Feedback request from James Ohlen - In-game events

[Fozziwig]

I absolutley LOVE it because it was:

-unannounced

-new content we had to figure out

-social

-a good story

-had good rewards.

[Vilefaith]

Was fun over all, I liked that there were several different ways to farm the event currency. However the repeats on the companion customization really pissed me off. 10 tries, 8 kiras. I dont have a Jedi Knight.

 

I would love to see more events.

[EJedi]

I loved it, though there are some things I would change:

 

1) Nothing should be Bind on Pickup. Anything that isn't Bind on Equip should be Binds to Legacy, due to the limited duration of these events.

2) Fix the PvP flagging bugs. There should be NOTHING in the game that will PvP flag a player on a PvE server unless he/she directly targets and attacks a flagged player, directly targets and buffs/heals a flagged player, or enters an area that is designed to flag the player. (Additionally, taking a taxi should immediately clear PvP flag just like in WoW)

3) Fix the progression style quests. Don't lock them down by player. Lock them down by day if you like, but don't limit players who start the event late. Let any player progress through the entire unlocked series (for that day) even if it is the first day they logged on during the event.

4) Avoid putting event content in PvP areas on PvE servers. Making players feel compelled to engage in PvP on PvE servers is bad form.

5) Less randomization on the companion boxes. Make the boxes legacy-bound, and have them give the appropriate companion item for the current character and/or the currently summoned companion at the time it is clicked.

[KiraraKat]

The event was great... my only feedback is...

 

Don't take forever between them! It is really sad that it took four months for this game to have it's first event. Many of us have been playing MMO's for a long time now and doing live events like this is nothing new, and most games nowadays do them on a very regular basis. A four month gap with not a single event in game was really weak. Now the event itself was fantastic, and I do hope we see more in the near future, and not make this some rare occurrence that only happens every few months.

 

Give them some credit for making an event. The game is pretty new and they had their hands tie to fix a lot of bugs in the game. I doubt any company can be compared to what Bioware have done on trying to fix as many bugs as possible I don't think an event would sit well if the foundation of the game is buggy and close to non-functioning.

 

On the other note, the event was really nice. Everyone I spoke to loved it. It was funny sitting on the fleet when the first announcement went off and people were so clueless! It was a priceless moment and I wish I had recorded the chat of people panicking or curious as to what's going on.

Edited April 26, 2012 by KiraraKat

[Lord_Franklin]

I really enjoyed it as a whole, as I don't do much with my level 50 character, and it gave me something to do

 

I liked the idea of using the DNA to buy the extra items, as it stimulated the economy briefly, with people farming it to sell on. Perhaps others found this annoying, but I liked the idea of it having an impact more far-reaching than just Tatooine basically.

 

I did find it very disappointing that people playing catch-up with the quests could only unlock one daily per day. I only had enough time to do 4 of the dailies, and was devastated that I missed the chest-piece, only because I couldn't start until the weekend. I understand completely why you staggered them, to inventiveness people to come online for more days, but I feel when you are catching up, one per day feels slow and frustrating. I think maybe having 2-3 dailies unlock if available would be far better for everyone, but then some more clarity on the matter from the start would be very useful whether or not this happens.

 

Overall, it was really interesting, and I look forward to seeing more similar events

[GhoXen]

The event was mostly fun.

 

I realise that it was mostly tailored for level 50s, and that makes sense. It is the level 50s who tend to get bored, not the lower level players who have some of the best content available in any MMO for leveling.

 

Nonetheless for new players events such as this can still pose a problem. It's not so much about how they interfere with their regular activities, but I imagine that they could be quite disappointed if they missed out much of the event due to their levels. The events shouldn't be one-off, that'd only urge lower level players to rush through content, which would be quite a shame.

 

While it makes little sense in terms of lore, but perhaps it's a viable idea to turn events such as this into scheduled yearly "holidays"? If the events occur at completely random times throughout the year I imagine many people will miss out.

