Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: A possible new solution to one or two of our professions top issues.
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MilasDroid
Fri Jul 01, 2005 5:19 am
#1
Hi there. I've been playing Star Wars Galaxies for three, maybe four weeks on the Wanderhome server. All I've ever wanted to be was a Droid Engineer, since I first heard about the game some time ago, and when I finally got the game, I began in earnest to train for it. So far, I've found it very fulfilling, but like all of you (and I'm certain those in other professions as well), I have some issues that I'd like to see addressed.
I believe I have come up with a somewhat unique solution to some of these problems. I have seen similar ideas to this one discussed on this board (which I've been lurking on since I joined the game), but nothing exactly like it. I have not read every thread here, however, so if the idea has already been batted around and ultimately discarded, feel free to ignore.
Also feel free to add to this or give your thoughts. This is my very first post, and I'd certainly like to spark some discussion.
Without further ado:
My proposal for an overhaul of Droid Engineer (or Milas' first post)
Firstly, both Engineers and consumers agree that droids are "not useful enough." We have a hard time rectifying how to increase their use to a level that is acceptably "Star Warsy" without making them so powerful that they decrease the usefulness of every other profession in favor of ours.
I believe this problem could be solved with a component I call a "Skill Chip." This chip would replace the current "module system" that is in place now as well as removing the need for droid certifications. Admittedly, this sounds like a drastic change from the way we do things now, but not in philosophy. Hear me out.
It is important to point out that this will only replace the defensive and general use modules we use now. It would not replace components such as Motivator packages or Droid Brains. These don't require a change.
The slots in which the modules would normally be placed would be changed to slots that required these skill chips. They would be optional components, and would each feature a skill tree of their own. They would come in eight flavors, for the six basic professions which would provide the droid with a (possibly altered/nerfed) version of the Novice Skill in this profession, and would offer a skill tree in each profession of varying length and complexity depending on the level of chip (for example a level six Artisan Chip would offer more skills than a level one). The seventh would be for Astromechs, adding programs and capacity with each skill box, representing the "tricks" an astromech could learn.
These skills would then have to be "trained" into the droid by having it gain experience of its own. The combat professions would raise the combat level of the droid and perhaps raise its combat AI level. Artisan skill chips would automate some of the more menial tasks involved in crafting, perhaps functioning like a much less productive factory. The tradeoff is that you have to do these tasks repetitively with the droid before it can do it competantly (and/or without constant supervision.) Further, Artisan droids could be less efficient with their resources than their master, perhaps becoming less so with better quality chips or more training.
Anyone could train these droids to do these tasks once the chip was installed (by a Droid Engneer), but Droid Engineers would get a bonus to train them (the droid would gain XP faster when trained by a DE), which would start out small and grow larger based on the DE's mastery of the profession.
The chips could also be replaced by other or better chips after the droid was crafted, but only by a Droid Engineer, and only at the cost of more resources over the resource cost of crafting the chip in the first place, and also with a variable risk of failure.
Different droids would be able to take different modules. R2s can take astromech skill chips, Protocols can't. Protocols can take low-level marksman chips, but not brawler. Treadwells can learn some artisan skills and low-level brawling, but can never wield a ranged weapon. Probots? Scouting and ranged, but not terribly entertaining.
Who wouldn't want a well-trained 3P0 as a member of their backup band? Or, if you weren't an entertainer, to have one follow you around singing your praises as a minstrel would?
Using that possibility as an example, we can also address the issue of their presence "nerfing" other professions. What if the musician with the backup droid gave a 25% better inspiration buff, but anyone listening to the minstrel droid owned by a decidedly non-entertaining Jedi Knight would get only 25% the inspiration buff they would if only that stuffy Jedi would learn to dance?
This would cause droids to become much more a part of our culture, as they should be given their importance in the source material for the game. They are useful tools for those people trying to master their art, and companions that can fulfill functions that would be considered useful by some players, but who can't fit the profession into their skill tree- albeit at a level much less than those offered by their human counterparts.
I am not proposing we do away with armor modules, either, only the idea that their level determines the droid's combat level. They should play a factor in how durable the droid is, but not how deadly. Other general use modules such as detonation and crafting station would probably also not be replaced.
