Droid Engineer Archive

Thinking about mounts has caused me to think about vehicles. In all the reading I've done in the past on these forums, I seem to have mixed messages about how this is going to come about. Let me summarize what I (think I) know and then let's see where it's wrong.

I recall discussions that said that Vehicles were scheduled to go live some time in December. At this point, I have to believe that means live to Test Center, not to live servers. I believe this since there are no vehicles there now and they just released their beginning-of-the-month patch here in what is almost the middle of the month and have not had time to pay much attention to the TC servers again yet. So regardless of when they occur...

I recall another few discussions about which profession was going to be responsible for making vehicles. One discussion had vehicles falling under DE. Another discussion had vehicles coming from a mechanic or non-DE profession which does not exist yet. Personally, I think putting vehicles under DE would make up for the 425k for a carrion spat mount insult we are currently suffering, but that's based on incredibly stupid CH envy (which I openly admit I am suffering mildly from).

I recall another (more recent) discussion that said that Vehicles would be introduced before the profession that actually was going to be responsible for creating them, and that this future profession would be introduced a few months down the road.

So this means that either DEs get Vehicles (unlikely, as that would make DEs TOO POWERFUL as compared to CHs. I'm not sure how the devs would justify that statement--only that I am convinced that they would manage to), or Vehicles come from a vendor (which should piss off a great many people as we have all tried VERY HARD to keep this player-based economy working, and adding a vendor for vehicles would lead to months of "Why not vend creatures/mounts?"), or Vehicles will be given to DEs to begin with, then removed and handed to the "vehicle profession" later on down the road when that profession makes its appearance. I firmly believe that the last choice there would truly cause a mass exodus of DEs not only from the profession, but see their accounts cancelled as well.

When I think about it logically in terms of professions and skillset matches, I think that Vehicles do belong in their own profession--as this would also include spacefaring vehicles later on too. I would say off the top of my head that Droid Engineers, while brilliant, do not posess the needed knowledge to make a complete vehicle. So I think that a vehicle profession makes sense. I certainly can see vehicle engineers requiring parts from DEs (Sensor suites, droid interfaces, engine/system logic components (droid brains?).

When I think about it logically in terms of balancing the existing playing field amongst professions, I think that vehicles (at least terrestrial-based ones) should be given to DEs just so yet another class has some substance to it besides CH (there's that little green monster again). If SOE were to give vehicles to DEs and fix the existing DE issues and perhaps add a few droid models or modules that would make us truly viable and interesting, that would at least put CH and DE on par with one another...almost at least.

Ok, so what discussion did I miss? Or what did I think I read but didn't read? Does anyone know anything more solid or real than this?

The only thing I have ever seen posted by a developer about vehicles was that initially, two low level vehicles would be added to the Engineering tree of artisan.

Anything else I have ever read about vehicles has been speculation and wishful thinking.

We're now supposedly getting 3 vehicles. 1 Swoop and 2 speeders. The swoop is supposedly going into the Engineering line but since they have stated we're not getting a seperate profession for vehicle construction just yet that means they will probably toss the other two vehicles into either Engineering or Master Artisan. I'm hoping that the speeders go into the Master box myself, give the thing some actual worth.

Until today I did not care much about vehicles... As far as I was concerned, my Master Artisan abilities would let me make the basic first models, and I was relatively satisfied by that.

Now I want a change. I think all vehicles should be the exclusive province of Droid Engineers. Maybe artisans could make a bicycle or something.

In all fairness, it's best for the simple vehicles to belong to Engineers and (hopefully) Master Artisans. It would make vehicles readily available to the game population and it simply makes sense for them to have it. DEs are in dire need of some dev attention, true, but giving lowbie vehicles to DE doesn't make sense. We build droids not vehicles. Let engineers and Master Artisans have it. Most of us are Master Artisans and we are all engineers. We will be able to build them.

The massive wealth the CHs are getting right now from mounts will dry up soon once supply/demand are more equal. When vehicles get in the game they will be much faster (or so I've read) than creatures and the demand for creature mounts will plummit. Let the CHs have their day with mounts. It won't last long. I doubt there will be much, if any, demand for creature mounts once superior vehicles enter the game.

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ShadowGriffon99 wrote:

In all fairness, it's best for the simple vehicles to belong to Engineers and (hopefully) Master Artisans. It would make vehicles readily available to the game population and it simply makes sense for them to have it. DEs are in dire need of some dev attention, true, but giving lowbie vehicles to DE doesn't make sense. We build droids not vehicles. Let engineers and Master Artisans have it. Most of us are Master Artisans and we are all engineers. We will be able to build them.

The massive wealth the CHs are getting right now from mounts will dry up soon once supply/demand are more equal. When vehicles get in the game they will be much faster (or so I've read) than creatures and the demand for creature mounts will plummit. Let the CHs have their day with mounts. It won't last long. I doubt there will be much, if any, demand for creature mounts once superior vehicles enter the game.

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You make one major assumption that's a reach, at least in my eyes. That being that vehicles will be superior to mounts. Every inch of this game is skewed to CH, you think they will make vehicles superior? If so, I'll have what you're having.

At first release swoop bikes and speeders will be artisan and then other vehicles will be a new profession when the star expansion comes out.

No doubt those new vehicles will have droids roaming around them, but it will come as a great shock to the developers that we expect to PROVIDE those droids, instead of them simply appearing as a shipbuilder does their work.

If that is true sintrosi...whats the point anymore? I thought DE's were going to get this little perk to help us out until they had a chance to finally fix us.

Bah...

Master artisan, huh? If I didn't know any better, I'd say they were going out of their way to make DE the most demoralized profession in SWG.