Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: Modular Droid idea
Page 1 of 3
SquidiAMD
Fri Jan 21, 2005 7:52 am
#1
Forgive me if this is a subject which has been gone over a lot, but I'm rather new to the forums and I'm still feeling my way around. I did see some posts on the subject, and it seemed like a lot of you guys seem to be against the idea of a modular droid system (like the starships). However, I've been wracking my brain over how to make droids an integral and interesting part of SWG. Right now, they aren't - and I think you guys all know this deep down. Nearly all of the functions that droids have are optional or at the very least, hardly interesting. Personally, I think droids have the potential to be the best part of SWG. Modularizing droids is pretty much the best way to get players attached to their droid and make the actual ownership of droids any fun. But we can't do it like the ships. I don't think anyone wants to make just parts that someone else puts together. So, I've come up with a rather interesting solution.
What happens is that we design the droid chassis, along with the armor rating, and item/data inventory space. All this together puts constraints on how many slots the droid can have. More armor, less slots. These slots would be specific to certain types of components. Here's the special part. DEs should be able to decide what the slots have. If you craft a chassis, you should be able to say that slot 0 is for a weapon component, slot 1 is for a personality chip, and so on. By limiting the way in which droids can be put together later, and allowing us some degree of control over how, we've essentially made our portion of the crafting process important.
To add to this system, you need to add in the service part of DEs. In short, certain types of slots require the work of a DE to install a new part. For instance, weapons are a tricky component to upgrade. You need someone trained in the technical art of droid engineering to do it, or it will explode in your face. The more powerful the weapon, the more powerful the DE required to install it. Let's take it a step further by saying that ANY component installed by a DE will yield a better result than that installed by a layman. Everybody can switch out components, but DEs can defrag their harddrives to make them work better.
Finally, we need a distinction between core modules and support modules. A weapon is a core module. For instance, you can select between several different types (cold, energy, fire?) andsizes for weapons. A weapon support module would be something that makes a small but generous difference to the equipped weapon. For instance, installing an Energy Capacitor increases firing speed by 5%. Another support module could increase critical hits or perhaps increase damage with a higher percentage of the droid breaking down (requiring a DE to fix it). Not only would DEs be able to create these modules, but you could also loot them off destroyed droids - creating the same sort of character building interest as finding a Frost Sword with +5 str. It doesn't have to be just combat either. Why not have support modules which increase the assembly or experimentation points for different items? Or different special effects that entertainers can load up and use? Why make droids a build it an forget it when we can augment the design with small, but interesting flourishes? It will make the players intimately familiar with their droids, and more importantly, give them a reason to care about them. Never underestimate the need for personal attachment - droids shouldn't be things that are used. They should be constant companions.
If we increase and maintain the connection between DEs and droids, then DEs will have more opportunities for profit. Think of it as just as much as a service as a merchantile profession. If we increase the player's personal connection with his droid by reinforcing that it exists through constant experimentation, the popularity of droids will increase as well. The only real problem is basically starting over with the profession, but I don't see how we can avoid it. Going with a support module approach at least gives the devs an opportunity to easily add in more DE content without requiring a hefty load of work.
The reason why DEs have gotten so much attention from the devs is because nobody has quite figured out where they fit. You can't think of Star Wars without thinking about droids - yet they feel like a half assed afterthought. It's not for lack of trying. I can feel the dev's frustration with them. You know it is just gnawing away at them that they don't work. Most of the other classes are merely flawed, but DEs are fundamentally unsound. I think that if we can find an exciting and interesting solution to that problem, the dev's will find a way to make time for it. I've worked in software development, and I know that there are things that need to be done and things that you are personally interested in seeing come to life. If we play our cards right, we can make DEs both.
(For the record, I think that most of the crafting professions would benefit from similar systems. But then, I've always been a LEGO Maniac...)
Straker_Atrella
Fri Jan 21, 2005 10:56 am
#2
I think that you should probably read all of those other posts, you will see many great points back and forth about why the idea is good or bad. Pretty much anything that we could think of was covered.
The hardest thing about such a system is that not only would you need to change how Droids are crafted, you would need to change the way the game even keeps Droid information. This is a lot of work and coding time for something just to add a "cool" factor. It wouldn't adress our main concerns, which are new modules, plus a resale market. In fact it would hurt our resale market.
DE's also would lose money under such a system. You simply would. It is better to sell an 80k Droid with 20k for the chasis and 60k in modules, then it is to sell 60k in modules alone. Under a modular system, people would never buy a new chasis again, they would simply swap modules in or out. Effectively you would simply only sell modules after a certain point. Then since modules themselves are cheap, you would begin to see their prices dropping further and further.