Another major complaint that I'd like to address quickly is the number of droids that can be stored in a datapad, and the number that can be called at any given time. I believe that the number that can be called should be raised to two, with there being a limit of one combat-capable droid called at any given time. Should SOE choose to further grace us with a Droid Commander profession, they could gain the ability to call more combat droids, but only them (the Droid Commander profession could also get a greater bonus to train droids than even DEs). I would consider allowing Master Droid Engineers to be permitted to call up to two Combat Droids and one other droid into combat, but only at the expensive of the skills in their skill tree being slightly more expensive, skill-point wise (meaning that they would be able to get less skills in a combat profession, and therefore would need their lack of combat skills to be offset by being able to call more than one combat-capable droid into battle).
The number of droids that can be held on the datapad should start out at 2, with novice level in any profession, and end with 10 at master level in any elite profession. These bonuses would not stack and could never be made to be any greater than 10 (except for DEs and Droid Commanders if they existed, who should be permitted to have a few more. To show their wares for DEs and to form small armies for DCs)
Finally I'd like to address something that's really been bugging me, but I've never seen it addressed on the boards and that's the addition of a very simple item to the game called "a piece of paper." All I want is something I can write on. The reason for this is that sometimes owning a droid is pretty tricky. I'd really really like to be able to write some instructions on operating a droid and be able to give them out with my orders so I don't get a /tell five seconds after every purchase asking me why their (probably expensive) new droid doesn't work, when, in fact, they just don't know how to use it. It gets old pretty much after the first time. Obviously this item has a myriad of uses, but that's what I'd use it for.
And that's pretty much it. I am willing to concede that the idea could use a bit of polishing and would while still maintaining the important balance of the game. It would also make game a lot more fun for those customers that I have to disappoint when I tell them droids simply don't do too many of the things they want them for. It sucks to have to say "No, buddy, that's just not what they do."
Thoughts?
Milas Onymede
Droid Designer
Royal Black Watch
Northwind, Tattoine, Wanderhome Galaxy
I believe I have come up with a somewhat unique solution to some of these problems. I have seen similar ideas to this one discussed on this board (which I've been lurking on since I joined the game), but nothing exactly like it. I have not read every thread here, however, so if the idea has already been batted around and ultimately discarded, feel free to ignore.
Also feel free to add to this or give your thoughts. This is my very first post, and I'd certainly like to spark some discussion.
Without further ado:
My proposal for an overhaul of Droid Engineer (or Milas' first post)
Firstly, both Engineers and consumers agree that droids are "not useful enough." We have a hard time rectifying how to increase their use to a level that is acceptably "Star Warsy" without making them so powerful that they decrease the usefulness of every other profession in favor of ours.
I believe this problem could be solved with a component I call a "Skill Chip." This chip would replace the current "module system" that is in place now as well as removing the need for droid certifications. Admittedly, this sounds like a drastic change from the way we do things now, but not in philosophy. Hear me out.
It is important to point out that this will only replace the defensive and general use modules we use now. It would not replace components such as Motivator packages or Droid Brains. These don't require a change.
The slots in which the modules would normally be placed would be changed to slots that required these skill chips. They would be optional components, and would each feature a skill tree of their own. They would come in eight flavors, for the six basic professions which would provide the droid with a (possibly altered/nerfed) version of the Novice Skill in this profession, and would offer a skill tree in each profession of varying length and complexity depending on the level of chip (for example a level six Artisan Chip would offer more skills than a level one). The seventh would be for Astromechs, adding programs and capacity with each skill box, representing the "tricks" an astromech could learn.
These skills would then have to be "trained" into the droid by having it gain experience of its own. The combat professions would raise the combat level of the droid and perhaps raise its combat AI level. Artisan skill chips would automate some of the more menial tasks involved in crafting, perhaps functioning like a much less productive factory. The tradeoff is that you have to do these tasks repetitively with the droid before it can do it competantly (and/or without constant supervision.) Further, Artisan droids could be less efficient with their resources than their master, perhaps becoming less so with better quality chips or more training.
Anyone could train these droids to do these tasks once the chip was installed (by a Droid Engneer), but Droid Engineers would get a bonus to train them (the droid would gain XP faster when trained by a DE), which would start out small and grow larger based on the DE's mastery of the profession.
The chips could also be replaced by other or better chips after the droid was crafted, but only by a Droid Engineer, and only at the cost of more resources over the resource cost of crafting the chip in the first place, and also with a variable risk of failure.
