This! Note to self, get these suggestions over to the Dev Team immediately. Think about what can be done in just a few days of effort! Yah, if only! Thanks for ending the week with a smile! --Keith-

As of right now, it is not a Legacy currency. But, I know exactly what you're thinking, so let me pre-announce something which I suspect will make you smile, while at the same time, irritate you because I won't tell you when until I update the Roadmap. We are working to change currencies to be Legacy based. This includes unassembled components, credits, the Umbara currency, and more. I'm not aware of any major obstacles preventing this from happening, and doing so will help with a number of changes we are planning for the future. I know that doesn't solve the concern about having to run the Flashpoint multiple times on one character, but once you have the Key to open the Stronghold, you can use the currency for other items on the vendor. Have a good weekend, -Keith--

You're on a roll today! The idea here is to reduce the cost of buying a stronghold by using your investment in time to lower the overall acquisition cost versus paying the full pop with either Cartel Coins or credits. We thought, hey, let's try something new where an activity you'd do anyway, you could benefit from your efforts and obtain a key from a currency you automatically get by running the Flashpoint. Unless we change it before release, 10x for Story/solo mode, or 6x for Veteran, or 3x for Master Mode will give you enough currency to buy the Key from the vendor. What I don't know, yet, is the reduction amount for credits or Cartel Coins. Soon as that gets finalized, we'll post it up. Keith---

Thanks for all the feedback. I'll take up a number of the points you raised with the team, including the 242 for Master Mode on Umbara. You also asked about Legacy Currencies, additional class balancing, Strongholds, and more, so I'll update the Roadmap to include many of those items, along with any additional insight, where possible. There's a lot of criticism in this thread, a lot of good ideas, some confusion, a bunch of frustration. and a ton of passion about SWTOR. I've also read that we don't play the game, have no understanding of MMOs, and most of decisions are the opposite of smart. I get it and I think most of you know realize we're not going to please everyone, and no matter how many changes we make, someone is going to be unhappy and call us out. I know we'll continue to improve the game, we'll continue to refine every area, we'll add new content regularly for a wide variety of different play styles - some will get strongholds, some will get PvP, GSF, Operation Bosses, New Flashpoints, Story, and more. I also know we'll make mistakes along the way, and you'll be able to help us course correct, yet I still want the Dev Team to take chances, to push themselves and strive to be better and provide a lot of fun for all of us who play this game. I've also read some of you are tossing in the towel and are leaving us. That obviously saddens me as the game is better when everyone works together. I have valued your input, have tried to understand your frustration while working with the team to get your concerns addressed. Not everything is as it seems, but I respect your decision and look to earn your business again in the near future. Hope everyone is taking full advantage of the bonus CXP week. Have a great weekend. Keith---

