Community Q&A: March 23rd 2012

[lollermittens]

Hurray another pointless Q&A. I mean FFS why do you even bother anymore?

 

I think questions like "Why is my Lightsaber Green?" would be better. At least you'd have a solid answer. "Because you have a green crystal."

 

--snip--.

 

This made me laugh. Because it's 100% true.

[MefuneAkira]

What do you what to hear?

 

They have said server transfers are going to come, but not for a while, and they will announce details when they get closer.

 

Which is why peeps are disappointing it wasn't discussed in this recent Q&A. Duh.

[Ushela]

It's already been answered on the PTS forums:

 

If you've replaced your Rakata Enhancements with Columi/Champion/Rakata Enhancements from other sets, it will not retroactively change the Enhancements with the new ones.

 

The way to fix this is that if you saved your Rakata Enhancements, replacing the original ones with the modified ones will guarantee that the change will commit.

 

That's basically a big "FU" to anybody who's modified their Rakata gear. I mean, who the hell pays 30K credit for an Enhancement/Mod that you're not going to use. This is non-sense... I'm going to be needing on Rakata pieces I don't need just to get the Enhacements. My guildies are going to be ecstatic.

 

You know they are just removing some accuracy and replacing it with more of the mods that matter....which is what you should have done anyway. I modded my rakata and I dont even care because how I changed it, is what they are going to do anyway.

[pzljug]

Hey I wanted to know. As I'm sure many others did who enjoy the story's in TOR. It was my question, deal with it. Or you can pay my sub and I'll ask your questions for you. But can I have your stuff before you leave

[Loading]

What do you what to hear?

 

They have said server transfers are going to come, but not for a while, and they will announce details when they get closer.

 

Not all information comes from posts on these boards.

 

The way these forums react every time they announce something it's a wonder they announce anything at all.

 

And they are sure as heck not going to give a date until they have it locked down in stone. Look whats happening with the release of 1.2, someone said they hoped to release it in March. Then at the summit it was stated it might happen in April, and the forums started with "You Promised March". If I was BW I would start following Blizzards policy of never releasing any kind of date until it was locked down.

 

So you (If you are EU) must be playing on the only EU Heavy population server... Come visit NIMAN and then come back and post here

Edited March 24, 2012 by Loading

[lollermittens]

You know they are just removing some accuracy and replacing it with more of the mods that matter....which is what you should have done anyway. I modded my rakata and I dont even care because how I changed it, is what they are going to do anyway.

 

Wrong. The new Enhancements included in the Rakata gear are superior to the Columi/Champion ones. By far. Go look on the PTS forums, the screenshots have been posted.

[djmurloc]

When will tanking companions be buffed? Currently they are quite squishy especially for non healer classes.

 

Khem needs love.

 

Xalek needs more love and his shield ratings fixed.

[foxxecho]

What do you what to hear?

 

They have said server transfers are going to come, but not for a while, and they will announce details when they get closer.

 

Not all information comes from posts on these boards.

 

The way these forums react every time they announce something it's a wonder they announce anything at all.

 

And they are sure as heck not going to give a date until they have it locked down in stone. Look whats happening with the release of 1.2, someone said they hoped to release it in March. Then at the summit it was stated it might happen in April, and the forums started with "You Promised March". If I was BW I would start following Blizzards policy of never releasing any kind of date until it was locked down.

 

So that's a no you dont have a link?

 

What I want to hear is anything really because I havent heard anything first hand.

I was focusing on the official site and official twitter accounts for some real info but inspired by your piss-poor attitude I tried google and found some fan sites with a little second hand info and what seems to be the consensus is:

 

"Working on it/no ETA" or

 

"Late April for specific territories"

 

Does that mesh with what you heard/know? Thanks for your help.

Edited March 24, 2012 by foxxecho

[brentonj]

Hey I wanted to know. As I'm sure many others did who enjoy the story's in TOR. It was my question, deal with it. Or you can pay my sub and I'll ask your questions for you. But can I have your stuff before you leave

 

It's not the fact you asked such a nonsensical question.

 

Its the idea that it was picked to begin with. There are so many other pressing problems currently within the game.

 

BioWare continues to just ignore them.

