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revcrisis

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    Ranked season 7 rewards?

    in PvP

    Posted · Edited by revcrisis

    Ranked is dead. Upper echelon PVP is dead. There are literally 0 top-tier PVP players left who actively play this game.

     

    In regards to Season 7, it will obviously end with 5.0 since there's a new level cap and gear. Your rewards will probably be some re-skinned CM item. There will be a pre-season with the launch of 5.0 so you can get new gear. It will probably last 4-5 months. 5 months after 5.0 is released, Season 8 will start. Season 8 will go until 6.0 which will be in late 2017. Season 8 will have little interest because, hey, there are literally 0 top-tier PVP players left. And there's your PVP roadmap for the next 2 years.

    PVP is now dead in swtor

    in PvP

    Posted

    The following is just my opinion and my 2c in regards to PVP in this game.

     

    I've played SWTOR since launch. I've watched this game evolve from unkillable Merc healers (yes, they were unkillable at launch) to Derp Smash and Stun bubbles 8s (shudder) to Dongcleave 4s and on. I'm not new to PVP in this game, some might even recognize me from my youtube videos. While I was never the best PVPer, I would like to think I had a strong grasp on all the classes and their strengths/weaknesses. Before I quit, I had ~25 65s across a few servers at full 208s to give an idea at how much I played this game.

     

    I've left the game a few times claiming I wouldn't come back but I always did. We all thought Wildstar would be the new thing but that lasted for like 3 months and I was back to SWTOR. Everytime a new game was thought to "kill" SWTOR, it never really did and people always came back. I stopped playing again earlier this year in January.. and I have no desire to come back. I loved PVP in SWTOR (and I still do believe that the combat is truly is one of the bests when it comes to MMO PVP) but its grown VERY stale. This may be due to a few issues but I'll start with ranked.

     

    Ranked PVP in this game, IMO, has always been poorly executed. Without cross server queues, 1-2 teams on each server would rise to the top and essentially farm the rest of the teams until they no longer desired to queue. The only time that I recall that this wasn't an issue was during the first few months of server transfers. Teams migrated to their respective PVP servers, namely POT5 and Bastion for US, iirc TOFN for EU and there was something of an actual ranked scene happening. While I never participated, it was fun to watch streams of high level teams playing each other. Anyone remember Flavored from DailyPVP, you know the "Roots...Stuns" guy? As much flak as he got, you had to admire his attempt on making organized ranked pvp videos for the community. Remember when the PTS came up and you had top EU and US teams going at it on the PTS? Yeah nothing like that exists at all now. I'd like to remember this as the golden age of SWTOR PVP. Then BW got rid of 8s in favor of 4s and arenas. Lot's of players left because of this but this was when I personally stepped into ranked. My team ran that cheesy Dongcleave comp all the way to our Rancor mounts in S1 of arenas. Tank tunnel meta didn't exist yet so we were the top 4s team on the server and eventually people stopped queuing against us in favor of solo ranked.

     

    Solo Ranked is probably one of the largest mistakes that BW could have made for PVP. I understand its easier for folks to get into but it goes against the whole MMO focus of grouping up with others and working together. Because of solo ranked, you had griefers and trolls throwing games, queue dodgers/syncers, and it changed the balance of the game. What do I mean by that? It's clear that class balance was not (and should not) be balanced around solo ranked. So naturally, some classes will perform better than others due to their kit. Those classes would rise up in popularity and some players found themselves forced to reroll to earn their ranked rewards furthering the class imbalance. There will always be a Flavor of the Month class in every game, but in SWTOR's case it seemed like certain classes were Flavor of the Year/Patch/Game. Players who refused to reroll stopped doing ranked or left the game.

     

    There's always the saying that everything is viable in regs, which is true to an extent. I've been able to play pretty much every class and spec in regular WZs just fine. There were plenty of skilled players who didn't enjoy arenas at all or who didn't want to reroll FOTM for ranked that just played regs only. Often they would group up for a premade (which there's nothing wrong about) and dominate WZs. This is often one of the issues for new players who want to try out PVP but get their asses kicked. Which brings me to my next point: the barrier to entry for pvp is deceptively high considering how casual this game is. There's a great bolster system (when it's not broken/bugged) but its rules and guidelines are not advertised very well so you still have players queuing up in full PVE gear or with mixed mods. Gear is easy enough to get now but its still a grind for those who are starting out. Those players are then smashed by the players queuing up in correct gear or in premades. Coupled with the inherent toxicity that exists in ANY PVP game, new players aren't going to have a good time given how casual online gaming as a whole has become. Of course you can be like the one of the previous posters above me (Good on you!) and strive to get better but most would get frustrated by the continuous *** kicking they receive while trying to learn the game. I could go on and on about today's current gaming mentality but that's another story for a different day. As ranked inevitably dies down every season, due to the imbalance you'll see larger amounts of FOTM classes in the regs queue. Also, without cross server players end up playing the same people match after match and if you're repeatedly getting dumpstered by the same person/premade/FOTM class while trying to learn the game, its not that fun.

