Swtor mods

[Neptunius]

I think it's pretty obvious what game OP was playing last month. And I must say, I'm extremely happy with the absence of mods as well.

BIOWARE could perhaps improve the GTN interface, as well as add a few other features, but I'm glad they left out the mods and hope those will never be implemented either.

 

This! I like this a lot and i think the same way. Keep those mods back in WoW where little kids can have their mods-e-peens.

 

It ruined WoW and there is no reason it should be allowed to ruin SWTOR to.

[LordArtemis]

I think this game could use some UI mods. Certainly, at least one that would allow us to change the freaking color of it...I'm REALLY sick of the blue.

[Vinak]

User interface mod support is long overdue for swtor.

 

 

More in depth mod support is going to be needed if EA really wants to move 8-16 man ops to the group finder queue system.

[Uvirith]

It ruined WoW and there is no reason it should be allowed to ruin SWTOR to.

How exactly did Mods ruin WoW?

If anything the open LUA-Interface allowed the player to customize their mmo-experience to a grade where they feel comfortable. And thats in my opinion one of the most important things an mmo can have.

I for instance like ToR, but the UI never feels like its my own, and it most definitely doesnt feel comfortable, at all.

[jedip_enguin]

I prefer to keep the playing field level. No mods plzkthx.

[Deewe]

Mods or not, the GTN UI actually sucks.

 

 

Now as it's easy to criticize here's some low cost quick wins:

 

• Store last submitted price of an unsold object to be able to resell it automatically
  
• 7d posting time option
  
• Option to repost automatically an item with increased fees each time.
  
• Search that can handle more than like 10 characters and wildcards
  
• Per unit sell price inputbox so players don't need calculators to sell stacks
  
• Sort - u || select distinct checkbox to only see the cheapest entry of all items
  
• Option to automatically undercut others by x% when posting an object
  
• Manage GTN remotely through an iDatapad
  

 

 

And that's just an appetizer.

 

P.S.: we don't even need mods for that, we need devs that are allowed to make the needed improvement.

Edited July 24, 2014 by Deewe

[exnihlo]

i would love a simple mod that tells me what things i need i need to kill/collect/do for a specific achievement, by hovering a mouse over it, or how many quests I have left on a planet.

[Saxxonknight]

Lack of player mods is the #1 reason this game hasn't fared as well financially as others.

 

Player mods address the failures of a games UI's ergonomics that otherwise would eventually drive a player away because the game is cumbersome or boring to them without the fix that the developer doesn't understand or perhaps have resources to address.

 

I just came back to see if the game was improved from when I quit after it became a ghost town within 6-8 months of release. And its still the same. Doesn't look like I will stay. Principal problem is healing, no click cast mod means its still the same cumbersome and inefficient mess it was 2+ years ago. I can't even heal my own companion using a CTRL, ALT or SHIFT modifier on my hotbar presses.

 

Absolute UI failure on this folks. And the sad thing is you could have leveraged player inventiveness and interest at launch to solve it. Economic Darwinism at work.

[BrianDavion]

Lack of player mods is the #1 reason this game hasn't fared as well financially as others.

 

Player mods address the failures of a games UI's ergonomics that otherwise would eventually drive a player away because the game is cumbersome or boring to them without the fix that the developer doesn't understand or perhaps have resources to address.

 

I just came back to see if the game was improved from when I quit after it became a ghost town within 6-8 months of release. And its still the same. Doesn't look like I will stay. Principal problem is healing, no click cast mod means its still the same cumbersome and inefficient mess it was 2+ years ago. I can't even heal my own companion using a CTRL, ALT or SHIFT modifier on my hotbar presses.

 

Absolute UI failure on this folks. And the sad thing is you could have leveraged player inventiveness and interest at launch to solve it. Economic Darwinism at work.

 

 

translation: I can't play the game without easy mode hacks.

[Saxxonknight]

This! I like this a lot and i think the same way. Keep those mods back in WoW where little kids can have their mods-e-peens.

 

It ruined WoW and there is no reason it should be allowed to ruin SWTOR to.

