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Drashk wrote:

My recommendation would be to remove the ability to reconstruct a droid and replace it with an anti-decay droid kit, gained through a quest, as suggested above. Make the kit similar to the new Reward Anti-Decay kits, in that if you delete the droid from your datapad, you gain the kit back, so that it can be placed on another droid.

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AudioOrgana wrote:

AO's Ad-Hoc Decay Proposal

1) A droid decays when used.  Perhaps using the vehicle model for the decay events - you loose a set amount of points every time you call them, and smaller amounts as they are out and used. 

2) When your droid has decayed, you must give it a complete retrofit.  To do so, you buy another droid deed off of a DE, and go to a special building in NPC cities (much like a ID tent) which we will call a "Droid Refurbishment Center" (DRC).  The deed must be of the same chassis, but may contain any modules (which will replace the ones in the droid being retrofitted).

3) The DRC, which is decked out like the droid "torture" chamber and repair facilities we saw in Jabba's Palace in ROTJ, features automated lifts like C-3PO was bathed in by Luke in ANH.  When a player goes up to one of these repair lifts (don't know what to call them - do they have an offical name?) they call their droid and the droid enters.

4) The player puts the new droid deed into the machine for "deconstruction".  The existing droid goes down into the vat of oil (or whatever) and the new deed is consumed.

5) Presto, out pops your droid good as new.

This proposal is advantageous because :

• It is decidedly "Star Warsy" - this emulates much better than a "kit" how it actually worked in the films (how many game systems can say that???)
• DE's are selling and more importantly making new droids that people need, not making yet another kit (no matter how many parts/components it takes, it's still a kit)
• Those that want modularity now have a way to do so without unbalancing the profession since new modules override the old ones
• People that want the role-playing aspect of keeping the same name/color/etc. can do so in a VERY Star-Warsy manner - the DRC takes the parts from the "new" droid and simply puts them in the "old" droid

Getting an actual decay system is the development hurdle - I don't think creating DFC's would be incredibly difficult.  The art for the droid "torture" and various static droid displays are already in-game, the interior itself could be modled after a player-city cloning facility; the only new asset that would be required would be for the drop chambers, which could be "cheated" by using an elevator-style door so they don't have to animate the droid actually going down. 

This makes Droids another step further to being "Star Warsy", it appeases the folks that enjoy droids for role-play (i.e. non-game mechanic-based reasons), and it gives DE's what we need the most - a reason to make more droids.

AO

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Wow........that's a great idea.  I don't know if this has been proposed before but I have to say I like this almost as much as the best concepts we've come up with so far.


To add to this...

• It's a great way to drive players to particularly 'dead' NPC cities.  Place the DRCs in NPC cities (initially) that need additional traffic.
  
  
• It could put refurbishment 'downtime' into one session.  We could still get "Refurbishment Kits" to slow the onset of decay but when it's time to rework the droid that is disabled, you'd only have one thing to do.
  
  
• I would suggest, however, that DRCs only be able to be used once or twice. The whole point of a decay system is to see DEs get repeat sales. This idea doesn't really fulfill that so we'd need to ensure that it could somehow.
  
  
• These could be a first step to some kind of "Upgrade" process. 
  
  
• Example:  Your MDE of choice meets you at the DRC and brings some parts / resources needed.  There would be a special MDE only crafting-type station that they'd have to operate as part of the upgrade.  The MDE might have to craft the parts needed to be replace and input them into the station (a la the DWB).
  
  
• To piggy to that, perhaps the refurbishment machine would need to be operated by the MDE and would have some kind of pass/fail mini-game, similar to some of the crafting mini-games found at the Village for FS folks.
  
  
• We could even go so far as to have some of the machinery needed for "DRC" type functions be craftable by Architects and be MDE-only devices.  We'd be able to buy them and put them in our shop, asking a client to stop by so we can maintain / overhaul / upgrade their droids.  This gives a reason for people to visit the shop in the first place which is a big part of what I'd bet a lot of MDEs would like.
  

I really think this sort of thing is worth looking into further...

