Official Q&A Thread for May 4th, 2012 Q&A Blog Post

[eclipce]

In the future, will we see vertical or horizontal character development?

[DeaconDC]

Would like to see more information about Crafting Legacy ties coming in the future:

 

*Will BOP crafted items eventually become Bound-to-Legacy?

*Will we see RE % bonuses on Legacy level/interaction between Legacy members?

[powerisall]

I have a question about the new world boss, Nightmare Pilgrim.

 

Right now, according to all the information that is out there, this appears to be calibrated as a 16man raid. I thought I remembered reading somewhere that the NP can be attempted with both an 8man raid or a 16man raid, with the 16man raid being slightly easier, due to the hassle of coordinating 16 people compared to 8. Can you confirm or deny this?

 

It doesn't seem possible to me, at least with the mechanics used for the 16man attempts. The stacking debuff The Thing From The Stars applies to the tank seems like it would involve tank swapping, which could result in an issue if a tank gets a bloodmark. Also, the enrage timer would be impossible to beat unless the bosses spawned with less health or the timer was increased.

 

So, is Nightmare Pilgrim possible with a well geared (probably Rakata+) group of 8, or is a group of 16 the way to go here?

[toulon]

sorry if this was asked (did a search in thread but didn't find anything) with the new UI customization feature (which I love!) could we get some way to toggle on/off or increase the size of the displayed buffs on the OPs frames so I can actually see who has a debuff that needs to be cured or when my Cauterize drops off to refresh it not guessing which cauterize is mine (when with multiple sentinels).

[ChazDoit]

Any plans to add an Annual Pass (12-Month sub) to the subscription options?

[Gavin_Kelvar]

Regarding social ranks/social points: Currently social points are only awarded for quest dialogue done in a group. However, you don't seem to get any social points for completing quest objectives/entire quests or killing quest/quest are related enemies. Unlike level XP, social points aren't awarded based on level appropriateness of the quest. This means a level 10 player and a level 20 player get the same number of social points from doing dialogue heavy flashpoints like the Esseles but a level 20+ player doing a level appropriate flashpoint that is less dialogue heavy like Athiss will receive fewer social points.

 

So my question: will the social system be changed to have the number of social points awarded reflect the level appropriateness of the quest/heroic/flashpoint and not just how dialogue heavy the quest/heroic/flashpoint happens to be? For example leave the number of social points awarded for dialogue alone but supplement it with a social points multiplier based difficulty (1.5X for green, 2X for yellow, 2.5X for orange etc.) and/or awarding social points for killing quest related enemies/completing quest objectives on level appropriate quests.

[zVariant]

How do you plan to deal with character names once server transfers become available? All of my active characters are on Infinity Gate which is already one of the least populated servers at the moment. I see it only getting worse once server transfers are made available and everyone starts transferring to more populated servers. I don't want to to transfer my characters that I've become attached to since early access only to be forced to change their name.

[CerilSkye]

"Partially moddable premium (green) items were removed as they essentially lied to the players: an item missing a mod slot would never be able to match a high end non-moddable item. Instead, to compensate for the loss of diversity, orange versions of all green armors was created and given to the crafters. So, yes, if you see a green armor you really like, you still can have that appearance until end level. It does take a bit of work - you either need to become a crafter yourself, befriend one or trawl the GTN."

 

"Armormech[/synthweaver] crafters may now reverse engineer almost any modifiable outfit into an empty custom (orange) shell of the same name and appearance, which may now gain an augment slot when crafted with critical success. "

 

As we all know, this hasn't happened. Are you still planning on implementing this or not? Please let us know.

[iSweeper]

I remember reading somewhere that you had plans to implement a way for us to check our stats (kills, damage, healing, objective points, ect...) mid game in a Warzone. I'm sure you can't go too far into detail about the system but are there any plans to allow us to see specifically what medals we have earned so far in that particular Warzone as well?

[TracynKeldab]

Will there be a shared Legacy bank? thank you for your time.

[Fierabras]

What long term plans do you have to address the communities general distaste for the CS group supporting your game?

 

Going through all the forum posts I can see I am far from alone in my frustrations with the bugs etc yet the real drive to making users want to pack up and go else where appears to be the lack of genuine Customer Service.

 

I have had countless bugs closed with responses that were not even applicable to the ticket I opened. One such example was related to Reverse Engineering before 1.2 and was given a reply about mailboxes and currency. I still cant get a response on weather Xalek's missing shield absorb is a UI issue or a broken stat in general (Those unaware stack your companion Xalek with +1 shield absorb or +1000 does he is still +0.0 shield absorb).

 

The general consensus is that the CS department doesn't even read our tickets, the responses are rude and include poorly chosen copy and paste responses with statements such as "We regret that we will be unable to provide you with further updates on this issue, but recommend checking the latest patch notes at http://www.swtor.com/patchnotes for information on any fixes or changes related to this issue." which more or less says "We will not follow up with you on a problem" and when we do you retract patch notes without notice, an example would be the current issue plaguing EVERY companion where stats are not retained when you mount, send on crew skill, login, walk, check your mail, etc. This was addressed in the last patch, was in the patch notes and is now magically gone .... So even following your own advice we get the short end of the stick here.

 

After having a conversation with a in game CS Rep / GM I was told they have contests and bonuses based on the number of tickets closed not the actual number of incidents resolved.This alone is another slap in the face to the community.

