Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: Data Storage Modules and a official comment on their use.
The original comment that the later refers to:
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Creature handling is in the game because:
- We do see it as Star Warsy--see below
- because it's a really popular playstyle
- because it appeals to players who enjoy collecting
- because it appeals to players who enjoy taking care of something and nurturing it
Creature handling is Star Warsy because:
- In the films alone, we see Stormtroopers riding dewbacks, Tuiskens riding Banthas, Jawas handling rontos, and the rancor in Jabba's palace.
- In the books, we see way more, including Jedi creature handling abilities, the Dathomir witches riding rancors, and a pretty large section in the Whitmire book on creatures used as pets in the SW universe (it's rather cool, if you haven't seen it--this is the art book with the scaly cover).
Why not do it with droids as well?
Well, we DO do it with droids. In fact, they use the same code. When people say that, what they mean is "we want more combat droids." We tried to give droids a pretty wide array of abilities--serving as crafting stations, serving as mobile hospitals, powering and repairing other droids, transporting goods, and transporting data (this latter has become obsolete though). That's a significantly wider array of abilities than pets have, and arguably cooler and richer. In fact, the single biggest difference between droids and pets is that you don't tame baby droids in the wilderness and then watch them grow up--and thatthere's not enough combat droids, which we are going to be working on fixing soon.
Now, this doesn't mean that the amount of creature handling going on is Star Warsy. But that doesn't speak to the presence or absence of the profession. It speaks more to players seeking out optimal combos of skills, and finding that CH works really well within a variety of templates. Finding a way to make it so that there's more varied templates should be the answer, not removing a key ingredient from the templates that players have found now.
-Raph Koster,
Creative Director
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It's obsolete because we changed the data structure of waypoints, and now they can't be put in the data storage modules of droids. Pet Control Devices aren't really data objects, so they shouldn't go in data storage, of course.
If we fix the waypoint issue, the data storage module will become non-obsolete again. There's also the potential for future new types of data--temporary schematics is one we've discussed a lot, as well as in the future, possible stuff like dance choreography, music arrangements, that sort of thing. That's what the data storage was for, and why we felt a data storage module would be valuable.
-Raph Koster,
Creative Director
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Just thought this would be interesting to discuss....
God I'm tired of hearing this crap that riding dewbacks in the movies makes the stormtroopers creature handlers. Or worse, the stupid rancor in Jaba's dungeon makes him a creature handler. We road horses for thousands of years so does that mean cowboys could send grizzly bears into battle for them? Riding dewbacks is a beast of burden like horses. The stupid rancor in the pit was NOT A FRIGGIN TRAINED animal. This thing did not want to be in there and was captured and imprisoned. It is in no **edit** way a tamed animal. The guy crying when it died was nothing more then a zoo keeper. I'm sure the zoo keepers irl cry when a favorite tiger dies but the sure they hell dont have anything to do with training tigers to fight for them or do tricks. And I dont think thetiger would pass on the chance to eat his way though one of them to reach freedom.
"Finding a way to make it so that there's more varied templates should be the answer, not removing a key ingredient from the templates that players have found now." -Raph Koster
Okay Raph, I'm going to hold you to this comment... A key ingredient to >everyones< template right now is the ability to use the droids they own. So, if you guys decide to ever implement Droid Use Certificates or a Droid Handler Profession, which would prevent Droid Engineers or other players from ever using droids, I'm going to throw this in your face so fast, it'll make your head spin. 
Since Holo enjoys adhering to the movies, I have a feeling those Trade Federation guys from Episode one (you know, they commanded their Droidekas to attack Obi and Qui) didn't have a 'Droid Handler' cert.
The thought of them even considering a droid cert scares me.
I DO NOT want combat droids - I'm not a combat player.
What I would like to see is for any droid (other than medical...I'm an engineer, dammit, not a doctor) to serve some sort of useful purpose other than as a roving closet.
Faellyn wrote:
I DO NOT want combat droids - I'm not a combat player.
What I would like to see is for any droid (other than medical...I'm an engineer, dammit, not a doctor) to serve some sort of useful purpose other than as a roving closet.
exactly, droids in star wars could deliver things to people, maintain and repair structures automatically, and find things. We need harvester maintenance droids, delivery droids, and surveying droids.
Virtanis wrote:
"Finding a way to make it so that there's more varied templates should be the answer, not removing a key ingredient from the templates that players have found now." -Raph Koster
Okay Raph, I'm going to hold you to this comment... A key ingredient to >everyones< template right now is the ability to use the droids they own. So, if you guys decide to ever implement Droid Use Certificates or a Droid Handler Profession, which would prevent Droid Engineers or other players from ever using droids, I'm going to throw this in your face so fast, it'll make your head spin.