Feedback request from James Ohlen - In-game events

[Dolcia]

I loved it and I hope there will be more events to come. This event got people playing, talking, grouping, PVPing. It was good for my server, good for the community. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I thought the fact that a new quest opened up every day was a good incentive to keep pushing. I never felt like the dailies were too grindy so, yeah, it was fun. I liked.

[ChronoSynclast]

I loved the event, especially the surprise nature of it; it was great logging in to find something unexpected, new and interesting to take part in.

 

I think the length of the event was perfect, and honestly I think it would have gotten tedious and stale if it last much longer.

 

I liked the staging idea, (as someone who is able to play most days), however I do think that the way they staged the dailies such that late comers couldn't possibly get them all could have been handled better (perhaps having them all unlock on the last couple days for any late comers).

 

(Oh and the random companion boxes... 26 boxes before I got the Customization I wanted! Though with how easy it was to get DNA it shouldn't be too easy to get everything. Maybe allowing a turn in of any 4 customizations to the one you want).

 

All in all I loved it and Im looking forward to more.

[Spectus]

The main benefit of the Rakghoul Plague event was that it was a good, fun, short-term set of daily quests that provided a break from the Ilum/Belsavis dailies. It also was a fun way to get Republic and Empire players mixing it up in open-world PvP. And since it was a limited-duration event, it didn't last long enough to become monotonous.

 

One world event I would still like to see sometime is one that features a fight with a krayt dragon. I was hoping one would pop up during this event -- possibly in the form of one weakened by an infection of the rakghoul plague. If I were a MMO publisher, I'd even set this up as a perk for my staff. Have a drawing or essay contest, or better yet, a contest to see who can come up with the best idea for an in-game quest arc, and let the winner(s) control a krayt dragon in the live in-game environment. And have the krayt dragon(s) attempt to storm Anchorhead or the Imperial home base on Tatooine.

 

I'm also thinking the game needs some sort of Mystical Journey into a really creepy cave complex. This would be a place that fairly oozes with the Dark Side of the Force, sort of an oversized version of the cave on Dagobah from The Empire Strikes Back. Imperial players could be drawn there in search of enlightenment; Republic players, to destroy the source of the dark energies. I would populate the place with some really nightmarish denizens -- horrible, unworldly life-forms that were once some of the ancient Sith alchemists' most horrific experiments in genetic manipulation, all further mutated over centuries of abandonment and close proximity to the Dark Side energies of the cave. And I would equip the site with its own set of sound effects -- sort of muffled or distorted, to heighten the physical sensation the player experiences of the place being an utterly unearthly, alien environment. And somewhere in the midst of it all would be a disturbingly calm NPC whose stated goal is to study the site. But just what IS this being? Is he human? Or is he an android? Or perhaps a holoprojection somehow imbued with physical substance? Or is he a phantasm implanted in the characters' minds by the Dark Side energies of the place? And what is he really after? Or maybe he's not really after anything at all....

Edited April 26, 2012 by Spectus
replacing a piece of text that was unexpectedly X'd out

[Jenemi]

I really liked the event. I loved the codexes and story. Main complaints would be randomness, the forced PVP (unless you got lucky and nobody was there), and if you missed too much of something, you kind of missed out. Oh, and the vaccine wearing off if you die.

 

Everything else was a lot of fun and I loved seeing people work together. And it was done really well. I think maybe some hints would be nice for future events (whether through the game, interviews, or forum); I mean I know I found out through mentioning an interview in the Tauntaun thread...was waiting there 4 hours before it began.

Edited April 26, 2012 by Jenemi

[Freeborne]

I loved the organic nature of the Rakghoul event. Particularly how it was quietly initiated, and players were left to discover everything.

 

The only thing I'd like to see in future events is better/different rewards. Color cyrstals are cool, but if you're not a lightsaber wielding class your color crystal only matters when you fire...it becomes less of a status symbol or "show off" item. Some unique orange weapon skins would be very cool.

[Asileth]

It was okay; love the pet(s). But, it seemed a bit underwhelming. Maybe that was because I did the find the ship parts once. It was too time consuming for me to go back; perhaps have it less strewn around. Thing is I spend all my time doing my dailies just to make enough credits to pay for all the reusables I need for raiding.

