Sentinel's biggest problem: Ability Stuttering

[Vibeth]

So while Bioware said they'll fix ability delay, no word has been said yet about ability STUTTERING (one might even call it Ability CANCELLATION).

 

This thread was created for the purpose of getting an answer out of Bioware on this major problem.

 

 

What is ability stuttering?

 

Ability stuttering is not the same thing as ability delay (atleast from a player's view).

 

Ability delay can be easily noticed if you use your vehicle skill (mount up) and after the animation/cast bar finishes and you're mounted up, you press forward and you get dismounted immediately.

 

Ability stuttering is another problem, however. This is best described using an example, I bet pretty much every Sentinel (Guardian too) has experienced this before:

 

Press the hotkey for Blade Storm

Blade Storm animation starts

Blade Storm animation stops midway, no damage done

Press the hotkey for Blade Storm again

Blade Storm animation starts

Blade Storm animation stops midway, no damage done

Press the hotkey for Blade Storm again

Blade Storm animation finally finishes, damage done

 

So in theory, ability stuttering is when you start executing an ability and it stops midway in animation without dealing damage.

Problem with this is, that even though the skill is available, no GCD, you have to press the same button 3x+ times for the ability to actually go off/deal damage.

 

As for me, I'm experiencing the stuttering problem with a lot of Sentinel abilities -

Blade Storm

Zealous Strike

Overload Saber

Rebuke

Slash

Cauterize

 

are just a few of those that I have to press multiple times to execute correctly.

 

My question to Bioware, is this going to be fixed with the ability delay fix or is this a separate issue? If separate, is it aknowledged yet and will it be fixed soon?

 

For me, this is a gamebreaking issue. My rotation is ruined when stuttering starts, my dps drops, I can't use my defensive abilities to survive properly. And all this on pretty much EVERY fight/pull.

 

I hope this post was understandable and looking forward to some official response.

 

 

 

Thank you,

 

Vashe the Sentinel.

 

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ADDED:

 

 

Ability Stutter video:

Edited January 16, 2012 by Vibeth

[Guardianbuzz]

It's gamebreaking, I'm close to quitting my sentinel because of this. I can't imagine how they couldn't possibly be aware of the problem, its obvious to anyone who's played this class. Do other classes suffer from this too? Sometimes I talk to people about it and they have no idea what I'm talking about.

 

If this were fixed it would help out sentinels greatly.

[Vibeth]

Do other classes suffer from this too? Sometimes I talk to people about it and they have no idea what I'm talking about.

 

Let me just say that I leveled a Bounty Hunter Mercenary to 31 first and I NEVER noticed ability stuttering.

Noticed it right away on my Sentinel though.

Edited January 13, 2012 by Vibeth

[Acanti]

I agree 100%. I've learned to overcome the difficulties of this class in PvP but this one issue there's nothing I can do about. It's extremely irritating, having to press the same button multiple times for one attack simply isn't fun.

[Xzenthal]

Ye that is really annoying and happens mostly to me on master strike. I click it he does the full thing in battle but no damage and it's reset. Edited January 13, 2012 by Xzenthal

[Aeridian]

please fix it......

[VorKoom]

I rolled a new Jedi Knight Alt at the start of he week as I was finding the game a bit awkward with my Guardian and wanted to try Sentinel to see if that made things a bit easier going, I found that the Sentinel was more suited to my play style, I have never come across this so called bug in over 40 hours of gameplay with my character, I press the button for the attack and she performs the action, carries out the attack and does damage as she is supposed to. It is possible guys that the problem could be with your computers and not with the game itself as surely if the problem was with the game then I and many more people would be experiencing it as well.

[Vibeth]

I rolled a new Jedi Knight Alt at the start of he week as I was finding the game a bit awkward with my Guardian and wanted to try Sentinel to see if that made things a bit easier going, I found that the Sentinel was more suited to my play style, I have never come across this so called bug in over 40 hours of gameplay with my character, I press the button for the attack and she performs the action, carries out the attack and does damage as she is supposed to. It is possible guys that the problem could be with your computers and not with the game itself as surely if the problem was with the game then I and many more people would be experiencing it as well.

 

I find it very unlikely that you haven't experienced this, infact I'm pretty sure it is just you who hasn't noticed this.

I'm 99% sure this is NOT a computer/connection issue, too many people experience this.

Edited January 13, 2012 by Vibeth

[Rakimou]

I rolled a new Jedi Knight Alt at the start of he week as I was finding the game a bit awkward with my Guardian and wanted to try Sentinel to see if that made things a bit easier going, I found that the Sentinel was more suited to my play style, I have never come across this so called bug in over 40 hours of gameplay with my character, I press the button for the attack and she performs the action, carries out the attack and does damage as she is supposed to. It is possible guys that the problem could be with your computers and not with the game itself as surely if the problem was with the game then I and many more people would be experiencing it as well.

 

No, just no.

Have you seen the threads about this issue in general section a while ago? There were 4 threads, 100 pages each with multiple videos describing the problem in detail.

I cannot fathom how you're unable to see the issue. I've noticed it before hitting level 10. The only explanation I can think of is that you don't do your rotations properly. If you tried to optimize your rotations you would notice it right away. It happens all the *********** time.

How can this be a computer problem?

The fact is, the cause of this problem is already known: some animations take priority over GCDs. If your super fancy animation isn't done, your abilities will not work, even if said ability ignored GCD (e.g. riposte). Best case scenario - you have to wait another GCD, worst case scenario - you experience the issue OP described.

And I don't have to tell you (or maybe I do) how crucial one missed GCD can be. Sentinel is already a horrible mess of 10-15 second cooldowns. This issue makes it much worse.

