Patch 1.2 - Honest assessment of Bioware Dev competence

[Mawduce]

idk, if undying rage made the mara/sent deal less damage as it takes less damage then i would happy. if the jug was on par with assassin/powertech then things wouldnt be so bad. if the merc heals were not nerfed to hades... if the instances and SOUND wasnt so bugged out now, if they did what they said they were going to do. they had a good system, and they broke it.

[gilgath]

Agree, How did BioWare not learn from so many other mistakes made from previous games? Instead, they made so many of the exact same ones.

 

Why give so much CC to every class?? CC should be "special" and not every class should get CC, imo.

 

Targeting in this game is horrendous. How can they actually play this game and not realize that Tab targeting stinks, and trying to click on the target is just as bad??

[Grymtusk]

Georg Zoeler is a keyturner!

 

LOL, no doubt.

[Pvpingwithnoobs]

I find it hilarious that in the 21st century there are still people who think consumers are thick.

 

"Numbers logging in have dropped but subs remain the same"

 

LMFAO, when there were loads of people who remained subbed just prior to 1.2 in anticipation of BW actually delivering, of course the subs would remain similar, in some cases better. It's going to be once the cancelled subs actually expire. Around the 30 day (maybe even the 90 day mark for those silly enough to sub for 3 months) mark after 1.2, this will be when the figures will show how wrong they got it.

 

No matter how much they lie to the players, the one group of people they won't be able to is the shareholders, this will be proven come the next meeting they have to show the real financial figures.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if certain people aren't already preparing a speech for the forum about getting it wrong, listening more to players bla blah blah.

 

1.2 destroyed pvp fun imo, well it certainly did mine and only my time left since I cancelled still allows me to be able to post this comment. Thank goodness I won't even be able to post at some point soon, as I won't be paying again for the privilege.

Edited May 5, 2012 by Pvpingwithnoobs

[TheNinjaboy]

Georg Zoeler is a keyturner!

 

This could explain a lot. lol

[Jarfunkz]

The bioware I know doesn't release bad games. The EA ware I know, doesn't mind it.

[GothicSaint]

UNFORTUNATELY ..All the out rage spent here will go mostly ignored.

 

For those of you that havn't figured out EA/Bio's game plan I will tell ya.

 

The LONG haul..

 

Ea/Bio will just remain at this pace and direction.it will keep it going until it is no longer feasible to run servers.

 

All the while hoping they will hit something that keeps new subs coming in and old ones staying but I know they wont reverse things they have changed.

 

They never have before and i really believe they just ignore the out cries from bad decisions that they make.

 

 

 

Why do I say this because there has never been any indication that they even recognize mistakes or try to rectify them quickly in all the time I've played this game.

 

I have been here since beta and things that were obviously wrong are still in the game 4+ months later ( I wasnt here the whole 4 months unsubbed for over 6 weeks, returned to see the changes. Not much changed)

 

Those of you saying to reverse 1.2 .Forget it, WON'T happen.

 

Bio's speed , attention to detail and listening to it's consumers has been like this since beta but it is set at a pace and indifference that never goes well with an MMO but Ea/Bio wont change the way they handle this game or it's customers.

 

The fixes are slow to come , new content is even slower and the amount of mistakes are near amateur.

 

Apparently the loss column hasn't exceeded the gains ...YET.

Edited May 5, 2012 by GothicSaint

[Ich_Bin]

I have defended this game for a long time and I still enjoy playing it. But I have to say that I agree with most of what has been said in this thread (even though it was a bit exaggerated).

 

They released a pretty good game that wasn't as polished as it should have been. Everyone thought that with 1.2 this would get better. Now there seem to be more bugs than ever and the PvP class balance has gotten slightly worse with every patch since game release.

 

 

What really annoys me is the lack of communication or you might even call it ignorance that the people in charge are treating their player base with. Georg Zoeller even mocked people on this forum that had expressed serious concerns about class balance. That's the opposite of what he SHOULD be doing.

