Can we get a response on the Ilum Boosting please?

[Tealamek]

Thank you BW for closing this loop hole, it is the way it should be. Otherwise I am sure you all would just give us a

"Ding you are level 50 button".

 

Sorry to those that do not agree, but just because you can do something does not mean you should. I have never played an MMO that allows any level 1 player to get to the end game content and advance. So no surprise, get over it. Just be happy they are not considering it an exploit and reversing the levels or banning players.

Edited March 19, 2013 by Tealamek

[Blackavaar]

And that's your opinion. Apparently you can type till your fingers bleed, and scream till you're blue in the face. The dev team has made a decision, and I highly doubt the amount of whining you do will make any difference. Maybe you should move on to the next "entitled player" rage topic, the solution to this one has been offered and will be implemented, enough said.

 

Excuse me? Maybe you should just go back to hiding under a rock and pretending everything is okay, being lied to about everything and buying every word hook line and sinker no matter how little sense they make.

 

[chuixupu]

There is no dishonesty here. Nobody was lied to. Unless you believe they purposely allowed this to happen and planned to have it removed after the first weekend. If that's what you believe, here's more tinfoil for you.

[Kubernetic]

There is no dishonesty here. Nobody was lied to. Unless you believe they purposely allowed this to happen and planned to have it removed after the first weekend. If that's what you believe, here's more tinfoil for you.

 

Remember you must, on the outside of the helmet.... the shiny side of the foil goes.

[Rafaman]

I'm sorry Raf but this just proves you will agree with anything said by EA. Don't you see how you, yourself split hairs on this issue with your response? Do you have a "need" to be known as an EA supporter? I agree with you that it was a non issue. I don't agree with how EA responded. I agree with Blackaavar and others that said it should be one way or the other and not this hodge podge mixture of both which only confuses the issue of how EA will rule in the future with regards to "exploits". EA was wrong in the way they handled it. They should have just left well enough alone until Makeb to get as many people to 50 as possible and then turnned it off. They should not have confused the playerbase with regards to what actions they will take with regards to exploits.

 

No need to apologize. I'm not sure how you arrive at your conclusion that I will agree with anything said by EA. Bit of a leap in your logic.

 

You see, in my opinion, it was SWTOR team that buckled. I make the distinction because SWTOR team is managing this game. Like any corporate entity, EA is only concerned with the bottom line. Corporate is not involved in the day to day ops. That is in the SWTOR teams purview. That is the way it works, and everything will be fine as long SWTOR delivers the expected revenue stream. As such it was the SWTOR team buckled for the sake of the community, not because there was a real problem here. And in doing so, they made a peace offering which did not include an admission that this was an exploit which seems to drive some of you crazy which is nonsense.

 

What should have meant something was the fact that the SWTOR team did something in response. That they listened to those who obviously feel there is or was a problem. But now you and others are drowning out what ever good came out of this discussion with your non sequitur that this was really all about the messaging.

 

Sorry Urael, you are way of base here. Calling me out as an EA sycophant based on my support of what the devs did here is an unfortunate symptom of just how jaded you must be now. Clearly, you are no longer interested in real argument if you can make such assumptions. You could have disagreed with me... without such generalizations but... I guess a reasonable discussion has left the forums ahead of you.

Edited March 19, 2013 by Rafaman

[Levity]

No need to apologize. I'm not sure how you arrive at your conclusion that I will agree with anything said by EA. Bit of a leap in your logic.

 

You see, in my opinion, it was SWTOR team that buckled. I make the distinction because SWTOR team is managing this game. Like any corporate entity, EA is only concerned with the bottom line. Corporate is not involved in the day to day ops. That is in the SWTOR teams purview. That is the way it works, and everything will be fine as long SWTOR delivers the expected revenue stream. As such it was the SWTOR team buckled for the sake of the community, not because there was a real problem here. And in doing so, they made a peace offering which did not include an admission that this was an exploit which seems to drive some of you crazy which is nonsense.

 

What should have meant something was the fact that the SWTOR team did something in response. That they listened to those who obviously feel there is or was a problem. But now you and others are drowning out what ever good came out of this discussion with your non sequitur that this was really all about the messaging.