Different droids would be able to take different modules. R2s can take astromech skill chips, Protocols can't. Protocols can take low-level marksman chips, but not brawler. Treadwells can learn some artisan skills and low-level brawling, but can never wield a ranged weapon. Probots? Scouting and ranged, but not terribly entertaining.
Who wouldn't want a well-trained 3P0 as a member of their backup band? Or, if you weren't an entertainer, to have one follow you around singing your praises as a minstrel would?
Using that possibility as an example, we can also address the issue of their presence "nerfing" other professions. What if the musician with the backup droid gave a 25% better inspiration buff, but anyone listening to the minstrel droid owned by a decidedly non-entertaining Jedi Knight would get only 25% the inspiration buff they would if only that stuffy Jedi would learn to dance?
This would cause droids to become much more a part of our culture, as they should be given their importance in the source material for the game. They are useful tools for those people trying to master their art, and companions that can fulfill functions that would be considered useful by some players, but who can't fit the profession into their skill tree- albeit at a level much less than those offered by their human counterparts.
I am not proposing we do away with armor modules, either, only the idea that their level determines the droid's combat level. They should play a factor in how durable the droid is, but not how deadly. Other general use modules such as detonation and crafting station would probably also not be replaced.
Another major complaint that I'd like to address quickly is the number of droids that can be stored in a datapad, and the number that can be called at any given time. I believe that the number that can be called should be raised to two, with there being a limit of one combat-capable droid called at any given time. Should SOE choose to further grace us with a Droid Commander profession, they could gain the ability to call more combat droids, but only them (the Droid Commander profession could also get a greater bonus to train droids than even DEs). I would consider allowing Master Droid Engineers to be permitted to call up to two Combat Droids and one other droid into combat, but only at the expensive of the skills in their skill tree being slightly more expensive, skill-point wise (meaning that they would be able to get less skills in a combat profession, and therefore would need their lack of combat skills to be offset by being able to call more than one combat-capable droid into battle).
The number of droids that can be held on the datapad should start out at 2, with novice level in any profession, and end with 10 at master level in any elite profession. These bonuses would not stack and could never be made to be any greater than 10 (except for DEs and Droid Commanders if they existed, who should be permitted to have a few more. To show their wares for DEs and to form small armies for DCs)
Finally I'd like to address something that's really been bugging me, but I've never seen it addressed on the boards and that's the addition of a very simple item to the game called "a piece of paper." All I want is something I can write on. The reason for this is that sometimes owning a droid is pretty tricky. I'd really really like to be able to write some instructions on operating a droid and be able to give them out with my orders so I don't get a /tell five seconds after every purchase asking me why their (probably expensive) new droid doesn't work, when, in fact, they just don't know how to use it. It gets old pretty much after the first time. Obviously this item has a myriad of uses, but that's what I'd use it for.
And that's pretty much it. I am willing to concede that the idea could use a bit of polishing and would while still maintaining the important balance of the game. It would also make game a lot more fun for those customers that I have to disappoint when I tell them droids simply don't do too many of the things they want them for. It sucks to have to say "No, buddy, that's just not what they do."
Thoughts?
Milas Onymede
Droid Designer
Royal Black Watch
Northwind, Tattoine, Wanderhome Galaxy
Jenden
Fri Jul 01, 2005 9:08 am
#2
The only problem I really see with it is the vastness of the change. Something that big takes time, massive amounts of time. Spending that same amount of time developing new modules/capabilities in the existing system would probably wind up with a lot more functionality/usefullness.
Yoda-5499
Fri Jul 01, 2005 3:31 pm
#3
Jenden wrote:
Spending that same amount of time developing new modules/capabilities in the existing system would probably wind up with a lot more functionality/usefullness.
I agree. We wouldn't need to change to entire system, just the modules. We would just vary the use current modules to that of which you described (i.e. effects increase entertainer abilities, chassis advantage, etc.) and create new modules for/and new profession "Droid Commander" or "Droid Handler" (i.e. ability to call more than 1 droid at a time, new tasks for droids, new chassis for [battle droid, harvester droid, entertainer droid, etc], profession assist, etc.). The specifics could be worked on later in a "New Droids Idea" thread, featuring ideas for modules, chassis, tasks for the droid, AI, profession advantages, and so on and so forth.
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