Droid Engineer Archive

http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=Developers&message.id=30884#M30884

Q: As of today droid are not so used in fightings because they are not so powerful and have little carisma. When will be possible to use droidekas? When will be possible to use Episode I's droids? Which limits will the droids have?

A: We actually had a *huge* debate about this internally. The fear is that handing out droidekas to all players will make players over-powered (and, in many cases, players are over-powered right now). We don't want players being able to easily beat all the content in the game - there needs to be some challenges, things to work towards defeating, and enemies that can only be defeated by a group or several groups. From a continuity standpoint, droids like battle droids and droidekas have been outlawed by the Empire, so again, we didn't want everyone to have one of these droids.

One proposed solution was the creation of some sort of new profession, like creature handler, for controlling high-end combat droids. But our focus right now is in enhancing existing professions rather than adding new professions, so we put that on the backburner. Eventually, we'd like players to have access to droidekas and other combat droids, but we need a sane plan for this and we just don't have one yet.

Ok, this is adressed to the devs, or anyone tired/distanced/crazy enough to be reading at this hour.

A sane plan for implementing Droidekas/ IG-72's/ EV models/chassis:

Reports from test center place the HAM of quality combat droids (astromechs)at 3-5k. This is a vast improvement. Given the time and resources used to complile a quality droid, and the fact that we sell these droids, in many cases our sole source of income for 2/cpu resource valueand less,these numbers are expected. Compare sales of the pre-nerf probot to todays. Here's an idea:

Simplylower the HAM (say, 2k)/ dmg output on the craftable Droikeka/ Y combat chassis. Since currect combat modules allow for other modules to be installed, make the new combat droid solely for combat, with no room for modification.

We , the Droid Engineer community, understand you dont want everyone running around with a death battery. A 'droid handler' profession is not the answer, and this idea has met with ridicule within the community. Visit the Mining Outpost, Dant, on a busy day and you will see at 2-4 50 cl pets standing around. A droid handler profession will not solve the problem, it will only create a gang of DH and MUCH more work for you, creating new droids.If you must considercertification for new combat droids, think of resources and the price of such a droid, even in the slightlywatered down state above. While rancor and graul pets are commonplace, a krayt dxr6-b is a truly rare thing. Make the resources required for the new schematics (I would assume the schematic would be lootable given your outlook)high quantity, rare quality, and maybe a few lootable components.

THIS IS A SANE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF HIGH-POWERED DROIDS WITHOUT CERTIFICATION.

If you feel certification is a must, make sure it is consistant with the continuancy (say master DE, master MERCHANT (Trade Federation)

We understand your concerns and are willing toprovide our input in this debate.

Throw us a bone. We've been good to you.

Taranto: DE 1/2/0/4

I dont know who you are, to speak for the whole DE community. I am Master DE and absolute fan of the Droid Handler.

Kniol Kiodo
Master Shipwright
Master Droid Engineer
Master Artisan (PRE-Vehicle Patch)
Vendors at (4988, -3844), just 1000m N of Moenia, Naboo
Ahazi Galaxy
"Say what you mean. Mean what you say. Do what you said."