 

If you thought that player mods ruined WOW you are the most backwards player I've ever encountered. Player mods MADE that game. You could get the UI almost exactly how you wanted it, streamline a lot of clunky mechanics and with the ergonomic improvements play at a much better level than even pro players with the base UI. I always cite the healing aspect as the most important, no healers in game means no instance groups - and that is what killed SWTOR back around 6 months+ after release. Couldn't accomplish anything and no one wanted to heal. Came back to check out what's changed and that is still the same, it sucks. You have to manually target who you want to heal rather than the streamlined click cast UI that originally popped up in WOW its first year. Rift suffered as SWTOR did but they got smart, allowed player mods and they gained back a lot of players since.

 

The only drawback is that authors eventually quit and don't update them, and patches are a night mare as you have to update and sometimes rebuild the UIs on several characters.

[Tanro]

There was an instance of an unintended fuction of the API (programming interface) allowing players to literally draw on the game world. So people would literally mark out the house fight. Where you needed to stand, where you shouldn't stand, where the fire was gonna be etc.

 

They fixed it with a quick patch.

 

Honestly the biggest things we need in SWToR are

- Click or Cast Over healing (In wow, and nearly any other mmo I could either use raid frame and keybinds to cast mouse over heals, or use modifier keys and left/right/middle to configure my spells. Healing became muscle memory. in tor, you gotta stare at your raid frames, click on the one that needs healing, click or press a keybind, move on to the next target, cumbersome... not enjoyable.

 

- Action bar mod. Seriously. Just being able to have a 3rd freaking action bar at the bottom of the screen would be a godsend.

[Halinalle]

- Action bar mod. Seriously. Just being able to have a 3rd freaking action bar at the bottom of the screen would be a godsend.

 

Interface editor

[Atalantia]

If you thought that player mods ruined WOW you are the most backwards player I've ever encountered. Player mods MADE that game. You could get the UI almost exactly how you wanted it, streamline a lot of clunky mechanics and with the ergonomic improvements play at a much better level than even pro players with the base UI. I always cite the healing aspect as the most important, no healers in game means no instance groups - and that is what killed SWTOR back around 6 months+ after release. Couldn't accomplish anything and no one wanted to heal. Came back to check out what's changed and that is still the same, it sucks. You have to manually target who you want to heal rather than the streamlined click cast UI that originally popped up in WOW its first year. Rift suffered as SWTOR did but they got smart, allowed player mods and they gained back a lot of players since.

 

The only drawback is that authors eventually quit and don't update them, and patches are a night mare as you have to update and sometimes rebuild the UIs on several characters.

 

If you really think that not having mods is why people starting leaving this game after 6 months you really are delusional.

 

I guess the Dev failure after two attempts to fix Ilum had nothing to do with it. Man if I had only had a mod that would have fixed the problems with Ilum.

[Rafaman]

Like a horror movie, this thread reached up from beneath the ground and punched a hand through the soil grasping for life.

 

Sadly, mods are still not needed so it will be buried again.

[Foreignobjects]

This is the only MMO i have ever played that doesnt allow for mods. Curse gaming and many other sites provide mods for many games out there that make the experience a LOT more enjoyable. SWTOR has decided to put its customers on rails and this may be good for something, I dont know what, but because of it I find the galactic market horrible in this game. I dont want to spend my time looking up 30 different items to compair prices just so that I can sell my crap, I want something that will check prices and allow me to undercut the other sellers. I want my time to be spent effficiently, not irritated because I have to quest to make money or because I have to do searches to sell some item for 400 credits.... and speaking of the market....since I cant have my own vendors why cant my items be on the market longer?

 

I havent sold anything on the market until today and I just got reminded of why I dont. The market mechanics are horrible. Absolutely primitive in todays MMO gaming market. In MMOs that don't fair much better for trade markets, at least you are usually able to right click + shift (or something similar) to add the name of the product into the search engine for the market....not in this game. In this game you have to type in the product name to compair prices...

 

Number one.... that I have to sell crap on a market means that I already have to waste time to get the itmes....because mind you, I am only here to PvP....I have to date NEVER done a Flashpoint because I dont care to...not my idea of fun. With the pathetic state of the market, I now also have to waste more of my time in order to use the market....because in Blizzard's infinite wisdom they have decided to block the ability for private individuals to create mods for this game. It makes the game irritating. I dont play video games to be irritated.