[hankart]

I honestly think the Dev's are doing an outstanding job. The graphics are marvelous, and the gameplay is the best I ever spent the money to play. We should be thankful for all the hard work and sleepless nights the Dev's have endured to develope, promote and manage such a sophisticated work of art! I really think all the negative posters are employee's of other competitive game sites. You should be ashamed of yourselves for pretending to play this game, only to spew your propoganda. Please Dev's close all the threads of people who work for other games. And while your at it can I have another 30 days free? Edited May 6, 2012 by hankart
I feel like it

[Redmarx]

The lead developers are arrogant, uncommunicative and incompetent.

 

That is why SWTOR is below 400k subs.

 

Dead game is dead.

[bobamech]

Also, there were a lot of constructive posts in these forums. The forum moderators however seem bent on power tripping and close a lot of threads because they *think* it doesn't deal with this game and/or is not constructive.

 

I once spoke via phone to a Bioware customer service representative. He was very apologetic to my issues but clearly knew nothing about the game nor customer service. Honestly, I hope this game improves within the next few weeks, but at the same time I am hoping it fails miserably upon extinction. It's better off as KOTOR 3 instead of being advertised as a MMO.

 

The lead developers are arrogant, uncommunicative and incompetent.

 

That is why SWTOR is below 400k subs.

 

Dead game is dead.

[hankart]

Also, there were a lot of constructive posts in these forums. The forum moderators however seem bent on power tripping and close a lot of threads because they *think* it doesn't deal with this game and/or is not constructive.

 

I once spoke via phone to a Bioware customer service representative. He was very apologetic to my issues but clearly knew nothing about the game nor customer service. Honestly, I hope this game improves within the next few weeks, but at the same time I am hoping it fails miserably upon extinction. It's better off as KOTOR 3 instead of being advertised as a MMO.

 

You've just sentenced this thread to closure. Check the TOS!

[EugeneYap]

I played GW since it was release till now and I can tell this.

 

Dun expect GW2 DEVS to listen to you whine and QQ

In GW I.w.a.y warriors are labeled as OP and hell a lot of losers Cry/QQ/whine and demand a nerf, but guess what?! they are never nerf I.w.a.y warriors in fact some of their skills are buffed. Why?! becuz they know loser only whines and warriors are not OP as mage or ranger.

 

At least here Dev listen you your QQ and buff range class little by little after 1.2 but never buff any melee after the nerf.

I believe the SWTOR Devs are doing a good job. Soo shut up, be happy that they try to accommodate to your whining

 

but art design for armor are questionable.

Edited May 6, 2012 by EugeneYap

[RobNightfall]

I wanted this game to succeed, especially with all the time I invested into it.

 

However, the direction the Devs are taking and their handling of community feedback isn't exactly terrific.

 

1. The PTS had very little actual testing done on it, due to the lack of players and poor character-copy system. This led to bugged and cut content (Rated Warzones, anyone?)

 

2. Piggybacking on 1, the development team pulled a bait-and-switch move with alot of content with 1.2 (Rated Warzones cut out hours before Patch Launch, lack of customization, etc.). This didn't exactly endear them to the community.

 

3. Focusing on the Legacy system in 1.2 rather than real game issues such as class-balance, performance, server stability, and bugs. Rather than focusing on actual gameplay, they introduced unpopular (and many unnecessary or extreme) class changes and a poorly implemented legacy system. Legacy Family Tree is fun, for about a minute. The Legacy perks are expensive and don't offer that much, in themselves. Leveling a character to 50 gives you a once in every 20 minutes ability to use a worthless legacy-move?

 

4. Communication with the community is lacking from BW/EA. Ever since Ilum was scrapped, we've had no word on Open-world PVP. No word on ETA on Rated Warzones. Character transfers, something that should've been available much earlier, still aren't here. Any threads that talk about other games/criticize SWTOR tend to be moved/locked.

 

TL;DR The game's developers don't listen to the community nearly as much as they should, focusing on unnecessary or poorly implemented content (Legacy). Very little actual communication done (No ETAs on anything, ignoring of bugs pointed out by players, etc). BW definitely needs to fix SOMETHING in order for this game to reach it's full potential. And they need to do it soon...