[EJedi]

The event was mostly fun.

 

I realise that it was mostly tailored for level 50s, and that makes sense. It is the level 50s who tend to get bored, not the lower level players who have some of the best content available in any MMO for leveling.

 

Nonetheless for new players events such as this can still pose a problem. It's not so much about how they interfere with their regular activities, but I imagine that they could be quite disappointed if they missed out much of the event due to their levels. The events shouldn't be one-off, that'd only urge lower level players to rush through content, which would be quite a shame.

 

While it makes little sense in terms of lore, but perhaps it's a viable idea to turn events such as this into scheduled yearly "holidays"? If the events occur at completely random times throughout the year I imagine many people will miss out.

 

The problem with that type of thinking is that these events are not designed to draw new players. They are designed to reward long-term customers, and keep them subscribing.

 

The new player should look at the event as a sign of things to come if they stick with the game.

 

They've already said that they have plans for scheduled annual events. Repeating this same Rakghoul Plague event would not make sense, nor should it be desired.

Edited April 26, 2012 by EJedi

[JediElf]

I loved the event! it was really interesting, and I liked how it was almost subtle in how it was introduced.

 

Great job!

 

I only have one small suggestion.

 

If unique companion skins are a reward, please allow up to choose which one we want to purchase with the event currency. Especially if the event is as short lives as the plague was.

 

Please that's all I ask of the next event.

 

As for what I'd like to see in the future?

 

Perhaps a kind of Joiner/Kilik pheromone style event. Perhaps something to do with the players being joined to a hive mind and either trying to break free, or helping the hive grow and proper....something like that.

 

Edited April 26, 2012 by JediElf

[Scorpassailant]

I really enjoyed the Rakghoul plague event.

 

One of the things I liked about it is that the content allowed me to revisit Tatooine with new stuff to do. The scavenger hunt quest took me places in Tatooine that I didn't even know existed and I enjoyed discovering those places. The containment officers trying to stop you before you reach your ship if you have been infected was a nice touch I thought.

 

I know you wanted suggestions on what I would like to see in the future but you guys seem to be doing a pretty good job of it on your own or from other players feedback. I would just like to point out that you guys should keep breaks in between events so we keep a sense of what is normal in the game and what is special, like it seems you are.

[illililili]

The new quest was fun, the idea that this set of missions made the galaxy seem "alive" and changeable instead of the same place no matter what my character did was nice. Two things would have made this event better:

 

1. As the quests become available, they are available for everyone on the day they are released. Yes, I realize you are trying to get people to log in every day and see another part of a story. The fact is, many casual players can only play for a few hours in the week. Throw them a bone. Trying to find the time to log in every single day to run around and look for the quest I had not seen before was too time consuming.

 

2. Each server should have had a "step counter" with each new mission being introduced as the counter stepped up. For example, day 1 is the start missions. When 10,000 infected Security Officers (and 24 hours have passed, whichever is greater) then the next mission is introduced. The next counter is for the server to harvest 100,000 Rakghoul DNA (or the 24 hours, the time is needed to stop the larger servers from racing through the content due to manpower), the next counter is 15,000 Rakghoul vaccines. By the end, there should be 6 counters, one for each quest, and the population feels like they are participating.

 

Well, in afterthought, my idea is a generation old, I know you are trying to get away from the "collect 10 rat tail" model of game play, and use story. Hmm. What if you used "5,000 separate characters must defeat the Rakghoul Captain" so you maximize the number of players doing the mission. Then choose to do the other counter as a server wide "bonus quest" which, if completed, allows access to a special merchant or pet or something for everyone that helped.

 

The point I am trying to make is that stories are great, but active stories where the players get to make the outcome happen (or better yet, have two outcomes, and each server can choose to follow a dark or light side outcome!) are better than passive stories where the players just watch a movie after they kill 10 rats.