 

I would truly like to see more of these; but would be nice if the plague turned off effects for operations, fp's and warzones. Think it would have been a lot less annoying for some folks.

 

Like Ambia, I was there for Amarthial and that was the most incredible special event ever. Four years later, folks are still talking about it.

[ZenMorph]

What I enjoyed:

 

1. Star Wars Holidays. Not our RL holidays. That isn't very appealing, and it's over done. But I'd like to celebrate some in game holidays that would be important to the universe....or even specific planets.

 

 

I definitely like this idea. +1

[ModernZombie]

Overall I really liked it. Great for spontaneous world PVP, quests were not so dull that they got annoying, awards were pretty nice. Id like to see a wider range or rewards and quests in the next even to keep it more interesting. Excited to see how these events grow over time and/or perhaps become yearly occurrences. Well done.

[imnotawitch]

It was mostly fun, and I liked that the vaccines were available for those who didn't want to participate. My only suggestion would be to make items like the vaccine available at a price that scales to the level of the highest character on your legacy/server. That way lowbies can afford to opt out without having to dump most of their credits on vaccines that need to be replaced every time they die questing.

[Polebreaker]

Suggestions Going Forward:

 

1. Star Wars Holidays. Not our RL holidays. That isn't very appealing, and it's over done. But I'd like to celebrate some in game holidays that would be important to the universe....or even specific planets.

 

Yeah, we totally need a Life Day event!!!1!11

[Evangolis]

This was an awesome event. I could not be more pleased. It is my greatest hope that this trend continues and expands. There is so much that can be done with events in such a huge universe. I will be looking forward to these in the future...please keep up the good works and thank you.

[JediJoeK]

Absolutely loved it, but I wish I had more time to participate.. I liked the idea of having set pieces with mod slots as rewards for doing the dailies, but just didn't have enough time to get them all. Make the next one last longer!

 

How about daily world pvp events? Set aside an area on a planet that is gated off from both factions during down times, but every 2-3 hours open the gates and let them go at it for 20-30 minutes, and giving rewards for participation/kills/healing etc.

 

I also like the idea of an in-game, storied event where a settlement/city gets invaded by npc's every so often and happens in stages, also changing the landscape (ie House Organa is bombarded from orbit).

[Spectus]

Here's an idea for a world event that could be the sequel to the Rakghoul Plague world event:

 

Two new temporary factions: the Galactic Health & Safety Commission, and The Infected!

 

These factions would be PvP-enabled against one another. Players on both the Imperial and Republic sides could join them -- the Commission, by registering with a recruitment NPC, and The Infected -- well, by simply becoming infected and allowing the plague to progress to its conclusion, causing the player to become a rakghoul!

 

Both factions would have a big goal -- The Infected, to locate, establish, and defend a secure location called The Redoubt; the Health & Safety Commission, to locate and clear it.

 

Side quests would be for The Infected to spread the plague to creatures and NPCs and as many players as possible, while the Commission's missions would be prevention and eradication.

 

Players who wished not to participate could request an immunization from the Commission. In this case, The Infected would be unable to infect them.

 

Imperial and Republic factions would still have the same PvP status against one another as their servers. On PvP-active servers, this would raise all sorts of strategic questions, a la the temporary alliances that form on survival-TV shows: Do we call a truce? If so, how long until we're back at one another's throats? Meanwhile, the two new factions would allow players to test their PvP skills against their friends within their Republic or Imperial factions -- friends who now, because of the plague, are enemies for a week. And maybe a vaccine can be introduced that can be used on defeated Infected, which could be used instead of a normal rez: when the player uses a "Vaccinate" ability on a defeated member of the Infected, the target's body is engulfed in a ball of light, and the character's rakghoul for is replaced by his original, uninfected self. He's been saved! Or, perhaps not...? (I can hear it now: will it be, "I'M SAVED!!" Or will it be, "I'm not wasting vaccine on that Imperial/Republic scum!") Or, if the defeated Infected player chooses to self-rez, he returns in his rakghoul form.

