Droid Engineer Archive

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TheRealTK421 wrote:

The range should be the same as a regular "/say" message in spatial.

Anyone have that number? (...I forget what it is.)



/bow

Respectfully,

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Cool, thanks - I was hoping that would be the answer. That means they'll be less annoying than /yells.

To me it sounds like we won't see a significant spam problem from these, after the initial novelty wears off. Most people won't want to have to recharge their droid every hour to keep the spam going - it would get expensive very quickly. The people that will be willing to spend the money will do so more for the waypoint info than for the barking.

Don't know if this is the range of a /sayor not, but... I remember when using the trained follow command on a pet, he would hear me up to 50m away without having to use /yell follow.

Message Edited by Javac on 04-14-2004 04:10 PM

this droid is pretty usless to me as a merchant....

having to be near it...if i have to be within say 500k of the droid then it really serves no purpose...it doesnt allow me to really do anything but hang out in town doing nothing....only really useful if i go afk and leave it running while i am at work or asleep.

NO VENDOR INETERFACE --- what we merchants really need is to be able to restock vendors remotly

does allow me to sell items from it or run an auction from it...it can be used as a mobile vendor in other words...

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Naufragus wrote:

this droid is pretty usless to me as a merchant....

having to be near it...if i have to be within say 500k of the droid then it really serves no purpose...it doesnt allow me to really do anything but hang out in town doing nothing....only really useful if i go afk and leave it running while i am at work or asleep.

NO VENDOR INETERFACE --- what we merchants really need is to be able to restock vendors remotly

does allow me to sell items from it or run an auction from it...it can be used as a mobile vendor in other words...

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Amen. It doesn't do everything, so therefore it doesn't do anything.

/sarcasm off

/flame off (sorry, just tired of seeing these posts)

• This is 'certed' to Merchant Advertising IV skill (or higher). Note: A
  
  non-merchant player cannot access the "Merchant barker" menu. However, any waypoint (stored in the droid by a
  
  Merchant) will continue to be given out even if the owner of the droid isn't a Merchant.
  
  




• The barked message is currently sent out roughly every 30 seconds (but this may change). Timing is not
  
  (currently) adjustable. (Note: Increased the time between merchant barks to 60s. - TC notes, 04/16)
  
  




• This droid should continue to bark ads if you fly about the same planet or travel to another planet. (04/16: Thanks
  
  for the update on this, DocSavage!!). In addition, when the droid gets into a low power state the ad barking is turned
  
  off. Once you recharge the droid you have to manually enable the barking again.
  
  




• Until further notice, assume that these may be chassis specific (Protocols are
  
  known to work).
  
  Note: As of 04/14/04, other droid models (MSE, for example)
  
  are working with this module. It should also work when used in GSM clusters and CCSC clusters (Thanks,
  
  Jenden).
  
  




• It is unknown if (or how) these can these be ignored using "/addignore" (Note: It may be that one would add the
  
  owner of the droid...but this is unknown currently).
  
  




• It is possible to set up patrol points and have the droid patrol around the area barking its message.
  




• Added the skill requirement to the description of the merchant barker module. (TC notes: 04/19)
  




• These modules do not stack so do not waste them by putting more than one into a droid.
  




• Changed the functionality of the barker module to only say the message if a player passes close by, with a
  
  minimum delay of one minute. (TC Notes: 04/23)
  

• 50 units of Copper


• 20 units of Inert Gas


• 40 units of Aluminum

1. After using "Ready Droid Unit", or calling forth the droid, the Merchant must left-click-and-hold (or use your "~"
   
   (tilde) key) on it to bring up the radial menu called "Merchant Barker". This radial menu will contain 3 submenus:
   
   






• "Record Message"


• "Set Waypoint"


• "Toggle Barker on/off"
  
  




2. "Record Message": Selecting this will allow a Merchant to entire a text/character
   
   string up to 128 characters in length, which will be displayed roughly every 30 seconds (using spatial chat bubbles).
   
   To set the message - you set the droid to record the next thing you say. Then you verbally speak and it will take the
   
   message if its under 128 characters and keep it stored. If you exceed 128 characters it gives you a warning and
   
   doesn't save.
   
   




3. "Set Waypoint": This command allows for a waypoint to be stored by bringing up
   
   a selection box with a list of all a Merchant's waypoints. Select one and it sets this as the waypoint the droid will
   
   give out for you (when players use the "Get Merchant Waypoint" radial menu on the droid).
   color=#66ff66>Note: It keeps the original name of the waypoint intact (as if you were sending it via e-mail).
   
   




4. "Toggle Barker on/off": This command switches the barking on and off. When set
   
   to "On", the droid 'barks' the recorded text message (in s spatial chat bubble) about once every 30 seconds.
   color=#66ff66>Note: The 'barked' message programmed into the droid does travel with the droid. So, if you
   
   are a Merchant and set the message, transfer to another player and they transfer it back...the message will still be
   
   intact.
   
   




5. "Get Merchant Waypoint": A player can left-click-and-hold (or use your "~" (tilde)
   
   key) on teh droid to bring up the "Get Merchant Waypoint" radial menu. When you do this, the waypoint installed in
   
   the droid by the Merchant is instantly put into the "Waypoint" area of the player's datapad.

Message Edited by TheRealTK421 on 04-23-2004 10:23 AM

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TheRealTK421 wrote:

Fellow DEs,

In addition, when the droid gets into a low power state the ad barking is turned off. Once you recharge the droid you have to manually enable the barking again.

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This makes me incredibly happy, and answers one of my big two question about the module. Can you still get waypoints from it after *low power*? (My guess is yes)

The other one is: what is the range of the spam? How far do you have to be from the droid before you stop seeing the message?

Thankya thankya thankya.

As both a DE and merchant ..

can I use the module in a patrolling BLL ? Thats the ONLY thing this big one is useful for (so far I did it with naming the droid). The posters above suggest that it works with all chassis, so I have high hopes.

SPAMMING .. I strongly suggest for pushing the devs to change it to 60 seconds. The I HATE SPAM DROIDS posts on the galaxy boards have already started, mostly because there seems to be no addignore option. So an addignore features is a MUST.

Usability ... I am fine if the droid stops broadcasting after it runs out of batteries. However, if I have to stay within 500 m / within the same server zone there will be little use for me as a merchant and I expect almost no sales as a DE. The whole point of the merchant barker droid is to advertise for you in a high traffic region while you are able to do other things. I can give a waypoint in my shouted spam message too, so there is no added benefit from the merchant droid there if I have to hold its manipulator arm.

My 2 cent

have fun

Novarider

Just wanted to add in my 2 cents.

Most important:

Increase the message length to 255 characters, and allow segmented recording so merchants can create 'lists' with prices in the playback. (input similar to ad-barker, structure re-naming, or e-mail prompt)

Second most important:

Increase the spam-droid's intermission from 30 seconds to 60 seconds.

Also important:

Allow spam-droid to spam untill its power runs out, regardless of its distance from the owner. Once the power runs out, have it auto-store.