Droid Engineer Archive

When I sat down to create a list of Issues, I ran head long into the problem of trying to weigh and balance the different issues. I immediately realized that the biggest problem with trying to create this list was that while all of the issues should be addressed, some issues have a larger bearing on the profession as a whole. I broke the list of issues down into Short term and Long term issues.

Short Term Issues

This list is comprised of mostly bug fixes and a few items that would improve the general quality of the profession, but do not cover the ‘big’ issues. The first 5 issues are listed in ‘priority’ order and issues 6 though 18 are listed in semi-random order.

Brief Issue Description

1. 
   
   Fix the ability to name converse droids.


2. 
   
   Fix Item Storage Modules in Surgical Droids.


3. 
   
   Fix the Structure Maintenance Module


4. 
   
   Change the name filter on droids so that numbers can be used in the name.


5. 
   
   Change the list of crafted items in the W/G/D tool so that it is reorganized better.


6. 
   
   Fix the Ranged/Melee Toggle that no long appears.


7. 
   
   Fix the 40% resist display issue.


8. 
   
   Fix the Seeker pull issue with Investigations 3.


9. 
   
   Droids need to have the option to program the name from the datapad radial.


10. 
    
    Basic BLLs do not have any module slots.


11. 
    
    Fix the Multi-pull issue that effects droids, pets, and faction perks.


12. 
    
    Fix Protocol Droids not be having the option to customize with a Customization Kit


13. 
    
    Add the toolbar call function to droids, that was supposed to be added during Publish 10.


14. 
    
    Add the ability to store waypoints to the Data Storage Module


15. 
    
    Droid Customization Kits need to list the number of charges that they have, during the crafting process and in the examination window.


16. 
    
    Droid Batteries need to list the number of charges that they have, during the crafting process and in the examination window.


17. 
    
    Fix Item Storage Modules being able to hold Draft Schematics.


18. 
    
    Droid Chassis’ have Experimentation Effectiveness listed as requiring SR/UT, but should be listed as OQ instead

Follow upDescription

1. LE Repair droids, Protocol Droids, and Surgical Droids can not be named. It does not matter if you use the ‘Converse’ menu option or the ‘Program’ option. This issue has been around since approximately 7/21/03.
   
   


2. Item Storage does not function in the Basic of Advanced Surgical droid. A radial menu option does not appear for the Surgical droid, nor can you drag and drop items on to the droid. This issue has been around since approximately 8/13/03.
   
   


3. The Structure Maintenance Module becomes nonfunctional if a structure is redeeded, or destroyed, without first removing the structure from the Maintenance List. The Structure Maintenance Module has not functioned correctly since at least 5/4/04.
   
   When ever a structure is redeeded, without editing the Maintenance List first, a blank entry is left in the place of the redeeded structure. The blank entry appears to be the cause of the module becoming nonfunctional.
   
   


4. The droid naming filter does not allow for numbers in the name. This is one of the biggest overall naming issues that DEs and Droid owners have with droids. This issue has been around since launch.
   
   


5. The current schematic list in the W/G/D crafting tool is difficult for most new Droid Engineers, as well as some of the ‘old timers’. The following is a suggested crafting tool listing.
   
   




• Droid Components




• Advanced Droid Brain


• Advanced Droid Frame Unit


• Advanced Droid Motive System


• Binary Load Lifter ADV Droid Chassis


• Droid Brain


• Droid Motive System


• Droid Sensor Package


• LE Repair ADV Droid Chassis


• Manipulator Arm


• Manipulator Arm Package Set


• Probot ADV Droid Chassis


• Protocol ADV Droid Chassis


• R2 ADV Droid Chassis


• R3 ADV Droid Chassis


• R4 ADV Droid Chassis


• Surgical ADV Droid Chassis
  
  


• Droid Socket Clusters




• Combat-Capable Socket Cluster


• General Droid Module Socket Cluster
  
  


• Droid Service Modules




• Auto-Repair Module


• Clothing Droid Crafting Station Module


• Creature Harvest Module


• Droid Combat Module


• Droid Detonation Module


• Droid Repair module


• Entertainer Effects Module (Avian)


• Entertainer Effects Module (Confetti)


• Entertainer Effects Module (Dancing Jawa)


• Entertainer Effects Module (Electric Fog)


• Entertainer Effects Module (Foam)


• Entertainer Effects Module (Mind Bloom)