/bow

Respectfully,

Message Edited by TheRealTK421 on 02-19-2005 06:27 AM

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Jenden wrote:

I like the idea of the droid refurbishment center. The only comment I really have is that you still need to offer players some way to slow down the maintenance of their droid if they take good care of it (the repair kits). Its something some players will use, some won't. Its not stopping us from selling new droids (slowing it down a bit, but not stopping it), and if we wanted to make it similar to the other repair kits out there just give it a chance of making the droid condition worse as well.

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TheRealTK421 wrote:

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Jenden wrote:

I like the idea of the droid refurbishment center. The only comment I really have is that you still need to offer players some way to slow down the maintenance of their droid if they take good care of it (the repair kits). Its something some players will use, some won't. Its not stopping us from selling new droids (slowing it down a bit, but not stopping it), and if we wanted to make it similar to the other repair kits out there just give it a chance of making the droid condition worse as well.

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What I'd suggest is....


Change the current Reconstruction Kits over to a player 'refurb' kit. The Recon. kits were a nice idea but I just don't see them getting used much if at all.

This has the benefit of getting out in the world faster by just changing the way an existing feature works == less coding time.

The DRC (a sort of 'oil bath' type thingie or somesuch) would be usable by the MDE on their own droids in addition to the Recon. kits.

Leveraging current features (with some changes) into a new solution would likely be more palatable to the Devs since it means we get the new system with less work.


/bow

Respectfully,

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• It could help drive people to NPC cities.  I'd suggest the DRC NPC facilities not be located in main cities, however. Those are already populated enough as it is. 
  
  
• Example:  Put the NPC DRC facilities in places like Vreni Island on Corellia.
  
  
  
• It means droid users don't "have" to track down an MDE to get their droid refurbished.  If they needed to do it quickly, they'd always have the option to hit the NPC city facility.  In addition, since it would likely take credits, it's a great additional credit sink for the game.
  
  
• The actual oil bath or machinery would/could be a new Architect craftable, which makes the solution yet more attractive since it helps more than one profession.  I would suggest that whatever the machinery is to do this require parts both from a Master Artisan, an MDE and an MArch.  To make them even more valuable, perhaps it would require some kind of new looted part or quested reward part (a la Drashk's Jawa Sandcrawler mission/quest suggestion).
  
  
• It's WAY Star-Warsy to have to 'dip' your droid or whatever they used.  This gives a great opportunity for added immersion.
  
  
• It might even suggest some kind of add-on part that might negate the need for Recon. kits.  I was thinking something like a "Restraining Bolt" or whatever that would slow down droid decay by X%.  It could only be installed by use of the DRC machine.

Just spit-balling here...but I'm really starting to dig on this idea since there are so many upsides to it.


"Blue-Sky Idea":   The Machine is operated by Pit-Droids (and perhaps this would be the 'part' that the MDE would need to get to the MArch before the machinery could be craftable).  It might be that if you added 1 Pit-droid to the schematic, you'd get X% of refurbishment capability.  2 Pit droids = Y% and 3 Pit droids = Z%. 

If the machine has X% of refurb. power, you might have to 'dip' the droid several times (costing more, since a player had to pay for multiple 'dips'). 


/shrug

/bow

Respectfully,

Message Edited by TheRealTK421 on 02-19-2005 08:16 AM

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YodaMac wrote:

Not liking the one-time quest idea much, as there are already too many quests in the game that require combat to complete.  Crafters are always left out. 


The latest idea being kicked around could be set up not to require combat, but just some craftables to create the machinery needed to do the 'refurb'.  I'd like to see this take some time, though, so that it would be worthwhile to have the NPC city facilities added.

The Devs would like to (I'm sure) see some of the less-visited NPC cities come alive more and this would be a perfect method to get part of the way there.

Any idea that can kill several durnis with one stone is a LOT more likely get in the game...


And I don't want a situation to end up where other players have to complete the quests and then sell the item on the bazaar to DE's. 


I agree that we don't want to have to rely on combat players to get this system in place. However, I think it's perfectly logical and good idea to require some interdependence to craft any higher-level refurbishment machinery that might be added.  It gives opportunity and such many crafting profs. at once...a big plus to that kind of idea.


