Architect is in desperate need

Architect is in desperate need
This idea/suggestion is Open. You can respond to ask questions or discuss the idea and either vote it up or down if you believe it should or should not be implemented, respectively. Popular suggestions and ideas will be considered by the development team to become reality in-game.
Proposal
Architects should have items that they can make that are consumable to stimulate activity on the profession.

My proposed items and changes are as follows:

1. An item that boosts installations productivity

2. An item that can be dropped in space to store loot temporarily and can be picked up later(lasts 2 hours or something)

3. Camp functionality should be expanded(they already see underuse) to provide a luck bonus in a radius around them(allowing them to serve as bases of operations while farming holocrons or other rare loot)

If not these optional consumables, something. It doesn't have to be my exact vision, but the over-arching point of this post should be discernable from these examples.
Justification
This will stimulate the economy and be a much needed boon to the architect profession. It is currently dull and has an absolute over saturation of it's goods on the market. We need to add something to architect that makes it feel like a viable, fun choice of crafter to play.
Motivation
If something does not change with architect, it will become this strange forgotten stepchild skill line that is just unused except by a select few and only very rarely. The amount of homes, furniture and installations in the game world is only growing and some consumable activity HAS to be given to this skill line.
Architects need consumables in their tree. I recommend an item that boosts installations productivity, an item that can be dropped in space to store loot temporarily and can be picked up later(lasts 2 hours or something), and camp functionality should be expanded(they already see underuse) to provide a luck bonus in a radius around them(allowing them to serve as bases of operations while farming holocrons or other rare loot). More items could be added as well.

The truth is that ALL crafting in this game needs consumables and reasons for player engagement. It is very unhealthy for the game and the class if a crafting profession is ever unneeded in the economy.
 
I'm all for architects getting more attention - including consumables. I'm not in love with any of these proposed ideas, however.
 
I'm all for architects getting more attention - including consumables. I'm not in love with any of these proposed ideas, however.
I am not really a crafter, so it isn't exactly my area of expertise, but I recognize that this skill tree in particular is stagnant as things stand now.
 
Architects need consumables in their tree. I recommend an item that boosts installations productivity, an item that can be dropped in space to store loot temporarily and can be picked up later(lasts 2 hours or something), and camp functionality should be expanded(they already see underuse) to provide a luck bonus in a radius around them(allowing them to serve as bases of operations while farming holocrons or other rare loot). More items could be added as well.

The truth is that ALL crafting in this game needs consumables and reasons for player engagement. It is very unhealthy for the game and the class if a crafting profession is ever

Architects need consumables in their tree. I recommend an item that boosts installations productivity, an item that can be dropped in space to store loot temporarily and can be picked up later(lasts 2 hours or something), and camp functionality should be expanded(they already see underuse) to provide a luck bonus in a radius around them(allowing them to serve as bases of operations while farming holocrons or other rare loot). More items could be added as well.

The truth is that ALL crafting in this game needs consumables and reasons for player engagement. It is very unhealthy for the game and the class if a crafting profession is ever unneeded in the economy.
I think a consumable that hides your camp from other players not in your group would be great, The ability to craft items that can be placed outside like story teller would also be great, this too could be a consumable, or just an additional option to add another component during the crafting screen. Other than giving crafters additional custom assets to craft, preferably ones that are behind some kind of progression barrier/ quest such as the quests to make elites or RIS I really don’t think this class will ever be valuable. Which is a shame considering how integral it is to the game.
 
consumables like structure paints interior and exterior that fade over time, temporary storage containers for structures increasing capacity for a minimal amount of time, add in a degradation of furniture. with consumable repair kits. color customization kits for furniture. make additional lighting require an electrical generator or a fuel type the generators would need a fuel cell to operate, camps would need a generator to operate. structures that have these additions could have maintenance reductions. spread the wealth to architects. items that require water need a pumping system "i.e... Fountains, Plants " could also implement that electrical items "i.e... Crafting stations" require power to operate much like harvesters but require a generator that uses consumable fuel cells that architects produce, and not the resource type power. Use the architect to facilitate generators and fuels cells. Candles will burn down and have to be replaced not the holder otherwise will not give off light. when a harvester has a Maintenance cost or when power is added a kit could be made to give it a buff on length of time, and extraction rate. luxuries in home should have an associated consumable cost structure that architects can facilitate. as well as a degradation system put in place.
 
temporary storage containers for structures increasing capacity for a minimal amount of time,

Doubt that is possible and maybe just a impulse idea. What happens when a house is full and the time runs out and all the scenario's that go with that. The paints sound nice like color kits for structures and such.
 
temporary storage containers for structures increasing capacity for a minimal amount of time,

Doubt that is possible and maybe just a impulse idea. What happens when a house is full and the time runs out and all the scenario's that go with that. The paints sound nice like color kits for structures and such.
temporary storage : items in storage would be packed up and a fee would be imposed to retrieve and once retrieved the storage would go away. I was just brain storming being a master architect my self. an economy system needs implementing for architect.
 
