Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: lmao..we de are the bas*tard step children of the devs... or a survey droid question
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Cabo-Wabo
Fri Nov 19, 2004 7:35 am
#1
I have been an mde since day 30 of this game on lowca and will continue to be as long as I play the game, I still enjoy making a custom droid now and again but do architecture due to the fact that I enjoy eating regularly
Anyway, I volunteered to make unlimited free survey droids for a dedicated player who helps maintain swgcraft.com and was politly refused due to the fact that they suck...they lamented further that the droid should give stats on the resource listed and that would make them very useful. The wise and omnipotent devs have their grand plan, however since concentrations would still need to be obtained manually, I don't see why we can't add stats to the survey droid, not that any devs ever come in here...i'm hoping for commentary from my fellow abused de
Message Edited by Cabo-Wabo on 11-19-2004 06:43 AM
Veustuh
Fri Nov 19, 2004 7:48 am
#2
I wouldn't say DE is the bas-tard step child of SW:G as many could voice up and point to Smuggler, Ranger and Creature Handler as some of the more beat down professions in game. I would agree that Survey droids should show stats on the resources; however, they are a handy feature to have in order to determine which resources are located on what planets. I know if somebody offered me free droids I'd take them. 
TheRealTK421
Fri Nov 19, 2004 7:48 am
#3
/bow
Cabo-Wabo wrote:
...they lamented further that the droid should give stats on the resource listed and that would make themverytoo useful.
Yes...we all know this is desired. I guess the thinking here is that we can't take the 'sink' out of the Survey branch.
I don't see why we can't add stats to the survey droid, not that any devs ever come in here...
The Devs read the forums (even though you may not think so).
I don't think adding stats will help the survey droid. People will still just use SWGCraft. I mean.......I do.
/shrug
This was a great idea but it just went wrong somehow. I really really wish that there were some way for them to still be useful but not so easily co-opted by a website.
It's gotten to a point now that I don't even make/stock these anymore...there's just no point.
Respectfully,
Warryyr
Fri Nov 19, 2004 10:32 am
#4
I'd venture to guess that the Devs' hang up with letting the survey droid give out resource stats is that it would marginalize Artisans.
Some folks actually make a little side cash surveying for people, I'm sure. Now, you could argue that the droid still doesn't provide a concentration waypoint - so surveying is still necessary. However, allowing a droid the simple act of returning resource stats will circumvent the ability of the Artisan to survey and then sample said resource, and report the stats.
I'm fully aware that SWGCraft.com already shows resource qualities. It's technically an Artisan skill to sample, though - so in-game the Devs probably felt they didn't want to intrude on an Artisan's skills by letting anyone use that droid and get resource stats AND names without needing an Artisan.
Here's what should have happened. But didn't. For who knows what reason.
Instead of the cop-out that made the droids essentially useless (I use swgcraft.com religiously, and have for a long time) the Devs could have required a Master Artisan certification for them. Or, heck, even Survey 4. That would be logical, too. The bottom line is, yeah sure you get the resource names/types - but what good is that if you don't know how GOOD the resource is, or WHERE it is on the planet? Answer: the droid is useless without these abilities, as proved by the fact that I've never sold ONE. Not one. #1 reason? Question asked to me: "Does it return a waypoint for the resource, or stats?" My answer: "No." Customer response time and time again: "Then what use is it?"
A useful and practical application for a survey droid (actually, a newdroid that incorporatesthe survey droid functions, called a "Survey/sample droid" which could use a "sampling" module) would be as follows (requires Surveying 4 to operate, or Master Artisan):
You load the survey tool into the droid. You tell it what planet to get info for. You send it on it's way.
It returns and tells you the names of the resources on the planet in anemail (just like it does today). However, during this process, you don't lose the droid from your inventory. Instead, it remains there and it's name changes to "Sampling droid." Once you get your surveying email, place a survey tool intothe (now) sampler droid. Based on this tool, you're given an alternate version of the surveying window for the planet you choose.
Each resource has a checkbox next to it. Put a check next to each resource you want a sample of, and a waypoint for. Maximum of5 resources.
Select a radial option to place this "sampling droid" in your datapad, similar to flight computers. This droid should NOT, I repeat NOT count against your droid total allowed in your datapad. Once you get a waypoint from it, it poofs - so balance issues aren't a concern. This way, you can call it when an email tells you it's returned, and get the resource samples out of it.