Then you also need to consider that not a lot of DE's want to be a "service profession," meaning standing in the Starport all day long just changing droids.
It's a neat idea, perhaps one that may could be implemented some day to some extent. However, I really think Decay and new Droid modules / types should be looked at first.
Jenden
Fri Jan 21, 2005 12:07 pm
#4
My bet is that most kind of modular systems would make droids much less popular in the long run. Think about it this way, people have trouble understanding droids as it is (and we're just selling them completed droids), do you honestly think most of them would even take the time to try to figure out all the different modules, all the different combinations, what works, what doesnt, etc... Combine that with the fact that there aren't a whole lot of DE's out there that do custom orders/service style work (Every time a customer talks to me they say they've been looking for the past couple days/week). Most people would find it easier to just buy a new droid (therefore wasting all that development time on something that got us nowhere).
AudioOrgana
Fri Jan 21, 2005 12:11 pm
#5
I'm with Jenden on this one.
The romance of modularity would last about five minutes; our power as DEs lies in the fact that droids are not modular.
Do a forum search - you will find some lively threads about it. However, with the exception of people who just want it for roleplay value and consider that above all else, you won't find much suppoert among veteran players because we know it would destroy what footing we've managed to gain in the past year and a half.
AO
The romance of modularity would last about five minutes; our power as DEs lies in the fact that droids are not modular.
Do a forum search - you will find some lively threads about it. However, with the exception of people who just want it for roleplay value and consider that above all else, you won't find much suppoert among veteran players because we know it would destroy what footing we've managed to gain in the past year and a half.
AO
SquidiAMD
Fri Jan 21, 2005 2:46 pm
#6
I am trying to go through this forum, but there is a lot of stuff to go through (not all of it useful). I did find some old debates on the topic, but I wanted to bring it up again - I didn't like how it ended -so this time, I'll be participating in full. You guys may have had this conversation before, but I haven't. And though you may have already dismissed it, I do think I have something to contribute to it. So, please, if nothing else, at least humor me with an interesting discussion 
You'll have to excuse this short lecture, but one of the things that I've noticed the most while sifting through these posts is that droid engineers are extremely selfish about what they want. If it is a choice between them making more money at the sake of the inconvience of other players, well, it sucks to be the other players. I've seen some guys praising the fact that DEs are rare and underappreciated because it gives them a monopoly on the market. Is elitism really the best way to improve this class? I don't care how ingrained in the current system anybody else is, there is potential in DEs that is just begging the be explored. That potential gain for the entire game is greater than any personal gain to be gained from an old system. Seeking this potential is the only way to make droids work - lumping crap onto the current system is just a good way to have a crappy system.
I do not believe that crafters need to be merchants. They surely can be, but the two things are not the same. I think that they should take Merchant out of Artisan and make it its own basic profession. I think we need to start thinking about crafting in terms greater than the market value. There are people out there who program videogames in their free time, not because they get paid, but because of the sheer thrill of tinkering. I see in DEs a huge potential for tinkering, and I see it as the only crafting class in a vast universe of MMORPGs that actually does. That is the unique selling point of droids, and we need to expand it. Let's make Monster Garage for droids. Let's make droid engineering feel like mechanical engineering. We can still make money from it, but it won't be by reselling slightly different versions at a higher price to old clients. I don't think a single one of you will tell me that they became a DE for money. So what did you become a DE for? Let's see if we can't make THAT the discussion on improving DEs...
As for the programming aspect, it is actually not that difficult. Most of the systems are already in place. For instance, you could easily emulate the support modules through "programs" that are loaded into the data storage area. I'm not saying the programming would be trivial, just that the changes are on a mostly conceptual level - which means that the design is the difficult part, not the implementation. The devs have already shown an unprecendented interest in revising this game at basic, core levels. I don't know of any MMORPG which would COMPLETELY rewrite the looting and combat systems from square one. That's dedication.
Being a service profession does not mean being still. SWG has a way for users to search who else is online based on their profession. You don't have to wait for them to come to you. You would only stand outside of the starport if you were trying to grind, but we all know that grinding is a bad word. If they ever got cantinas to be non-AFK, you could simply set up shop there, enjoying the music and conversation.