Edited March 24, 2012 by brentonj

[CJAShadow]

HOLY COW BATMAN

 

Seriously people,

 

You complain that you don't get information from Devs.

 

They give you a little information.

 

You complain that you got too little information from the Devs.

 

They give you a bit more information and an small explanation.

 

You complain because this information doesn't fit your idea of what is right or wrong.

 

The devs let you test on a PTS server and make statisical arguments with a new combat log.

 

You complain because they won't copy over one of your 5 lvl 50 characters...

 

I'm glad the forum population is 5% of the game population, cause I really don't want to deal with 95% of the people here ever.

 

If there is another game out there that responds to player forums anywhere near the amount that this one does besides a Indy game, let me know. Let me know how long its been in Skyrim since you have had a bug as well.

 

Half of the questions were not that informatory, but someone asked the question, why don't you go aggressively post about how stupid that person is? It's like getting angry at a Teacher that answers a stupid question from a Student...

 

The other half was s small amount of good information, such as the reason for the healing nerfs. Just enough information where people won't complain "omg wall of text" or read the first sentence, think its too long, and post anyway.

 

Edit: Btw thank you Devs. I do not agree with everything you have said but weekly Q&A sessions do help illuminate some topics. I care about the server merges as well, but that was answered a while ago. No ETA, jsut "in the future". I would guess 1.3.

Edited March 24, 2012 by CJAShadow

[Dezzi]

This was the most disheartening Q&A to date, and the preface about narrowing down our questions to things they want to answer really made it clear what the intention behind the weekly Q&A is: They're cherry-picking questions that provide the best PR answers.

 

What a disappointment.

Edited March 24, 2012 by Dezzi

[ChaosLenny]

Not really a question but a piece of feedback.

 

The nerf on Force Consumption destroys end game sorcerer healing. This has not been play tested, I don't care what people have said. I'm not the best healer but I'm far from the worst, and I've spoke with other sorcerers who heal. If healing is OP I'm sorry this isn't the solution.

 

The restructuring of PVP is cool but not this way. I'm half Battlemaster should be close to done by patch (and yes I did it the hard way, well semi hard way after the valor increase of late). What about my more 'casual' friends who have been grinding out centurion and champion gear?...Forget those guys who spent time to progress in pvp. Don't say pvp is about skill vs. gear either. If that was the case we'd all be playing Call of Duty. Gear progression is part of pvp, shouldn't be the end all but part of it. What this patch seems to do is irritate the population who is actually PVPing right now.

 

I've been playing since launch. I dig Old Republic, and I was really looking forward to patch 1.2....reading the patch notes and write ups from play testers 1.2 is a game killer for me which is why I cancelled today. Didn't want to but I'm sorry rocket boots and working on alts isn't my thing. Instead I get a completely wiped pvp system and massive class nerf. Having to trade in my slick looking Battlemaster robes for the 'medusa drag queen' look for War Hero sorcerer gear isn't much fun either.

 

Some folks will say qq, whatever...that's not what this is about. Its feedback for the folks who look at such things as to why I decided to cancel my subscription. SWTOR with it's basic pvp and dry pve just isn't enough to hold my interest through the nerfs and pvp restructure.

[Ushela]

Wrong. The new Enhancements included in the Rakata gear are superior to the Columi/Champion ones. By far. Go look on the PTS forums, the screenshots have been posted.

 

Apparently I saw diff pics than you did, because the ones I saw definitely did not indicate what you are stating. And even if they did, I still dont care because I will be moving into the next tier quickly anyway.

[RawGutts]

"We're listening to your feedback"

 

I keep seeing this over and over again from Bioware. I am assuming you are just getting this feedback from the vocal majority on the forums because you have yet to have any in game polls to ask for it.

[Tetrablade]

Who on earth asks / picks these questions?

 

They're completely irrelevant and not a single one seems to be a pressing community issue.

 

They have stated that they don't like to talk about stuff they are not sure how to answer. So basically I think they are still trying to figure things like the server populations out or hoping that with legacy people will balance themselves.

 

Considering I think you can mail you own toon regardless of faction in 1.2 the servers might balance themselves a bit. Its a glimmer of hope to me at least.