 

Blizzard, please get off your rump and create a few small provitions...like you did with allowing users to mod their own interface.....and stop jerking me around on my free-to-pay time in your game. I pay a sub, give me perks that matter. A different looking speeder or clothing....junk. Stupid cake-eater crap that does zero for me.

 

P.S.

 

Your market system really bites. Cartel coins for xp...good...cartel coins for image designed junk = emo. Allow scripting and mods because you apparently fail at interface and user friendly interaction.

 

 

ive asked this many times... this mmo is probobly the worst able modable mmo there is. being the way it was made... with the conversation system.... and the engine.... i would love to have mods... specially ui mods.. the only mod we can use actually is the SWTOR Unleashed mod that allows u to utilize your computers hardware to its fullest.... example...

 

your pc is say

 

 

Amd 3.5 ghz 6 core

Nvidia geforce 770 2gb GPU DDR5

16 Gigs of memory

500 gb SSD HD

 

 

the game only utilizes 4 to 6 gb of ram unless u use this program... no matter how bad ads your machine is.... can only go so fast.. swtor unleshed lets u use your machine how its meanto in a way... faster loading and splash screens....i have it and have used it,

 

but i wonder why , too , back to your question about UI mods

[LyraineAlei]

What mods would we need anyway?

I have three different UIs (okay, they're the same with things shifted for emphasis on that specific layout, Tanking, Heals, Heals Compressed to avoid Lag). We can make any number of those that we want.

 

On the GTN, we already have different sort methods (per unit, by price, time left, item name).

 

We can set our graphics levels for whatever level we want. Add in Nameplates or remove them. Allow guild names to show in plates etc.

 

Macros are against the ToS.

 

Well, one and only mod I can think of would be nice- Keybinding Profiles that can be accessed for all characters. Rebinding keys after rolling a new alt is a pain to spend five or ten minutes on. And then unbinding R from the chat.

 

Once upon a time, I did consider playing WoW. And then I read that to play that one game, I HAD to download all these third party mods to make the game suit what everyone expected of me, because we needed to do group stuff (again, once upon a time, as in "back in my middle school days when I giggled at the word fart").

 

I don't want to see this game turn into an elitist-only, must have mods-blah-blah and mod-yaddayadda to do anything in this game.

[MaximusRex]

This is the only MMO i have ever played that doesnt allow for mods.

 

Then you haven't played very many MMOs

[Saxxonknight]

If you really think that not having mods is why people starting leaving this game after 6 months you really are delusional.

 

I guess the Dev failure after two attempts to fix Ilum had nothing to do with it. Man if I had only had a mod that would have fixed the problems with Ilum.

 

I didn't say it was the only reason. But the lack of functionality and ergonomics would impede the gameplay for many players that coupled with whatever specific things they found deficient would have (I never went to Illum myself, but I had a bunch of Heroic quests I could not complete because I could never find anyone else to do them). In many cases, ie trade, a player mod could have fixed issues that would have made it not a pain in the *** to many players, thus improving their game experience.

 

What mods would we need anyway?

I have three different UIs (okay, they're the same with things shifted for emphasis on that specific layout, Tanking, Heals, Heals Compressed to avoid Lag). We can make any number of those that we want....

 

....I don't want to see this game turn into an elitist-only, must have mods-blah-blah and mod-yaddayadda to do anything in this game.

 

The UI is exactly what most player made mods address. There are things that you might like, that others do not that they would have differently to optimize THEIR experience. A for instance that really is basic UI functionality - a modifier key to heal your companion. IE, CTRL press heals my companion not me. That type of thing is usually in the basic interface options, but not here.

 

As for elitist only - in this game and every game, high end difficult stuff is elitist only. If you can't manage it in the form its in, the others who can will shun you as you impair their success. That is true in FPS, RTS, RPG etc. IE playing Forged Alliance as a 900 ranked player (based on my past in game performance) I can't compete in a 2000 rated game. I just don't have the skills as my record reflects (maybe in time). Most players I know that don't like mods because of the "elitist" issue are ones that can't or won't do what it takes to perform at or near the optimal level needed to beat difficult end game content. As is typical in today's society they blame everyone else, or mods for their failure rather than look at how they can improve or accept that they aren't at that level.

