[The Official Unofficial Shadow of Revan 3.0 DIscussion thread]

They removed that post, so clearly they want to keep it as much a secret as it's still possible. I'd be very surprised if this thread was here in an hour, regardless of what they inadvertantly confirmed.

[Character Bios...would they be a good fit for SWTOR?]

yah..such a challenge that even EverQuest 1 had a part you could put a small bio for your toons.

 

it wouldn't load unless someone rightclicked>viewbio on you..it wouldn't be much of a strain at all...and if it really is "challenging" to implement..then BioWare should get competent programmers.

 

The problem is that even without previewing it, the data is still there and has to be tracked by the server. Increasing the load doesn't primary mean that it increases the time it takes for individual characters to preview it, rather than generating a burden on server that it wasn't built to handle, which in turn drops performance for everyone connected to it. This can lead to an actual increase in load times as well as more lag or subpar graphical rendering.

 

Individual characters generate a TON of data including but not limited to: gear, companion gear, ship components, quests, conquest objectives, codex entries, operation lockouts, crafting schematics, achievements and the entire Collections menu. Due to the bad choice and design of the engine, this already puts undue strain on the servers, most noticably in places where lots of people stand together, such as the fleet. There load times can increase and characters can start lagging due to the servers suddenly having to track an inordinate amount of data, such that they weren't designed to handle. Considering that Bioware is constantly adding new Codex entries, achievements and items in the Collections, they have to severely restrict what other type of data is being tracked per character.

 

They made a capital error when choosing the unoptimized Hero engine as the foundation of the game and this mistake comes back around to haunt them whenever they want to add something new. This is why GSF and GSH weren't as successful as they could have been, they were missing important features due to technical limitations. This is also why Bioware will likely never add a Character Biography page, not that they wouldn't like to do it, but because they simply can't.

 

They are modding, tweaking and optimizing the engine whenever they can, freeing up more available data space but all of it is probably being used up by the ever-expanding Codex, Achievements and Collections and the occasional new addition, like Conquests.

[3.0 information today?? PLEASE!!!!!!!!]

This is a great question (or questions?), that I think are on a lot of folks minds. As you can imagine I can't go too deep into the rabbit hole in talking about our internal processes but I can give it a go.

 

In short, the process we go through internally to announce something as big as an expansion is actually quite complex and extensive. Although you are correct in that the end process may be a video, a landing page with some copy, etc. the process to get there requires a large amount of moving parts across multiple teams. Aside from just the assets and webpages there is arguably one of the most important aspects of these types of announcements, the game!

 

By the time we announce we have to have a concrete idea of what will be coming in the game with the expansion, what types of perks we might give our subscribers, etc. Unfortunately with so many moving parts, we can sometimes run into the scenario like we did today. If we are not 100% confident in what we are going to put out, for a multitude of possible reasons, it can lead to a delay of announcement.

 

I would caution not to read too deep into what I said above. It is somewhere in the cog of those moving parts that this delay happened, but ultimately our goal remains the same: to get you as many details about this expansion as soon as we can!

 

-eric

 

Sorry, it's my nature to dig deeply into posts. I can accept if information is getting delayed for whatever reason, it's your game after all, you develop it however you want it, but I don't understand it.

 

People aren't asking you to reveal the exact number of NPCs on the new planets or the exact nature of class changes, all of those are still subject to change this early (??) in the development process. The questions many people (myself included) would like to see answered:

 

- Will there be a level cap increase and if so, by how much? Are we getting new class skills?

- How many new planets are there going to be? Are you going to continue class stories?

- Are you going to release a new Operation?

- Are you going to add new Warzones or Arenas?

 

Now, these are the core concepts and the foundation any expansion is built upon. You are saying that you're planning on launching the new expansion this year. And yet you are unwilling or unable to answer these fundamental questions in less than 3 months before the supposed launch. Forget the announcement delay, there has to be something fundamentally wrong with the expansion if you're unable to share such basic information this late. That, in itself, is far more worrisome than a simple delay because it means you're still unsure about critical details regarding the new expansion.

 

I mean look at the timeframe here. A "couple of more weeks" means that you're not going to reveal anything before the 14th of October. If it's a paid expansion and you have any sort of financial sense or marketing strategy, you're not going to release it after Christmas. So in the best possible scenario, we're looking at a timeframe of 2 months and 1 week to announce, market, preorder, playtest and correct the bugs, based on player feedback. That's just not enough for a full, paid expansion. I mean Blizzard announced WoD more than a YEAR before its launch and you're going to go with lousy 2 months?