[Spectus]

...Since my main uses Quinn in battle almost all the time, and I really dislike the fact that he betrayed me, I decided to give him the Rakghoul virus as punishment. I feel much better about him now....

ROFL! Funniest quote of the day award for you.

[Alexi_son]

Having an event last only 9 days and requiring players to log in and play every day for the last 6 of those days to get the armor set is a very poor mechanic. It leads to the impression that EA is catering to folks who can log in and play daily. If that is the true circumstance behind the daily chain, then so be it, but doing the quest chain that way left a very negative impression on me and causes me to doubt whether the dev team wants me as a customer short of my subscription fee.

 

Aside from the daily social armor chain mechanic, the rest of the event was fine.

[vaugerant]

I was unable to participate as I was racing toward 50 / legacy 6 to get the free month.

 

Because I was interested in pursing other activities and because I was on a PVE server - it was a setback that I could not find a stim to fix the issue on the fleet. There may have been one but I could not find it - I blew up on my ship AFK to get it over with. PVE should have a participation switch for these types of events.

 

I know folks will call me trolling and this will unlikely get noticed by the folks that should see it, but I am posting anyway.

[Pedra]

Overall a very fun and enjoyable event. My only complaint has to do with the pre-reqs to complete the full set for containment gear. Unfortunately, I didn't get to play often enough to complete it.

 

Oh, I guess I have two complaints. It was very easy to get bugged and not transition from dizzy to feverish. Two of my 3 chars got stuck at dizzy after the second day. In other words, I couldn't blow up.

Edited April 26, 2012 by Pedra

[Skotal]

I enjoyed the announcements on the fleet, the news reporters, the changes to tat reflecting the infection and the side dialog of the random npcs, and the general storyline. I did not like the daily quest aspect of the event. The event items should not be limited to how long you grind dna but for completing mile stones in the event and be bound by legacy.

 

I think more of a storyline with more dialog choices. A few npcs a few conversation options. Maybe a quest or 2 that directly lead into the rakghoul flashpoints.

[gibmachine]

Less RNG as far as rewards go. You could get the crystal you wanted but trying your luck with the boxes wasn't fun at all (while at it, let me exchange the duplicate customizations for the ones I'm missing).

 

That's it. other than that, the event was fun and I enjoyed it.

[Ashima]

I liked the event overall.

I was unclear where in Tat the vendor was located . The map just said vendor. DNA Vendor would have been helpfull. Like many players, I dont frequent the forums. On the night before it ended, I thought that the plague part was ending. I will wrong because after the patch both of my toons died and I got 5 DNA samples each time. I assument the vendor would be up at least 24 hours for turn ins. If you can get samples until the game comes down and later then when can you turn them in . PLEASE consider putting up a vendor for a week.

[Diviciacus]

"The Rakghoul Plague was a very popular event. You’re going to see more surprises like it in the future.

 

I want to hear your thoughts on why you thought the Rakghoul plague was fun. Also, what kind of stuff would you like to see in the future?"

 

I loved it. Was tons of fun, both with the world pvp it incurred and the questing and mystery and whatnot (And the delicious tears of the fools whose "experience is negatively affected").

 

Two concerns about the Rakghoul event, though:

 

-lowbie toons couldn't feasibly afford vaccines (esp since the vaccinated buff didn't persist through death).

-the event was clearly tailored to level 50's. With the need to be at least lvl 28-30, it leaves a number of the playerbase unable to participate.

 

Otherwise, lots of fun and I'm definitely looking forward to the next event. Just please... put the rakghoul pen down. Sick of wozzing my way through hordes of zombies >.<

[Rezag]

Y'know, when I was eight, I went out trick or treating, and one house was giving out Hostess fruit pies. A lot better than the crap most people were handing out. But by the time I'd heard about this from one of my friends, it was too late, and they were out.

 

This was very upsetting to me. BECAUSE I WAS EIGHT.

 

cut

 

Thus, BY DEFINITION, the event as held could ONLY give you things -- give you a new item, give you a new codex entry, whatever. If you could only do part of the event, you got a few things. If you did more of the event, you got more things. Thus:

Doing none of the event did not harm you.

Doing ANY part of the event gave you SOMETHING, and something is better than nothing -- and you were not "entitled" to anything.

