Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: I guess i am not on the same page as everyone
If you compare the game to the movie ... then why don't we have permadeath, or let people steal and loot, or let people with power and/or money control huge armies and destroy whole planets ... because it simply isn't fun in a game.
Think of it as a restriction placed by the gouvernment, demanding you to have a droid-permit to use a combat-droid ... and all droids have to have a programming code not to function if this permit isn't on the current user
Here are the pages that you might be missing - they are from a Dev's perspective:
They are about to release a new 'weapon' into the game. As the majority of players want 'bigger and better' the droids will probably have combat abilities to rival the pets. As such, to allow people to wield such extra power without some sort of balance issue would be unwise. They can't simply let 'everyone' own one as you would have starting level characters able to burn through areas meant for higher level characters only, gain exp at an incredible rate and basically lessen the challenge and overall appeal of the game. Likewise, many players have already found the 'sweet combos' to make the ultimate fighting character. To allow them to just add something like a Rancor pet on top of all of that without any sacrifice to their existing abilities would also unbalance the game.
By creating a Droid Controller profession, you will only be able to get the more powerful droids after you have worked through the lower level stuff to attain the higher skill sets needed as well as remove some of your 'killer combo' points in order to have the profession. This is a decision not just affecting DE's but everyone in the game.
The trouble is that the Devs are rooted into a one track view - to limit power, you have them spend skill points. There are ways to create a system with Droids that doesn't require any certs or skills and yet have it a limiting factor to stop people from Min/Maxing with them.
Darth_Clownshoes wrote:
The thing is, I don't recall DE's (or anyone) ever asking for CL 70 combat droids. Obviously such powerful droids don't fit into the game as it is currently composed, and they don't fit the timeline of the game.
Droid_Engineer_Rho wrote:
The problem, IMO, is the combat-oriented blinkers that the development team seems to be wearing. Do ANY of the developers/designers actually play crafters?
I have a working paradigm on how SOE views crafting:
This game revolves around combat. A profession is either directly involved in combat, or in the support of combat. There are no "crafting" professions, only professions that support combat to varying degrees.
Further, the combat-support professions can be subdivided into a first tier and second tier system. Most support professions are first tier, meaning they have at least a somewhat direct role in supporting combat. Examples are making weapons and armor, and healing.
The second tier is composed of professions that support the first tier professions. This would include making crafting stations and medical droids. Clearly this is the realm of the droid engineer. One could make a case that we are first tier in support of bounty hunters.
Also important to note is that first tier professions are much higher in the order precedence for SOE, in terms of modifications and bug fixes.
So, given this outlook, I think what SOE is trying to do is move DE from a largely second tier profession to a mostly first tier support profession. In their view, this is the best way to give the attention needed to the droid engineering profession that has been so sorely requested over the past half year.
Jandir wrote:I mean watch the movies the droids are walking around doing their jobs with out having to be wipped in to place by trainers. Essentualy you could tell a droid to go destory your mission 6km away and it would do it. You could sit back in the cantina and let it do the work. I dont get this need that people would need to have speical training to be able to controle a droid, or they would have to be good at it, droids are droids they listen to what you tell them and they do it it is not a complicated process.
Lets visit this a second. You tell a droid to do something and it cannot be bothered with other things. Such as telling a droid to go 6K away to destroy a lair. Are you also going to tell it to attack everything along the way? Will it attack Junta, Kunga and Mokk alike? You are stating that there are not sentient but are only programmed to follow orders. Will the Droid not defend itself until it gets to the lair. Will it make a strait line, will it avoid objects. Someone somewhere must tell it. Shy of learning combat insignia even modern military may not recognize every allied force on a battlefield so there exists a chain of command. A droid handler is that chain of command. Otherwise take droideka and all other combat droids off the table as they are controlled by a mothership and not any handler or engineer.
Utility bots for everyone and DE's can pull out 50 utility bots.
Go ahead gimme one star.
Pluto9Moon wrote:
Jandir wrote:
I mean watch the movies the droids are walking around doing their jobs with out having to be wipped in to place by trainers. Essentualy you could tell a droid to go destory your mission 6km away and it would do it. You could sit back in the cantina and let it do the work. I dont get this need that people would need to have speical training to be able to controle a droid, or they would have to be good at it, droids are droids they listen to what you tell them and they do it it is not a complicated process.
Lets visit this a second. You tell a droid to do something and it cannot be bothered with other things. Such as telling a droid to go 6K away to destroy a lair. Are you also going to tell it to attack everything along the way?
Depends on what he says. If he says "Go to the lair and destroy it" rather than "Go to the lair, destroy it, and attack everything on the way"
Will it attack Junta, Kunga and Mokk alike?
Again, depends on the command.
You are stating that there are not sentient but are only programmed to follow orders. Will the Droid not defend itself until it gets to the lair.
Self defence Protocols, installed by the Droid Engineer.
Will it make a strait line, will it avoid objects.
Pathing Algorith, again installed by the Droid Engineer
Someone somewhere must tell it. Shy of learning combat insignia even modern military may not recognize every allied force on a battlefield so there exists a chain of command.
Have to recognise every insignia eh, Amazing what you can do withoptic sensors and a database.
A droid handler is that chain of command. Otherwise take droideka and all other combat droids off the table as they are controlled by a mothership and not any handler or engineer.
No, the chain of command required is for someone to say "Go to this waypoint, destroy the lair and return to me" and then head off to the cantina for a pint (That brings up the problem of alcohol and "Drunk in charge of a combat droid" charges)
Utility bots for everyone and DE's can pull out 50 utility bots.
Go ahead gimme one star.