I don't want my droids lives to depend on other players.  Not saying that would happen, but the DEVs have a way of twisting things sometimes.  And that doesnt solve the problem of me losing my other four droids if it's a one-time only thing.


I think you will want to resign yourself to the fact that there are a LOT of MDEs that want to see decay get in the game.  I know you're against it but over time I can say that I overwhelming see this issue come down on the side of DEs that want decay vs. those that don't.

So, those other 4 droids are very likely to need replacement or refurbishment or whatever you want to call it.

I will personally be pushing VERY hard to see this occurs...since it's in the best interests of the DE profession.

 

It sounded like AO's other concept required you to buy a deed (and of the same kind?) from a DE anyways, so why bother with all the "droid lifts" and other stuff?  Not sure that makes any sense.  Could you clarify this?

It was just spit-balling.  I think it should be:

• Refurbishment (with no modules/parts broken):  NPC city facility using credit maintenance fee.
  
  
• Refurbishment (where some modules/parts need replacement):  Player-based "DRC" machinery, craftable only via MA, MDE and MArch working together.  These would be installable in houses/structures but could only be operated by MDEs (via use of some kind of 'mini-game').  They might require replacement modules/parts be added to the machines input hopper and could be a step toward a much-wanted "Upgrade" system.

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Message Edited by TheRealTK421 on 02-19-2005 08:19 AM

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Jenden wrote:

TK, you talk about them going in NPC cities... but being player craftable? not sure how that works out, might want to clarify a bit.

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I did a bit of this above (/pointsUp).


I envision 2 versions of a "DRC" feature:

• The NPC city facility (similar to a garage):  These go in less-traveled NPC cities, to help 'liven' them up some, and would only require the player to pay a credit fee (similar, again, to garages).  It also offers a great way to have immersive downtime and a possibility for social interaction.
  
  
• The DRC "machine":  These would be player crafted and could go in houses/guild halls, etc.  Craftable by MArchs and use parts provided both from MAs and MDEs.   Per my earlier suggestion, make the 'quality' of the machine's capability by tied to the number of Pit Droids added (or whatever) or the quality of some/all of the parts used during construction.  The quality might affect the number of 'dips' or the time to complete the refurb process.  If you had a "perfect" DRC machine, you might finish the refurb in....say....20 min?  An average one might be closer to an hour.  A horrible one might be 90 min. 
  
  
• I'd like to see these be the machines be the only ones capable of replacing broken modules or parts (if such a thing were added either with this system or later on). This means that players could sometimes just hit the NPC city but other times would HAVE to find an MDE with one of these machines.
  
  
• By doing this, it also means that we might have the basis of a working Upgrade system, so that when a module broke, they could simply be replaced with whatever the MDE put into the input hopper on the DRC machine.
  
• We could expand this so that the DRC machine could be used to do Upgrades at ANY time (even on a 100% Integrity droid) but that this would require more credits, more time, more resources or whatever. 

It's true that this partly turns us into a 'service' (repair) profession.  However, using the sort of idea above...I don't mind.  Because it is a WAYYYY immersive way to do it, it drives traffic to my shop and provides the players with a lot of the things they have wanted for awhile (a way to upgrade existing droids).

Again...I'm just spit balling here but I think this sort of system is very attractive in a number of ways, both to players and to the Devs.

Be aware that I'd still like to see the "Reconstruction Kits" be changed so that anyone can use them on their droid to slow down the rate of decay (and need for refurbishment). I just don't see/hear of a lot of DEs using them on their droids. With the type of system laid out above, they would be redundant since a DE could just 'dip' his/her droid any old time they wanted.


To take that even further.....

New MDE Perk:   All droids in an MDEs datapad could be refurbed endlessly by the DRC machine (only, not the NPC facility).  This means that an only an MDE can keep all of his/her droids in perfect condition forever.  Any other players would require more 'work' to keep his/her droids in whatever state they wanted.


/bow

Respectfully,

Message Edited by TheRealTK421 on 02-19-2005 08:20 AM