Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: The Developer's Guide to Balance: Droids, Pets, and Soldiers
In many players’ eyes, SWG is a typical MMO with nothing but a Star Wars cover. If this is to be considered, one of the most outstanding reasons would be the balancing and application of droids, creatures, and “pet” soldiers. With the current system, anything under a player’s control is considered a pet. However, if the game is to truly reflect the Star Wars universe, there has to be a distinct difference between droids, creature pets, and faction pets. They should all be different subsystems. But how can you balance three separate systems of pets?
If the idea of combat droids is to be fully developed, you have to realize the future purpose, cause, and effect of the system. For instance, what is the point of a combat droid if it has to be under CL 10 for any player to use? It wouldn’t be much. With that in mind, how can you make a combat droid worthwhile without unbalancing the pet system? First, one would have to differ between a droid, a creature pet, and a faction pet.
A droid is AI in the science fiction works. It is given a command and carries out the order. A faction pet is earned through participation through faction, and is a sentient being that follows orders of a high ranking player. A pet, however, would take sufficient skill to manage, maintain, and communicate with.
With these in mind, the following system could be established:
- Only one combat droid would be able to be called at a time, but a non-combat droid could be called for services. Combat droids could be up to CL 20-25 depending on experimentation of DE.
- Amount of faction pets would be based on rank. At low rank, a player would be able to use one low-powered faction pet. At the highest rank, up to four soldiers, or one ATST. (This is, of course, assuming the ATST remains a pet instead of vehicle.)
- Squad Leaders have a special ability: A master squad leader should be able to control three Combat Droids *OR* three faction soldiers regardless of his rank in the faction. In essence, this replaces the need for a droid handler, and adds to the SL profession. Since the SL would have the ability and know-how of managing more squad mates. An “ordinary” person wouldn’t be able to do so.
- Creature pets remain with the same system they have. However, a master CH or a master Squad Leader would not be able to mix-match their skills with other pet systems. For instance, a master CH with any pets out could not call a droid, and a master SL with troops out could not call a creature pet or droid. Essentially, it’s a “one or the other”. You either have droids, faction pets, or creature pets.
The obvious reasons it is hard to balance combat droids, creature pets, and soldiers, is the skill points spent vs. power gained issue. A Creature Handler spends 106 skill points to be able to call up to three pets. However, these pets have special features such as advanced armor, improved resistances, and special attacks. Features that droids wouldn’t have if a system was created with the following rules:
- Droids could not surpass CL 25 Only one combat droid called at a time, but a second non-combat droid could be called with it. All non-combat droids would not have a CL system.
- Combat droids would have special statistics like Armor Rating of light, and 5% resists to everything. Basic defense, but nothing overpowered. They would carry standard blasters that deal medium damage 100-200 over medium speed (3.0), and with their default targeting systems, they would have average accuracy.
- Droids could have one of the following: Armor upgrades, weapons upgrades, or targeting upgrades. Armor upgrades would increase the armor up to perhaps 10 – 15% resists to specific stats. Weapons upgrades would increase the damage to 150-200, and targeting upgrades would increase accuracy and speed of their attacks. Droids could be experimented to add to the basic vitality, damage, targeting, and armor prior to the upgrade, but nothing to raise the CL over 25.
- Droids would be costly to maintain and repair. They would not be perma-death (unlike faction pets, which require only faction points and rank to buy), but would be required to be “reconstructed” by either another droid, or a droid engineer which would be costly and require resources.
- Droids would lose condition after destruction. If they’re destroyed too many times, you’ll either have to buy a new one, or get a DE to repair its condition.
Now the debate comes up why this system of combat droids would not unbalance the creature pet system. As mentioned before, droids would be costly to keep, only one would be able to be called out, and it would take effort to repair. Creature pets, on the other hand, can be healed, they don’t die permanently, they are free (if tamed), and, of course, can be called up to three or 75 CL equivalent. The 106 skill points spent by a master creature handler should be based on the advantages given by creatures, and not by the number of “pets” that they can be called.
So what do you think? Is this a viable alternative to a “Droid Handler”?
I will give a summation of the post:
We as developers were lazy and developed a piss poor combat system and have no idea how to create a fun game. Instead of taking ideas from players and making the game interesting, we are doing an entire revamp to the game hoping to stem the exodous and make it in some form or fashion interesting. Unfortunately we have no more idea how to do this now than we did the first time around but we have to do SOMETHING to try and keep this thing afloat.
Does the phrase *Lazy Programming* spring to mind?
SOE Dev1 "Well we better do something soon to keep the gimpy DE's happy"
SOE Dev2 "Well I cant really Be arsed"
SOE Dev3 "I know, Lets give them some useless crap and pretend its what they asked for!"
SOE Dev1 "Copy the CH and BE type skills and call it Droid Handler"
SOE Dev3 "Woohoo, I'll copy the tables and gin up some crap for certs, Job done."
SOE Dev2 "Great Lets make in live in a few weeks so it looks like we have worked on it"
SOE Dev4 "What about the Skill points though. DE's need master artisan and a Lot have Merchant too"
SOE Dev5 "Well bugger em, they are only De's For god's sake, Not like they are Creature Handlers is it?"
All Devs " Muwahahahahahahahahahaha"