Droid Engineer Archive

This list is updatedas neededand is meant to supplement the work done by the current correspondant and provide an idea of where this profession currently stands. Please read it over and provide any information you have regarding any of these issues, or any new issues you may have discovered.

I am a Master Droid Engineer on Bloodfin (Lime Akob). I also participated in the beta as a DE and bring a lot of knowledge of the profession from those days. I also read just about every single post in the DE forum and have a good idea of where this profession stands. However, I am one person and need your help to make sure that we've got all the real bugs nailed down, so we don't have DEVs chasing issues that don't exist due to confusion on our part.

Thanks to our correspondant for all the work done so far. Try not to makethe correspondants' lives difficult bybadgeringthemfor answers that they may not have. They're still only players like the rest of us. Players who have volunteered to organize and prioritize this information and present it to the DEVs. I'm sure any discussions between the correspondant and the DEVs will be shared with us regardless of how insignificant it may be.

We now have a voice, and the DEVs are listening to that voice. Hopefully I'll be able to start removing items from this list instead of just adding new ones.

Many, many, many thanks and respect to all those who have contributed. My personal thanks to Tyim for starting this thread during beta and for starting it up again now that we're live. Also, thanks to the devs who have worked like fiends only to be ranted at and badgered. Special thanks to any dev that cares to respond to this post.

1.Recent updates
2.Bugs still in evidence
3.Uncertainties
4.Wishlist

1. Recent updates
A.Removed "crafting/calling" bug.
B.Removed "invisible droids in the trade window" bug.
C.Added new wishlist item "customization lifespan"
D.Added new bug "battery sucking droids"

2. Bugs still in evidence
A.Droids are not giving any UXP
B.Droid names use the standard name filter.This may beby design, butwe're calling it a bug because droids should use a modified name filter that allows for numbers in the name. Yes, Artoo-Deetoo works fine, but I've seen NPC droids wandering around with REAL droid names. So we should be allowed to do the same.
D.Droids with no attack capabilities none the less have attack speeds and damage base modifiers in the datapad.
E.Experimentation on droid parts has no noticeable effect on final droid (experimentation seems to alter the part quality, but no end effect is observed... 5 point HAM difference on a probot doesn't count). Resources also fall into this area since resource properties influence the experimental property values. There is no point to experiment either on droid components or the final product. The droids seem to all function about the same.
F. Droids often stop following without reason. This is a generic pet problem as it happens to all pets, not just droids.Pets seem toget stuck on invisible zone boundries.Walking up to about 10-20m from thepet and re-issuing a 'follow' command fixes it (most of the time). Been a while since I've seen this. Can anyone verify if this is still happening?
G.Item Storage Module 2s coming out as Data Module 2s during the assembly stage. What you seem to get at the end is a Data Module 2. This is only a NAME problem. The module is said to function as it should - as an ItemStorage Module 2.
H. Droid repair kits arenot just fubar anymore... they're missing.Give us something that works please.
I.Multiple crafting stations in a single droid breaks the crafting modules in the droid. Only one of the modules seems to work when this happens. Crafting modules also seem to break when the droid's crafting field intersects crafting fields from other droids orstationary crafting stations.
J.Droid deeds shouldn't be tossed into the misc area of the bazaar. They're deed versions of entities. Give droids a proper home so that people can actually find them with ease.
K.EXPLOIT: Cluster modules not only fit into cluster module sockets, they fit into service module sockets.This allows cluster modules to fit into cluster modules ad infinitum. Thishas the added effect thatcluster module slots are nowpointless and allows any number of modules to be placed in any droid. Clusters should only fit in cluster sockets. Otherwise you're further exploiting the idea that the droid frame used is irrelevant.
L.Skills for the Droid Engineer don't reach +100 at Master. Droid Assembly and Droid Experimentation only go as high as +55. Droid Customization (currently useless) goes to +64. Other engineering professions get skill adds like assembly/customization/experimentation at novice. Droid Engineers get squat.
M.Repairmodules do not functionat all when placed in an LE Repair droid or Power droid.
N.Medical modulesaffect the effectiveness of stimpacks. Reports say that a stimpack is more effective when a medical module-equipped droid is nowhere to be seen (unless it contains a level 6 module).
O.Droids and components have been changed so that some of the experimental values have been removed from the schematics. However, these values remain during crafting and experimentation. As such, they are always 0%. If they can't be altered, don't show them.
P.Droid deeds need to show ALL the modules installed and any important properties associated with those modules.
Q.EXPLOIT: By telling a droid to stay, running 800m (need to cross a server zone?) or so away and calling another droid, you can effectively call all your droids at once. I've not been able to reproduce this myself. Can anyone who was previously able to do this reproduce it?
R.Droid Storage Compartments use Artisan Experimentation instead of Droid Experimentation. It's a DE craft, it should use DE skills, not Artisan skills.
S.Item storage modules do not work with Surgical Droids (basic and advanced). The option to use item storage is not available in the radial menu.
T.Droid customization is so borked, it isn't funny. No xp is gained from colouring droids, the colours don't always hold.
U.Droid customization tools give General Crafting xp instead of Droid Crafting xp when crafted.
V.Droids suck batteries like there's no tomorrow ever since they no longer recharge on store. Please find a happy medium.

