flumpet
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Posts posted by flumpet
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I thought this event was awesome.
I really liked the news-terminal format. I felt like that was a cool way of getting news of the event out to the players, and would like to see that used again going forward.
I also enjoyed that the event brought us back to a planet those of us at 50 hadn't been to in a while. Additionally, the way the quests/enemies scaled levels to the player was excellent, it didn't feel like a waste for my level 50, yet my level 30 toon could also participate.
In future events, I'd like to see:
1.) Less of the "you must complete daily A one day before daily B becomes available". This makes it difficult for folks to get involved if they have a busy schedule and only a little time to devote to SWTOR. Less participation is bad.
2.) The trade-in vendor remaining available after the end of the event. I felt you guys were more than clear in when the event would end, but it apparently came as a surprise to some folks. This is a pretty minor change with a decent positive effect
3.) More planets. I'd like to see an event that crosses multiple planets and feels like a true galaxy-spanning crisis.
4.) More focus on the war. I think it'd be awesome to run an event where the Sith invade planet X, or the Republic rescues planet Y. It'd require different quests for each faction, but I think it'd definitely be worth it, and focus on the core of Star Wars.
5.) Branching dailies. The dailies were cool. They'd be cooler if different decisions led to different dailies with the same rewards, so I could change things up each successive run-through.
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If I started doing these quests on Monday, I am a day behind grabbing the new daily, correct? Hopefully they have some spill-over days for those of us who were away from the game and couldn't do the dailies the entire time.
Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't have to pick up each new daily a day after the last one, you can just repeat the quest daily.
In theory, if today was your first day of participation, you could pick up the Sunday armor piece, the Monday armor piece, and today's armor piece all today. You don't have to wait until tomorrow to get Monday's piece.
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Have you leveled a Smuggler or Agent? Why/why not?
I have leveled my Smuggler to 49, and an Agent to 20-or-so. Mostly because I'm a severe Altoholic and can't stop myself from trying other classes as well. I knew from the get-go that Smuggler was my class. Agent drew me in with the storyline and the voice acting.
Did you enjoy the story?
Not far enough into the Agent story to comment. For the Smuggler, Act 1 was brilliant. Act 2 and 3 were...a little slow. I can see where they could easily have spiced things up to keep my interest a bit better, and a lot of missed opportunity. Of course, a major twist towards the end of Act 3 just jumped out at me, and DAMN, I did not see that coming. Starting to pick up on the build towards the end of the story.
Did you enjoy the mechanics? Why/why not?
Overall, yes. There's some lack of consistency that's problematic for me. Some types of elite mobs I can tackle with nary a scratch, some require everything I've got. But overall, I feel like I've got plenty of utility in a combat situation, I can lay down some serious hurt on my 'Slinger, my Operative's even more flexible, and the animations are fun.
Are these classes an important SW fantasy to you?
Smuggler, definitely. Agent, not so much. Smugglers have always been pretty central to the idea of a Star Wars game or fantasy to me, I see easily where they fit in with the world, and I like the idea of a mere mortal in the midst of a war of practically demi-god-like Jedi and Sith. I always get a little satisfaction when that creepy Sith closes on me and I kick him in the nuts.
The Agent didn't really fit into Star Wars for me, but I think that's what I like most about the class. They took something that's not really central to the Star Wars films, and made it work so well.
Do you still play the class? If not, why not?
Yup.
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Both of you see my edit. Love to see your reaction when they do this at the times you prefer to play.
My reaction to that is "gee. That's too bad. I'll do something else tonight."
It's a video game. If I can't play it on a given night every now and again while they make it better, it's not the end of the world, and a perfect excuse to do something else.
I'd rather they fix what's broken, even if it means occasional outages beyond their weekly patch.
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ok, so if you did.. how would you control them? where would all the skills go? what ones would auto cast? would they still use the same resources? (and as such would they run out after an ability spam?)
as much as people are saying its a nice idea its just not viable or practical. chars require people to be behind them. think BH. put 2 abilities on autocast and he's be overheated and useless in seconds, plus there are far too many abilities per class to allow you to effectively control both yourself and it. not to mention the ui clutter to show those abilities. ui is bad enough with just yours let alone another classes abilities on show as well
in short, nice idea, just not viable.
Nah, here's how I'd do it:
Just about every class in game is represented by a companion already, right? Simply borrow the appearance/voice from one of my alts, but the skill bar from an appropriate companion. My Smuggler wants to use my Shadow Consular as a companion, the Consular uses the same skill bar as Kira Carsen, for example.
I like this idea.
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I had the same issue last night.
I used the "Reset" button to reset the quest.
It reset the entire quest chain. Fortunately, the steps for "Complete Quest for [Name]" still count as completed, so it wasn't terribly painful to re-do it, and by the time I got back to Jeren, it let me complete that step and move on.