 

I am having a very hard time believing this is going to be a paid expansion that is coming this year. Either it's getting broken up into smaller segments (3.1; 3.2; 3.3) and you're releasing the first part in December, in which case it's not going to be a paid expansion, or you're holding the whole thing back and launching it sometime next year. I don't see any other option here. But the longer you're going to remain tight-lipped about this, the more untenable this farce is going to be become.

[tomorrow or day after for 3.0 reveal?]

Meanwhile, someone, somewhere, is still walking around, dressed as Calphayus, repeatedly saying:

 

 

As expected, you carelessly breach our inner forums.

[tomorrow or day after for 3.0 reveal?]

They'll probably wait til the last possible minute of tuesday that still counts as september, just to spite us.

 

And until 23.59 GMT-12, too. So long as it's Tuesday in one time zone, they're going to drag it out. As long as they can claim it's Tuesday on some remote islands on the far side of the Pacific Ocean, they're going to hold the information back.

[Manaan Barrel Wars - please put an end to it]

i never saw people running ahead or stealthing..just don't heal them

 

Yeah, thought about that, but if you don't heal them and they die, you'll be next on the chopping block. Whereas if you can somehow keep them alive, at least you won't have to tank all the adds. It's pretty much a lose-lose scenario because you either encourage reckless behavior or let them die to teach them a lesson and most likely die as well in the process.

 

P.S.: I had some good Manaan runs today, apparently, there are still disciplined people around!

[Manaan Barrel Wars - please put an end to it]

I'd like to direct the developers' attention to and voice my concerns about the foolishness of placing individual-based objectives in group-oriented content. Namely, those stupid kolto barrels in the Depths of Manaan flashpoint from which you have to destroy 500 for the achievement. They were, in my past few runs, the source of signifcant stress and annoyance and I'd humbly like to request a change.

 

There's nothing wrong with destroying kolto barrels per se, but it's the fact that they only count for the person interacting with hte barrel that makes it very problematic. Once people started realizing this, they abandoned pretty much all common sense and group obligations. Now, most of the Manaan runs I'm put into (judging from the 10 or so runs I've had in the last two days), team members are obsessed with those barrels to the exclusion of everything else. They heedlessly charge ahead and pull every group, regardless of their state of HP in an effort to get to them first. We have wiped many times in the last few days because impatient DPS charged into multiple groups to destroy the kolto barrels, with complete disregard for the consequences. As a healer, usually I'm left holding the bag and I almost never get my chance at those barrels since I'm pretty much always forced to try to keep their sorry butts alive. Also, on some occasions, I have noticed stealth-capable people completely abandoning the group and stealthing ahead to destroy barrels.

 

That is why I must conclude that individual objectives in group content only server to create discord and it was a very bad idea to put in in the first place. Please change it, so that if one person destroys a barrel, it counts for every team member. Increase the total number of barrels that need to be destroyed to something like 2000 to keep it balanced. You would alleviate a lot of stress from healers everywhere

 

P.S.: Also, please make sure not to repeat this in the Legacy of the Rakata flashpoint. If it's going to have similar destructible objects, please make them strictly group-based!

[/faint emote.]

No, it is still bugged along with some other emotes.

[Are we supposed to complete 25 LvL50 HM FPs for the Trophy?]

^ This is working as intended. There are many players who already ran the flashpoints 25 times, so this is supposed to be a reward for them. Also it helps renewing the older content, making you run the flashpoints again.

 

I can understand that, but what I don't understand is why 55 Flashpoints give you the portraits after a single run. Make it either 25 runs for both lvl50 and lvl55 flashpoints or 1 run for both. 25 for lvl50 and 1 for lvl55 seems a bit excessive, considering that people don't even do lvl50 flashpoints anymore.

[[BUG] Silver Key Access to Strongholds Disappearing]

Yeah I'm having the same issue. I lose all the keys I've given out and I've been given each time I log out. Very annoying.

[Are we supposed to complete 25 LvL50 HM FPs for the Trophy?]

This smells like a bug to me. Even though, the trophy decorations for lvl50 HM Flashpoints can be obtained, for some reason they are tied to the achievement for defeating every boss 25 times. This seems odd, considering that portraits from SM Flashpoints, HM lvl55 Flashpoints and all Operations only require defeating a boss once. In my opinion, this should apply to lvl50 HM FPs as well.

 

Trophies currently affected: Vokk, Yadira Ban, General Edikar, Grand Moff Kilran, Storm Squad Veterans, Revan, Mentor, Darth Serevin, Darth Malgus, Commander Lk'Graagth, Doctor Lorrick.

[Diagnostic Console (Medical) isn't usable]

Greets:

 

Just a fyi that the Stronghold item [Diagnostic Console (Medical)] appears to have issues. You can purchase it fine. It shows up in your inventory but you are unable to right click on it to use it. No notice or response either when you do so. It doesn't have a preview image either.