temporary storage : items in storage would be packed up and a fee would be imposed to retrieve and once retrieved the storage would go away. I was just brain storming being a master architect my self. an economy system needs implementing for architect.
Yeah I know and I liked most of what you thought up. Keep in mind that anything new that is not in the game would probably be harder to code/make then things already in game that could be modified. Love the ideas of paints/colors for buildings (could inside and out) as well as making things like streetlights with different color lights etc. A lot of cosmetic things would be interesting to see along with the other suggestions. I think once the city updates come out folks will have a better idea and which way to go as it sounds like some nice changes coming.
 
I am very against this Idea of increasing storage temporary, though I've struggled with item limits given my desire to completely cover my walls, ceiling, and floor, so, perhaps just an Item that can give a small increase to item limit ie, 25 with either 1 to 5 slots that the item can be consumed by the structure and is permanent and permanently attached to the structure. The comp or comps can be rare drops from mobs, this would increase the cost of such an item as something like this should not be dirt cheap.
 
Yeah I know and I liked most of what you thought up. Keep in mind that anything new that is not in the game would probably be harder to code/make then things already in game that could be modified. Love the ideas of paints/colors for buildings (could inside and out) as well as making things like streetlights with different color lights etc. A lot of cosmetic things would be interesting to see along with the other suggestions. I think once the city updates come out folks will have a better idea and which way to go as it sounds like some nice changes coming.
There already is a paint kit for outside of the house. Would be good to add more colors to it, and colors that work (not really all that noticeable of a change sometimes). Would just need to do something similar for inside, but would need lots of colors to choose from when applying the paint. Streetlights already have different color lights -- White, blue, green and red.
 
2. An item that can be dropped in space to store loot temporarily and can be picked up later(lasts 2 hours or something)

I immediately thought of the Mobile Tractor Units from EVE when I read this.

We'd jump to a combat site, drop the MTU then start killing NPCs. The MTU would pull all the loot in from a radius.
I could jump out to another site and start the kill chain there.

Once I was done, jump back to the original site and haul in the MTU with the goods. I could sift through and keep the good stuff, then jettison the rest.
Then jump back to site #2 and do the same thing.

It was an effective way to earn junk loot. It was just vulnerable to PvP attacks.

If something like this were added to the game, why wouldn't this be a Shipwright or (maybe) a Droid Engineer schematic?
 
Before more items are added for the architect, I believe the current architects need to learn how to price their goods. Everything is so cheap, that we would all be better off just selling our resources. Of course, if no one was making anything there would be no one to buy the resources. I did some rough calculations for one item, one of the more popular, and Elite Mineral Harvester. This harvester uses 79,110 units of various resources. 6285 units are high quality resources. They are listed on the market from 99,000 to 150,000. High quality resources, in particular duralloy steel, is listed from a low of 1.25 to 50 credits per unit (and some higher, but not many). Run of the mill resources were around 1 to 2 credits per unit. There were some higher and much higher, but most for around 1-2 credits. So taking the more probable scenario of 2 credits for the run of the mill and 5 credits for the high quality (which would be cheap), it would cost 177,075 to make a harvester. If you don't sell for more than this, you might as well just sell your resources. In live, I had a friend who was much more mathematically inclined than myself and he figured the cost of resources by the amount of credits and cost of power to run them and came up with a per unit cost. Of course, this all depends upon the density of the resource, BER of the harvester, etc. All gives me a headache. He came up with 3 credits per unit. That is how I priced my goods. An elite mineral was $240,000 credits. Now think about this, a weaponsmith hardly uses any resources at all in making any weapon, at least compared to the architect. They sell their top of the line weapons for millions of credits making how much per unit of resource?? A hell of a lot more than 1.25 to 1.9 (approximates) that we are selling our harvesters. And a weapon wears out, eventually needing to be replaced, the harvester does not.

So how does the architect become a viable profession if we add more items, and consumable items, if we just sell them on the cheap. With all that said, I have no idea how we could get our prices up because everyone wants to undercut everyone else so they can get their goods sold, and it works, I know because I have done it just like others have. In fact, I think I may be responsible for getting the prices down to 125,000. All the harvesters were being sold for something more than this and so I priced mine just a little bit lower and they were flying off my vendor faster than I could get them made. But I have drawn the line and refuse to sell them any cheaper because they already are way too cheap. And it isn't like no one on this server could not afford an elite harvester for 240,000 credits.
 
