Why is it IMPOSSIBLE for SSG to code hirelings to behave as instructed?

[Mokune]

Is coding THAT difficult?
Is it SOOOOO tricky that NOBODY working for this company has the SKILLS to make a hireling actually STAND YOUR GROUND AND DO NOTHING WHEN SET TO PASSIVE?

Do you just not care? Why even have a PASSIVE setting if it doesn't work correctly when used.

 

[Lacci]

While I think coding some form of AI behaviour actually is relatively tricky, I think it´s more likely that this is just one more item on a long list of stuff they just don´t care to fix.

And it´s not only hirelings, this also affects pets, hireling, mobs ...

 

[dur]

Hirelings have always had their issues. Be grateful you have them at all.

 

[PersonMan]

If I had any reason to believe it were intentional then I would have less problem with it, if it were some actual "personality" trait that certain hirelings were less obedient and disliked being told to twiddle their thumbs and pull levers.
The same goes for mob pathing when rather than walking 2 meters straight to you they take a long ridiculous path around a pillar or something; if I had any reason to believe they were intentionally taking cover it would not bother me much.

 

[dur]

They do the same thing, over and over. Whether it be blow all their mana or watch you die.

 

[Blunt Hackett]

Yeah, it's unfortunate how broken they are. But you can improve that on your own. Resetting them helps a lot, and the easiest way to do that is running ahead (have faster running speed) and then calling them to you. Also, some skill AI is worse than others. I find divine hirelings with offensive spells tend to be poor choices because they break easily and waste spell points.

I tend to keep the ones that work best in my hireling folder so I don't forget which ones are worth using.

 

[kmoustakas]

Is coding THAT difficult?
Is it SOOOOO tricky that NOBODY working for this company has the SKILLS to make a hireling actually STAND YOUR GROUND AND DO NOTHING WHEN SET TO PASSIVE?

Do you just not care? Why even have a PASSIVE setting if it doesn't work correctly when used.

Have you seen how monsters behave? Hirelings are not even worse

Edit: If you want hirelings to behave, you have to wait for their previous command, wether yours or their own to finish. Otherwise, they do random stuff. If you summon them to you that breaks their order of commands for ever (for a while).

 

[Ptalon]

I'm surprised they work as good as they do.
it took a lot of effort to get them to work at all.

 

[Mokune]

It's specifically in PoP. Plant HIre, Command to Stay at lever in Passive mode. Enter room, have hire pull lever. Barrier goes up, mobs spawn, Hireling runs to help and dies in lightning, still in passive mode, stay mode on hot bar. But now a soul-stone.
Easily to plan work arounds but it's aggravating.

TBF some hirelings work great, much better than others. Doesn't seem to be rhyme or reason for them to behave this way in this quest.

I know they can do some funky stuff in other quests too. So....

 

[Mokune]

Have you seen how monsters behave? Hirelings are not even worse

Edit: If you want hirelings to behave, you have to wait for their previous command, wether yours or their own to finish. Otherwise, they do random stuff. If you summon them to you that breaks their order of commands for ever (for a while).

Watching mobs run circles around my guild mate's Epic LIch summons is an absolute riot. Heck, just watching it run amok is a hoot and half.

 

[Dandonk]

It's specifically in PoP. Plant HIre, Command to Stay at lever in Passive mode. Enter room, have hire pull lever. Barrier goes up, mobs spawn, Hireling runs to help and dies in lightning, still in passive mode, stay mode on hot bar. But now a soul-stone.

I can get it to work in there, and everywhere, consistently.

Turn on passive after summoning first time. Summon hire to lever. WAIT until the cooldown on the hireling hotbar has run out. THEN click stand ground. Then the hireling doesn't run off and die.

 

[Lazuli]

Hirelings are just lever pullers.

More than that, I only asked the hirelings two things, but they are incapable of fulfilling them: one, that when I put them in a stationary position they stay still. Of course, many times they don't do that. And when they are in a stationary position and I tell them to raise me, they do it. They don't do it either, I have to remove the stationary position from them.

 

[Lazuli]

I can get it to work in there, and everywhere, consistently.

Turn on passive after summoning first time. Summon hire to lever. WAIT until the cooldown on the hireling hotbar has run out. THEN click stand ground. Then the hireling doesn't run off and die.

No, even so there are times when they try to enter the room and die in the barrier. Stationary positions and brain offs, and still, they try.

 

[Dandonk]

No, even so there are times when they try to enter the room and die in the barrier. Stationary positions and brain offs, and still, they try.

Strange. I've used hires many many times in there, they never run off for me...

 

[Lazuli]

Strange. I've used hires many many times in there, they never run off for me...

I use them regularly for solo or duo that quest (so both players can fight), and it usually works, but other times, there are some irresponsible suicidal hire. If I had a platinum for every time I had to resurrect one of those irresponsible hires...

Another place where the hires test my patience is at the Reclaiming the rift barrier. Every time they interact with the rift barrier, they then run away from it and I have to put them stationary back into place.

But what tests my patience the most are the cleric hires who do not resurrect when you order them if they are in a stationary position. What does being still have to do with not obeying orders?

I don't expect the hires to have good AI that allows them to react intelligently, but I would say that expecting them to react appropriately to specific commands like "stay" or "resuscitate" is not too much to ask.

 

[mbartol]

I don’t think the OP was even getting into pathing or other active behavior. Simply setting them to passive/do nothing and setting the flag to stand ground should require ZERO cycles devoted to ANY action or behavior. Don’t continue to follow me into combat or a trapped area.

Edit: a lot of posts made covering the same idea before I came back and posted mine.

 

[Dandonk]

I don't expect the hires to have good AI that allows them to react intelligently, but I would say that expecting them to react appropriately to specific commands like "stay" or "resuscitate" is not too much to ask.

Strange that we have different experiences with lever pulling. But this is DDO, consistency is not exactly a given.

And yes, the hires definitely have trouble doing what's ordered in regards to raising and healing and stuff... /sigh

 

[AbyssalMage]

Is coding THAT difficult?
Is it SOOOOO tricky that NOBODY working for this company has the SKILLS to make a hireling actually STAND YOUR GROUND AND DO NOTHING WHEN SET TO PASSIVE?

Do you just not care? Why even have a PASSIVE setting if it doesn't work correctly when used.

I've been a proponent of permanent gold seal hirelings and fixing their AI (possibly funded by gold seal purchases).

I actually think they are worse now than when I started. The "fixes" they half-heartedly attempted years ago seem to be part of our current problems.

 

[Mokune]

I use them regularly for solo or duo that quest (so both players can fight), and it usually works, but other times, there are some irresponsible suicidal hire. If I had a platinum for every time I had to resurrect one of those irresponsible hires...

Another place where the hires test my patience is at the Reclaiming the rift barrier. Every time they interact with the rift barrier, they then run away from it and I have to put them stationary back into place.

But what tests my patience the most are the cleric hires who do not resurrect when you order them if they are in a stationary position. What does being still have to do with not obeying orders?

I don't expect the hires to have good AI that allows them to react intelligently, but I would say that expecting them to react appropriately to specific commands like "stay" or "resuscitate" is not too much to ask.

Another great example! I do the same dance in this quest with the hireling and the barrier. I have to run to barrier. Make hire click. Then summon and re-plant after they try and run off.

Every...single...time.

The broken-ness of hireling behavior is consistent in Reclaiming the Rift.

In PoP, at least SOME of the time the Hire will pull lever and stay put.

 

[dur]

Hirelings are more than level-pulllers, Yup. Just gotta get the one that suits yer needs.