     

    Why did I even bother posting this? Well after hours of losing my rating in Overwatch the other night I thought it would be the cherry on top to log on to swtor and see what's up. Decided it was an even better idea to solo queue on pub side on Harbinger. First game was an ever revolving door of players in that new WZ. It ended 30 seconds in cause everyone kept leaving. Next was an AHG, lo and behold I went up against a team full of skank tank juggs and sorc healers. My team got destroyed though I did surprisingly well for being so rusty. Maybe that was because I was a skank guardian myself, knowing how OP they were. I wasn't mad but I thought to myself if I was a new player on my team in that match, it wouldve been a nightmare. Then I thought to myself what If I was on the other team in that game? Curbstomping a team out of their spawn can only be so much fun until you have to wait 20 seconds for their spawn doors to reopen. Then it gets boring. Let's be honest PVP is at its most fun when you're going up against an equal team and that's a rarity these days. Equal teams are supposed to be matched in ranked but ranked is a joke without cross server. I know it was only 1 warzone but it saddens me that the game I loved had degraded to this. I decided to see how we got to this point and I kind of just scrambled my thoughts into this mess of a post.

     

    TL;DR Some nerd writes a dear diary about swtor pvp from launch to now.

     

    In addition to Overwatch, I've also moved on to WoW. Having never played before, it was new to me but familiar at the same time(after all, SWTOR is another wow "clone"). The CC is a bit jarring at first and the animations are a little muddy but I can't argue with the cross server, actual ranked, and the <1min queue times. Sure I miss my lightsabers and force powers but I'm having much more fun.

     

    Now back to ELO Hell in Overwatch :D

    If there's any devs that even read these posts anymore on the PVP forum, this is pretty much spot on. You wonder why the best PVP players left the game? Read above.

    PvP interview with Musco

    in PvP

    Posted · Edited by revcrisis

    WTH, they fixed Enduring Bastion, Static Barrier, and Shield Probe absorbing acid damage!?!? Only took, what, 7 Ranked Arena seasons to get this fixed? Can anyone confirm this for sure after the latest patch? If so, great news....but why would they not put patch notes on this? :confused:

    Class Changes Coming in Game Update 4.5

    in Combat Styles

    Posted · Edited by revcrisis

    Hated/Serenity survivability really needs to be addressed. Currently it's way too squishy to take into Group Ranked. I can only imaging how hard it is to heal them in PVE as well.

     

    Even something like a buff to "Nefarious Methods" would go a long way:

     

    • Mass Mind Control now increases your damage reduction by 35% for 10 seconds

    This slight buff would go a longggg way to helping Hatred survivability.

    Op and merc healing capabilities are NOT sufficient for pvp healing

    in PvP

    Posted · Edited by revcrisis

    I would say healing would account for 50% for a healers performance in PvP. The other half, which is equally important, is how they survive under pressure while healing. The ladder is what developers need to actively observe and adjust. The ladder is not going to have a serious or crippling impact on PvE but a large impact in PvP.

     

    Operatives largest issue is being interrupted: Give them a 6-12 second CD to have uninterrupted cast heals.

     

    Sorcerers are extremely good kiting: Increase the CD on phase walk for 20-30 seconds.

     

    Mercenaries die really easy if tunneled: Give them an ability like stealth out or barrier.

     

    Bam, problem solved. All of these changes have no effect on PvE but have serious changes in PvP. I didn't even have to be paid for this, your welcome Bioware.

     

    This. So much this.

    dear devs , a suggestion going forward

    in PvP

    Posted · Edited by revcrisis

    You don't balance a game around solo Q. You balance around team ranked which has 1 tank, 1 healer, and 2 DPS. And in group ranked, AP PTs definitely over-perform. Anyone who's ever played team ranked knows that an elite AP PT can easily put out over 3500 DPS even when pressured hard. No class can consistently come close to their output when heavily pressured. Perhaps Marauders can come somewhat close to that but their damage suffers when being tunneled. An AP PT works with almost every comp in group ranked because it performs so well and the damage is so hard to shut down.

    PvP interview with Musco

    in PvP

    Posted · Edited by revcrisis

    Hey Snave, this sounds awesome. In no particular order:

     

     

    • More frequent class balance changes. Balancing once every 4 months is quite disheartening for die-hard PVPers. It's quite apparent people love testing new metas, new balance changes, new possibly OP classes, new healing comps. Frequent class balance brings these changes and keeps the community engaged in PVP. There will always be "OP" classes and comps but with frequent class balance this will be evened out.
    • Bringing back class representatives and community interaction with combat designers. I miss the combat designers posting their balance thoughts.
    • Tweaks to utilities throughout the course of an expansion

    Weapon Tunings

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by revcrisis

    So the weapon tunings are around the drop rate of say the Marsh Hunter Acklay Mount in the last pack. That means they'll probably end up settling for around 3 to 5 million credits depending on server. Not that bad honestly. The Unstable Lightsabers were Platinum rarity so they went for 40 million credits at launch. So long as they aren't as rare as the Unstable Lightsabers I'm fine with this.