 

Meanwhile, SWTOR lost many subscribers and I can guarantee you that had players been able to put their innovation toward solving some of the issues solvable by UI mods that a significant portion of those that left would have stayed or at least played longer. As a business it is paramount to maximize that.

 

As someone that had applied to Bioware Austin way back at the games inception and wasn't hired because of lack of industry experience (hey, there's that elitist thing again) all I can do now is say I told you so.

Edited June 10, 2015 by Saxxonknight

[LyraineAlei]

I didn't say it was the only reason. But the lack of functionality and ergonomics would impede the gameplay for many players that coupled with whatever specific things they found deficient would have (I never went to Illum myself, but I had a bunch of Heroic quests I could not complete because I could never find anyone else to do them). In many cases, ie trade, a player mod could have fixed issues that would have made it not a pain in the *** to many players, thus improving their game experience.

 

 

 

The UI is exactly what most player made mods address. There are things that you might like, that others do not that they would have differently to optimize THEIR experience. A for instance that really is basic UI functionality - a modifier key to heal your companion. IE, CTRL press heals my companion not me. That type of thing is usually in the basic interface options, but not here.

 

As for elitist only - in this game and every game, high end difficult stuff is elitist only. If you can't manage it in the form its in, the others who can will shun you as you impair their success. That is true in FPS, RTS, RPG etc. IE playing Forged Alliance as a 900 ranked player (based on my past in game performance) I can't compete in a 2000 rated game. I just don't have the skills as my record reflects (maybe in time). Most players I know that don't like mods because of the "elitist" issue are ones that can't or won't do what it takes to perform at or near the optimal level needed to beat difficult end game content. As is typical in today's society they blame everyone else, or mods for their failure rather than look at how they can improve or accept that they aren't at that level.

 

Meanwhile, SWTOR lost many subscribers and I can guarantee you that had players been able to put their innovation toward solving some of the issues solvable by UI mods that a significant portion of those that left would have stayed or at least played longer. As a business it is paramount to maximize that.

 

As someone that had applied to Bioware Austin way back at the games inception and wasn't hired because of lack of industry experience (hey, there's that elitist thing again) all I can do now is say I told you so.

 

Funny, I just hit number pad + to target my companion, and then my heal key.

 

Or * on the numberpad and heal myself and my companion with Seethe, Meditation, Mission Review, Shadowboxing, those other regen skills and items. That's a one-key wonder. Which falls under keybinding. And that is modifiable within the game (although they have to be redone per character, the only thing I really complain about that I meant to complain about).

 

By not having/allowing mods, those elitists can't use "you don't have blah blah mods so no" as well as they could have if those mods were allowed. Instead, they use gear levels, how well optimized your gear is, how well you know the fights, how well you play, as their gates.

 

You know, the things that a person can fix, learn, and use regardless of computer age or limitations.

[Rafaman]

Basically the same old argument re-hashed yet again. But please! Let's not make this game any more of a faceroll. You don't need a mod to "ding" and give you directions in an OP or flashpoint. You don't need a mod to show you where to stand. Good god man... might as well have someone play for you.

 

And... let's be honest. What would happen if mods are yet another variable the devs have to take into account? The words NiM would be applicable but not toward a difficulty mode.

[DawnAskham]

Basically the same old argument re-hashed yet again. But please! Let's not make this game any more of a faceroll. You don't need a mod to "ding" and give you directions in an OP or flashpoint. You don't need a mod to show you where to stand. Good god man... might as well have someone play for you.

 

And... let's be honest. What would happen if mods are yet another variable the devs have to take into account? The words NiM would be applicable but not toward a difficulty mode.

 

And your response is the typical nonsense that all add-ons do are make a game easier as well as automate game play.

 

Go load up WoW, grab every add-on out there, and try your hand at Mythic raiding and show us these add-ons that make it so easy and play the game for you.

 

Anyways, it is highly doubtful we'll see any sort of add-ons or APIs added to SWTOR as to do so would require more effort than the current team has available.

 

At this point, I'd recommend the 'in favor of add-ons' crowd to put in suggestions for what you'd like to see in future releases to allow some of the flexibility add-ons bring in other games.

 

At the top of my list would be the ability to filter displayed buffs / procs / debuffs, the ability to 'skin' the UI (change colors, fonts, element sizes to improve legibility), and the ability to save ability / bar configurations to make swapping disciplines less annoying.

