fordroids but for pets (and for vehicles in the future).

First it seems the root of the problem with pet handling is balance. By pets,I will be talking about all three types: faction, creature, and droid pets.Here are two examples of unbalance:

We all know Creature Handlers can eventually obtain three high HAM creatures out (and I think they have the potential to have 3 faction pets out as well as one droid) at the same time. That is like a miniture army. Likewise, there are Imperial faction members can have 3 ATST's out at the same time. Yet while these two examples require loads of xp to acquire, because there is no xp requirement for droids, anyone can own them. Hence in an attempt to stop newbies from acquiring a super probot or combat droid like the upcoming droideka, the Devs have done the following two things in an attempt to rectify the situation: nerf probots and propose a droid handler tree.

A droid handler tree would be a horrible idea but I see the logic behind it from their business prospective. I am here to offer an alternative solutionto the thought of a Droid Handler. If newbies level too fast with good droids, they may not play as long hence less money for SOE. So we need to balance not only the one army player, but the levels at which you can get pets. This should be donewhile not upseting the current game too much (angering DEs and non DEs with nerfs and taking away thier droids) while adding depth to the game and a new level of playability.

Here is a possible solution for ALL pet ownership:

Faction Pets: At the momentthe Rebel and Imperial military rank system does little more than give you the ability to hold more faction points at each level from my understanding of it. To make this more meaningful, Faction Rank should give players the ability to control more faction pets. At the level of private, players should not be able to control three faction pets at once but one only. With increasing rank, faction players get more faction pet choices as well as increasing pets out at the same time, eventually adding upto 3 faction pets out at a time.At the highest rank, I fully support 3 ATSTs as a reward for hard work. To the greedy SOE: think of the time players will spend to get to this level!

Creature Pets: No need to nerf creatures since Creature Handlers go through much xp to obtain the creature pets they get, the current system will work and act as a gage to bring other pets like droid pets up toa comparable level.

Droid Pets and Vehicles:

In the real world, in order to drive a car or operate special machines, people need licences. Yes this does mean I am talking about certifications but not a new skill tree. In every city on every planet, there should be a certification officer who acts much like a faction recruiter but who can certify you to use a certain combat droid or vehicle. Since the planetary governments would not want just anyone to run around with a droideka, there is justification that you would need a licence to roll around with it (much like you need a permit for a gun from the government in real life). You talk to him and he will send you out on special missions much like a faction recruiter. You gain certification xpdepending on your profession(s) by destroy, craft, survey, deliver, etc missions.When you get a certain # of licence xp points needed for a certain item, you can choose the item to be certified in (aka what to buy with your points). For example:

A low level certification could be: Probot Droid certification with light armor. In order to get a probot cert with high armor you would have to get the licences for light and medium armor first. This would create a market for low level DEs as there would then be people would want to buyProbot with Armor 1 or 2 because that is all they are certified for.

More things you could be certified in:More droids out at once for Non DE players (although this should be an inherent feature to DE similar to creature handler) up to 3. More than one combat droid at once. More pets able to be stored.

Note certification would only be for certain droids mostlyupcoming combat droidslike droidekas andprobots as well as surgical droids when they will be able to heal players themselves. Non Combat droids should be

ALL pets: There COULD be a general pet limit to how many you can have out at a time. Certifications could then allow you to be able to control more at a time. At full certification a player could be able to control a maximum # of pets out at the same time. You will have to choose which to bring out. The limit would be imposed so that Non creature handlers can have as big an army as a creature handler. If a creature handler has 3 creatures and 3 faction pets, a non CH can have 3 droid pets and 3 faction pets to even it out.

There are several reasons why certification in this way could work well. 1) It means everyone could eventually own combat droids (Droid Handler would leave people out) but will keep newbies from leveling too fast. 2) Droid Engineers coming up through the ranks would be able to sell droids with low level armor. 3) There would be more of a balance with pets between droids and creatures and faction pets. 4) This does not require extra skill points or a new profession to master like Droid Handler while keeping the game very close to the way it was before.

For those who have been playing the game for awhile, to not discourage them by needing now to get licensing, xp points could be converted into licensing points at the Licensing Director (a reverse version of faction points becoming xp). If I have pistol orcrafting ormedxp pts as a current player, I could convert them at a ratio to license/certification xp points.

Actually, I like this idea. It seems to be a fairly good way of controlling droid (and faction pets) access. A droid certification officer in every town! Regardless of the droid certification faction, DE should be certified to use any droid they are capable of making, and should have a larger maximum number of stored or active droids than any other profession.

Another option might be to implant a droid handling skill in every profession. The skill would be an absoulte number, not an additive percentage. The highest skill would be obtained at master in an elite or hybred profession, but droid engineers would recieve a bonus on top of the normal levels. DE could possibly create a skill bonus item for droid handling too.

the best Certification system out there is MONEY.