Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: Non-Combat Professions, in a Combat filled Galaxies
- forced to pick up elite combat professions
- dependent on combat professions as hired protection for mundane tasks (as if crafting dependencies aren't enough)
- turned into the modern combat system equivilent of using current Faction Armor in dangerous areas (walking tin can, where everyone has a can opener)
I know that these may look like extreme cases of what the situation will become, however they are accurate, from a certain point of view.
Many changes have been made to the game, in recent months, and many more are in store, that are centered around the concept of not forcing someone into a playstyle that they do not wich to partake of. This is the corner stone of the changes made to the TEF system and how the GCW is now handled, yet under the rules of the Combat Upgrade, non-combatant characters are going to be put into a lot more danger then they currently are. This will result in one of the three above mentioned scenarios happening.
The loss of being able to use armor effectively will have a huge impact non-combat professionsof all walks of life. In the extreme case, it will cause non-combatants, who do not have the skill points to spare, or a baby sitter to watch over them, to stay in populated areas and drop their faction standing. Those that attempt to wear armor, under the new rules of combat, will be majorly penalized to areas of both defense, and the speed of movement. Again, I am not arguing against these changes, since they are needed functions to improve the health of the game. I do however havea couple ofsuggestions to help bring about some ability for the non combatant professions to protect themselves, in times of need.
Panic Button
All Master Elite non-Combat professions would gain a new skill called the "Panic Button". The Panic Button would allow any Master Dancer, Musician, Image Designer, Architect, Droid Engineer, Armorsmith, Weaponsmith, Shipwright, Tailor, Chef, Merchant, Doctor, Combat Medic, Ranger, and Bio-Engineer the ability to call a pet/droid at any time, while outside of the standard calling area. In essence, this would remove the 15 second call timer penalty for the above listed professions.Also, thePanic Button ability will give the listed professions the ability to call pets/droids even during combat, with a 5-15 second timer penality. This would give non-combatants the ability to call upon a defender in times of need.
To keep the system from being exploited, the current storing rules would stay the same, so that a PC is unable to store a pet while in combat and for a short period of time after combat is canceled/completed. This would remove the ability to 'cycle through' freshdroids/pets while in combat or someone using a pet/droid to pull aggro and then promptly store it, without any consequences.
This ability should also be added at some point in the Creature Handler profession, with Novice or a Tier 2 skill being the the suggested skill location.
AdditionalDroid Levels (Optional)
With the Combat Upgrade having the goal of making each combat profession have unique qualities, it is really looking doubtful that the Droid Commander/Handler profession will ever be added. A passing comment, made many months back, by the DEV team, suggested that higher end combat droids may be one of the additions made with the GCW Revamp. I wish to suggest an alternative that would not only bring higher level combat droids into the game, but would also put them into the hands of those that will need them the most, after the Combat Upgrade, the non-combatants.
The following profession would gain a +X Droid Level Modifier in their Master Level box; Dancer, Musician, Image Designer, Architect, Droid Engineer, Armorsmith, Weaponsmith, Shipwright, Tailor, Chef, Merchant, and Doctor. Combat Medic, Ranger, and Bio-Engineer are not included in this list due to the fact that each of the three has defense modifiers as part of the professions core role.
The maximum possible droid level for any combination of professions would be maxed at3(X) droid levels.
Since Creature Handlers are the offical pet handling profession currently in the game, I would suggest that a Master Creature Handler gain 1-2(X) droid levels, spread out through the entire profession.
Summary
I feel that with the changes that are coming up in the Combat Upgrade, non-combat professionsare going to be even harder pressed to survive in a Combatant based environment. For the health of the non-combat game, some form of compenstation needs to be made, since so many changes are being made to the combat system that will make it difficult to perform many routine tasks.
Message Edited by Drashk on 04-05-2005 10:02 PM
Anyway, this is a very well put together post, and I've been working on getting an idea like this in there. I may have to steal/bump your post (assuming you don't mind, of coarse).
Maybe have it available once every...er...60 min.?
I'd also wish there was some kind of special crafter/non-combat 'certed' armor, so that pure crafters could get some protection out in the wild. There's nothing less fun getting one-shot killed by a mob while on a harv. run.
NOTE: I'm generally a TKA/TKM, so this isn't so much an issue for me...but for 'pure' crafters, it sure will be.
Also, with regard to changes, keep in mind that it's not what we "want" or the good ideas we have....it's what we can get.
Drashk knows this (so does J) but the rest of you all should always have that at the back of your mind when we work on how to prioritize.
I still think decay is the key for us in the short-term.
/bow
Respectfully,
Reaperss wrote:Hey Jenden what are the chances hat someone much more calm and rational then me could get all the non-combat proffesion corrspondents together to take a stand against the recent change in dirrection in the game?
Hmmm, that may not be a bad idea. Might be even more interesting to see if we can extend the DE summit we've been talking about to all non-combats... Though that might get too out of hand though. Definately be a good idea to at least get the other correspondents in on it though.
/bow
Reaperss wrote:
You could hammer out a pre-aprovedpost addressed to SOE on the correspondents forum.
It'd be a nice way to bring together all the concerns. However, I see this doing little by itself.
The CU (and the stuff that's 'inside the scope') will be what's focused on. At this point, that's pretty much how is has to be methinks.
If all the non-combat correspondents sign on they might be forced to at least respond.
I'll attempt a likely Dev response:
"This is great information...but none of this is inside the scope of the CU."
What happens after..........? Maybe. If the crafting profession numbers take a dive, post-CU, we might see it happen faster.
You guys at least rate a bit higher then regular players. Not to mention that if I responded to Dev post in my current mood I might very well get tossed. Man the things I'd like to say to TH at this moment....I should've signed up for that Dev breakfast. They'd have indegestion for a week....
They have some kind of cybernetic digestive systems that are immune to this sort of thing, I can assure you.
A 'summit' of some sort isn't a bad idea. But I don't see that any kind of respectful 'protest' of non-combat profession changes will affect much. There's no way to really drive the situation if we have no power to impact the outcome.
Just think of labor groups trying to affect changes with management if there's no way to create a true 'picket line'...you get the idea.
Respectfully,