 

I'd also love the ability to heal using mouse over / frames based healing without needing to swap targets - but I can simply do as I do today and not heal in SWTOR.

Edited June 10, 2015 by DawnAskham

[Rafaman]

And your response is the typical nonsense that all add-ons do are make a game easier as well as automate game play.

 

Go load up WoW, grab every add-on out there, and try your hand at Mythic raiding and show us these add-ons that make it so easy and play the game for you.

 

Anyways, it is highly doubtful we'll see any sort of add-ons or APIs added to SWTOR as to do so would require more effort than the current team has available.

 

At this point, I'd recommend the 'in favor of add-ons' crowd to put in suggestions for what you'd like to see in future releases to allow some of the flexibility add-ons bring in other games.

 

At the top of my list would be the ability to filter displayed buffs / procs / debuffs, the ability to 'skin' the UI (change colors, fonts, element sizes to improve legibility), and the ability to save ability / bar configurations to make swapping disciplines less annoying.

 

I'd also love the ability to heal using mouse over / frames based healing without needing to swap targets - but I can simply do as I do today and not heal in SWTOR.

 

Apples and oranges babe. The peeps running Mythic or NiM don't need the crutch, and with the Buff bar customization in this game, nothing else is required.

 

The APIs would be a NiM to maintain anyway so it will never happen here.

[Saxxonknight]

...I'd also love the ability to heal using mouse over / frames based healing without needing to swap targets - but I can simply do as I do today and not heal in SWTOR.

 

IMO the #1 reason the game stalled to me. Back around 6 months after release I could not get a group or do heroic missions because no one would heal.

 

A click cast mod would have saved this game - it saved Rift along with other things that players did to plug the holes in the game's UI.

 

One thing the devs could do with minimal effort to improve solo play - a modifier key to cast on your companion, ie CTRL click and you heal your companion instead of yourself. So simple, such a huge ergonomic gain in combat.

 

By not having/allowing mods, those elitists can't use "you don't have blah blah mods so no" as well as they could have if those mods were allowed. Instead, they use gear levels, how well optimized your gear is, how well you know the fights, how well you play, as their gates.

 

Oh yes, because having the gameplay cumbersome enough hat 90% or more of the market won't bother with it is so much better... The game is on the skids because of low subscriber numbers. The stuff you talk about to cast your spells still involves target switching. Casting healing on groups members in fights in WOW for instance you do not have to retarget, you click cast off the UI for that, thus you keep your DPS target always. This is ergonomically superior gameplay, it is things like that which make WOW hugely financially successful whereas those who did not learn and emulate such advances in gaming generally are less successful.

 

IE Rift, a WOW clone was headed down the tubes, they had a UI just like this game on launch and no player mods. Some time after I had quit, they put in player mod-ability - coupled with their F2P hail mary the game rebounded viably. A lot of this had to do with the increased playability that the UI mods provided, which included click cast healing that made raiding and heroic instances accessible for players without a ridiculous amount of target swapping (#1 cause of healer burnout).

 

[NOTE] Yes, I checked what you were saying in key bindings, and buried in there is the ability to self cast (which is default anyway) and cast on focus with a modifier key. Clunky, other games these are in the interface options and use intuitive keys like SHIFT, CTRL & ALT whereas these are default HOME and END which are not ergonomic to WASD keyboard play (your other hand is on your mouse). You can heal your companion IF the companion is your focus target. The companion should have their own modifier as you will virtually always have one in this game.

 

So my bad, yes they did it - halfway and badly. Again, player made mods would clean that up.

Edited June 11, 2015 by Saxxonknight

[Skratchwound]

Honestly I don't mind not having mods however I would like a DPS meter rather then using a parser, just felt easier, and no its not to insult anyone or call into question someones lack of dps but it would be nice to be able to keep track of my own dps to allow me to perfect rotation and stats. Though its not needed just would be nice.

[Xelva]

Runes of Magic, RIFT, Wildstar, WoW, ESO, WoT, The Secret World, Guild Wars (all of them), etc

 

All these examples of MMO's that allow the use of mods to enhance the players experience. There is no way to 3rd party mods for an MMO will effect actual DPS/Healing/RNG so that argument is defunct.