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Might want to check the Dev-tracker:
http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=2110035#edit2110035
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Casual gamers are indeed players who don't like difficult game-play. I can't believe I'm even arguing this...
That is why game companies who are trying to attract casual gamers make their games easier. This isn't rocket science.
I'd define myself as a casual gamer.
I don't "dislike difficult game-play". Grinding is not "difficult", it's mindless. What I like is a game where I can log in for an hour and make some sort of progress, or at least a convincing-enough illusion of progress that it fools me.
I don't always have time in my play schedule to put together a group and do a flashpoint, or even to put together a group just to do quests. When I don't have that time, I'd like to make some sort of advancement, even if it's just a small one. Fortunately, TOR caters to that. When I do have the time, or a group, I've got Heroics, Dailies, Flashpoints, Operations, Hard-Mode Flashpoint and Operations, etc etc.
I agree it's a decent pace. But will they be able to keep it up?Time will tell on this one.
You've already declared it a weakness of the game. It was in fact the premise of your original post, that the pace of content development required to keep the game "fresh" is too much. We've got 1 data point to work from, patch 1.1. If you get to declare it a weakness based off of one data point, you don't get to turn it around on me and say it's "too early to tell" when I point out that our one data point's got a decent amount of content. So, is it a problem, or is it too early to tell?
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It only makes sense if they are prepared to push out new content quickly.
Your post doesn't really disagree with mine, in fact it just bolsters it and recognizes the fact that if you are going to base your game off a system like this it is very dependent on making the speedy introduction of new content a nessasasry focus for the company.
We're a month from launch and they've already added some new content and teased more that they have coming for March. I think they've demonstrated they fully intend to bring us pretty regular content updates.
What I disagree with is that this is a weakness, and that it "shortens the life of the game".
While they may not be able to keep pace with the "hardcore" gamers who sprinted to 50 and are now wondering what to do, you already acknowledge that hardcore gamers aren't their target demographic.
A month into launch and they've pushed new Operation content and a new Flashpoint. That's a pretty decent pace.
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I disagree.
Making the journey to 50 relatively easy makes a lot of sense in my mind. What brings people back, long-term, to games like this is new content updates, a changing world. By making the journey to 50 relatively painless, it lets the developers focus their new content specifically at end-game content, while still ensuring the majority of players will be able to appreciate it.
I've lost count of the number of times I've seen new stuff being added to an MMO, got all excited about it, then saw the level range was for end-game players only, or was aimed at mid-level players, putting me too powerful to be challenged by the content, but months of grinding away from appreciating it with an alt.
Making the trip to end-game easier and faster makes sense to me, longer-term.
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In a few interviews around the web, James Ohlen has mentioned more Legacy features inbound in the major content patch in March.
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Your reasoning makes sense. However, many developer posts have been about tackling needed game adjustments in order of priority. Is this really high on that list?
How about Ability Lag?
How about the unpopular and unavoidable Auto-PvP feature that violates the game code about non-consensual PvP (see thread in this forum)?
If y'all are using "Ease of Correction" or "Rapidity/Alacrity of Correction" as a criterion in addition to simply priority, please let us know. I think the community would accept that, but saying "priority" only, and making a fix like this, is quite the empathic failure. This community certainly has other priorities.
But thanks for the clear explanation!
I'm pretty sure they have mentioned that the complexity of implementing a fix is also a factor in determining which issues hit the patches first. That's why last patch, for example, we got "emotes from vehicles now work". It was an easy fix.
They've put out a number of posts discussing ability lag, the complexity of the problem, and the fact that they're directing a lot of resources to correcting that problem.
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Same thing is true of companion affection. All comes at the end of the quest when you turn it in. So if you royally mess something up, or make decisions you're unhappy with, you can abandon the quest and start over.
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1 & 2.) Since story is such a big part of this game, I'd love to see a Q&A/Discussions with the writers. It's a unique strength of Old Republic, and I'd love to hear the thoughts of those writing the stories. Along that same line, events with the voice actors would be awesome.
3.) If an event were in my area, I'd definitely attend a Meet & Greet. That would be awesome.
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Im utterly stunned by the amount of nasty bugs and problems that never should have made out of the alpha stage, let alone beta, yet they are here in full force.
I can deal with lots of small bugs, thats normal and expected in ny new release, but this
http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=119676
is simply amazing. I cant believe BioWare were so absolutely incompetent and greedy to release a game with something like this happening. Its basically a HUGE BUG in the MOST IMPORTANT FEATURE of any game, its heart, the combat system.
its breathtaking, and no amount of "WoW also had problems 7 years ago" will ever mend this.