3. Uncertainties
A.Is your droid supposed to travel with you when you take a shuttle? The datapad now thinks that the droid has returned to the datapad. Can anyone verify that this is what is really happening? Is the droid being left behind (have someone ELSE check after you leave the shuttle port to see if the droid is left behind)?
B.Patrol point list is not saved between store and call, is this by design?
C. Some droids, when given a repair module, gain a 'repair other droid' option in the program menu. Some, when out, add a 'repair' option in the radial menu of OTHER droids. I can only assume that both are possible. 'Converse' droids do not have a programmable 'repair' command, but usually allow the repair option to appear in nearby droids (I've never seen this myself). Seems a little inconsistent. Also, the power droids and repair droids with a repair module do not grant the 'repair' option in other droids.
D. Power droidsare the onlydroid with a non-modular function (ignoring combat capable droids here). Repair droids have had their repair systems removed and changed into a module. R droids have had their crafting functions removed and changed into modules. Power droids remain as an inherent function. Can we get some consistency here?
E. Some of the advanced droids are using 'Converse' instead of 'Program' for programming. Nobody seems to know how to name these droids. Can it be done?
F.Protocol droids(basic model only)and Binary Load Lifters (both basic and advanced) seem rather useless.Protocol droidsdon't help with languages, since everyone who cares about languages already knows all the languages. BLLs don't lift any loads.Neither of these droids have room for any modules. So, from what I'm hearing, they're just a nice droid to look at. Anyone find a good use for either of these?
G.Many of the 'level' based service modules stack. However, there arecaps in place which make stacking kind of pointless with thehigher level modules. Also,by stacking lower modules, you can achieve the same effect as a higher level module, reducing the point of using a higher level module. This is further enchanced by the cluster module bug. Also, when crafting the droid, the stacking results show values which do not take the cap into consideration. So a droid while being crafted can show a storage value of 15, but the final storage when the droid is tamed is capped at 10. Which is intended? Stacking or no stacking?
H.Some people are reporting that armor resists sometimes degrade. Can anyone confirm this? (Screenshots are always nice)
I.Information in the datapad for some droids no longer lists things like the commands programmed for the droid, customization, etc. some of them do. What's the deal?
J.I'm hearing that BH droids aren't using their last charge, making them infinite use. Anyone confirm?
K.Anyone still having problems with 'store' showing up when you're trying to call a droid (and no, the droid isn't already out)?
L.Anyone notice if the number of colours available with the customization tool are different than the colours available during crafting?

