Devs speak out LOUD, PLEASE!

[GalacticKegger]

What good would that do? Do you think they aren't working on fixing it? Do you really need to be told that they are doing their job?

It's unfortunate but I personally think that, in today's world, many somehow feel entitled to know the specifics of what others are doing - and woe be it if what they hear is not what they want. This isn't like one person expecting a repair shop to keep them abreast of how far along they are in fixing their car. This is more like a group among 60,000 at a professional sporting event expecting the facilities manager to drop what they are doing and publicly announce why some of the stadium scoreboard lights are out. Almost a prevailing state of denial.

. Edited September 28, 2012 by GalacticKegger

[NinjaApacHe]

Logged in today hoping to see an official post addressing the issues which pretty much make it impossible to play. Instead, yet again, I have to search in random threads to try to figure what's going on.

 

I did most everything that was suggested - turn of shadows, lower all settings to low, turn of shader, turn off nameplates, and then the worst thing... ...

 

Tried unistalling and reinstalling video drivers, which led to me not being able to use my computer at all now because I have no video to see what I'm doing. Taking my machine to a repair shop today.

 

Yes, I'm not a computer person. Bought this top-end Alienware ( i7, 16 ram, eyc.. ) JUST to play this game 3 months ago. Previously I had been mostly gaming on my PS3.

 

I was afraid to attempt the driver uninstall because, ya, I'm not a computer person, I only did so after people were posting that until we did such there was no reason to be blaming BW for the serious lag issues,

 

Yup, back to my old comp for internet browsing and PS3 for games. After I get my computer back I hope the game works for me again after the uninstall and reinstall preformed by pros. Hopefully by then there will be an OFFICIAL sticky thread from the DEVs telling us what to do or what is being done?...

 

p.s. sorry if this post is full of typos.*I'm in a hurry late for work.

 

Sorry you had this probs. I found a solution on this thread: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=532014

 

It worked for me, I downgraded to Nvidia drivers 295.73, and now it really runs smooth, and I can enjoy the new shadows.

[GalacticKegger]

Logged in today hoping to see an official post addressing the issues which pretty much make it impossible to play. Instead, yet again, I have to search in random threads to try to figure what's going on.

 

I did most everything that was suggested - turn of shadows, lower all settings to low, turn of shader, turn off nameplates, and then the worst thing... ...

 

Tried unistalling and reinstalling video drivers, which led to me not being able to use my computer at all now because I have no video to see what I'm doing. Taking my machine to a repair shop today.

 

Yes, I'm not a computer person. Bought this top-end Alienware ( i7, 16 ram, eyc.. ) JUST to play this game 3 months ago. Previously I had been mostly gaming on my PS3.

 

I was afraid to attempt the driver uninstall because, ya, I'm not a computer person, I only did so after people were posting that until we did such there was no reason to be blaming BW for the serious lag issues,

 

Yup, back to my old comp for internet browsing and PS3 for games. After I get my computer back I hope the game works for me again after the uninstall and reinstall preformed by pros. Hopefully by then there will be an OFFICIAL sticky thread from the DEVs telling us what to do or what is being done?...

 

p.s. sorry if this post is full of typos.*I'm in a hurry late for work.

Uninstalling the graphics driver shouldn't kill your video. Windows defaults to a basic VGA graphics driver so you should still see the desktop after the uninstall reboot. This will allow you to install whatever graphics card driver you choose. Just be sure if it's NVidia that you go through the program listing in Control Panel and make sure ALL of the NVidia programs are gone before installing the new drivers, including HD Audio. Just remember to reselect HD Audio from the new installation menu (check box.) Also, unchecking the box for NVidia's updater during install (so it doesn't load the autoupdate "feature") increased my performance significantly, as NVidia's updater is a back end process resource hog.

 

I too had to replace my NVidia drivers after 1.4, but I wound up using the newer full release and it worked great. There are so many graphics card & OS revision combinations to consider (including legacy systems) that peak performance settings are almost indigenous to each system. I have this problem with every currently supported game I play, most notably anything associated with Games for Windows Live.