[JCVM]

Thing is though, it's probably very difficult to fix. While it is a very annoying factor, you can't just change the coding like that overnight and fix the bug. It may take a very long time, and it could actually be possible that it will never be entirely fixed - this is because you can't just change some of the codings which have gone behind this at this point.

 

You can be sure that BioWare dedicates a lot of resources to fixing this, but depending on the source of the problem, it may just be a very difficult task that takes a lot of time/cannot be entirely solved. I guess we all gotta be patient and see what happens.

[Rakimou]

Thing is though, it's probably very difficult to fix. While it is a very annoying factor, you can't just change the coding like that overnight and fix the bug. It may take a very long time, and it could actually be possible that it will never be entirely fixed - this is because you can't just change some of the codings which have gone behind this at this point.

 

You can be sure that BioWare dedicates a lot of resources to fixing this, but depending on the source of the problem, it may just be a very difficult task that takes a lot of time/cannot be entirely solved. I guess we all gotta be patient and see what happens.

 

Unfortunately, you are entirely correct. Animation and ability queuing is a very complex and tricky thing. Usually such things are finalized in alpha versions. But one can hope BioWare might slap on some workaround, who knows.

[Raell]

I see it often with Force Sweep. Just before my character jumps he stutters and doesn't finish. It has gotten to the point where I just double click it now.

[Prasanna]

Happens to me too; Affected my rotation time a lot during PvP which was crucial. In PvE atleast I can manage even if I get delayed because of these small problems.

But yeah; Hoping to get a fix soon.

[Zaerion_H]

100% agree with this thread , they MUST fix it sentinels are just a sad class rigth now. a little lag + ability delay +ability Stuttering = GL sentienl bioware answer : Mad bro? reroll another class , problem solved. thx or just go to another game . Edited January 13, 2012 by Zaerion_H

[Nacixems]

yup, this happens in PvE and PvP. very sad. i dont see it on my gunslinger, but im just 15 atm. its making the jedi sent. not fun to play.

[Psybin]

Yep get this all the time, especially in PvP. When it's more important than usual that I do not stare at my ability bar just to make sure abilities go off...

Have an issue with Master Strike, where I'll be spamming the button to make it go off, and then when it finally does, pressing the button again cancels it, but I still do the animation, but without doing any damage...

Also had big issues with charge. For starters, leap will quite often end up placing me no where near my target.. I've found zealous leap to be particularly bad for this, to the point that if the target is moving at all I will not be in range for my 4m abilities...

Also if I charge someone that also charges at the same time then it can cause all sorts of problems, up to and including a complete client crash...

[Csdabest]

I think they are just grouping it together. Hey everyone. We are going to fix the problem where you abilities delay because of this one causing you not to perform the tech when ou want it to. Were also going to fix the sturring issue which also delays the use of the ability. Its almost like saying it twice. Hopefully and im sure they recognize it. They will fix but issue and all issues

[Vember]

I find it very unlikely that you haven't experienced this, infact I'm pretty sure it is just you who hasn't noticed this.

I'm 99% sure this is NOT a computer/connection issue, too many people experience this.

 

I haven't experienced this stuttering either, although I have had times where I pushed the button for the skill and nothing happened at all, but its fairly rare. The other problem i run into is "not facing target" in pvp when they're right in front of me.

[AstralProjection]

It's gamebreaking, I'm close to quitting my sentinel because of this. I can't imagine how they couldn't possibly be aware of the problem, its obvious to anyone who's played this class. Do other classes suffer from this too? Sometimes I talk to people about it and they have no idea what I'm talking about.

 

If this were fixed it would help out sentinels greatly.

 

Ability Stuttering is purely a function of abilities with range requirements and special conditions.

 

Other classes do experience this, however the Jedi Knight classes suffer from it the most. Scoundrels/Operatives I've spoken to have the same issue with their melee range abilities.

 

For a class like Mercenary, you're rarely going to meet the conditions that cause it to happen, and different animations make a big difference - for instance, I've heard that Force Scream doesn't suffer from Blade-Storm's problems, but our animation has a windup.

 

I'd imagine a heavy-rocket puncher might come across this, on the other hand, but again because of the speed of their animation it may not be as big of an issue.

[McDaniels]

Some people don't experience any problems at all, but it seems like most do. This has certainly been a problem for me.

[FobManX]

Ability stuttering can be disastrous. It's screwed me over so many times, especially when it comes to timing interupts.

[soove]

I agree this is the main issue for our class at this time.

 

To run to a target, as combat with the skills for improved master strike, use it, get stuck in place doing the animation while the target walks away unharmed.

 

Leaping to a enemy > into a overload saber, and attempt todo a zealous strike, but it wont execute until 2 seconds after which the target has escaped or returned fire by then.

 

Lining up the correct cooldowns and ready for a big hit, then zealous leap/sweep combo fails because the target has escaped the tiny 1m required range if they are moving away when these are used.

[EasymodeX]

Pretty sure the issue only applies to players that press buttons fast.

 

...

[Tindra]

OMG this is so annoying. Its not as evident in PvE because I get lazy and play in slowmotion even using the mouse. But in PvP the behavior is extremely frustrating. My guild mates always asks me why I get so pissed during PvP. I die with a smile and I loose with a smile but this stuttering problem is starting to make me go mad...

 

Forgot to mention that I had a similar problem in APB:Reloaded.

I ended up buying a new keyboard (mechanical) and use PS2 instead of USB. This is not the problem in SWTOR.

Edited January 13, 2012 by Tindra

[Smiego-Wan]

It isn't only sentinel however, I have the same problem with my gunslinger and some channeled abilities. the ability will start to cast, due the animation but the GCD doesn't go off and no damage is done. I'd imagine this problem pertains to multiple classes so perhaps a fix is closer than it seems (/optimistic?).