Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: Hope For DE DH allmost forgotten, new droids on the way
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Buni
Fri Jan 30, 2004 11:33 am
#1
There is hope still
. From TH yesterday:
. From TH yesterday:*****************
Kav wrote:
what is the dev viosion of a comabt droid?
The CL of these droids will have a HUGE impact on how they should be implemented.
CL15? CL25? CL50? CL70?
This is core of the argument and understanding how high powered droids will effect the player power curve iskey to understanding all the change that is being discussed. In any game, there is a "power curve". It works like any game. Players play and put effort into playing and they earn skills and abilities - - thats how the game works on a fundamental level.
This post, in one line, represents the community position I have to represent and the design mandate the developers have to defend. The Combat Droids are this powerful and with almost all of the player proposals out there, they basically say, "I want really powerful droids for free". That approach is never going to get approved. For me to find a happy medium between what players want and getting a good game design is very very difficult. If I dont search for this compromise, I wont win the argument.
In a nutshell, here is where we are:
- Straight certifications is never going to be approved because it breaks combat. Even level 25 or level 30 droids are like having a whole extra player for free in combat. It also skews the power curve becausea droid is equivalent to a free tank. The tank holds a MOB in place and the player shoots it forfree, without any risk. It comes for free because their isn't an appropriate investment in experience and skill points. Certifications don't cost anything, you get them for free and they are sprinkled throughout the professions. To then sprinkle droid certs through all the professions now basically means raising ALL the professions combat abilities and speeding up the power curves and that will through the whole game world out of balance. In essence, the tide is rising and so are all the player boats, but not any of the things players fight.
- Straight skill point expenditures dont work because if that path were followed, a novice player could join the game, spend all their points on combat droids and in minutes, be as powerful as an Elite CH and that breaks the game.
- Skill points for certifications is a good idea and is being considered, but it would mean lowering the power of all the combat droids so the system isn't thrown out of systemic balance.
- There is the idea of a second profession where a player would theoretically (and fairly) spend skill points and experience (time), but the idea of the Droid Commander profession is not popular enough and there are plenty professions already. I've told the devs most players don't want it and we're moving away from that idea (although time is running out for publish 7).
- Thediscussion issue of the Droid Engineers and their claim that droids need more utility in general is the focal point. Its very important. The team agrees that all players need droids with real utility. Runesabre agrees and we're changing direction in the 11th hour. The downside is that when something has a lot of utility in an MMO, it technically means that it touches every other game system and that means it takes an incredible amount of work to accomplish (GreenMarine's Chef Revamp is a perfect example. The reason its considered such a huge undertaking because it effects players, player HAM, player character sheets, attribute modifiers, skill modifiers, crafting, art, art animation logic, etc.) Droids are a perfect example of this. A droid that helps Doctors touches the buff system, the attribute system and the crafting system. A droid that helps any specific profession, touches all the connections that make up that profession and also all the different technical elements under the hood that drive the game engine. What it means is a lot of it is not easy and won't happen quickly. That makes it a tough decision because there are a lot of things ready to be added to the game, but the way in which they are going to be added is in question. The flip side is that the art for the combat droids is done,the animation is done, the programming is done and these things are ready to go into the game.
- The combat droids are cool and exciting but they can't just be tossed into the game. They have to be added in a way that enriches game play and maintains the game balance. All in all, this is a very difficult decision. I've read through the thread and counted up where everyone stands. I dont know exactly how the chips are going to fall, but I will let you know.
For those who are close to the discussion, here are some of the finer point:
- All droids can be modified for combat, though humanoid Droids and Astromechs will be added at (or around, maybe a little more than) CL 10. In the Star Wars universe, these types of droids are generally slated for utility andare treated almostas slaves in this time period. Combat Droids are indeed illegal, but as a player in this game, they are your choices to make. (Do you think Combat Droids should be contraband?)
- There have been a lot of comments to the effect that since Droids are illegal that smugglers should get some of this. The dev team agrees though I dont know what shape that is going to take atm. Imfond of the "Gambler" module and "Slicer" module for droids. I'd especially like to see the gambling module because we could have a lot of seedy gambling casinos
- I've recieved the full list of Droid Module ideas from the DE correspondent and we're reviewing them to see what might be able to be added. My focus here is to try and find some modules that might be "not a lot of work", but add a lot of utility to playing the game.
Some blend of all of these issues is going to be the answer.
Ill keep you update as things happen.
Kurt "Thunderheart" Stangl Assistant Community Relations Manager
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