[-Sev]

I loved the no advanced notice, it was a complete surprise. Keep the next ones like this, but make sure when they launch they are announced on the website as well as the launchpad, (for those who don't use the forums). I would like to see a call to swoop racing and use a world event to launch it with maybe a storyline featuring the Hutts. Edited April 26, 2012 by -Sev

[implementofwar]

I would like to see more STORY!

 

The rakghoul plague would of been Epic if it had an actual storyline with it. Each day the story progressing into a climax (maybe a terrorist faction tries to weaponize the virus and you have to stop them; or you are tasked with wokring with a doctor to try and come up with a cure and run into all sorts of plot twists). We had the news terminal but they never released anything new from day to day. The quests were pure "fetch, kill, cure" quests without much explanation.

 

Im not sure if I explained what I mean, but I basically would like to see "main storyline quests" with each event.

 

It was fun, but we were left to use our imagination and ingenuity to make it fun. Like roleplaying as crazed infected people who would seek out players to infect seemingly at random.

 

Nevertheless I look forward to the next one.

Edited April 26, 2012 by implementofwar

[RabidPopcorn]

The new quest was fun, the idea that this set of missions made the galaxy seem "alive" and changeable instead of the same place no matter what my character did was nice. Two things would have made this event better:

 

1. As the quests become available, they are available for everyone on the day they are released. Yes, I realize you are trying to get people to log in every day and see another part of a story. The fact is, many casual players can only play for a few hours in the week. Throw them a bone. Trying to find the time to log in every single day to run around and look for the quest I had not seen before was too time consuming.

 

2. Each server should have had a "step counter" with each new mission being introduced as the counter stepped up. For example, day 1 is the start missions. When 10,000 infected Security Officers (and 24 hours have passed, whichever is greater) then the next mission is introduced. The next counter is for the server to harvest 100,000 Rakghoul DNA (or the 24 hours, the time is needed to stop the larger servers from racing through the content due to manpower), the next counter is 15,000 Rakghoul vaccines. By the end, there should be 6 counters, one for each quest, and the population feels like they are participating.

 

Well, in afterthought, my idea is a generation old, I know you are trying to get away from the "collect 10 rat tail" model of game play, and use story. Hmm. What if you used "5,000 separate characters must defeat the Rakghoul Captain" so you maximize the number of players doing the mission. Then choose to do the other counter as a server wide "bonus quest" which, if completed, allows access to a special merchant or pet or something for everyone that helped.

 

The point I am trying to make is that stories are great, but active stories where the players get to make the outcome happen (or better yet, have two outcomes, and each server can choose to follow a dark or light side outcome!) are better than passive stories where the players just watch a movie after they kill 10 rats.

 

I like the 2nd idea because it means that players who missed out on the first few days would not be precluded from getting the full armour set. Notwithstanding that, I agree with the part about how it makes the whole server feel like they're part of a big event - it brings it close to the server-wide events in WoW which I felt were a good way to generate some sense of community.

 

About the armour set: It would have been nice if it had options in medium and heavy too; or some special universal category for social armour which would make it combat-effective for all classes.

Edited April 26, 2012 by RabidPopcorn

[ProfessorWalsh]

"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?"

 

As a reminder, you can follow James on Twitter @JamesOhlen. You can also follow our main account @SWTOR.

 

Okay... I'm in the camp of people who did not think it was fun. Since I can't tell you why I thought it was fun, I'll tell you instead why I thought it wasn't fun and what I think made it non-fun.

 

My main problem with the Rakghoul disease event was that the activities done to complete some elements of it were counter-intuitive to the general point of a game and this caused a disconnect with me. Primarily I am mentioning the "Get the infection, infect as many other people as possible, then die." element.

 

I expect BioWare to look at every single event from a Role Playing perspective. I know that we are generally ignored in MMORPG's these days but I expect it from BioWare none-the-less because I expect a higher degree of excellence and I hold BioWare to a higher standard. That is why I am so hard on BioWare to be honest.