Before more items are added for the architect, I believe the current architects need to learn how to price their goods. Everything is so cheap, that we would all be better off just selling our resources. Of course, if no one was making anything there would be no one to buy the resources. I did some rough calculations for one item, one of the more popular, and Elite Mineral Harvester. This harvester uses 79,110 units of various resources. 6285 units are high quality resources. They are listed on the market from 99,000 to 150,000. High quality resources, in particular duralloy steel, is listed from a low of 1.25 to 50 credits per unit (and some higher, but not many). Run of the mill resources were around 1 to 2 credits per unit. There were some higher and much higher, but most for around 1-2 credits. So taking the more probable scenario of 2 credits for the run of the mill and 5 credits for the high quality (which would be cheap), it would cost 177,075 to make a harvester. If you don't sell for more than this, you might as well just sell your resources. In live, I had a friend who was much more mathematically inclined than myself and he figured the cost of resources by the amount of credits and cost of power to run them and came up with a per unit cost. Of course, this all depends upon the density of the resource, BER of the harvester, etc. All gives me a headache. He came up with 3 credits per unit. That is how I priced my goods. An elite mineral was $240,000 credits. Now think about this, a weaponsmith hardly uses any resources at all in making any weapon, at least compared to the architect. They sell their top of the line weapons for millions of credits making how much per unit of resource?? A hell of a lot more than 1.25 to 1.9 (approximates) that we are selling our harvesters. And a weapon wears out, eventually needing to be replaced, the harvester does not.

So how does the architect become a viable profession if we add more items, and consumable items, if we just sell them on the cheap. With all that said, I have no idea how we could get our prices up because everyone wants to undercut everyone else so they can get their goods sold, and it works, I know because I have done it just like others have. In fact, I think I may be responsible for getting the prices down to 125,000. All the harvesters were being sold for something more than this and so I priced mine just a little bit lower and they were flying off my vendor faster than I could get them made. But I have drawn the line and refuse to sell them any cheaper because they already are way too cheap. And it isn't like no one on this server could not afford an elite harvester for 240,000 credits.
I 100% agree here. I honestly quit making Architect goodies and began farming resources for this reason.

I just do not understand cutting our market like this.
I even dabbled a bit into Weaponsmith and then to DE and I was amazed at how little resources they need.
 
100% agree about the harvestor pricing. That is an anomaly for Architects though, almost everything else we can make we can use the worst resources available that cost 1cpu or less. Consumable items is a very good idea imo and would certainly stimulate the market as long as they are viable items.
 
Just keep in mind they already said they are thinking about adding the piece where harvs basically decay and need replacing at some point.
 
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Architect prices get undercut because there are too many of them. You don't need that many architects when all the structures are permanent. So, what you get is a bunch of people with product they can't get rid of and they figure they'd rather get something for it instead of having it sit on the vendor for months. The other issue is that there is no way to distinguish yourself as an architect. It's too easy to cap the BER on harvesters and not enough people care about getting an extra 15% hopper storage to allow any kind of markup for that.
 
Architects definitely need love, much like tailors, but I think initially it comes from harvesters decaying and eventually breaking rather than being permanent.

Consumables is a great idea, and could range from colour paint and texture kits (paint your walls/floors/ceilings?) to changing how camp kits work to make them more desirable. Perhaps locking down who can take a shuttle to them/use them as cloning locations/convenience tools for things like farming.
 
I feel the biggest problem with Architect is the insanely fast levelling up from Novice to Master. Being so fast, everybody can do it with a decent amount of planning out the rss you need in under 2 hours. Then make 10 of the biggest mining deeds for each rss type and you're set. Craft high quality deeds and undersell what is on the market. And if you can't sell enough deeds, you can start mining the things the other professions need via resources. SO any changes should start with how easy a profession it is to get to master, that alone could go a long way towards equality.
 
We have vehicle repair kits, we have weapon and armor repair kits, there are now Droid repair tools.
Each requires someone with the appropriate skill and the appropriate tools to perform the necessary repairs. It seems an extension of the thought exercise that sandstorms on Lok and Tatooine would cause exterior damage to structures, that rainstorms on Naboo or Rori would cause (toxic?) mold to grow... each planet could have 1-3 different environmental conditions that cause decay to any structures.
Enter the Architect, who surveys the damage and remediates or repairs the damage.

Of course, the necessary maintenance fees would still need to be paid, but (in addition to above) the degree of damage would impact them... peak harvester efficiency at 80% would mean a 20% reduction in BER, or people would be less willing to do business with the merchant whose house has an infestation of roaches, meaning a mechanism similar to sales tax would impact the revenue generated by vendors inside.
 
A large structure could have a small buff relevant to its purpose. Such as a cantina could provide additional buff effeciencies, same with a med center. assembly bonuses to guild halls, bonuses to exrraction rates and so on.

These buffs are at maximum when the structure is built, say 5% (as an example). And over time, this buff goes to zero. The structure is fine, just the buff is gone.

An architect could have a renovate ability drawn up from the radial on the structure, which could restore the buff back to its original state at the cost of resources, perhaps a percentage of the original resource cost.