Edited September 28, 2012 by GalacticKegger

[Andryah]

It's unfortunate but I personally think that, in today's world, many somehow feel entitled to know the specifics of what others are doing - and woe be it if what they hear is not what they want. This isn't like one person expecting a repair shop to keep them abreast of how far along they are in fixing their car. This is more like a group among 60,000 at a professional sporting event expecting the facilities manager to drop what they are doing and publicly announce why some of the stadium scoreboard lights are out. Almost a prevailing state of denial.

.

 

I agree.

 

This thread appears to be started on the premise that nobody at Bioware is working on acknowledged issues, because they did not get a personal update from the game producer. I really don't get it.

[Yogol]

This will allow you to install whatever graphics card driver you choose.

 

Except that you can't. SWTOR doesn't work anymore with the latest video drivers, as explained by the CSR in the linked post.

 

 

This is more like a group among 60,000 at a professional sporting event expecting the facilities manager to drop what they are doing and publicly announce why some of the stadium scoreboard lights are out. Almost a prevailing state of denial..

 

You can hardly compare NVidea with that. It's not some super-rare card manufacturer that has a isolated problem with SWTOR. It's the best-selling graphic card producer. If their lastest drivers give problems, like Bioware confirmed, people have the right to know whether Bioware will fix it or not.

Edited September 28, 2012 by Yogol

[RazielHex]

Except that you can't. SWTOR doesn't work anymore with the latest video drivers, as explained by the CSR in the linked post.

 

Driver programming at the kernel level is *really* complicated. I've done it for a few months and if I had my way, I would never need to do it again.

[GalacticKegger]

Except that you can't. SWTOR doesn't work anymore with the latest video drivers, as explained by the CSR in the linked post.

Actually he will be able to reinstall any driver he wants to. How well it works with a particular program might be another matter though. Maybe my still using XP SP3 on a pos Dell XPS720 is the reason, because I updated to the newest 280.26-desktop-winxp-32bit-english-whql.exe and the game's as smooth as a baby's bottom now, albeit on lower settings.

 

My wife plays on a killer Win7 rig I built for her (3.33GHz i7 X980 / 16G RAM / 4G GTX 560) and she's never had a problem with anything but her multifunction Razer mouse. She also downloaded NVidia's newest 280.26-desktop-win7-winvista-64bit-english-whql.exe driver after 1.4 (she didn't have to ... she just did it because I did it) with no change in performance.

Edited September 28, 2012 by GalacticKegger

[Andryah]

Maybe my still using XP SP3 on a pos Dell XPS720 is the reason, because I updated to the newest 280.26-desktop-winxp-32bit-english-whql.exe

 

So, this triggers a thought. I do not know if this has been discussed yet.... but people experiencing stuttering... what is your OS? Win7 or XP? If Win7, have you set the client to run in XP compatability mode? I've been running the client in XP compatability mode since launch when there were some fps issues at release (which it fixed btw) and I have never switched it back and my game is running glass smooth after the patch (except for the occaisional taxi invisibilities which I think is unrelated to the stuttering some people are having).

 

Just throwing this out there for people to consider and maybe try. It only takes a minute to go set the client to run in XP compatability mode. Worth a try IMO.

Edited September 28, 2012 by Andryah

[GalacticKegger]

So, this triggers a thought. I do not know if this has been discussed yet.... but people experiencing stuttering... what is your OS? Win7 or XP? If Win7, have you set the client to run in XP compatability mode? I've been running the client in XP compatability mode since launch when there were some fps issues at release (which it fixed btw) and I have never switched it back and my game is running glass smooth after the patch (except for the occaisional taxi invisibilities which I think is unrelated to the stuttering some people are having).

 

Just throwing this out there for people to consider and maybe try. It only takes a minute to go set the client to run in XP compatability mode. Worth a try IMO.

Hmmm ... since there isn't a 64-bit TOR client yet, players running it in a 64-bit OS might consider that.

[Andryah]

Hmmm ... since there isn't a 64-bit TOR client yet, players running it in a 64-bit OS might consider that.