• Food Droid Crafting Station Module


• Level 1 Droid Data Module


• Level 1Item Storage Module


• Level 1 Droid MedicalModule


• Level 1 Structure Maintenance Module


• Level 2 Droid Data Module


• Level 2Item Storage Module


• Level 2 Droid Medical Module


• Level 2 Structure Maintenance Module


• Level3 Droid Data Module


• Level3Item Storage Module


• Level3 Droid Medical Module


• Level 3 Structure Maintenance Module


• Level 4 Droid Data Module


• Level 4 Item Storage Module


• Level 4 Droid Medical Module


• Level 5 Droid Data Module


• Level 5 Item Storage Module


• Level 5 Droid Medical Module


• Level 6 Droid Data Module


• Level 6 Item Storage Module


• Level 6 Droid Medical Module


• Merchant Barker Module


• Musician Playback Module


• Scout Trap Projectile Module


• Stimpack Dispenser Module


• Structure Droid Crafting Station Module


• Weapon Droid Crafting Station Module
  
  


• Droid Defense Modules




• Droid Armor Module 1


• Droid Armor Module 2


• Droid Armor Module 3


• Droid Armor Module 4


• Droid Armor Module 5


• Droid Armor Module 6
  
  


• Personality Chips




• Geeky Droid Personality Chip


• Prissy Droid Personality Chip


• Sarcastic Droid Personality Chip


• Slang Droid Personality Chip


• Stupid Droid Personality Chip


• Worshipful Droid Personality Chip
  
  


• Droid Deeds




• Binary Load Lifter Droid


• Binary Load Lifter Droid, Advanced Model


• DZ70 Droid


• DZ70 Droid, Advanced Model


• LE Repair Droid


• LE Repair Droid, Advanced Model


• MSE Droid


• MSE Droid, Advanced Model


• Power Droid


• Power Droid, Advanced Model


• Probot


• Probot, Advanced Model


• Protocol Droid


• Protocol Droid, Advanced Model


• R2 Droid


• R2 Droid, Advanced Model


• R3 Droid


• R3 Droid, Advanced Model


• R4 Droid


• R4 Droid, Advanced Model


• R5 Droid


• R5 Droid, Advanced Model


• Surgical Droid


• Surgical Droid, Advanced Model


• Treadwell


• WED Treadwell, Advanced Model
  
  


• Droid Kits




• Droid Customization Kit


• Droid Reconstruction Kit - A


• Droid Reconstruction Kit - B


• Droid Reconstruction Kit - C


• Droid Reconstruction Kit - D


• Droid Repair Kit - A


• Droid Repair Kit - B


• Droid Repair Kit - C


• Droid Repair Kit – D
  
  


• Droid Kit Components




• Advanced Capacitor Discharge Unit


• Advanced Diagnostic Circuit


• Advanced Redundant Power Supply


• Advanced Repair Unit Casing


• Advanced Unit Delivery Cartridge


• Capacitor Discharge Unit


• Diagnostic Circuit


• Redundant Power Supply


• Repair Unit Casing


• Unit Delivery
  
  


• Generic Items




• Arakyd Probe Droid


• Droid Storage Compartment


• Interplanetary Survey Droids


• Seeker Droid
  
  


6. The Ranged/Melee toggle for the R-series droids disappeared sometime around Publish 9.
   
   


7. When ever a droid is initially called from its deed, the /examine window will show the droid to have the correctly installed armor resist rating. Once the droid is stored and called a second time, the armor resists will appear as being 40%, in the examine window. Each additional time that the droid is called, it will report the same 40% resists.
   
   The only exception to the above mentioned issue is with 2 Level 3 armor modules. Instead of displaying 40% resists on the second call, the resist will list as 25%.
   This appears to be only a display error for both instances of this bug.
   
   


8. After a Bounty Hunter hits Investigations III, the "Find and Track" option allows a BH to use a Seeker without ever expending another droid charge.
   
   


9. Instead of having to use the 4 command method of naming, droids should have the option to set the name from the datapad radial.
   
   


10. The Basic BLL droid still does not have room for any modules, making the droid pointless to make.
    
    


11. This item is a general Droid/Pet/Faction Perk issue that needs to be addressed. One of the ways that this exploit can be reproduced is by telling a droid to stay, running approximately 800m (zone boundary?) away and calling another droid, you can effectively call all your droids at once. You can also call multiple instances of the same droid as well.
    