 

Sorry Urael, you are way of base here. Calling me out as an EA sycophant based on my support of what the devs did here is an unfortunate symptom of just how jaded you must be now. Clearly, you are no longer interested in real argument if you can make such assumptions. You could have disagreed with me... without such generalizations but... I guess a reasonable discussion has left the forums ahead of you.

 

 

I think the majority of people said they don't give a hoot out of everything I've read. So if majority of people don't give a hoot why is it still being fixed? Because for the long term survival of the game, an extremely easy way to max lvl will make people bored. So what if people grind their teeth when they think "man I have to lvl another alt." The fact is they will lvl another alt regardless and they will do it the normal way and take the time to do it. When you have an "easy out" to the time sink that is the lvling game of an MMO that takes away from it's replayability. I can have 16 lvl 50's but it will take a good bit of time on top of raiding, pvp and everything else I like to do. If this stayed in game, everyone will go straight to Ilum, everyone will have 16 50's and everyone will be bored. It's not good for the game. Plain and simple.

[Kubernetic]

I think the majority of people said they don't give a hoot out of everything I've read. So if majority of people don't give a hoot why is it still being fixed? Because for the long term survival of the game, an extremely easy way to max lvl will make people bored. So what if people grind their teeth when they think "man I have to lvl another alt." The fact is they will lvl another alt regardless and they will do it the normal way and take the time to do it. When you have an "easy out" to the time sink that is the lvling game of an MMO that takes away from it's replayability. I can have 16 lvl 50's but it will take a good bit of time on top of raiding, pvp and everything else I like to do. If this stayed in game, everyone will go straight to Ilum, everyone will have 16 50's and everyone will be bored. It's not good for the game. Plain and simple.

 

If those highlighted statements are true, then why have 5 consecutive Double XP Weekends with XP boosts in the first place? What am I missing here?

[DawnAskham]

Heh... as i suspected. The Dev's buckled to the QQ of a few people that think they know what an "exploit" is and provided a solution to something that was not and is not a problem to appease them. And, of course, after providing said solution, that same bunch QQ because the Devs wouldn't semantically agree with them despite the obvious peace offering.

 

Kudos to the Devs for trying. To the rest of you who are continuing with this... it seems this isn't about the so called exploit. You need validation and reassurance. There are other ways to get such things you know...

 

Sorry but I had to post a response to such nonsense as 'the dev's buckled to the QQ of a few people' as the reason they are removing the ability to take advantage of their oversights with regard to bolster, Ilum, the Gree event, and double XP weekends.

 

This was clearly unintended and not something condoned by Bioware, and thus was always more than likely going to be disabled once they figured out how to do so without breaking something else.

 

As for the semantic arguments going around, who cares what it is called. It was not intended and a change is being made to prevent it from being used going forward.

 

Everyone should get over it and move on. Not like leveling is hard, and with double XP + buffs / boosts it is still super fast, so enjoy the coming double XP weekend and get out and actually play the game.

Edited March 19, 2013 by DawnAskham

[Runnamuker]

Excuse me? Maybe you should just go back to hiding under a rock and pretending everything is okay, being lied to about everything and buying every word hook line and sinker no matter how little sense they make.

 

And where did I state any of what you have implied here? They've become aware of the problem, and made their decision on how they're going to act upon that problem at this time. You don't like their decision and have made that point clearly. You past the point of beating a dead horse, and now you're just beating the spot on the ground where the horse had laid and rotted. No amount of word salad you throw out here is going to change their decision, you could keep up the "I think they should" game for an eternity, but ultimately what gets done, and what you personally want done, will not always be the same. time for you to realise that and move on chum.

[Rafaman]

Sorry but I had to post a response to such nonsense as 'the dev's buckled to the QQ of a few people' as the reason they are removing the ability to take advantage of their oversights with regard to bolster, Ilum, the Gree event, and double XP weekends.

 

And really, I feel sorry for you if you are too ignorant to see this was clearly unintended and not something condoned by Bioware, and thus was always more than likely going to be disabled once they figured out how to do so without breaking something else.

 

As for the semantic arguments going around, who cares what it is called. It was not intended and a change is being made to prevent it from being used going forward.