Droids are fundamentally unsound. They don't do anything. People become droid engineers because they like the idea of being a droid engineer - not because there is ANY advantage what so ever in becoming one. Anything that DEs can do, some other class can do twice as better (if not more). So we really need to tap into that thing which enamours people into becoming DEs. We need expand that. We like droids, not because of what they actually do, but because of what they are and what they represent. Let's work to make droids more like droids - we can worry about how we'll make money later. Right now, let's just brainstorm about where droids need to go to be a vital part of the SW experience.
This boat has a lot of holes. We can patch all the holes that we want, but that doesn't change the fact that the vessel isn't sea worthy for the long haul. The most we can hope to do is live patch to patch as they fix some problems while slowly eradicating any need or want for droids in this game.
Straker_Atrella
Fri Jan 21, 2005 4:17 pm
#7
SquidiAMD wrote:
I am trying to go through this forum, but there is a lot of stuff to go through (not all of it useful). I did find some old debates on the topic, but I wanted to bring it up again - I didn't like how it ended -so this time, I'll be participating in full. You guys may have had this conversation before, but I haven't. And though you may have already dismissed it, I do think I have something to contribute to it. So, please, if nothing else, at least humor me with an interesting discussion
The threads that we speak of are not that old, as recent as a month ago we discussed some of the thoughts. Simply read the posts that are there and add your comments to them. No need to start from scratch, you can just jump in on those.
You'll have to excuse this short lecture, but one of the things that I've noticed the most while sifting through these posts is that droid engineers are extremely selfish about what they want. If it is a choice between them making more money at the sake of the inconvience of other players, well, it sucks to be the other players. I've seen some guys praising the fact that DEs are rare and underappreciated because it gives them a monopoly on the market. Is elitism really the best way to improve this class? I don't care how ingrained in the current system anybody else is, there is potential in DEs that is just begging the be explored. That potential gain for the entire game is greater than any personal gain to be gained from an old system. Seeking this potential is the only way to make droids work - lumping crap onto the current system is just a good way to have a crappy system.
That is only if you think the current system us crappy. I personally feel that the SWG resource and crafting system is the best in any MMRPG out there. A modular system was created for ships from the ground up because ships are very different from droids, and literally years of coding was put into JTL. Droids are crafted like other items, waneing the developers to take the time to give us our own crafting system would pull time from content as well as other professions. Yet at the same time it wont address our problems. If that much time is going to be spent on any one prefession, it had better be on something that is needed not nice.
I do not believe that crafters need to be merchants. They surely can be, but the two things are not the same. I think that they should take Merchant out of Artisan and make it its own basic profession. I think we need to start thinking about crafting in terms greater than the market value. There are people out there who program videogames in their free time, not because they get paid, but because of the sheer thrill of tinkering. I see in DEs a huge potential for tinkering, and I see it as the only crafting class in a vast universe of MMORPGs that actually does. That is the unique selling point of droids, and we need to expand it. Let's make Monster Garage for droids. Let's make droid engineering feel like mechanical engineering. We can still make money from it, but it won't be by reselling slightly different versions at a higher price to old clients. I don't think a single one of you will tell me that they became a DE for money. So what did you become a DE for? Let's see if we can't make THAT the discussion on improving DEs...
That is that philosophical outlook again, the desire to believe that Droids are better on some level then other craftables. Droids are very complex to build, they take us a lot of time, as a result of that, we get a lot of customization in our droids. We ALREADY have great tinkerability, far more then other crafting classes. You seem to want Droids to stop being a product and become something.... else. I just don't know what that would be. If you don't want money for Droids, then fine, design them, build them and give them to your guild and friends for free.
Why did I (we) become a DE? Well I can't speak for others, but I can for myself. I wanted to do a crafting profession. Out of all of them DE seemed the coolest. Yet at the same time it was 100% my intent to make money doing it. Not because I don't love Droids, but because that is the goal of a business to make money.
You seem to feel that there is little variety or excitement to being a DE currently. I strongly disagree. Getting the resources, building the Droids, stocking the vendors, then building a customer base, and KEEPING that customer base in a profession without decay is very fun and exciting. You need to set prices, you need to select what models you will sell, you constantly may need to make adjustments. Due to the wide variety of what our droids can be we can also offer a wide variety of products, allowing Tinkering as even the business level.
Saying it is not about the money sounds great, but that argument breaks down eventually. Here is an example. You get an order for 10 Probots from somebody for their guild. They tell you they want Max HAM, Armor, and the best combat rating the server can make. You tell them that the best HAM you can make is 3100, not 3200 because you need a 1000 OQ chemical. They say "Don't you have any (insert name here?) You say no, you can't afford it. They then ask about combat modules, it's the same thing, the copper you need sells for 60 cpu you can't afford it. So now they find out you can't make as good droids as somebody else, they now choose to stay with you or move on.