Hey everyone, We are quite a few weeks away from publishing the next 90 day update for our SWTOR Roadmap. We solidified our content plan and release schedule, so I’ll include all those details in the update. But, as you know, we’re really trying to provide you with more insight than ever before, and I’d like to know what other information you’d want to see in the Roadmap. Obviously, I can’t promise to include everything, but will do my best to address a wide variety of your requests. Many of you read the SWTOR roadmap (http://www.swtor.com/info/news/news-article/20170531), and realize I had left you with an elusive “and more to come…” in the Game Update 5.4 section. I thought this would be a good time to let you know what will be released on August 22nd with the next game update. Here’s a few highlights of what you can expect: Crisis on Umbara – Our story will continue in a new Flashpoint coming on the planet of Umbara. This Flashpoint will launch with all 3 difficulties, Story, Veteran and Master. For Umbara’s Master Mode we are trying something new, and depending on how well it goes, we may do something similar for all Master Mode Flashpoints. Specifically, a player will need to have an average gear rating of 242 to use Group Finder. We won’t prevent pre-made groups from going in directly, but this will prevent under-geared players from slowing down your group. We’re adding a new average rating identifier on your character window which will be based on the items you have ‘equipped’. Umbara Stronghold – This is the most unique stronghold yet, as you will be able to decorate your own moving train. You’ll need to complete the flashpoint a few times to gain access to the stronghold. Look for more details about the Stronghold in an upcoming post. Companion Customization – Senya Tirall can now have her weapons and armor customized. Also, Lana, Koth, and Senya’s hairstyles are available for purchase to customize your character. Quality of Life – Companions can now be summoned while moving. A new feature on the in-game Preference screen has been added for higher graphic settings to improve the realism of contrast and shadows. Class balance – The following Disciplines are receiving changes (details will follow in the next few weeks): Lethality / Ruffian Concealment / Scrapper Medicine / Sawbones Fury / Concentration Carnage / Combat [*]Season 8 will be coming to an end! We will post the full breakdown of rewards with screenshots in the coming weeks but in the meantime… the top rewards include a full weapon set and a new Ember Makrin Mount. [*]We are making changes to daily and weekly mission rewards for PvP with the intent of substantially improving Unassembled Component gain for players who complete both Ranked and Unranked missions. Back to the Roadmap update for a moment as I’d like to provide some guidelines about the feedback. Be concise and specific. Think how it will affect other players, fairness, progression, impact, to help us truly understand and weigh your thoughts against the entire plan/direction. Keep in mind, our goal for this year was to put us on a track of providing new and challenging multi-player content, while addressing all the gameplay systems in SWTOR. It does mean spreading content out over the year, but I still believe having access to content sooner is more desirable than having to wait a year to get it all at once. Chat with you all soon. Keith

I checked and any changes pertaining to Certificates are in the backlog, but not scheduled. Looking at the Roadmap for the next 90+ days, I don't see the priority getting raised enough to make it on the active list. I know that's not what you wanted to read, so apologies for being the bearer of bad news. With respect to a Roadmap update, we're working on it and I'll post updates in a different thread sometime soon (so please don't ask about it here). ---Keith

My bad all! I totally forgot to follow up with the team. I owe you an update. Let me see what I can find out. -Keith--

Not quite as old as Yoda, but suspect I'd give Obiwan... It looks like we've completely hijacked this thread, but let me address your questions and then just know I'll update the Roadmap/start a new thread that provides details about the next 90 days. Keep in mind, I've learned from last time not to commit to a date of availability! Big picture wise is re-engaging all of our systems (Ops, FPs, PvP, Story, GSF, Strongholds), and yes, QoL which means bugs or changes with a specific focus in mind (e.g., Group Finder, performance related-both server and client, gameplay experience - removing steps - like auto-completing quests, and more). Even though we will also add or extend story content, our primary focus is on Multi-player and repeatable content. We absolutely have a Master List of bugs in our internal database and virtually every day, we triage the list to determine what's included in the next patch. When we do QoL changes, we review areas that will be changed and see if there are bugs or enhancements we can make within those same areas. With all the recent issues, I can see why we get hammered when problems arise, but I think everyone also knows anytime you change something, you increase the risk of breaking something else. We test extensively, yet, stuff still happens. We have a bug forum and that's reviewed every day, too. Issues are provided to our QA team, so if you have something specific, especially something game-breaking report it there. If you discover an exploit, PM Musco right away. I'm not sure what we're doing about DX11 or DX12, but, just like how this thread started, I'll definitely have it looked into. ---Keith

if you are referring to the Microsoft Windows 10 crashes, that was fixed by Microsoft and if you update to the latest windows patch (KB4025342-OS Build 15063.483), that should resolve the issues. With respect to Preview bugs, we know and have made a variety of changes to it, but it still needs a lot of work, and like the animation request, it's also not game breaking, so it hasn't made it to a priority list either. On the animation question, he had asked if we would investigate it and I said we would, so I thought it was reasonable to respond to his inquiry. Keith---

Interesting...let me ask. -Keith--

Doesn't this fall under the, "I can't help myssssssssssseeelf category?" I did say we would seriously look into it, and we actually think it'd be a fun change. Yet, allowing custom animations or VFX changes on characters is not as simple as it may sound. It's been added to our big list, but right now, it's not a high priority change. When that happens, will definitely let you know. Keith---

Well that made me laugh.