 

Not sure why I am ignorant. As an unintended consequence it posed no real problems in my view. They could have said nothing and neither condoned or disparaged the activity. Again this goes back to the previous arguments regarding whether or not this was a detriment to the game. Regardless of my opinion on the matter they felt the need to do something and so they did. Kudos to BW for it.

 

Having said that, I agree with your last statement. Who cares what it is called. But unfortunately for some it was not enough that the change was made. It was not enough that BW made the gesture. It really is confounding.

 

You know... I think even if BW would have come out and stated exactly what is being proposed by those still not satisfied, they, the unsatisfied, would have had a problem with it. This really isn't about the issue at hand. It is about throwing stones.

[Blackavaar]

And where did I state any of what you have implied here? They've become aware of the problem, and made their decision on how they're going to act upon that problem at this time. You don't like their decision and have made that point clearly. You past the point of beating a dead horse, and now you're just beating the spot on the ground where the horse had laid and rotted. No amount of word salad you throw out here is going to change their decision, you could keep up the "I think they should" game for an eternity, but ultimately what gets done, and what you personally want done, will not always be the same. time for you to realise that and move on chum.

 

In other words, the Spin Doctor has done his job and said his piece. Swallow it and don't question anything and go on about your business as if nothing happened.

 

Move along. Move along.

 

Edited March 19, 2013 by Blackavaar

[-Damask-]

Lol all you who want the devs take action against these players are just butthurt that you weren't smart enough to think of it first.

[Twickers]

I don't think you guys quite realize that Bioware is screwed no matter what they chose to do

 

A. They ignore it and let it happen and people come onto the forums screaming about Bioware "not caring and letting people exploit"

 

B. Revert people who did the exploit boost to 50 then people come onto the forums screaming "OMG BIOWARE Y U DO DIS IMMA QUIT" and other nonsense like that.

 

C. They took this option and what do you know, people are on the forums screaming about how Bioware fails and yadda dadda blah blah.

 

Seriously, I don't envy the forum team at all.

[Runnamuker]

In other words, the Spin Doctor has done his job and said his piece. Swallow it and don't question anything and go one about your business as if nothing happened.

 

Who am I to stop you I guess. Please, by all means, continue wasting your time with the logic of " Well X game company did Y when something happened, so now X should happen because Z happened here."

 

No where have I stated that you shouldn't voice your opinion or question the responses given. I did however imply that the issue is dead. BW acknowledged that there was a problem, they also stated that they have a temporary fix for the problem, with a more permanent solution later. And somehow, for you, that's not enough. I'm not sure what you're truly expecting, and I highly doubt anything short of a hand written apology, directly to your butt hurt feelings, and a ban hammer for everyone who leveled their characters in the fashion will suffice to calm your hurt soul. I'm sorry that the rage at this incident is causing you to loose sleep, but you need to learn to let go, you'll get an ulcer, and those can be quite painful I hear. So take care, reply to this if you feel that you just have to get the last say so. I'll be too busy enjoying the game while you sit in a rage and cleverly retort to this post. enjoy.

[IrishTR]

Yeah, they got their alts to 50. Mine are still level 12, 18, 23, 28, etc.. Where's my free 50(s)?

 

And I notice you didn't reply to my Yellow Light answer. Couldn't come up with any clever come backs for that, eh?

 

 

SO If I level up normally and my alts are all 50,50,50,50,50,50,50,50,50,50,50,40,30 am I not still in the same place as you are in that I spent more time to out level you?

 

You sound just like every other Give Me Give Me whiner in this society that someone else has something you dont so you feel entitled to it!

 

All those 50s above I leveled the normal questing way, I'm sick and tired of running the repeat solo quests over and over, I enjoy the Class story quests but that's it. So yes I used the method to raise my final toons to 50 because I'm tired of leveling, and would rather focus more on the end game content/L50 Ranked PVP.

 

I have no more of an advantage over your 50 or any other 50 than I would if it took me 5hrs 5days or 5months! Its the same exact 50 (infact with possibly less money/gear - but good ol Legacy Armor ignores that argument!) Next you'll cry that thats unfair that I can pull/transfer my mods and armor.