Money matters. Of course people should try to Harvest their own resources, but this may not always be possible. If a DE makes money, they then have that money to put back into their business and droids to make it better. What you put into your business is what you get out of it.
Plus don't you think that if a DE sees a weapon or item on auction, they should have as good of a chance to buy it as any other crafter?
As for the programming aspect, it is actually not that difficult. Most of the systems are already in place. For instance, you could easily emulate the support modules through "programs" that are loaded into the data storage area. I'm not saying the programming would be trivial, just that the changes are on a mostly conceptual level - which means that the design is the difficult part, not the implementation. The devs have already shown an unprecendented interest in revising this game at basic, core levels. I don't know of any MMORPG which would COMPLETELY rewrite the looting and combat systems from square one. That's dedication.
Until you or I can look at SWG code, we have no way of knowing if it would be hard or easy. We do know that even the way that Droid information is currently kept would need to be changed.
Loot effects EVERYBODY, the CU affects EVERYBODY, a total revemp of the DE code would not be nearly as sweeping or far reaching. Such coding time can only be justified when it is something needed for the overall health of the game. Droid modularity does not fall into that catagory.
Being a service profession does not mean being still. SWG has a way for users to search who else is online based on their profession. You don't have to wait for them to come to you. You would only stand outside of the starport if you were trying to grind, but we all know that grinding is a bad word. If they ever got cantinas to be non-AFK, you could simply set up shop there, enjoying the music and conversation.
Can you guarantee that on every single server during off peak hours DE's would be available? I can't. Some servers at some times are pretty scarce. That is why people like vendors, it doesn't matter if people are on or not, you simply go to the vendor. If it isn't convieniant for people, they may just not bother.
Droids are fundamentally unsound. They don't do anything. People become droid engineers because they like the idea of being a droid engineer - not because there is ANY advantage what so ever in becoming one. Anything that DEs can do, some other class can do twice as better (if not more). So we really need to tap into that thing which enamours people into becoming DEs. We need expand that. We like droids, not because of what they actually do, but because of what they are and what they represent. Let's work to make droids more like droids - we can worry about how we'll make money later. Right now, let's just brainstorm about where droids need to go to be a vital part of the SW experience.
Wow, I am totally shocked by this paragraph. Droids don't do anything? Anything DE's can do anybody else can do twice as better? What do you mean by that?
Droids do plenty, we have dozens of models and modules that people use every single day. Could they be more a part of day to day life? Yes. Yet they are already a huge help and even needed for many people.
How do other professions make Droids twice as good as DE's do? DE's make Droids, that is what we do. If others do it twice as good, what profession is that?
Again you are trying to work a philosophical worship of droids into the crafting of them. Go ahead and love Droids, I do as well. Yet expecting to ignore the economy, ignore money, just out of love of droids doesn't make any sense. There is no reason that people can't love making droids and at the same time assume our place in the SWG economy. It is only by doing so will Droids ever be truy healthy.
This boat has a lot of holes. We can patch all the holes that we want, but that doesn't change the fact that the vessel isn't sea worthy for the long haul. The most we can hope to do is live patch to patch as they fix some problems while slowly eradicating any need or want for droids in this game.
I think our boat is a lot more seaworthy then you do. Sure there are problems, but it is hardly the disaster that you make it out to be. If it was, why do I sell a hundred droids plus a week? Why do people still use droids? You need to look at what we do have, and not at what we don't have. Sure there are lots of cool neat things that could be added, but if those things would need to be coded at the detriment of other more needed areas of the game, then they are a bad idea.
First we focus on what we need, then we focus on what we want.