 

This. I'm downloading D3 right now because I'm hoping the nostalgia will make it fun until they implement PvP lol.

[TheNinjaboy]

Also, there were a lot of constructive posts in these forums. The forum moderators however seem bent on power tripping and close a lot of threads because they *think* it doesn't deal with this game and/or is not constructive.

 

I once spoke via phone to a Bioware customer service representative. He was very apologetic to my issues but clearly knew nothing about the game nor customer service. Honestly, I hope this game improves within the next few weeks, but at the same time I am hoping it fails miserably upon extinction. It's better off as KOTOR 3 instead of being advertised as a MMO.

 

I agree with you here - the CSRs in this game are as incompetent as the Lead Dev calling the shots regarding class balance.

 

This is like Funcom year one all over again.

 

They have a decent template for an ok game but no one is responding with any answers to the major game breaking issues of 1.2. They should have reverted back the class balance changes week 1 of the 1.2 patch for example.

 

The game will continue to hemorrhage subs while the head honchos claim, "Oh we're not losing subs, people just aren't playing the game!!!!!"

 

The PR on this game is absolutely horrendous and the Devs are non-responsive.

 

Give it another 1-2 months and the only people playing the game will be the fanbois on their Sith Warriors or Assassins.

 

I'm not even suggesting nerfing those two classes into oblivion but at least buff the other classes to compensate even if it is only defensive in nature.

 

Bioware needs to do something other then wait until every server is dead but Fatman.

 

Keep in mind a lot of these fanbois saying "everything is ok" WILL be bailing when it's only Warriors / Sins left and all the new games are launched over the next few months.

Edited May 7, 2012 by TheNinjaboy

[ShadowOfVey]

Worst of all, the teams of stunlocking operatives are still at it. I unsubbed over 17 times today

[Theology]

Worst of all, the teams of stunlocking operatives are still at it. I unsubbed over 17 times today

 

lold 5

[Vales]

It's EA. What can you expect from a company that only cares about profits & products sold?

 

If that were true should BW not do everything to keep/up their subscriptions?

[KhalDrogoe]

After experiencing the Ilum and RWZ disasters and the horrible balancing changes I think it's a fact that Bioware PvP developers do not possess the mental faculties to properly fix and develop PvP.

 

I would compare them to children with down syndrome. Thought this isn't being fair to the children, as I'm sure the children could come up with a better PvP game.

 

What BW doesn't get, PvP'ers don't give a crap about more maps etc. PvP'ers want to have good quality matches. I wish it would revert to 1.1.5 and only allow same faction queues in Huttball. If you want to add stuff, add more cosmetic rewards for PvP'ers. Add ludicrous amount of vanity things for us to spend our excess comms on. Give us MORE reasons to PvP, not less.

[Jica]

Here's my theory on why this patch was so terrible.

 

NO ONE TESTED ENDGAME CONTENT ON THE PTS.

 

Because maybe 5 people got to max level.

(Make a character copy ffs..)

 

*thumbs up in agreement*

 

EDIT: I for one would love to test on the PTS, but there is no way I am levelling from scratch. Even Anarchy Online had a way to boost your character to max level with plenty of everything for testing their first expansion pack.. and this was back in like 2002? lol.

Edited May 7, 2012 by Jica
Addition

[LukeStormstout]

My assessment of Bioware developer competence will only cover their public relations capability in my post.

In my opinion they seem to be very bad at it. A lead developer should not lie in an interview that a game is not losing subscribers when in fact it has. I hope that in the future they learn from their mistakes. It seems to me that the current perception of several Bioware developers is that they are incompetent and should be replaced with developers with a clear vision of what this game should be. This is just my opinion, but I could be wrong.

Have a good day.

Edited May 7, 2012 by LukeStormstout

[DarthOvertone]

PvP in this game currently needs Cross Server WZ Queues, Server Merges, and the elimination of Factions entirely. Open up the WZ queue to all players, regardless of Faction and open up the Fleet GTNs as well.