 

So, to everyone complaining they couldn't do EVERYTHING, and that's UNFAIR -- shut up, and grow up. Ideally, in that order.

 

You obviously have comprehension problem let me but it on other way

 

1. You buy sequel to book 1st day you get full great story book great!

2. Another customer comes one day after you and buys same sequel to book but doesnt get last chapter of sequel to book so he dont get the full story.

3 Again another customer comes and buys same sequel to book but now he doesnt get 2 last chapter and misses even more story of the sequel to book.

4. and so on

 

Only later they find out that hey this was announced in microscopic text on foreing langue on flyer that only the first customer was able to pick up. Because of that rest customers only got part of sequel story. Now book seller makes another flyer saying I will continue selling sequels to books with this amazing system so keep looking for my hidden adverticements as thats only way you can buy whole sequels.

 

This game is realy heavily story oriented and when its made clear you can only enjoy full story and other parts of game with luck of noticing hidden stuff it is very valid reason to be unhappy. Why would those customers who only bough part of sequel to book be happy if they paid same price but only got part of it simply because of marketing mechanic was uter fiasko.

Edited April 26, 2012 by Rezag

[DJMayhem]

Loved the event. Loved the speculation and the whispers about how and when exactly it would start. Loved the plague experience. The spreading of the virus, the random check points at all spaceports, the chance at some world PVP on PVP servers. If there was any issue I would take with it, was that you should get credit for PVP kills in the open world (in this case Tatooine) like you did/do on Ilum.

 

Overall, I'd say you guys hit a home run with this. More things like this would really help with the feeling that endgame might be lacking. People really do love an incentive laden "grind".

 

And to the people who complain about not enough forewarning or not having enough time to do anything. Seriously, if you logged in AT ALL during the last 8 DAYS, you couldn't help but know what was going on. A few hours, a few nights and you could easily get at least 1 color crystal, for your spec, and the pet. It's not a design problem, its a YOU problem. If you were on vacation or busy that week, you weren't going to change your plans for an in-game event. Stop trying to find issues where there weren't any.

 

Keep up the good work BioWare.

[caronome]

I hated what the WoW Zombie event did to my bank alts so I will never be thrilled with anything along the same lines. So my immediate and visceral reaction was to loathe it. But it wasn't too bad. I still see little benefit to my level 10 alts dieing in front of the GTN.

 

The way the mobs scaled to your level was quite clever!

 

I am not a big fan of Bind-On-Annoying like the DNA. It's not BoP or B2L so if I can mail it and sell it and trade it, why can't I put it on the GTN?

 

Like many commenters, the RNG on the custom outfits seemed a bit too random. Perhaps a bit like Cata JC tokens - you could buy a random outfit for X or a specific outfit for 400% of X?

 

For me, alts have the potential to remove the fun from these events. Thinking I really should do 12 scavenging tasks on five toons has the potential to make me do it on zero. I.e., more B2L rewards are nice.

 

If you announce an event is over 2 AM Tuesday, my alts should not be dieing on Tues and Wed.

 

While I guess the one time nature of this is cool, unless you have an unlimited budget then I think going forward that annual live events are the most efficient in terms of making them special and time-sensitive with some reusability.

 

Putting a boss in the outlaws den on PvE servers is quite annoying. Having no PvE servers in your game (e.g. EVE) is perfectly valid (for publishers that want a niche game). But what is the point of forcing non-consentual PvP on people who deliberately chose to avoid it? It sure seems like the designers are out-of-touch with people who, unlike them, would roll on a PvE server; or they are deliberately trying to be annoying.

 

I was disappointed the containment gear was unusable for me because it required Social I. What is not fixable was that it was light armor.

[Edgedy]

It was a surprise.

 

It fit into the lore of the game.

 

We received pets, armor, and crystals which were all a nice perk.

 

It even influenced the in game economy, people selling DNA, etc.

 

The storyline and lore was cool.

 

The new world bosses were great and even brought out a good dose of fresh PvP to the server.

 

New titles. And exploration. Woo.

 

Pretty much you hit on all the elements of something people like, a mystery. exploration, rewards, and strong challenges for both PvE and PvP.