 

Oh and I took my L38 at the time SOLO during Double XP into Ilum, killed things myself no problem up to the Strongs (Champs was a different story) did not need a group but eventually grouped with 2 guildies to help the 1 50 finish his pylon quest, all in all I think I got an hour or two tops playtime and left at L41 it was fun, and even more hilarious was I actually stole agro a couple times from some 50s! Thank you Bolster, I feel I'm quite capable playing this class along with the other 11 toons!

Edited March 20, 2013 by IrishTR

[Blackavaar]

SO If I level up normally and my alts are all 50,50,50,50,50,50,50,50,50,50,50,40,30 am I not still in the same place as you are in that I spent more time to out level you?

 

You sound just like every other Give Me Give Me whiner in this society that someone else has something you dont so you feel entitled to it!

 

All those 50s above I leveled the normal questing way, I'm sick and tired of running the repeat solo quests over and over, I enjoy the Class story quests but that's it. So yes I used the method to raise my final toons to 50 because I'm tired of leveling, and would rather focus more on the end game content/L50 Ranked PVP.

 

I have no more of an advantage over your 50 or any other 50 than I would if it took me 5hrs 5days or 5months! Its the same exact 50 (infact with possibly less money/gear - but good ol Legacy Armor ignores that argument!) Next you'll cry that thats unfair that I can pull/transfer my mods and armor.

 

Dude, way to miss the point entirely.

 

I wouldn't even use this "exploit" if I could. I don't rush through the games I play.

Check my history with CoH, Champions Online, DDO, STO and TSW.

 

The point was that the players that used this "exploit" stole time. They used a game mechanic in an unintentional way to gain an advantage in a way that reduced the time they would normally have spent leveling their characters. BioWare has come back saying that though they admit the problem they will not call it what it is (an exploit) and will not punish those who used it but they will fix it so no one else can use it.

 

I get it. It's like a store that finds out a lot of people were able to steal CDs because they were put in the wrong section and had no security devices on them. They can't take the time to track down every one of the thieves, but they can prevent further theft.

 

I just wish they would be honest about it and tell us that they will be watching for such exploits in the future, instead of spinning it to make it seem like what those people did was perfectly okay.

 

Edited March 20, 2013 by Blackavaar

[Arkerus]

If those highlighted statements are true, then why have 5 consecutive Double XP Weekends with XP boosts in the first place? What am I missing here?

 

Because a controlled, temporary boost in XP is good for the game. Like most things in life, moderation is the key.

 

The devs want people in and playing the game in preparation for ROTHC. A massive XP boost across the board 7 days a week would be ludicrous as it would put people on a pace that far out paces the intended gameplay.

 

Short, controlled bursts of additional XP gain are ok when they are just that, short controlled bursts. That is the entire point of the double XP event: Draw people in on the weekends to level their alts or new characters.

[kriegheld]

So, I guess I won't be rolling the 2 alts I had planned. The complainers should have cried for more pylons so they could get a spot.

[Asuka]

I don't think you guys quite realize that Bioware is screwed no matter what they chose to do

 

A. They ignore it and let it happen and people come onto the forums screaming about Bioware "not caring and letting people exploit"

 

B. Revert people who did the exploit boost to 50 then people come onto the forums screaming "OMG BIOWARE Y U DO DIS IMMA QUIT" and other nonsense like that.

 

C. They took this option and what do you know, people are on the forums screaming about how Bioware fails and yadda dadda blah blah.

 

Seriously, I don't envy the forum team at all.

 

 

No doubt there however the integrity of the game should be worth far more than the feelings of a few hundred exploiters or even a thousand.

[Aurojiin]

Yellow means slow down and prepare to stop. I slow down and prepare to stop. It's not a judgement call. The fact that you consider it an option to speed up and try to make it before the light turns is not the proper way to drive and whomever taught you to do so was wrong.

Actually, yellow lights mean you must stop unless it is unsafe to do so in the distance available.

 

So yeah, they involve a judgement call.

 

Anyway, threads like this really illustrate why most developers are so reluctant to communicate with their playerbase: endless hordes of people whining, grizzling, and raging no matter what choice they make. There is literally no option for BioWare that would not result in people having a giant cryfest on the forums (in lieu of having anything useful to do with their time).