    


12. When a Customization kit is used on a Protocol Droid, no options are given. The droid can not be customized after the crafting process.
    
    


13. The droid datapad radial needs to be reconfigured so that ‘Call’ is listed as the first option, allowing for the droid to be called from a toolbar slot. This also applies to pets as well.
    
    


14. The ability to store waypoints in a Data Storage Module is a popular request by droid owners. Such a ‘simple’ addition to the modules function would increase this modules demand.
    
    


15. Droid Customization Kits do not list how many charges they hold, during the crafting process or when in a factory crate, making it difficult to tell how many charges a kit has.
    
    


16. Droid Batteries do not list how many charges they hold, during the crafting process or when in a factory crate, making it difficult to tell how many charges a kit has.
    
    


17. Item Storage Modules have the ability to hold Draft Schematics. By dragging a Draft Schematic onto a droid with an Item Storage module installed, the Draft Schematic will end up in the Item Storage Inventory by default, even if a Data Storage module is installed.
    
    


18. Currently this issue does not have much bearing; however this is a typo that has been around for a very long time.

Long Term Issues

This list is compromised of ‘big ticket’ items that are needed to prolong the life span of a Droid Engineer and to strengthen the profession for future Droid Engineers.

1. Droid Decay – This is one of the hottest topics of the DE community, since it would have the largest overall impact on the entire profession. Currently, only droids that are involved in combat will ever decay. With the largest percentage of droid sales coming from utility droids, most new droid sales come from new players or through new functionality. Some type of droid decay system needs to be put into place, at some point, to help ensure that there will always be a market for new Droid Engineers. Whether decay is in the form of modular decay or the decay of the entire droid, this is the single most important DE issue that needs to be evaluated.
   
   


2. Additional Droid Chassis’ – There are currently 13 different droid chassis’ in game to chose from. Each droid has a Basic and an Advanced model, doubling this number, however most Droid Engineers only craft the Advanced versions of each droid. New droid chassis’ are one of the highest requested items from droid owners. Using any of the existing in game droid types, such as the Battle Droid, RA-7, or the Droideka, all of which have in game artwork, would help to generate an increaseddroidmarket.
   
   


3. Inherent Functionality – We currently have a few droids that exhibit inherent functions. This needs to be expanded upon to include all droid types, so that each chassis has a purpose in the game. With the module set up that droids have, the only sure sale droid that a DE has at his/her disposal is the Adv R3 unit, with its 6 module slots. Droid such as the Surgical Droid or Treadwell are a ‘rarity’ due to the low module slot count and no real role. The following are two lists of suggested inherent functions for each droid type. The first list is for Inherent functions that are based upon module installation. The second list is for standalone inherent functions. The functions listed here are only basic reference suggestions.
   
   




• Module based Inherent functions




• MSE - +10 per Detonation Module (current)


• Treadwell - +2 Structures, with the Structure Maintenance module installed.


• DZ70 - +10 scout traps per Scout Trap Projectile Module installed.


• Power Droid – Double Battery Life


• LE Repair Droid – Auto-Repair modules recycle every 5 seconds, instead of every 10 seconds.


• Probot - +5% Resists per Armor module installed


• Surgical Droid - +10 Stims and +1 Delivery per Stimpack Dispenser Module installed.


• Protocol Droid - +2 Waypoints stored, with the Merchant Barker Module installed.


• Binary Load Lifter - +2 Item Storage, with the Item Storage Module installed.


• R-Series Droid – None
  
  


• Standalone Inherent Functions




• MSE - Has the function of a level 2 Data Storage.


• Treadwell – Has the function of a level 1 Structure Maintenance Module


• DZ70 - Has the function of a 20 Trapping rating, with a maximum of 10 trap storage


• Power Droid – Unlimited Battery Life


• LE Repair Droid – Has the function of an Auto-Repair rating of 20.


• Probot - Has the function of a 10% Resists armor.


• Surgical Droid – Has the function of a level 4 Medical module


• Protocol Droid – Has the function of a Merchant Barker Module.


• Binary Load Lifter – Has the function of a level 6 Item Storage Module.


• R-Series Droid – None
  
  


4. Deed Display Information – To the untrained eye, droid deeds are currently very confusing. Most non-Droid Engineers do not know the difference between the Item Storage Rating and the actual number of Items that a droid can store. The following is a list of all items that each and every droid deed should display, if the module is installed.
   