 

Of course people could just roll an alt on the republic side. On my server things are so much cheaper on the republic side then the empire. Who has 50k for a lvl 15 orange ?

Edited March 24, 2012 by Tetrablade

[veyl]

Are there any plans to implement instanced Team Deathmatches in PvP?

 

Considering all the player-made tournaments in tatooine, it might sound like a good idea.

 

This came up during the Guild Summit. Someone had asked the question about having "guild challenges' and they're completely on board with the notion...

 

When we'll actually see it is another story. (There are Tournaments coming though that are separate from rated warzones)

[Daotenka]

i wonder if we are ever gonna get an in game government, like a senatorial sub comity or dark council?

[Redmarx]

What is the point of having Q&A sessions at all if you're going to avoid ALL the most pressing concerns of the players.

 

Rather than giving straight answers, you instead choose to answer fluff questions asked on a whim by a couple of people on the forum rather than the hundreds of posts on the same major issues:

 

- Why has the healing paradigm been so drastically changed so suddenly, and is causing healing frustration really a good idea given that healers are the core of every operation / warzone?

 

- What are the PVP design decisions (specifically, what roles in rated warzones do you believe make sense) behind the sweeping nerfs to some classes that are in dire need of help (operative) and a complete lack of attention to the strongest classes (tank assassins in dps gear)?

 

- Why does it appear to the playerbase that you do balance changes purely based on who cries foul on forums the most? Is that actually how you do them? Isn't it awful that we even have to ask?

 

- What kind of improvements are you making to the PTS to allow more widespread testing, rather than just testing by a small group of guilds who might give insufficient / incorrect data?

 

- Why are server issues not being addresse more proactively in order to avoid eventual implosions due to straggling activity?

 

etc etc.

 

If all you wanted was easy questions, the answers to which no one cares about, you could just invent the questions yourselves and answer why the lightsaber is green (hint: it's because of the crystal).

Edited March 24, 2012 by Redmarx

[-Kelerak-]

Still nothing about character transfers...

[brentonj]

What is the point of having Q&A sessions at all if you're going to avoid ALL the most pressing concerns of the players.

 

Rather than giving straight answers, you instead choose to answer fluff questions asked on a whim by a couple of people on the forum rather than the hundreds of posts on the same major issues:

 

- Why has the healing paradigm been so drastically changed so suddenly, and is causing healing frustration really a good idea given that healers are the core of every operation / warzone?

 

- What are the PVP design decisions (specifically, what roles in rated warzones do you believe make sense) behind the sweeping nerfs to some classes that are in dire need of help (operative) and a complete lack of attention to the strongest classes (tank assassins in dps gear)?

 

- Why does it appear to the playerbase that you do balance changes purely based on who cries foul on forums the most? Is that actually how you do them? Isn't it awful that we even have to ask?

 

- What kind of improvements are you making to the PTS to allow more widespread testing, rather than just testing by a small group of guilds who might give insufficient / incorrect data?

 

- Why are server issues not being addresse more proactively in order to avoid eventual implosions due to straggling activity?

 

etc etc.

 

If all you wanted was easy questions, the answers to which no one cares about, you could just invent the questions yourselves and answer why the lightsaber is green (hint: it's because of the crystal).

 

Excellent post.

[Evray]

They have stated that they don't like to talk about stuff they are not sure how to answer. So basically I think they are still trying to figure things like the server populations out or hoping that with legacy people will balance themselves.

 

Considering I think you can mail you own toon regardless of faction in 1.2 the servers might balance themselves a bit. Its a glimmer of hope to me at least.

 

Of course people could just roll an alt on the republic side. On my server things are so much cheaper on the republic side then the empire. Who has 50k for a lvl 15 orange ?

 

I don't think you really understand how serious the population issue is right now.

 

My sub ends in a week. I have currently been on 3 different servers all of which are DEAD. Were talking warzones that end in 120 seconds because there are not enough players for either side. Nights where I can fly to every single planet during peak hours on a Friday and realize that unless everyone is hiding inside their ships or everyone is playing warzones and raids that there are less than 75 people on the entire server for the Republic. I rerolled once because of my dead server. Remade new characters, got them to 50. That server is now dead and lifeless, I rerolled to a HEAVY server. Now my server is dead too.