 

Exactly.

[Jacen_Starsolo]

Small stutter but when I target something it gets close to unplayable.

[turjake]

Except that you can't. SWTOR doesn't work anymore with the latest video drivers, as explained by the CSR in the linked post.

 

 

 

 

You can hardly compare NVidea with that. It's not some super-rare card manufacturer that has a isolated problem with SWTOR. It's the best-selling graphic card producer. If their lastest drivers give problems, like Bioware confirmed, people have the right to know whether Bioware will fix it or not.

 

Mine works just fine with latest driver 306something. On the other hand my card is not the latest possible and not sli. Win-7 64bit. So you never know unless you try. If you are having problems it might be sensible to downgrade and then upgrade when NVidia upgrades their driver.

[dscount]

Thank you for the Update!

 

Remember that you can also report issues via the in-game Customer Service portal, which will ensure your report is seen.

 

The down side of doing that.. it's a BLACK HOLE. The ticket is closed instantly and sent to "Quality Assurance" at the same time. Never any follow up or news after we create a ticket. So why log one?

 

In the real world (Corporate IT) your ticket stays open until it's fixed or addressed (Good, bad or ??).... Having Tier 1 CS close the ticket and customer never hearing about anything is just not the best approach to keeping happy users. This is why everyone wants to hear the INFO and the NEWS and the PROGRESS so much. (Thank you for doing what you can BTW).

 

Suggest: Maybe a "BUG BOARD" that lists out all those bugs that BW is working on (at least acknowledged they are bugs and listed as work in progres).

[Totaltrash]

Or they don't see the need to come running to put people here on the head every time they cry.

 

Yes, those aren't bugs, those are FEATURES, darnit!

 

...if you want less "features", play another game....

[Jaick]

Hmmm ... since there isn't a 64-bit TOR client yet, players running it in a 64-bit OS might consider that.

 

No that has nothing to do with it whatsoever and never has and I'd stake my life on that.

 

Been running 64 bit since the game launched and before. Never had issue. They screwed up with 1.4 and its on them. I know they'll fix it eventually but its not the players rigs or software.

[Jacen_Starsolo]

No that has nothing to do with it whatsoever and never has and I'd stake my life on that.

 

Been running 64 bit since the game launched and before. Never had issue. They screwed up with 1.4 and its on them. I know they'll fix it eventually but its not the players rigs or software.

 

I did the compatibility. Small difference. It helped but definitely did not fix it by a long shot.

[GalacticKegger]

Thank you for the Update!

 

 

 

The down side of doing that.. it's a BLACK HOLE. The ticket is closed instantly and sent to "Quality Assurance" at the same time. Never any follow up or news after we create a ticket. So why log one?

 

In the real world (Corporate IT) your ticket stays open until it's fixed or addressed (Good, bad or ??).... Having Tier 1 CS close the ticket and customer never hearing about anything is just not the best approach to keeping happy users. This is why everyone wants to hear the INFO and the NEWS and the PROGRESS so much. (Thank you for doing what you can BTW).

 

Suggest: Maybe a "BUG BOARD" that lists out all those bugs that BW is working on (at least acknowledged they are bugs and listed as work in progres).

As recently as two weeks ago a CS rep has contacted me IN-GAME within an hour after submitting a bug report, asking me to describe the specifics of what I saw, what I did and the coordinates I was at when it happened since I forgot to include them in the report. Tickets for issues that are uncommon remain open in my ticket log; while tickets for known issues are closed right away - probably because they are known issues and dev is simply adding the data to the data they already have. The more data they have the more detailed their analysis is.

 

Getting canned emails in response to a ticket submission is of little worry to me personally. If a team is working on fixing imperfections that effect hundreds of thousands of people - and take time to respond to the1% who keep beating them over the head wanting to be constantly kept in the loop - then those fixes will never get it done. If nothing gets done ... that player will leave. A player who has their mind made up that fixes won't ever happen is just beating themselves over the head. They do that enough and they too will leave. Either way, people who beat up on people (themselves or others) are transients and will leave regardless.