Is this happening only in Warzones? I don't PvP. Maybe that means I'm not a "serious" or "competitive" player, but I haven't noticed this issue aside from maybe once or twice missing an interrupt.
Regardless, Bioware's actively working on a fix for this. I could see how this could be a monstrously complex problem that'll take significant time to fix, so be patient. Also, someone should tell the guy who wrote that post that putting quotes around words he wants to emphasize doesn't mean quite what he thinks it does.
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I'll echo this sentiment. My guild, Hawke's Company, is much smaller, about 20 members, but we all think this game is fantastic, and are having a blast with it.
Sure, there's some hitches and some bugs, but we can't wait to see where this game goes from here!
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I'm sure there is but this pretty much sums up the majority of it. Your looking at a rough estimate to run this place each month roughly, 2-5 million dollars a month. this doesn't include advertising.
Let's assume your numbers are correct, for the sake of argument. We'll go with $5 Million a month to keep the lights on.
The game has, currently, over 1 million active subscriptions at $14.99/mo for each subscription. They bring in over 3 times their monthly operating costs on subs alone. Each box sale is a minimum of $60. Take out what the retailers make (except in the case of digital orders), and their box sales bring in enough to make a significant dent in base development costs. Factor in the millions their subs bring in, and financially, things look pretty good.
Had thisbeen a non-holiday time period i would say you could use this as a gauge for things to come. but here is the problem. 350k active peak sub's only comes to a max of 5.2 million a month. at most your looking at a 3.2 million a month in profit, to pay back the 200 million they own in development costs.
At this rate you are looking at 62.5 yrs to pay back the 200 million. I don't think EA or Lucas are going to wait that long to get there return..
Flawed logic and math. Peak subs are not the same as total subs. Whether I play at peak time or not, I still pay my $15 a month. The number you're looking for is total subs, not peak. Total subs are over 1 million, and growing.
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Ooh, another favorite of mine: "You're about to see a real, live hero in action."
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After being called 'scruffy-looking': "I prefer to think of myself as ruggedly handsome"
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well we don't know if he's just getting started, he could be almost done and not have done that quest yet
When I say "he's just getting started" I didn't mean in terms of that quest, I meant in terms of storyline and content overall. My toons all left Coruscant around level 16. He is, in terms of overall content, still just getting started.
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were you at all of those places before corruscant, or after.
I went from tython corruscant. Do i get on a space shuttle to get to other places?
thanks
All those places and more come after Coruscant.
Enemies of the Republic isn't picked up on Coruscant until you're in the home stretch and about to leave the planet. It's a tough quest.
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Im on corruscant. still having trouble with the enemies of the republic flashpoint with my companion
do i need a group to successfully complete this?
It's a Heroic 4+ quest. That means you need 4 people. Preferably 4 actual people, no companions.
also, how much more single player story line is left after corruscant. I know its hard to quantify in terms of hours. but just would like some idea. game is great
You're just getting started at Coruscant. I'm level 33 with my Smuggler, and in the time from there to Coruscant I've been to Taris, Tatooine, Nar Shadaa, and Alderaan. Plenty more story to enjoy =)
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My #1 complaint right now is with the alignment system. First, I love the ability to have choices, but there's not much subtlety. There's "Ok, let's be good" and "Murdering babies? Awesome!" I'd like to see dark side options that are, well, something I could see myself doing in a moment of weakness, a more believable choice that doesn't require moustache-twirling levels of villainy to swallow.
A good example would be the medicine quest on early Ord Mantell. That quest had a real tough decision moment, something that I actively had to think on before deciding.
Second, there's not neutral gear. I know it's being worked on, but I'd like to see it all the same.
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I bought this game as an MMO but it is not. It is a single player game without a single player payment structure option. I have effectively paid a ton of cash to buy what essentially is a single player game which I will not be able to play in 24 days because I do not have a subscription.
Funny, doesn't seem like a single-player game to me or my guild. We've been grouping to tackle content non-stop. Makes things more fun. You should try it.
I also believe they will catch a lot of players unaware. We have been forced to take out a subscription right at the start even though we are entitled to 30 days play time. This means a lot of players will probably pay an extra month, or more, because they will forget to cancel their subscription in time.
That's pretty standard for MMOs and other subscription-based industries.
Under the Hood with SWTOR
in General Discussion
Posted · Edited by flumpet
These improvements look really great!
One question - do the changes to Dynamic objects mean you'll be able (assuming there's development time) to go back through existing areas and smooth out some of the frustrations there? Mostly, I'm thinking of elevators we have to wait for vs. elevators that just teleport us to the next floor, but I'm guessing these changes might offer options for optimizing all sorts of other things.
Since one of the big selling points of SWTOR is the excellent class stories, spending some time polishing up the existing areas to make things a bit less frustrating as we go through them multiple times seems like a really solid idea.