Thanks! Servers should be up soon!

I agree. It's been a terrible week. The new servers are causing us a lot of grief and we are trying to get them stabilized. Obviously, it's very disappointing as we thought we finally resolved the issues a couple weeks ago. Then added to the issues we caused this week we fully understand your frustration with us. At this point we are focused on getting everything properly restarted. We will keep you apprised.

Or made up to look like Kai Zykken! -Keith--

It's unlikely, as the DB was clear before we took it down. But, if you did, PM me which character on Jedi Covenant and what you lost. I'll have it looked into and restored.

It looks like Jedi Covenant was not playing nicely tonight. We've taken it offline and are reviewing what was happening. The other East Coast servers queues have cleared and appear to be operating normally. We'll keep you posted. Rough week...sorry about this everyone. ---Keith

Hey, in the Friction Point thread, Bret Hoffman let everyone know he was reading the posts. You are right that there hasn't been a back-and-forth discussion, but the team wanted to get everyone's feedback and formulate an action plan moving forward. Here's the message from Bret:

Hey all, Let’s review today’s Crystals and Weapon Tuning change and what caused it. With Patch 5.2.2, we made a change so everyone could take advantage of the Weapon Tunings across their account. We did that by adding them into Collections. This is the same process we use for Flairs, Armor Sets, Mounts, Crystals, Weapons, Pets, and more. This appeared to be a very welcomed change, but over the past month we found out players were subverting the collection system by using an exploit related to Legacy Weapons. Sure, you can argue it’s been that way for a long time, but Weapon Tunings were new and being able to use them across your entire account is a cool benefit. What happened is some players would add the Tuning to a legacy weapon, send to an Alt, remove it on that Alt, re-add it to the weapon, which would then incorrectly unlock it in Collections on that toon. They would then send that weapon to all of their toons and perform the same process. Thus circumventing the entire collection system and obtaining Weapon Tunings for their legacy without having to pay for it. As everyone has pointed out, Crystals sold via the Cartel Market could also be collection unlocked this way, and in fact, as players have clearly stated in this thread, they’ve been doing that for a very long time. We did not impact the ability to use Crystals and Tunings in Legacy Weapons and we did not prevent you transferring mods, hilts, barrels, augments, or enhancements, through your legacy weapons (which I do all the time). This change did create a situation for all of us who are using Collections properly where there is an added step (and credit cost) to moving weapons. Our plan with Patch 5.4 in August is to resolve this new issue by allowing Collection Unlocked Crystals and Tunings to be transferred using your legacy weapons as you did previously (no cost/no removing of the items first). As most of you already know, we do not communicate details about exploits and typically only acknowledge their existence after a fix has been deployed. In this case, we included it with our Patch Notes yesterday so you knew ahead of time what we were doing today. I also know this makes some of you unhappy, but the loophole needed to be closed and we did that in today’s patch. ---Keith

Hey everyone, I've stared at my comments and your reactions, read every post in this thread, and came to realize how wrong I was yesterday for making that post. I'd love to chalk it up as a newb action, but that'd just be an excuse for underestimating the impact from our words, our comments, our reactions, and for the time being, especially mine. I just finished the articles recommended by Deewe: I really liked the outline of the Criticism article and for those who haven't had a chance to read it, here's the bullets: Everyone who dislikes your work is right The criticism that is useful is that which helps you do it better Nothing’s perfect You often have to choose between your ideals and your message You have to dig to get the gold Good feedback is detailed People who tell you you’re awesome are useless. No, dangerous Someone asked for feedback will always find something wrong Good work may not have an audience Any feedback that comes with suggestions for improvement is awesome If you agree with the criticism, say “thank you.” If you disagree, say “fair enough,” and “thank you" You are not your work It's a great guide for me and the entire SWTOR Team and I'll do my very best to ensure all of us follow the advice offered. What I find the most humbling is the outreach from many of you, in these forums, and in personal messages. You've told me how you feel and provided me with insightful guidance and suggestions for the future. You didn't lash out, as I honestly believe everyone knows I was not trying to be vindictive or suggest you cannot criticize me or the Dev Team. Yet, that's exactly how I came across, and I apologize both for my comments, but also for the thought processes that led me down that path. Thank you for your continued patience with me and I promise to continue making mistakes while learning from them and doing what I can to make things better. Respectfully, Keith

