Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: TK (and others,) a different look at the battery/decay idea
Message Edited by Straker_Atrella on 09-30-2004 04:16 AM
OckVofad wrote:
Ultimately I'd rather the droid just have a condition value like other items. When the condition hits zero the droid is toast.
I'd prefer to see the 'condition' (Vitality) have its 'tick' at the end of a battery's life. So, the battery runs out, Vitality/condition takes its hit and the user installs the next battery. Rinse, repeat.
OckVofad wrote:
Im thinking that the droid wouldhave a "ticker" similar to vehicles but not as fast. The condition would be seperate from the HAM bar. This way whenever someonecalls a droid (Combat or Utility) out of the datapad it takes a condition hit.
Now, the issue is how much Vitality (out of 1000 or 100) should be taken. We could do a one-to-one ratio, if we're talking about a 100 Vitality system. So, a battery is used, now the droid is Vitality = 99/100...and so on. I'm thinking that we might want to tweak those numbers because 1 Vitality per battery seems too much. Perhaps it would 1/2 of 1 Vitality point per battery. This would mean that a purchased droid could function with regular batteries for about 200 hours before it would need to be repaired by a DE.
In the meantime, we can't forget that pet vitality packs DO work to fix a droid's vitality. So, if the Vitality got down to 50/100, a droid user could find/use some Vitality packs to keep it from going disabled.
Now, at 1 hour per battery, that means the droids is "disabled" (I'd like not see it destroyed but just totally non-functional...and I do mean totally non-functional). Once a droid is disabled, only a DE can fix it, perhaps of a particular level.
I would say that "disabled" should be way down low, like Vitality = 5/100 or so.
....just my quick thoughts on how this might all go down.
/bow
Respectfully,
But then you're just shifting the 'product' over from a new combat droid (which we don't really do now) to a 'service', a la charges for repairing disabled droids and sales of Vitality packs.
Straker_Atrella wrote:
For those saying that Combat Droids actually have a decent decay rating, do you know how long that takes? I don't think I have EVER replaced a combat Droid for somebody. By first using a DE to repair it, then using Pet Vitality Packs, a Combat Droid can last a long long time.
Incidentally, part of the solution here to would be that we have a "Droid Vitality Repair" kit that would replace the regular pet vitality packs, so that the proceeds of these sales go to the DEs (where they belong).
/bow
Respectfully,
TheRealTK421 wrote:
But then you're just shifting the 'product' over from a new combat droid (which we don't really do now) to a 'service', a la charges for repairing disabled droids and sales of Vitality packs.
Straker_Atrella wrote:
For those saying that Combat Droids actually have a decent decay rating, do you know how long that takes? I don't think I have EVER replaced a combat Droid for somebody. By first using a DE to repair it, then using Pet Vitality Packs, a Combat Droid can last a long long time.
Incidentally, part of the solution here to would be that we have a "Droid Vitality Repair" kit that would replace the regular pet vitality packs, so that the proceeds of these sales go to the DEs (where they belong).
/bow
Respectfully,
the current system where we can heal "wounds" then the pet Vitality pack can repair vitality.
I definitly don't want to be a "service profession" either.
TK, what do you think about the Battery Core, or standard Battery Choice idea?
Straker_Atrella wrote:
I was talking about the current system where we can heal "wounds" then the pet Vitality pack can repair vitality.
Yea....I guess we could link Battery use to the wounds accumulated. That begs the question...
Why have a droid "vitality" at all? I think wounds need to come from use, not from batteries (but that's just me).
Batteries = Vitality loss
Actual 'use' = Wounding (for non-combat droids or hybrids)
I definitly don't want to be a "service profession" either.
Whether we like to think we are, we are....
I understand the concern though. We don't want to just be repairmen.I think it might be okay if it's only a once in awhile thing, wouldn't you?
I mean, it does give you a reason to be in contact with your customer (and maybe make another sale).
TK, what do you think about the Battery Core, or standard Battery Choice idea?
I think it's an option, for sure. I'll have to think about how this might go down. I'd have to say that we do have a Power Droid for that purpose. We need to extend the thinking here to how non-combat droids both get wounds and take Vitality 'hits'.
It's not all about "power". We're just using the power system as our gauge for how fast this kind of decay would take place on non-combat droids.
/bow
Respectfully,
Straker_Atrella wrote:
Well with the new Idea, Doc's and others could choose to go the no battery route, so they don't need to worry about them.
In my way of thinking, if a utility droid is "in use", it either:
- gathers wounds
or - takes a Vitality 'hit'
or - Both
/bow
Respectfully,
Here are my thoughts on the matter, some of which have already been touched upon...
Battery use should be directly linked to Vitality. Every time that a battery is used on a droid, the droid loses 1 point of Vitality. When the droid reaches 0/100 Vitality, the droid can no longer be called from the datapad. To extend a droid's life beyond 100 charges, a Droid Vitality pack would need to be included with the revamp. The Droid Vitality pack would restore x number of Vitality points, minus a certain percentage for the number of points lost. (IE Every time a Droid Vitality kit is used, 10% of the total renewed Vitality points are lost, permenatly.)
To address the problem of droids that are only used as storage or crafting, which are never recharged, all droid functions would need to be linked to battery usage, or an additional system could be used - laid out as follows. Every 5-10 times that a droid is called without recharging, the droid loses 1 point of Vitality, permenatly. This may sound a bit harsh, but take into consideration how many people only use droids for only crafting or storage and don't recharge their droid, since neither function is related to battery usage. This would ensure either increased battery sales, or increased droid sales. Either way, the typical Droid Engineer will see benefit from this.
Finally, Master Droid Engineers could be given the ability to repair Vitality that is permenately lost (IE Repair 90/90 Vitality to 100/100 Vitality.) This ability could be either included when you hit Master Droid Engineer, or the suggestion that I like better, it could be an ability that is gained through a quest, like a new schematic. The Vitality restoration ability would run a slight risk that could result in the loss of the droid, based upon the percentage of lost Vitality. For every 5-10 points of Vitality that is lost, there is a 5% chance of failure. Something that could be added to counter-balance this would be another loot item that could be added to the game, called a Droid Repair skill tape.
I think that a system like this would promote droid decay, but not on a level that would anger majority of the droid owner community. Adding such things as the Droid Vitality Kit, Droid Repair skill tapes, and a Vitaltiy restoration ability would give our profession more content, and at the same time cover one of the largest DE issues - a renewable source of droid sales.
*Edited for ease of reading....and TK mentioned something about busting chops and/or hawtpants.
/twitch
Message Edited by Drashk on 06-25-2004 12:20 AM