Roche Hive Mechanical Apparatus Design and Construction Activity for Those Who Need the Hive's Machines
Roche Hive Mechanical Apparatus Design and Construction Activity for Those Who Need the Hive's Machines, more commonly referred to as simply Roche, was a technology manufacturing program operated by members of the Verpine species. Based in the Roche asteroids, the program was in direct competition with other technology companies, and struggled with entering the galactic market. Initially, Roche achieved only limited success with its insect-like droid designs. Later designs, such as the Siak-series protocol droid, were developed with humanoid customers in mind, and thus appealed to a far larger customer base.
Despite being one of the most successful non-Human droid manufacturers, Roche had trouble competing with other, larger companies, and was thus forced to distribute nearly exclusively in the Roche asteroids and aboard Ithorian Herdships.
History
Product development
Given the success of other Verpine technology efforts (such as Slayn & Korpil) and the species' tendency towards technophilia, it was only natural for them to eventually branch out into droid manufacturing.[1] Thus Roche Hive Mechanical Apparatus Design and Construction Activity for Those Who Need the Hive's Machines was founded.[2]
One of Roche's first designs, the J9 worker drone protocol droid, was a disaster. The droid strongly resembled its Verpine creators, spoke in a buzzy, insect-like manner, and frequently worked words such as "royal jelly" into its translations. This alienated most potential customers, especially those of mammalian species. The few J9s that were sold often ended up doing menial tasks; its "worker drone" title confused buyers into thinking it was a labor droid.[3]
Roche had more success with later, more humanoid-looking designs such as the 8D smelter droid[4] and the Siak-series protocol droid. For the Siak-series, Roche hired Human engineers to develop both the chassis and personality matrix, hoping to avoid the design flaws that kept humanoids from purchasing the J9. The result was a sales success.[1]
Products
Roche's Verpine engineers typically designed droids with insect-like appearances.[3] After learning that this was detrimental to sales, they started designing more humanoid droids. Roche models were typically either protocol or labor droids, though they were known to have manufactured at least one maintenance droid.[1]
Roche's first attempt at a protocol droid was the aforementioned J9 worker drone. Their successor protocol droid model, the Siak-series, addressed some of the major complaints with the J9, and thus sold in larger quantities.[1]
Labor droids designed by Roche included the 11-17-series mining droid, a joint project with Slayn & Korpil. The 11-17 was a sales failure—the model's individual droid brain was considered an unnecessary expense by most customers. The 8D smelter droid was a small revolution for the metal processing industry: prior to this extremely heat-resistant droid, most work was performed by automated equipment. The introduction of the 8D meant that several steps of the metal processing process could be streamlined.[4] The "Hatchling" maintenance droid, Roche's only known second degree droid model, was a versatile and cost-efficient repair unit that could be modified to perform a variety of tasks.[1]
Behind the scenes
Roche Hive Mechanical Apparatus Design and Construction Activity for Those Who Need the Hive's Machines first appeared in West End Games' roleplaying sourcebook Cynabar's Fantastic Technology: Droids.[1] Most mentions of the droid manufacturer have come from other roleplaying supplements and The Essential Guide to Droids.
Appearances
- "When the Desert Wind Turns: The Stormtrooper's Tale"—Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina (Mentioned only)
"Plant Food"—The Kathol Outback (Mentioned only)
Sources
- Galaxy Guide 7: Mos Eisley (as Roche)
- The DarkStryder Campaign (as Roche)
- Cynabar's Fantastic Technology: Droids
- The Essential Guide to Droids ("A Guide to Major Manufacturers")
- The Essential Guide to Droids ("8D8 Smelting Operator")
- The Essential Guide to Droids ("11-17 Miner Droid")
- The Essential Guide to Droids ("J9 Worker Drone")