 

I did not see another thread on this and when I brought it up in general chat, a few others noted that they had noticed the same.

 

Thank you for your time,

-drmike

 

Yeah I crafted 5 of them, only to realize that I couldn't consume them

[Please let us decorate the stronghold beyond 100% completion!]

This is another thing that's irritating me very much. The number of unused hooks left in my stronghold after I reach 100%. Today, I was merrily decorating the lower level of the Dromund Kaas apartment and to my astonishment, I reached 100% completion while decorating the lower floor. What is more, it turned out that I couldn't place a single decoration in the staircase, the rooms upstairs or the balcony. Admittedly, I put a decoration on every hook downstairs but I don't think the result was overcrowded.

 

So, please increase the number of static decorations we can display, well beyond 100%. I'd like to continue decorating upstairs. Right now, it's not possible without disassembling everything downstairs.

 

I knew that the number of NPC decorations was low but now I've realized that the number of static decorations we can display is very low as well. Half-decorated rooms don't look appealing.

[Raise the NPC Limit -please-]

NPC items take up far more processing power than static furniture.

 

This is what I don't understand why. It's fine for animated NPCs, but how are Republic and Empire Guardsman different from any lamp or console or chair? They don't move, they don't make noises, they don't do anything. Can't they just remove the animations from NPCs and treat them as static decorations? Just make them unclickable objects like everything else in the Stronghold.

 

They can keep the NPC limit for vendors, companions and dancers for the time being, but it should really be removed from pets, mounts and guards.

 

Also, why do animal mounts count as NPCs when mechincal mounts count as objects? That's just stupid. I collected every animal mount (ok, lies I didn't get the Giradda rancor ) over the past few months for the purpose of putting them on display in my house. Now it turns out you can't even do that without cutting into your measly 25 NPC limit. Furthermore, why is the ST-7 Recon Walker considered an NPC when every single other mechanical mount isn't?

 

EDIT: As someone suggested in another thread, they could make animated and inanimate versions of the pets, mounts, vendors and guardsmen. Then you could select which one you want to count agains tthe limit.

[Companions as holograms... please don't.]

Its fine.

 

What bothers me is that companions that don't belong to your active character (e.g. holograms) revert to their default look and armor, removing all customizations, sometimes even all armor. There's something disturbing about the sight of Corso and Scourge, both in underwear, greeting me every time i enter my stronghold.

 

What is going on in there, while I'm not present!?

[Select Animating NPC's - Remove NPC Limit]

I agree, I wanted to do something similar and it turned out I reached my NPC limit just while decorating the Dromund Kaas hallways. That was before I put down a single companion or vendor.

 

I wouldn't care if pets, companions and vendors stayed stationary and didn't make noises. I'd even prefer it that way, actually, for the sanity of all of the occupants. The NPC limit needs to be the very least one hundred. I'd prefer no limit at all.

 

So, yeah, signed.

[Please remove NPC and Hook restrictions from GSH.]

I have to say, I was really hyped about strongholds but these points made it a huge letdown for me.

 

1. I SPENT TENS OF MILLIONS OF CREDITS TO ACQUIRE EVERY PET IN THE GAME, thinking I would be able to display them. Well, wrong, NPC limit is 25 and all pets, companions and vendors count against it.

 

2. I SPENT MORE TENS OF MILLIONS OF CREDITS TO ACQUIRE COOL ARMOR SETS FOR COMPANIONS, and then holographic comps are either naked, lose their customization or revert to wearing default armor sets.

 

3. I SPENT DOZENS OF CARTEL CERTIFICATES TO PURCHASE NPCS TO LIVEN UP THE STRONGHOLD, yeah guess what, then I can't use them.

 

4. YOU CAN'T DECORATE A STRONGHOLD BEYOND 100% DESPITE THE FACT THAT THERE ARE STILL MANY DOZENS OF UNUSED HOOKS, meaning when I finished decorating the lower level, it turned out that I couldn't even touch the upper levels, without rearranging the lower level.

 

I was really excited about strongholds but the NPC and hook limitations made the experience rather sour. Please, you need to dramatically increase both the NPC and hook placement options. If someone wants to display all pets, all companions and many NPCs to make a cool stronghold, he should be given the option to do so.

 

If a stronghold can support at least 50 players, then should also support at least a hundred NPCs. Also, we should be allowed to put a decoration on every hook, even if it means that we go way beyond 100%.

[Three Vectron Magnus, 50+ certs, a blown up machine and millions of credits later...]

Are you buying kingpin chips? That is the only way I can imagine that happening...