4.Wishlist
A.Advanced droid engineers should be able to call more then onedroid at a time. Repair modules and power droids might see a little more use if this were changed.
B.Give us information on droid power levels in the examine window and/or in the datapad. Also,since droid batteries repair mind,how about using mind as the droid's power level indicator? The action pool would also work.
C.Examining droid should give thesame data as in the datapad (for the owner).
D.We really want certain droids to only be able to take certain types of modules. There have been a number of really good posts on this topic, and due to space constraints, I'll leave it at that.
E.Take another look atthe “only able to callpets in city or camp” thing. I understand the logic and personally have no problems with it. However, many disagree with it and I think it would work better if it was that you can only call a droid when not in combat, or acertain distance from a battlefield.
F.Consider droids that can survey and report back on a particular resource. Perhaps even a high-end versionwith the ability to go toother planetsto determine which resources are available.
G. Consider droids that can help maintain installations. Senda droid out to pay mantenance. Send a droid out to collect resources. Send a droid out to deliver power. There are many ways to implement this as a viable system.
H. Consider droids that can act as standalone vendors in cities, and/or droids that can act as Barkers. Perhaps even let droids deliver goods to a customer in another city or on another planet.
I. Droids to remember if they were stored or called over a logout. Running around in the middle of nowhere and logging out causes your droid to hide back in the datapad. This means having to go back to town or putting down a camp in order to recall your droid. This is undesireable.
J. Now that perma death has been removed and replaced with the pet 'vitality' system, I have to say kudos for the change. However, it doesn't make sense to give vitality packs to droids. Perhaps a DE equivalent could be used? Same deal, just a different name, and craftable by DEs?
K. There have been several complaints regarding the 5 droid in the datapad limit. While there are some compelling arguments AGAINST this wishlist item, it would be nice to at least have this limit reviewed.
L.Give us Droidekais and other combat droids.
M. Create aslicing module. This module would allow smugglers to get a boost to their slicing ability. We're not interested in putting anyone out of a job here. R2 could slice terminals in the movies, why not our droids?
N.Allow us to drop batteries into the droid's inventoryand have itrecharge itself as needed until the batteries run out.
O.Create an entertainment module akin to the existing medical module to allow entertainers to work ouside of camps, cantinas and hotels. This module would be also level 1-6 with each level giving a little extra boost to the entertainer's skill.
P.Saw a request for a training droid as seen in the movies that 'harasses' its target, pulling aggro. Thisidea is intended togive a little variety to the Novice DE's life. Could also be used as a consumable for training the combat classes.
Q.Let usname our droids through the datapad controller. Droids shouldn't need to be 'taught' a name like pets do. The name is programmed into the droid separate from the other commands.
R.Add the creator to the droid view information, not just theowner. When you look at a pistol, you seewho made it. When you look at a droiddeed, you see who made it. When you look at a droid, you SHOULD see who made it.
S.Allow droids to be re-deeded forease of transfer. Since we can only have 5 droids in the datapad, it makes it really tough forDE's to take old droids astrade-ins for upgrades (like a car). We either have to immediately re-sell the droid or delete it. Would make more sense to re-deed the droid so that itcould be sold to another customer as a 'used droid'.
T.Droid "macros" came up last post. Let us create macro-like droid programs to have a droid execute a series of commands. Not sure how this would be implemented, but it is an idea.
U.Here are some ideas that people have for Protocol Droids. Allow them to have a custom converse menu, programmed by the owner so that the droid can act like a walking FAQ. Turn them into magic 8 balls. Language translator (for non-pc languages?)
V.Make the droid deeds show pictures of the droid itself rather than a silly deed icon.
W.Enough with the 'tame' thing... let us 'activate' or simply 'use' the deeds to first create our droids.
X.Review thisdeal withprobots being nerfed because they were too powerful for newbies. In the light of every boy and his dog being able to get something 'better' from a CH, this argument holds less water than an MSE Droid.
Y.Make BLL Droids useful in 'city planning'. Let us use them to move buildings around without re-deeding. Great for once the player city expansion is released.
Z.Please review the customization lifespan. 20 is too short. I have people complaining to me personally that they have to get their customization updated almost daily since they're always calling and storing their droid. I'm sorry, but if my car needed a new paint job because I took it out on the road 20 times, I'd be most displeased.