 

So, when you look at this from an RP perspective you were giving rewards to players (that they couldn't actually get, because they would be dead at the time) for catching a fatal disease, spreading that fatal disease knowingly then, despite there being a serum available nearby for a relatively low sum to cure this disease, allowing yourself to be killed by the disease.

 

From an immersion standpoint that makes no sense what-so-ever. I would have rather received a reward for curing the plague when we ran into people infected, but no such rewards were given. I know I personally spent nearly 100,000 credits to keep myself hopped up on serum because you did not allow it to persist after death and I like playing Warzones.

 

For future events I simply want the tasks the player has to undertake to get the rewards to not only be Heroic (catching a fatal disease, spreading it to others, and then dying from it isn't heroic) but also to make sense from an immersion stance.

[Alaskangeek]

I really enjoyed the event!!! Thank you!

 

I would like corrected....have more vendors where you can spend the special currency...on PvP servers there where too many times factions camped at the vendor not allowing the opposite faction access.

 

Since the servers are so unbalance with a 3:1 margin in favor of the Imps, my Republic toon, the last night, did not get to spend all the DNA, because the Imps had it well guarded. Boo!!!

[Lheim]

I'll just add my voice to the people saying it's always awesome to have events and things to do.

 

I'll also just say that perhaps the number of days you had to do the quests, versus the number of quests you had to unlock, was a little tight. That's all.

[LightsOn]

There was nothing FUN about it for me. My toon is L20ish and STILL SICK with NO vaccine or cure. If you are planning more "FUN" like this PLEASE put an OPT OUT option in for those of us who prefer not to get griefed by players 20+ levels higher.

 

If I cannot get a perma-cure SOON (which I believe from how this worked in other games is non-existent) I will be cancelling my subs PDQ. Not paying my money to let someone else grief me when Im not flagged for PVP.

[ElphabaWestar]

I loved the event overall. Some of the pvp battles in the den were pretty epic. Though could have done without the QQing from some folks that got butthurt because they got killed in a FFA area. Nothing you can do about that though. Loved the rewards, though I agree with alot of folks it would have been nicer to have the vendor in a more neutral area, say fleet or even mos illa/anchorhead.

 

Suggestion: If you make another event, even if its not the same kind, give the option for folks who held on to the badges from THIS event to change them over on a 1:1 basis. Would make them feel like all the hard work wasnt a waste.

[Roccobb]

If you make us pay to not participate, make it last through death.

 

Also, nobody should be able to change your pvp flag but you.

[funktion]

I really enjoyed the event, it was the first time I really felt like something larger was going on that was effecting everyone. I really liked the news reports and announcements, even if they were just on fleet.

 

I wish you would have left the vendor around longer. Maybe do it like they do in Rift, where they have an event merchant that keeps all the old things on sale for people that mail the currency to their alts or just didn't log on in time to cash out their currency. (which is what happened to me)

[thomasmeadows]

Awesome, just awesome

 

Definitely the best event i have seen in an mmorpg. You need to promote the guy that came up with it.

[Jeime]

Will put my five cents too.

 

First off, I would like to thank the developers for their efforts. The event was fun on many levels. Though there's definetly room for improvement.

 

What I liked.

1. Loved the fact that the event was a one-time thing. Adds to the sense of a living universe and lets the players feel like they were part of the history of this world. Also liked that it was presented in a rather subtle way. Of course there were announcements but it didn't feel like thrown in our faces. A rare thing these days.

2. Liked that it wasn't totally static, it progressed, we opened new quests every day. That said I believe that this is the area where the developers should expand their techniques and build upon what they've achieved.

3. The separate non-repeatable questline for the crimson rakghoul pet was great. Kudos to the developers that they continue to provide us with stuff to explore and experiment. Figuring out how to get the buff was great (if you didn't spoil it with guides), finding the wreckage gave incentive to explore the planet. Enjoyed every bit of it.