 

So once again to reiterate what plans do you have long term regarding the current state of Customer Service in this game? Can we expect more of the same or are you planning on "fixing" some of these issues?

Edited April 30, 2012 by Fierabras

[CitizenofArathor]

Any chance playerships will have most compartments closed by actual doors in the existing doorways, wich can be operated by the player by moving near them or press a button?

 

Imo it looks aesthetically more pleasing, it also would make for an interesting feature in future space(ship) PvP for example.

[Onixion]

Looking at 1.2 PVP, dont you think that character migration from live servers to PTS servers is a important point, in order to test HL features ? I mean, with no HL characters, there is no real test of HL PVP and PVE...

[Athilis]

Are we going to see new wepons for our classes? Like light saber nunchucks or gauntlet sabers. How about Maraders having a new stance were they hold the lightlabers backwards like Unleashed? Maybe shin sabers and reverse gauntlet sabers so the guy throws knees and elbows while doing flips? Something cool. Edited April 30, 2012 by Athilis

[nezitx]

Due to diminishing return curves for most stats (critical rating, surge, etc) how will future gear keep getting better?

 

It seems like at a certain point (on my Marauder for example), you'll have to only increase Power, Main stat (Strength) and Endurance from one set to the next. Because if you keep providing more and more (say crit rating) it will be less and less of an improvement with DR. Or, you'll have to put so much crit rating on a single item so that all the other items can be stacked with the few Non-DR stats. This seems like a problem when almost all stats are already capable of hitting a fairly steep DR.

 

P.S. The marauder campaign set has WAY to much critical rating and almost no power.

[mechintel]

The issue of cross-server warzones is very polarizing in the SWTOR community. The forums are full of people heralding it as a saving grace or an impending doom. Are you sensitive to how cross-server warzones might kill the aspects of community that some servers have built through their pvp?

[albert-lunde]

I

1.what exactly is Dual spec

[Elfindreams]

Given that best practices from Microsoft have for at least a decade suggested that end users run as a non-privileged user, how is it that SWTOR still requires you to run as administrator.

 

As a followup, why when inspected does SWTOR attempt to access information on all the running processes on my system? Is it transferring this data anywhere? Why is it SWTOR's business what software I run on my system?

[Dooickouski]

Question: Why are the unlockables in the Legacy Tree so expensive? In the summit it was said the unlockables would have a ridiculously high price tag for people who didn't want to make alts and get their legacy up, but why is that high price tag still there even AFTER you put in all the time and effort to get your legacy levels up?

[Moggerz]

In last weeks Q&A it was brought up potentially unlocking holocrons once and all characters getting them though Legacy. Are there any plans to do similar things with codexs? Commendations? Crafting? Explored maps? Valor? Social points? Valor and social points would be particularly appreciated.

 

While we can mod anywhere we want, and I'm not saying that's a bad thing at all, it seems a waste to have modding stations still in the game. Is there a plan for them? Perhaps a discount when extracting mods if you're using a station?

 

Any plans to add a larger variety of space missions? Especially those that give different commendations than space, or perhaps a higher level of space commendation.

 

I absolutely love the Legacy system so far and can't wait for more!

Edited April 30, 2012 by Moggerz
Adding

[Nippon]

Are there any plans to actually make companions useful for all crafters.

 

IE: I rolled a Trooper and decided to make him a Biochem, some companions have uses for 1-2 of the gathering skills, none carry any Crit Chance for Biochem where other classes do. Or is it the intention to force players to research out of game websites to find out what companions carry the best stats for crafting. Based on there chosen profession, ultimately forcing them down 1 line or another to maximize the best stats for what craft they wish to follow.

 

More to the point, why should i feel i need to Roll a Smuggler to gain the maximum benefit from being an Armstech. What if i want to play a Knight Guardian.

 

As an example of Character uselessness, Akavi Spar has +10 to Bioanalysis, yet none of the other companions for smuggler have any +chance to Crit for Biochem...???

 

Personally i think companions should be able to be trained in the skills the player wishes to follow. Not what is set out prior to them picking a craft class or gathering skills.

 

I also have an Artifice and there is no Crit Artifice bonus on any companion in the game...Why is this ???

Edited April 30, 2012 by Nippon

[Trietxan]

Is there a reason certain PvP modifications are only available to one faction? For example, the Advanced Battle Enhancement 25 with +25 expertise on it is only found in the Trooper's Battlemaster Combat Medic Assault Cannon and therefore is unobtainable for Imperial classes who could use an expertise enhancement with crit/surge?

[ultimatesjk]

Are there any server merges being planned? I saw the most recent Q&A mention the option to change servers, but that will leave low pop servers completely unused.

 

I would prefer to stay on my server with the people I know (sort of), but would still like to be able to get a four person group together (or even just one partner) without having to wait half an hour, or join a warzone almost whenever I like instead of waiting 20 minutes for one to start.

 

Thanks!

[SpaniardInfinity]

The Rakghoul Outbreak was an awesome dynamic event, with one of the major takeaways being the great open world PvP aspect that it influenced and encouraged (namely the infected bantha in the PvP area). Is that kind of action and gameplay value something that is being considered by the developers in the ongoing overhaul of Ilum? Edited April 30, 2012 by SpaniardInfinity

[Stoleo]

Will we see an Ops finder at some point, to go along with the incoming Flash Point finder? For someone like me, who works different days(never a set schedule) of the week. It's very hard for me to be relied upon for an actual Ops group. Something along the lines of an Ops finder, would increase my enjoyment of the game.