 

integrity of the game

Haha. Funny.

Edited March 20, 2013 by Aurojiin

[JollyRen]

So, wait. What you're saying is that this is not considered an exploit for anyone who already did it, but you're going to fix it so that no one else can. That seems like a contradiction to me, Eric.

 

If it's not an exploit, leave it alone. If it is, fix it and take action against the players that used it.

 

 

ok... then take away smash spec, because it's freaking crazy worse than devs ever planned it to be, and they're taking away the only defense against it, which is bubble spec. keep in mind, I play a powertech and an assassin, so I don't have bubble, I"m just pointing out its team dynamic.

 

however, in 2.0, sorcs are OP enough.

 

leave the people be who did it.

Edited March 20, 2013 by JollyRen

[Aurojiin]

ok... then take away smash spec, because it's freaking crazy worse than devs ever planned it to be, and they're taking away the only defense against it, which is bubble spec. keep in mind, I play a powertech and an assassin, so I don't have bubble, I"m just pointing out its team dynamic.

 

however, in 2.0, sorcs are OP enough.

 

leave the people be who did it.

Actually, you make an interesting point. According to the "logic" of certain posters, everytime Bioware nerfs a spec the implication is that people playing the spec previously must have been exploiters and therefore should be punished.

[SithKoriandr]

Dude, way to miss the point entirely.

 

I wouldn't even use this "exploit" if I could. I don't rush through the games I play.

Check my history with CoH, Champions Online, DDO, STO and TSW.

 

The point was that the players that used this "exploit" stole time. They used a game mechanic in an unintentional way to gain an advantage in a way that reduced the time they would normally have spent leveling their characters. BioWare has come back saying that though they admit the problem they will not call it what it is (an exploit) and will not punish those who used it but they will fix it so no one else can use it.

 

I get it. It's like a store that finds out a lot of people were able to steal CDs because they were put in the wrong section and had no security devices on them. They can't take the time to track down every one of the thieves, but they can prevent further theft.

 

I just wish they would be honest about it and tell us that they will be watching for such exploits in the future, instead of spinning it to make it seem like what those people did was perfectly okay.

 

 

Yes, because CoH actually banning accounts who did something similar with AE went over so well with the community.

 

While I didn't do it (I enjoyed being able to level off just planet/storyline quests and skipping all other side quests), I'd say be fair to some of those who did it. I have 2 50s, and before the double xp, was working on a 3rd (took this double xp as an opportunity to unlock all class buffs) at level 43 now. Seeing as how my 2 50s where Empire side, and my third is Empire side, who wouldnt be tempted to speed through it and then can just go back and enjoy just the storyline quests?

 

And it's not THAT hard to figure out to play the classes, maybe not optimum, but to be fair most players (this includes me) really aren't as optimum at the game as they might say here on the forums or in chat in game.

 

Not to mention, when the group wins, less people notice the less than optimum.

[JollyRen]

Actually, yellow lights mean you must stop unless it is unsafe to do so in the distance available.

 

So yeah, they involve a judgement call.

 

Anyway, threads like this really illustrate why most developers are so reluctant to communicate with their playerbase: endless hordes of people whining, grizzling, and raging no matter what choice they make. There is literally no option for BioWare that would not result in people having a giant cryfest on the forums (in lieu of having anything useful to do with their time).

 

 

Haha. Funny.

 

There's a logical post, talking about yellow lights in traffic. You do realize that people run red lights? I consider those the hackers. Yellow light would be more along the lines of people who take advantage of the opportunity given without changing or breaking the game.

 

In real life, speeding up or slowing down is a judgement of the moment based on speed and distance from the intersection. If you go through an intersection, or enter it, in the transition from yellow to red, it is not breaking the law.

 

so according to your illustration, example, whatever, if someone was doing this and now cannot, there is no penalty.

 

-----

 

can we now move on from talking about technicalities and stupid e-peening and talk about something useful?

[Twickers]

No doubt there however the integrity of the game should be worth far more than the feelings of a few hundred exploiters or even a thousand.

 

I agree there, but again, either way Bioware is completely screwed no matter what they chose to do, people would have whined.