 

If you buy smuggler chips and then burn the time required to play and play and play to get kingpin chips, it should average out to 2.3m credits to win a rancor. Of course, RNG might not like you.

 

I play 200K on each toon, except for my main, I played about a million...

 

Won it about 120K into it on an alt, probably about 3m invested, give or take... Got everything else along the way as well, many, many blown up machines.

 

Nah I'm not stupid (at least not in that sense), I only bought smuggler chips and only played the kingpin machines when I had the smuggler's luck buff and only with kingpin chips won on the smuggler machine.

 

It was just incredibly bad luck.

[No Rakghoul event?]

There's no patch scheduled for today, can they activate an event without bringing the servers down for maintenance first? Because I don't think so. They needed a patch to activate the Gree event, too.

 

So, maybe it's next week along with the bounty event or it's not coming at all.

[Three Vectron Magnus, 50+ certs, a blown up machine and millions of credits later...]

Still no rancor...

 

If it makes you feel better, I spent about 8 million credits, no rancor or blown up machine but got around 180 certificates. Written off the rancor and the machine as unobtainable.

 

Apparently we've fallen out of favor with the RNG gods.

[Guildships COST 50 MILLION CREDITS!?]

I am fine with 50 million credits. Every guild can have easy access to a Stronghold, so every guild will get some sort of communal place to gather. Guild capital ships are for conquering planets....do you expect small, casual guilds to participate in conquest quests?

 

I think 50 million credits is bang on perfect. Readily affordable by large guilds but by no means out of reach by small but dedicate guilds. Considering that a simple 2 hour Makeb + CZ + Oricon daily run can get you anywhere between 500 and 700k, there is really no excuse for not being able to come up with the required amount of money. It just requires dedication. If a guild isn't dedicated enough to do that, then frankly, it doesn't deserve a guild a ship.

[No outrage about the vendor rep items?]

So people are outraged that guild ships are 50 mil despite it being pretty easy for a guild to scrape that together.

And they are outraged because the cost to unlock all 5 tabs in the legacy bank is 50 mil even tho they don't really need the tabs.

 

But nobody cares that you'll have to buy at least one hypercrate, but most likely more, of the new cartel packs to get to the unique models sold by the pack reputation vendor?

That's at least 7000 cc or 11-12 million credits just to be allowed to ship for those items.

 

And nobody is upset?

 

Really?

 

I didn't care about the previous Cartel Rep vendors. I don't care about this one. They could charge a billion Cartel Coins, it would make zero difference to me. Cartel Reputation falls completely outside my areas of interest.

 

I do find, however, the pricing of the Legacy bank highly disturbing. Maybe we should spend more time advocating changing that.

[Legacy Storage?]

Please say yes, I always feel guilty when I secretly need on gear I want for my companions during flashpoints, I can simply use my high end alt to farm the equipment I want while still enjoying running the level appropriate flashpoints.

 

You can already do that you know......ripping out low level mods and putting them into Legacy gear costs what....200 credits?

[Legacy Storage?]

T Why is it a good idea to allow players to put Bind on Pickup items in the Legacy Storage? Well, for one, progression-level players now have a reason to purchase and unlock Cartel Market gear. Also, the requirement of mailing modifications through gear is time-consuming and irritating. Allowing Bind on Pickup items to be added to the Legacy Storage will be a great Quality of Life improvement to the game.

 

Allowing players to place Bind on Pickup items in Legacy Storage will add worth to the system, benefit your playerbase, and benefit your profit. What is there to lose?

 

I, for one, don't use Legacy gear on my characters (except one set on Blue Scalene armor on my Chiss operative). And I'm buying Cartel Market armor anyway. I know lots of other people choose looks over utlity and functionality, too. And with the group finder giving 30 ultimates for SM Ops and 10 ultimates for HM FPs, really, how long does it take to gear up an alt anyway? A week or two at most.

 

Putting BoL items in Legacy storage completely destroys the fundamental process of gearing up. It completely trivializes obtaining gear. It also means that fewer people will do HM FPs and SM Ops and those that do will most likely start indiscriminately needing on everything.

 

So....what is there to lose? A lot.

[Legacy Storage?]

Hmmm, but I have some really neat replicas on my main I'd like to give to my alts (Karagga's Bell Hat, Tythonian Force Master Saber). Besides, with Legacy gear people can already use that excuse. In summation: jerks will be jerks but we shouldn't be punished for the mischief of others.

 

If you want to give the Tythonian Force Master's Lightsaber to an alt, you can just unlock it in the Collections you know.. As for the Bell Hat, it's an almost guaranteed drop from every boss on Karagga NiM (I've seen it drop from 4 bosses in run before), so it isn't terribly hard to obtain either.