The droid stores5 resource samples, and5 waypoints to those resources with a maximum concentration of 40% (40% because typically Low-grade Ore concentrations are around 50% max- still need to make it somewhat advantageous to hand-survey. We don't want a Low-grade Ore sampling droid, we want a Survey/Sampling Droid).
You call the droid once it's returned and you get your email, and use a radial menu option to see the resources it gathered as specified by you (a unit of 1 of each resources is stored in the droid). The resource stats are shown to you at this point.
You can then choose 1 resource and get the 40% waypoint to that resource. Once 1 waypoint is retrieved from the droid, the droid poofs from your datapad.
Need more waypoints, send out more droids.
First survey run is just like it always has been, same timeframe and all.
Second run takes just as long.
This requires a certain Artisan skill to use it, so it won't infringe on Artisans. It also lets you get up to5 resources and see stats from samples, but you can only pull one concentration waypoint out of the droid.
How this benefits everyone:
Artisans can now get people an easy waypoint (for a fee, of course) to place some harvestors, without wasting their time surveying for so long.
Artisans get a "head start" on surveying by getting a decent place to start from - go to waypoint given, actually survey in person, see where the vein goes. Saves time. Or, just deal with the more expensive costs and plop some harevesters down on the 40% spot.
Droid Engineers get repeat sales, because are YOU going to rely on just one 40% concentration waypoint from a droid? What if there's no level ground there? What if it's in the middle of a starport? Multiple uses of the droids means more sales and repeat customers, if it's useful.
The general population can now hire a Surveyor. The surveying branch of Artisan is no longer a gigantic timesink, and it's more of a marketable skill.
The surveying droid idea was a good one, but one that needed a LOT more work to be useful. And, the Devs' fear of stepping on Artisans probably would have very simply been solved by requiring a Survey 4 skill level certification, or Master Artisan. Other professions got droids that required a cert, why not Artisan for surveying/sampling droids? There's challenges, definitely. But, I think taking more time and holding off on pushing this droid to Live would have at least made the thing useful and have a purpose. As it stands now, for the sake of some more work, all the effort put into designing/creating the droid went to WASTE because no one uses it.
Message Edited by Warryyr on 11-19-2004 09:38 AM
PaladinX333
Fri Nov 19, 2004 10:34 am
#5
I want a survey droid that actualy surveys for whatever resource I tell it to go find. The droid should start making concentric circles around whatever point I drop it at when I tell it to start surveying. When it finds the minimum resourceconcentration thatI specified it should shut down and email me a waypoint so I can go find it and retreive it. This would be an actual survey droid. It would be useful but not overpowering. It would still require some user effort to use, so I don't see it being any different than a harvester droid.
The current survey droids have been made completely obsolete by JTL. I can do the job of a survey droid and hit every planet in less than 15 minutes (my load times are really low for some reason).
We need survey droids that actually survey. One with storage built in would be just aboutperfect.
Warryyr
Fri Nov 19, 2004 10:42 am
#6
PaladinX333 wrote:
The current survey droids have been made completely obsolete by JTL. I can do the job of a survey droid and hit every planet in less than 15 minutes (my load times are really low for some reason).
We need survey droids that actually survey. One with storage built in would be just aboutperfect.
That's a good point. With JTL, the droids pretty much have no purpose moreso than before. Instant travel makes hopping planets very fast, you open a couple tools, and go on your way.
And yeah, who's hair-brained idea was it to have a surveying droid that doesn't - oh I don't know -SURVEY?
Chaosium_451
Fri Nov 19, 2004 11:17 am
#7
Warryyr wrote:I'd venture to guess that the Devs' hang up with letting the survey droid give out resource stats is that it would marginalize Artisans.
I'm a master artisan and I would LOVE to see thgis ability. We still have to survey manually to find good placement sites, but I would really LOVE to know that, before I risk life, limb and cash for tickets, that the trip to Dathomir is going to be worth it. As it stand now, I pay 5k for tickets and go to the cloner three times only to find out the resource I'm looking for is junk.
The survey droids as they stand right now are only good for determining where named resources are. For me, I just want to know where the best Shock Reistant ferrous and non-ferrous minerals are. I don't use "named" resources for my schematics.
I understand that armoursmith, weaponsmith and shipwright use named resources for their advanced components, so the survey droids help them out there. But it would add a whole new level of love to all crafters if the survey droids at least gave a hint at the quality of the resources present on a given planet.
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