    You Broke Bolster & Ranked PVP Missions Are Now Level 60 Instead of 65

    in Bug Reports

    Posted · Edited by revcrisis

    Before the patch, PVP missions were level 65. Now, even Ranked arena PVP missions are "grey" quests that are for level 60. This makes no sense as ranked PVP requires level 65. How can the quest say it is level 60 - that person will not be able to use this quest and it is misleading to them. Before level 65, he/she cannot participate in any ranked arena quest even though the mission log says they can.

     

    Most likely this change is a bug and it also coincides with bolster which was broken with this patch. Yes, bolster is currently broken (again). HP has shot up and main stat/power has increased like crazy as well. Everyone knows a fully augmented min/maxed DPS pvp toon is at 70.6k HP. We are now at 77K HP. Power has shot up. Something is off with bolster. If I were to guess, I assume bolster baseline is now at level 60 and 65s are being bolstered up higher.

     

    Here's another thread with multiple people confirming: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=881613

    Proposal: Solo Ranked Rating Graded on a Curve By Class

    in PvP

    Posted · Edited by revcrisis

    I don't think you understand how elo works Teclado. Here's some reading. This isn't some random rating system Bioware made up. It's elo, it's a famous rating system used in many board games and many video games. Chess, by example, is the most famous game to use it. You don't just "do away" with huge rating swings in the first 10-20 games. That's how Elo functions. There is huge swings in the beginning, and then it stabilizes as more data is accumulated. If you're a consistently great player who plays a significant amount of games, your rating will be high. That's how it works.

     

    If you've played for many swtor ranked seasons, you'll know that going 10-0 is not necessarily a 1500 rating. I've had extremely high rated players on my team in my first 10 games. I went 10-0 and my rating was 1300. On the flip side, I faced very high rated players on the other team and went 8-2 in my first 10 games and had a 1500 rating. This is Elo in action. The higher the elo of your opponents, the more you will gain.

    Rishi Cove Arena - Can We Finally Use Leap/Teleport Again?

    in PvP

    Posted · Edited by revcrisis

    Early results in yet? Has it been fixed? Has anyone leapt and instantly died? Has anyone got pushed/knock backed onto terrain, become stuck, and then died? My confidence is quite low atm.

     

    Patch Note: Players can no longer get stuck and die while in Rishi Cove Arena and Odessen Proving Grounds.

    4.0 Solo Ranked / Group Ranked EAST COST Mega Server - Making the EC Version of Harb

    in PvP

    Posted · Edited by revcrisis

    There was a new strawpoll that had this very same thing and it clearly showed JC with all the votes. EH does not have a healthy PvP scene. There is a few teams that queue pub side and the rest are Reg stars. I played there for a season it was terrible. JC has a much better PvP community all around. Some of the best players in the game play there. Even a few of Harbingers main guilds transferred to do 4s. This strawpoll was updated when they announced server transfers were ending and JC clearly won for east coast PvP.

     

    http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=880120

    That Strawpoll is clearly marked for team ranked. The title is "Central Team Ranked Server". I do believe JC has a better Group Ranked scene, but for Solo Ranked, Ebon Hawk has more players. And while I wish group ranked had a bigger scene, solo Q is much more popular and populated. So you do have to factor in solo Q players as well.

     

    Here's some statistics current as of today: https://torcommunity.com/database/arena-stats

    EH: 1491 solo players

    JC: 1064 solo players

    SL: 896 solo players.

     

    So EH has a roughly ~30% lead in overall solo players than JC. To your point, I would recommend JC for people who ONLY do group ranked. But for people who do Solo Q mainly, EH would be your destination.

    Group Ranked Arena Guides - How To Beat Comps / Teams on EH!

    in The Ebon Hawk

    Posted · Edited by revcrisis

    There's been a lot of new teams coming to Ebon Hawk and queuing group ranked. This is great for the ranked community and has provided some good competition. I've been asked by a few teams on tips / tactics on how to beat certain comps/teams on EH. Guides will come, but the golden rule is this: you must pressure the other team into playing defensively. Once you successfully do this in the round, the enemy team's DPS will significantly drop, their healer will be strained to maintain positive resources, and you will be able to secure the first kill.

    Crafting UI Suggestion for QOL - Default Sort by Rating or Level

    in Crew Skills

    Posted · Edited by revcrisis

    Currently, the crafting UI default sorts by difficulty. This doesn't make sense on a number of levels, because anything that is "grey" isn't sorted correctly, regardless of item level. For example, you'll have item rating 148 stuff that is grey, higher on the list than level 208 level stuff that is grey (think augments). Low level grey items taking precedence over high level grey items. The proper default sort should be by item rating or level. Thanks!
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