[jonasa]

It's obvious to everyone that there has been a huge loss in the number of logins since 1.2 patch went live.

 

The loss in subscribers usually doesn't hit until 45-60 days after a game breaking patch (this case 1.2) .

 

People stopped logging in but they still have an active sub because they purchased a month or two in advance.

 

Bioware pissed off everyone except players who have mains in 2 Melee classes.

 

Now all the classes that were extremely strong pre-1.2 are borderline insane post 1.2.

 

You see posts about 1-49 Warzones being the worse experience ever now because they're all Marauders or Assassins.

 

The person or parties that made the decision to "class balance" 1.2 should be demoted within the organization and they should never ever be allowed to make another decision regarding PvP balance.

 

No one expects a MMO to be completely balanced but what they did in 1.2 was a page right out of Age of Conan during the first 4 months.

 

1.2 Class balance was so opposite of what should have been that most people will never come back due to lack of faith when it comes to the Bioware development team.

 

There are people without any gaming experience or higher education that could have made a much better decision then what the Bioware devs did with 1.2.

 

That right there is the root of the problem.

 

This is based on past and present experience with the game, Developer comments, and sometimes their lack of input regarding the issues. The patch notes in 1.2 are a prime example of this.....

 

GW2 has balance issues all over the place BUT they do seem to be responsive in addressing the issues and are saying all the right things for now.

 

It is VERY difficult to develop a patch as bad as 1.2 and roll it out live.

 

People were warning Bioware about this disaster for WEEKS prior to rolling out 1.2.

 

Bioware's best case scenario now is to remove most of what they did with 1.2 and start over.

 

This game needs the Robert Irvine or Chef Ramesy of MMOs to come into Bioware's studios and clean their filthy kitchen then show them how to "cook".

 

 

 

EDIT: Added 5/4

 

The activity, population, subscriber base would be higher today if 1.2 never was launched.

 

Players prefer a playable game to a broken one with new content.

 

Bioware has a knack of making understatements of the century.

 

"At that point we turned a huge amount of our resources to PVP development, but we’re still playing a bit of catch-up"

 

The problem is Bioware tried to "develop" PvP in 1.2 and the outcome was one of the worst MMO "class balance" patches ever devised and executed. It was exactly OPPOSITE of what should have been done.

 

This is what should be alarming for people who are currently playing and are considering resubscribing.

 

/agree, I just unsubbed over the weekend and will not be back. This latest patch is showing exactly where this game is headed /down hill. Lucas Arts/EA should really take a hard look at what happened when SWG was broken (CU vs PRECU) patch/game changer. Investors should start pulling funds ASAP and managers heads should be rolling, this game is not going to last 1 more year before being pulled if they keep this up. There are standards for MMOS and this game is subpar in about every way.

 

The only question I have is why these huge companies with these huge budgets cannot get a decent MMO to market that already had a huge following?

 

At the end of the day you must go to the top and start firing every decision maker that has led this game to this point, this game had everything going for it but decent management.

[Kleve]

/agree, I just unsubbed over the weekend and will not be back. This latest patch is showing exactly where this game is headed /down hill. Lucas Arts/EA should really take a hard look at what happened when SWG was broken (CU vs PRECU) patch/game changer. Investors should start pulling funds ASAP and managers heads should be rolling, this game is not going to last 1 more year before being pulled if they keep this up. There are standards for MMOS and this game is subpar in about every way.

 

The only question I have is why these huge companies with these huge budgets cannot get a decent MMO to market that already had a huge following?

 

At the end of the day you must go to the top and start firing every decision maker that has led this game to this point, this game had everything going for it but decent management.

 

I couldn't agree more.

[Sookster]

50 pvp is unbelievably frustrating, I'm no longer queuing in that bracket, I still do occasional 10-49 but I'm usually logging on to do HM and operations these days until sub runs out. Been launching City of Heroes and Aion more often lately.