I've been playing that most critical effects such as the one where if you change speed, you suffer a damage or if you want to actually reveal your command dial you have to suffer a damage would cause you to draw a damage card.

But now it just seems like they just do "one damage". And I can suffer that in any hull zone I wish and lose just a shield, no? This seems to make a lot of critical effects not as bad as I thought they were, and abilities like boba fett's a lot less useful. I thought he, too, would cause a ship nearby to draw a damage card, but he just says he deals a damage to the ship, and it doesn't even say that it's from the hull zone he's in or a hull zone he could target, so they could just take a shield off the opposite side if they wanted. Is that correct?

That is correct.

The wording is very Specific...

If something merely "Does one Damage", then it is simply one point of damage... If the target hull zone is not specified, then indeed, it is the Defending Players Choice... Boba Fett doing 1, is exactly the same as Debris doing 2...

If something does "one Damage Card" however, that's an entirely different kettle of fish...

Of course, if your ship is trundling along with all of its shields burned off, then even 1 damage is going to be a hull point gone...