4. World bosses were a lot of fun. People were finally grouping up. Especially loved the bantha boss, placing it in the Outlaw's Den was a great decision that inspired some cross-faction activity with unique fun situations. I can see how it could be problematic on a server with faction disparity though. But then again in my opinion it payed off greatly. And well why should all things be easy to achieve? Easy or extra accesible things kill most of the interest, for me at least. A challenge is always needed.

5. Rewards were all neat and the spectrum of goodies was wide enough.

 

What I didn't like.

1. Although the event wasn't totally static as mentioned above, it lacked real development or any visible influence of our participation in it. That was dissappointing to tell the truth. And leads to my next point...

2. Lack of closure = resolution of our anti-plague efforts. It really ended abruptly without a proper finale. We didn't see how the situation ended, there was no climax, it just... resolved itself. Not very satisfying. I would much prefer an interesting ending, maybe even a plot twist, something at least.

3. Dailies. I understand that dailies are a convinient tool to keep players occupied and eo ipso provide replayable content. But really, they aren't any fun as a concept even. I don't know a single person who enjoys straightfoward dailies for what they are. Repeating all the quests every day inevitably turns into a chore. This problem isn't easy to solve I understand but I think there a couple solutions to make dailies less tedious, more interesting.

 

Suggestions.

1. Stick to the one-time format of doing these in-game events. Repeatable holidays are great but they're an entirely different thing, please don't mix up those.

2. Make players participation more meaningful and the events more dynamic. Let players unlock further or maybe even different stages of the event via e.g. giving players the opportunity to make serious choices in the event's questlines and thus influence the development of the event on a serverwide basis. For example, would be fantastic if the event could progress different ways depending on the choices players make on a given server (set hidden criterias that when met will trigger next stage and so on). Let the players see and feel the results of their participation or consequences of their choices.

3. Use different techinques, don't fall into being too formulaic. Dailies are a necessary evil I guess but you could use them in many interesting ways too. Let these dailies fork in several ways, insert serious choices (not the meaningless type we saw in Blood Sample daily that were basicly a way to grind light/dark side points). Supplement using varied dailies with other types of activities/progression: one-time questlines, maybe group quests.

4. Add more "sanboxy" stuff. It will give players an opportunity to get off the rails, experiment and basicly entertain themselves. Open world PVP is good when it isn't forced upon players but left as an optional path or is encouraged indirectly (like the bantha boss). PVE techniques in the vibe of e.g. public quests would be a great addition although I understand that's a whole new game system basicly. One can dream though, right?)

5. Events need proper conclusions, endings with sufficuiient build-up and a climax.

6. Continue to add hidden stuff, as well as incentives to explore and experiment.

7. Make events varied, use different formats, time frames, etc.

 

Thank you for your attention. Hope my feedback would be somewhat useful.

 

P.S. James Ohlen is the Man Followed Mr. Ohlen since BG1, have nothing but respect for him. Keep up the good work, have faith in you guys.

Edited April 26, 2012 by Jeime

[thomasmeadows]

However, i do not like the fact the armor i got from the chain is light armor only. I barely finished the entire set(minus belt) on the only pub class i had that could wear it. I did it on my main too but then found out the quest were not level dependent.

 

It kinda sucks not being able to use the armor on my other characters. And the fact i cant add augment slots to the containment armor either.

[Tootzi_]

I really loved it! This was someting different seend from other MMO´s... was alot more fluid!

 

I really hope that these events happens frequently cause it really feels like the story of the games progress very nice. I would even like to suggest that the new Rakghoul FP should have been unlocked after the first event was done. It kinda spoiled it for me.

 

And please get an "Apperance tab", so we can use these kind of sets even if we use heavy armor. Just look at the LOTRO system, its great!

[Polebreaker]

If you make us pay to not participate, make it last through death.

 

Also, nobody should be able to change your pvp flag but you.

 

This. The event should have been opt in, or with a free and persistent opt-out vaccine.

 

Otherwise, /shrug, did this event in another game already...