Jenden
Fri Jan 21, 2005 5:06 pm
#8
SquidiAMD wrote:I am trying to go through this forum, but there is a lot of stuff to go through (not all of it useful). I did find some old debates on the topic, but I wanted to bring it up again - I didn't like how it ended - so this time, I'll be participating in full. You guys may have had this conversation before, but I haven't. And though you may have already dismissed it, I do think I have something to contribute to it. So, please, if nothing else, at least humor me with an interesting discussionYou'll have to excuse this short lecture, but one of the things that I've noticed the most while sifting through these posts is that droid engineers are extremely selfish about what they want. If it is a choice between them making more money at the sake of the inconvience of other players, well, it sucks to be the other players. I've seen some guys praising the fact that DEs are rare and underappreciated because it gives them a monopoly on the market. Is elitism really the best way to improve this class? I don't care how ingrained in the current system anybody else is, there is potential in DEs that is just begging the be explored. That potential gain for the entire game is greater than any personal gain to be gained from an old system. Seeking this potential is the only way to make droids work - lumping crap onto the current system is just a good way to have a crappy system.I am all for exploration of potential, and I do think I begin with an open mind, but some systems, like the modular system, are in my opinion unhealthy for the profession. What really strikes me as problematic with a modular system is the shifting of the learning curv from the DE to the customer. No matter which way you slice it, droids are complicated as all hell, enough so that your average player does not want to take the time to learn all about the various combinations of modules, what works, what doesn't, what stacks, what doesnt, etc... Most of my customers come to me because I do all the knowing for them. The only way to keep it on the DE's side is to require DE's to do any/all changes, but that really doesn't get us anywhere I think. What's the difference between a customer giving the DE their droid then the DE giving them back a droid with a different configuration and a DE just giving the customer back a new droid. The only difference from the customer's perspective is that they now have to find an online DE, instead of a vendor which can do the same thing.
I do not believe that crafters need to be merchants. They surely can be, but the two things are not the same. I think that they should take Merchant out of Artisan and make it its own basic profession. I think we need to start thinking about crafting in terms greater than the market value. There are people out there who program videogames in their free time, not because they get paid, but because of the sheer thrill of tinkering. I see in DEs a huge potential for tinkering, and I see it as the only crafting class in a vast universe of MMORPGs that actually does. That is the unique selling point of droids, and we need to expand it. Let's make Monster Garage for droids. Let's make droid engineering feel like mechanical engineering. We can still make money from it, but it won't be by reselling slightly different versions at a higher price to old clients. I don't think a single one of you will tell me that they became a DE for money. So what did you become a DE for? Let's see if we can't make THAT the discussion on improving DEs...My focus isn't so much on the merchant aspect of DE's, as it is on my customers. I see it as my responsibility to push for what is best for my customers, as without people using droids they don't serve a purpose. What I would see as selfish is pushing for a system that makes it a bit more interesting for the DE but a huge headache for the rest of the player base. The good of the game comes before the good of the profession.
As for the programming aspect, it is actually not that difficult. Most of the systems are already in place. For instance, you could easily emulate the support modules through "programs" that are loaded into the data storage area. I'm not saying the programming would be trivial, just that the changes are on a mostly conceptual level - which means that the design is the difficult part, not the implementation. The devs have already shown an unprecendented interest in revising this game at basic, core levels. I don't know of any MMORPG which would COMPLETELY rewrite the looting and combat systems from square one. That's dedication.I think what you're missing is the shear amount of coding it really is.... The system you're talking about making everything "programs" would require them to recode every module (or at least every module you would like to be modular). Assuming you have some that aren't modular (such as your base data storage module) you now have two different module designs to keep track of, which makes changing/debugging droid related things even more difficult than it already is. Next, if you could add extra functionality through the datapad, you'd have rewrite the droid chassis module setups, unless you think that giving us useful data programs on top of the standard modules would work out too well (see TH's checkers analogy on that one).Being a service profession does not mean being still. SWG has a way for users to search who else is online based on their profession. You don't have to wait for them to come to you. You would only stand outside of the starport if you were trying to grind, but we all know that grinding is a bad word. If they ever got cantinas to be non-AFK, you could simply set up shop there, enjoying the music and conversation.Thats actually what I do. I do about 90% of my business out of the theed cantina (always non-afk on tarquinas, with some really great people). To give you some idea of my business, I don't run any vendors, I don't advertise, and I never did grind (sold all couple hundred mouse droids way back when). I make just about all of my sales to return customers or people referred by previous customers, every once in a while someone who just saw me around or saw the DE line in my sig, but thats pretty rare. I am far from and industrialist, and pretty much only do special orders. I could care less about making credits, my main goal with DE is to make a successful business (in my mind success is measured by reputation, not credits) and spread droid usage.