3A. Droid is being left behind at the shuttleport. I leave mine behind frequently. I like this feature and hope they allow us to keep it. We can always recall the droid to the datapad, if we forget and leave him behind inadvertently.

I should have combined this with the last one:

2F. Droids still get stuck when following -- all the time. Though not as much as they used to, it seems.

2F. My shop is right near a 'zone' in which many different pets often get caught. I do a lot of traveling lately to many different areas and I've noticed a considerable drop in my pets getting stuck (abput 50%), with the exception of the area right near my shop. I don't know if its just on Shadowfire, but there is a 'zone' just south of Bestine and north of the destroyed Rebel base that acts as a bermuda triangle for pets. It seems like about 1 in about 25 pets get stuck here.

2Q. I've been trying to recreate this one for the last few days, but I've been unsuccessful. I was able toget 2 droids out with me around the time of the call/build issue, but since then I've been unable to replicate this.

3A. From what I can tell, it appears that you can leave each of your droids on a differnt planet. I've not tested this one out completely, but I've been able to set a droid on partol on one planet, hop a shuttle to another planet call out adifferent droid and set it on patrol, then return to the previous planet and find my droid still on patrol. This one is great for setting up advertisement on seperate planets. I've not tested this one on the same planet yet, but plan on trying in the next few days.

3H. From what I've seen and experienced, this one is related to a visual listing bug that also effects other types of armor such as PSGs. I'm not 100% certain, but what I've seen so far is that the armor only appears to be 'degrading' or to have weaknesses, but this is only a display issue and does not have an actual effect on the armors effectiveness. Storing and re-calling the droid seems to fix this 'display issue' in droids and for Equipable armor, unequip/re-equip seems to take care of the problem as well.

3K. 95% of the time that I go to call a droid I have to hit store at least 2 times. This seems to be a general pet issue, since I have the same problem wiht faction pets and non-CH pets. 2 nights ago, I was unable to call one of my Droids entirely, since I was only given the store option after close to 50 attempts. I had to log out then relog again in order to get the call option to come up. There also seems to be another related issue that happens occasionally when attempting to store a pet from the datapad radial. 1 out of every 20 times, I get the call option instead of the store option in the datapad radial. When the call option is chosen, the pet is automatically stored and then re-called. This has a major effect on droids that have a paint job, since this counts as calling the droid again. I was able to get a Probot to fade its colors in a matter of minutes, simply by store/calling it from the datapad. What I did was clicked on the radial menu in the datapad over and over again until the call option came up instead of the store option. I repeated this step another 20 times, before the Probot completely lost its colorization. The only time that the droid was stored is when I clicked on the call option from the radial.

Gorantoth,

As always, good work. I have two bits of information to add.

First, for 2F) I can confirm that as of the morning of October 23 (before the shutdown) droids would still stop following randomly, although this now seems to be happening in different places than before.

Second, your 4I) is for droids to stick around after logging out. Well, they do! The only caveat is that they disappear again when the server comes down.

Thanks for the input everyone. All the information presented since I posted this thread has been invaluable. I'll be sure to update the thread accordingly. Keep up the great work on testing. We'll make this a working profession one day.

Why did they disable pulling droids in buildings? I hate running out of the med centerto call my droid...

That something they're playing with on TC? Last I checked, live servers still let you pull droids out inside buildings, caves and any other 'indoor' structure.

Droids, or any pet, can not be "called" while your inside a building, inside the limits of a city. you can call them in houses and whatnot, just not in cantina's, med centers, etc etc, in town.

Nope - it's been that way on Bria for some time now. I (and others) run outside, pull our med droids, and come back in.

"You can onlycall droids OUTSIDE..." something, something, something (and they did put "outside" in caps)

My new R2 also is a different color every time I pull him, might be something for the list...

Oh, right... inside a building inside a city. Brain fart. Yeah, that's been like that for a while now. Not entirely sure what's up with that, so I'll make sure to add it to the thread under uncertainties.

Thanks for the mind reboot.

That change was intentional. It's working the way they want it to.

The uncertainty is why they did it... some explanation would be nice for some of the things they do.