 

I can't find a group for raids. The ratio of Republic to Imperial was about 1 to 4. There are never more than 40 people on the Imperial Fleet. The Galactic Trade network has almost no items on it because there are so few players. Most guilds are now 10 man groups and most people know each other and their alts because the community is so small.

 

This is happening on other servers and from what I've been hearing, some are even worse than that. I mean, I thought I was just an unlucky whiney ***** until I started hearing how so many other people are also on different servers than me, having the same problem.

 

Whats the point of an MMO if there is no multiplayer or massive part to the game? I might as well be playing with myself (giggle). Seriously though.

 

I'm on my 3rd level 50 Jedi Knight and am looking at an Imperial Fleet population of 19 right now. Its almost 6:00pm (pst) on a Friday. And the Imperial side is the side with more people...

 

So now not only does all my legacy points and species that I've gotten to level 50 don't matter on my other servers, but now I can mail stuff to my characters who have no use for the money I am sending them since there is nothing to do because there is nobody on my server?

 

Great. Guess that solved my issues.

 

Seriously, I wish they would of just told me why my lightsaber was green. Because thats the only real pressing issue here.

Edited March 24, 2012 by Evray

[gibmachine]

I liked this week's answers, especially the one about healing changes (even though I don't play a healing class) as it provided a lot of relevant info on the subject of balance.

 

HOWEVER

 

Suzume_Bachi: If I unlock the Pureblood Sith species for all my future characters via the Legacy System, will I be able to create a Republic Pureblood Sith Smuggler, and will that Smuggler have Punish to I can smack around Corso Riggs?

 

William Wallace (Senior Designer): Players creating characters with the new species/class combinations allowed by Legacy will get that species’ unique ability. So yes, your new Sith Pureblood Smuggler will have the Punish ability, and can use it on Corso Riggs as much as you like. Poor Corso....

 

 

 

DevTheSith: Can Bounty Hunters get a [Name] The Mandalorian title (or if it’s already in game, where is it)?

 

Daniel Erickson (Lead Game Designer): Currently, there is no such title available for Bounty Hunters. It may be added as part of a future content update, but we’ve got no current plans to add it to the existing game.

 

What the **** is that supposed to be.

 

First question quoted was answered ONLY ABOUT A HUNDRED TIMES IN EVERY POSSIBLE INTERVIEW, FORUM POST, BLOG UPDATE AND ANY OTHER FORM YOU CAN THINK ABOUT. Second question, while not as ridiculous as the first one, stands out as well, especially after reading how devs would prefer to answer questions about current features and things lile that. And while the question is about current features IN SOME WAY, I'd imagine there are more pressing things community would like to hear about.

 

So yeah, while all in all I like this week's Q&A, those 2 are absolutely atrocious choices.

[Rashne]

Who on earth asks / picks these questions?

 

They're completely irrelevant and not a single one seems to be a pressing community issue.

 

Are you trolling or just not reading? He answer two very big community pressing issues with the Merc/Comm interrupt and the healer nerf.

[veyl]

Not really a question but a piece of feedback.

 

The nerf on Force Consumption destroys end game sorcerer healing. This has not been play tested, I don't care what people have said. I'm not the best healer but I'm far from the worst, and I've spoke with other sorcerers who heal. If healing is OP I'm sorry this isn't the solution.

 

This has been play tested in hardmodes and the new operation on normal and Hard mode. http://www.twitch.tv/ookini

Streamed the operation the day the doors opened in 8 man and that guy Ookini openly discussed how the changes were while streaming. You basically have to rely on your other healers to either HoT you up or throw a heal after taps. (that link has him healing the new world boss if you want to see it in action).

 

In PvP however, that loss of the 1.4 second heal I feel is too much. I haven't seen any feedback on how pvp sorc heals are doing.

Edited March 24, 2012 by veyl

[Talorya]

Ugh, seriously?

Maybe you guys need to put the most asked questions every week up on a poll, we vote, you answer the ones we want answered.

 

You even get to pick one or two extra ones you want for kicks and giggles like you do now, but with a more focused emphasis on the queries that matter most to the players.