   




• Damage/Speed/To hit – This needs to replace the Combat Rating


• Armor – No one knows if a droid was built with armor installed, until after they call their droid for the first time.


• Items Storage – This needs to replace the Item Storage rating, since it typically confuses most droid buyers


• Data Storage – This needs to replace the Data Storage rating, since it typically confuses most droid buyers.


• Stimpack Delivery Time – This needs to display the time is seconds that it takes to dispense 1 stimpack. The current listing leaves most droid owners completely in the dark as to how long it takes the droid to refresh its rating.


• Number of Structures – This needs to replace the Structure Module rating, so that it accurately lists how many structures the droid can handle.
  
  


5. Droid Commander Information – The Droid Engineer community is extremely interested in helping to develop the Droid Commander profession, if it is still in the production queue, since the DC profession could have a major impact on our profession. Idea submission guidelines, a brief outline of DEV ideas on the profession, or any other information on the DC profession would help to strengthen the lines of DEV / Community communication.
   
   


6. Additional Droid Modules – The ability to mix and match droid modules is what makes each droid distinct. Even though we have a fairly long list of modules to choose from, the number of professions that we are able to assist is still rather limited, when compared to other crafting professions. Ultimately, having a module that assists each profession, in some way, is the goal for all Droid Engineers. Let us not forget modules that can assist in the GCW as well.
   
   


7. Overhaul Experimentation system – Experimentation for a Droid Engineer is still fairly limited. Very few modules require experimentation on more then one line and 90% of what goes into droid building can be done with grind quality resources. The entire droid crafting system needs to be overhauled, to remove erroneous experimentation values. The option to experiment on components such as Droid Sensors, Manipulator arms, and Droid Brains, to name a few, should be removed since no amount of experimentation seems to have an effect on the over all droid.
   
   


8. Better Droid AI – What is the point of installing a Droid Personality chip into a Humanoid droid, if the droid hardly ever ‘speaks’ on its own? The most personality that we see out of any type of droid is the run away response to non-combat droids being attacked. Personality chips need to be revamped, to give Humanoid droids a little more personality. Overall droid behavior needs improvement. Droids are supposed to be one of the biggest Star Warsy items, yet they currently function as nothing more then a basic tool or a novel distraction.

Comments?

Message Edited by Drashk on 10-08-2004 02:56 AM

Great post Drashk and welcome back as our DE correspondent.

I especially like the proposal for the new crafting tool listing. While this seems like a small thing it would make life easier for newbies and ol-timers alike.

Also the inherent function for certain droid types would help to bring some order into the droid market. Plus many droids that hardly ever get built would have some additional appeal to both DEs and the customers.

Message Edited by Jjiaah on 10-08-2004 07:03 AM

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Apophis23 wrote:
I especially like the proposal for the new crafting tool listing. While this seems like a small thing it would make life easier for newbies and ol-timers alike.

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Message Edited by psikobunny on 10-08-2004 10:35 AM

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duncje wrote:

And, BTW, what happened to the Light Blue name?

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psikobunny wrote:

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duncje wrote:

And, BTW, what happened to the Light Blue name?

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Light Blue is for Former Correspondents, as of Wednesday, he's no longer "former" If you're jonesin for that light blue, just wait for TK to post.

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I meant the Correspondent-colored name. His name shows green to me, and his title is "Pilot".....

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duncje wrote:

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psikobunny wrote:

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duncje wrote:

And, BTW, what happened to the Light Blue name?

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Light Blue is for Former Correspondents, as of Wednesday, he's no longer "former" If you're jonesin for that light blue, just wait for TK to post.

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I meant the Correspondent-colored name. His name shows green to me, and his title is "Pilot".....

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Yep, looks like the D man has been demoted again. That was quick!

I nominate TK to be the new corr!

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GnomeAd wrote:

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duncje wrote:

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psikobunny wrote:

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duncje wrote:

And, BTW, what happened to the Light Blue name?

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Light Blue is for Former Correspondents, as of Wednesday, he's no longer "former" If you're jonesin for that light blue, just wait for TK to post.

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I meant the Correspondent-colored name. His name shows green to me, and his title is "Pilot".....

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Yep, looks like the D man has been demoted again. That was quick!

I nominate TK to be the new corr!

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The forums had a little hiccup early this morning, while I was puttering around on the forums.My titleshould be back to normal soon.