 

So if they're going to leave anyway, why waste effort on placating them when there's work to be done? A classic choice: whether to be part of the problem or to be part of the solution.

Edited September 28, 2012 by GalacticKegger

[AshlaBoga]

A statement that comes from an actual developer along the lines of,

"We realize a lot of things that were expected in this patch didn't make it, a lot of things made it into this patch undocumented and untested, and a lot of things got broken. Here's what we're doing to fix it."

 

Would go a very, very long way right now.

 

Except for anyone who was reading what the dev's communicated (that's what the tracker is for) there wasn't anything that "that were expected didn't make it."

[RobNightfall]

Or they don't see the need to come running to put people here on the head every time they cry.

 

There wouldn't be so many frequent demands for answers if the people running the game would actually communicate with their player base.

[quantumsheep]

You're not a developer are you?

 

I am. I have been for 12 years. And I am a central developer for a service that has many more customers than SWTOR.

 

I don't talk to customers. Why?

 

1. Because I'm paid to code, not do PR
   
2. Because I'm not trained to be cordial or diplomatic with customers
   
3. Because, contrary to what many people believe, I don't have the final say over what i work on or when things that I work on get released, and therefore even my statements cannot be taken as an official statement.
   
4. Because I'm too valuable to my employer to risk the morale hit of dealing with the selfish/hateful crap that gets slung in public forums.
   

 

Now, the funny thing is, this was pretty obvious to me 12 years ago. I'm not sure why so many people find this surprising now. And yes, I did say that the community is a large part of the problem. If you were more respectful, you'd get better interaction from the devs.

 

Great post, ta!

[Bowoci]

Hi everyone! Please make sure you're checking the dev tracker regularly. We have posted recently regarding several reports that are being investigated. We appreciate everyone letting us know if they've encountered a problem. Remember that you can also report issues via the in-game Customer Service portal, which will ensure your report is seen. Thank you!

 

Yeah, I put a ticket in with a bug I saw on one of my class quests. NPC's that pathed through the area would walk right up, over and through fountains. I thought that was odd. The response I got back was basically.... thanks for the Suggestion, but we have a Suggestion Forum where you should put this and they were hoping to see some of my suggestions there soon. Really? So they may be 'seen' but not sure it's by somebody that has a clue:X

[JimG]

I love how some people think the community team is here to hold their hand and comfort them constantly throughout the day.

[Metalmac]

That's not a developer's job. That's a Community Manager's job.

 

I would say that clearly the Managment at BioWare sucks as proof is the number of complaints about being able to play the game.

When you have people with brand new computers that are having problems loading or running the game then this indicates a lack of understanding as to what is needed to fix the problems.

 

Clearly Management is lacking at BioWare for making the game run smoothly.

[Chef_BoyRUdead]

Hi everyone! Please make sure you're checking the dev tracker regularly. We have posted recently regarding several reports that are being investigated. We appreciate everyone letting us know if they've encountered a problem. Remember that you can also report issues via the in-game Customer Service portal, which will ensure your report is seen. Thank you!

 

I've read your Dev Tracker, submitted multiple tickets, called customer service, and tried everything mentioned by yellow posters AND possible fixes by users and have yet to get anything other than a canned response from the cs lady I called.

 

You're not a developer are you?

 

I am. I have been for 12 years. And I am a central developer for a service that has many more customers than SWTOR.

 

If this were actually true you'd realize how crappy these guys are at their jobs and it is quite plausible that they actually have no clue about what is wrong with their game without us telling them.

[SafeJungleFever]

Players from launch have paid for the game, plus 10 months of subscription in many cases. that's damn near 200 dollars invested. per player. These players on average spend quite a bit of time playing this game.

 

A lot of time, a lot of money. We have a lot invested in this game, and we are the primary investors in this game. Without us there is no game.

 

The devs have been opaque, disingenuous and have often made unfathomable decisions, repeatedly. And on top of that, the game is essentially JUST NOW leaving Beta.

 

I think the investors have earned the right to say 'Uh, guys. What are you doing?'