Actually, when you view it plainly, it says dumping over anyone with a different viewpoint is not OK. But, I was attempting to course correct the thread, not hijack it. As I stated in the Roadmap, part of opening dialog requires that we set expectations to ensure our conversations and debates remain productive. I should have already communicated the following to everyone: I completely agree with discourse, debates, and telling us about your utter dissatisfaction about something we've implemented in the game, or the way we told a story. In return, I ask for civility, commentary without the insults, and when possible, for actionable feedback. This isn't about hiding behind a defensive wall, it's about treating others (not just the Dev Team), with respect and allowing them to provide their viewpoints without being mocked and mistreated. Not everyone likes to be bashed around and for many, they simply don't participate which narrows the view to just a few players. That's not healthy for our game, either. I do apologize for jumping into this thread and derailing the conversation. If possible, let's agree to stop any further comments about this and get back to the purpose of the thread. How about we start up a new thread about forum decorum (yah, I know, but it rhymed) where I'll be happy to participate.

Hey all, We have a long weekend ahead of us, but I'll check with the team next week to see what we have planned for Certificates or changes to the Slot Machine. If I remember right, that was one of those, let's not do that again situations, but I'll find out. If it's horrible news, I'll have Musco post it up. haha. ---Keith

Hey Charles, Although a portion of this is a gold post, please read it from my perspective as a player. Thank you for taking the time to write this up. I can tell how much you wanted to explain and how diligent you were to provide the details about KotFE and KotET. Everyone has been asking for more communication from the Dev Team, and you have done just that and I know we can count on more insight from you going forward. I find it strange when anyone, who's never been on a Dev Team, been a writer, had to deliver a story, work with the voice actors, adjust the dialog, make changes to the Cinematics, and keep our attention through a great story, simply brush it aside or make snide remarks. It may nor may not be what we all wanted and we all have our opinions, but personally, if I was sitting across the table from you, and you told me this story, I would be more in awe and feel very humbled to just have that opportunity. Now from Keith the Lead Producer and the guy who happens to sit next to you each day, I loved reading this tonight and am extremely thankful you are on the SWTOR team. Every day I get the chance to interact with you, discuss ideas, kick around new functions and features, talk about where you want to take the story, what areas of the game we want to see enhanced, what threads we should be responding to, what we want to do at our next Live Stream or the upcoming Cantina, and more. I seriously cannot wait to give everyone more details about what we're planning and when we plan to release it. I sincerely appreciate your enthusiasm for the game and your leadership. Have a fun and safe 4th of July weekend. All the best, Keith

Hey, There's been many questions similar to yours, plus quite a few PMs (still reading those), asking me about the direction of the game. But, why divert resources before delivering a full operation seemed like it could be helpful to address directly. Diverting suggests we only focus on Operations while ignoring the other game play systems. As many would attest to, we essentially did that the last couple years with our focus on KOTFE and KOTET. Yet, we learned a lot about content delivery and timing. We decided to leverage that into providing multi-player content on a more frequent basis, preferably every 5-6 weeks, although some content takes longer, such as Operation Boss encounters. During the development of the Boss fights, I think it's prudent for us to work on other game play systems and deliver those changes instead of making everyone wait until the end of the year. That may not be the answer you were looking for, but it is the direction the team has agreed to for the foreseeable future. ---Keith

Agreed, plus the amount of coordination it would take with any 3rd party developers could be horrifying. And, if they coded it wrong, it breaks the game. I think we do well enough on our own there. But, definitely interested with improving the UI to make it easier for us healers...I mean for everyone.