Droids are fundamentally unsound. They don't do anything. People become droid engineers because they like the idea of being a droid engineer - not because there is ANY advantage what so ever in becoming one. Anything that DEs can do, some other class can do twice as better (if not more). So we really need to tap into that thing which enamours people into becoming DEs. We need expand that. We like droids, not because of what they actually do, but because of what they are and what they represent. Let's work to make droids more like droids - we can worry about how we'll make money later. Right now, let's just brainstorm about where droids need to go to be a vital part of the SW experience.I would hardly agree that droids don't do anything... I don't think I've seen a single medic who wanted to work without a medic droid, only met a tiny handful of crafters that didn't want a crafting droid, never met an entertainer who hasn't wanted an effects or music droid, and storage is universally popular... I'd hardly call this worthless. Yes, we do need more things that "require" droids, but I don't see how a modular system changes this. Modularity offers a small "coolness" factor, but thats it, nothing else. If a large project is to be undertaken I think something like a droid programming/macro language would be tremendously more productive than a modularity system.
This boat has a lot of holes. We can patch all the holes that we want, but that doesn't change the fact that the vessel isn't sea worthy for the long haul. The most we can hope to do is live patch to patch as they fix some problems while slowly eradicating any need or want for droids in this game.Ok... and how does modularity do anything to fix this. I would love for it to be a miracle fix, but honestly I don't see any bonus to it other than the coolness factor... which again is just about invisible to everyone but the DE.
DarthRoe
Fri Jan 21, 2005 5:13 pm
#9
The idea of modular droids is a non-starter, and one that has already been beaten to death. Implementation would be extremely difficult, and would result in a Tell Hell for DEs with very little reward.
Message Edited by DarthRoe on 01-21-2005 04:32 PM
Jenden
Fri Jan 21, 2005 5:17 pm
#10
I would hardly agree, as in wouldn't agree. Maybe you read heartily...
DarthRoe
Fri Jan 21, 2005 5:33 pm
#11
Jenden wrote:
I would hardly agree, as in wouldn't agree. Maybe you read heartily...
I would heartily agree with anyone that told me that it is time to go home. Reading comprehension is the first thing to go on a Friday.
TheRealTK421
Fri Jan 21, 2005 11:05 pm
#12
Modularity = Bad (time consuming, less droids sold, turns DEs from crafters into 'servicemen')
Decay == Good
Let focus remain where focus is most required.
/bow
Respectfully,
Decay == Good
Let focus remain where focus is most required.
/bow
Respectfully,
SquidiAMD
Sat Jan 22, 2005 4:29 am
#13
I am debating whether or not to tackle this subject at length. I expected there to be some nay sayers, but wow. I didn't realize how close knit the DE forums were. I am interested in having a discussion on this topic, and I'm not exactly sure what the harm is in entertaining it a little longer. I've read the discussion on this matter, and I'm not convinced. You guys say "gosh, this idea is bad because of X" - butX is not an inherant flaw in the concept of modularized crafting, nor is it something that is impossible to overcome using a little imagination. For instance, you guys say that it would make droid engineers a service profession. Okay, great. Let's start there. Is there a way to do modular crafting without doing so? Or could it be an optional, but enriching part of the profession? Does the idea have to be so reprehensible that it must be denied immediately without further consideration? Even if the idea never happens, it is well within the realm of reason that better ideaswhich will happen can come from it. So, please, if you have a problem with a particular idea, let's discuss it and not dismiss it. It's a dialog. A debate. A discussion. We don't have to agree, but we should at least indulge ourselves in a friendly game of "what if". A little whismy and imagination could only be a good thing.
I honestly think that there is deep and impressive potential in droid engineering. I'm not sure that thinking of it as a crafting profession is quite the right track. It's out of line with what is in the movies, and it will prevent droids from ever becoming an integral part of the game. Droids require a new metaphor to do justice to their very concept (which is shared by most technology, like starships, which aren't exactly well represented in other MMORPGs). If there is a better game out there by rethinking the crafting system, then let's do it. I can tell that you guys don't see any problem with DEs, but there are fewer DEs than the other crafting professions, yet as far as forum posts, this group is second only to Jedi and Smugglers in the number of posts (and we know how well adjusted those classes are). No matter what you do, there will always be people who think something is fine the way it is. The question that needs to be asked is whether or not this belief is based on an open minded consideration of all the possibilities or a closed minded preemptive strike against more dev heartbreaks. I'm not convincedmodularized craftingis the silver bullet, but I'm not convinced that it isn't either. So, don't think I amdemanding this as the one true future of droids. Just a possible one. In theory. That's worth exploring. More. Again.
As for the other threads, the ones I saw were over a month old. I admit that I'm not from around here, but where I do come from, the act of resurrecting an old thread is called "necroposting", and is generally looked down upon. If that is not the custom here, I apologize
Message Edited by SquidiAMD on 01-22-2005 06:30 AM
Message Edited by SquidiAMD on 01-22-2005 06:31 AM
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