Rage...building...

[dcgregorya]

So, I'm starting to get very, very annoyed with this game for one simple reason - Bioware how much longer do you expect your subscribers to continue paying while you devote more resources to the Cartel Market than the actual game? Whole new interfaces for dyes and customization - clearly meant to help sell your dye packs. I don't really care if you make great profits - good for you - but is it asking too much to have developers actually assigned to and communicating about features that the players are actually asking for?

 

Examples - PVP content. How much is on the back burner here? Why do we not have a road map for PVP features? There's a dozen items here that have been on the road map since beta that still don't work properly and we've heard *NOTHING* about when they will be introduced.

 

What about content releases (and no, dye is not content) - like flash points? You realize how many people got angry when they heard that class stories were over now and would not be continuing? People are willing to pay for expansions so why would you entirely drop this into 'pure planet quests' when you set up a legacy system specifically to get people to roll alts (who now all have to churn through the same exact story)?

 

How about community involvement? Like asking what subscribers want and setting up a road map based on that, you know, so the community can feel there's some predictability, transparency and actual resources being assigned to make the game better for them?

 

So much of what is released for this game is sloppy. Did you guys even notice that the BOP schematics to make your own Makeb weapons *cost more* than just buying the weapon? And since the items are BOP you can't even sell them...

 

I know this is somewhat random but I'm actually starting to get angry that so much effort is being constantly put into Cartel Market "features" and cash grab nonsense with absolutely no transparency or community involvement from the subscribers of this game. Would it be that hard to take teams of devs assigned out of the recurring subscription revenue and put them onto community driven features and give people a warm and fuzzy that they're paying for something more than just adding more stuff for you guys to sell? How many "features" have been added to the game purely to drive CM sales? Reputation, the dye system, adaptive armor, etc are all just setting up cash cows - how much resources are you guys dropping into this while your customers are clamoring for cross-server queues, lag improvements and performance improvements to the engine, additional PVE content, events and you know, actual story and content for them to *consume* while they're playing the game?

Edited May 14, 2013 by dcgregorya

[ninjonxb]

I am assuming that your rage is based on today's patch.

 

 

Hey everyone,

 

I wanted to specifically address the concern of “what is a subscriber getting in an all Cartel Market update?” Game Update 2.1 brings a whole lot of customization and convenience features to the game which have been requested for quite some time, such as character name changes etc. As we have stated in the past, we always design systems like this knowing that subscribers will be receiving Cartel Coins each month, and certainly more options for your monthly Cartel Coin grant can’t be a bad thing!

 

I think the core of some of your frustrations is that you feel like Game Update 2.1 is “eating up a slot” for our regular content cadence, and because of that, you won’t actually be receiving any new content in this “cycle.” I figure the best way to address that is to lay out a bit of a road map of what the next few weeks looks like! This will help especially if you are only looking at what you are getting within one “content cycle.” As I have done in the past, I need to make it clear that everything I am about to say is our current plan and that it is subject to change, but I want to give you as many details as I can! Here is our current plan:

 

• Game Update 2.1 will release on Tuesday, May 14th
  
• Game Update 2.2 will release on Tuesday, June 11th
  

If you are keeping track and we hit those dates, Game Update 2.2 will releasing 8 weeks and 2 days from the time we released Rise of the Hutt Cartel (so basically around our 8 week cadence that is often referenced). What that means is that even though I can’t yet tell you what is in Game Update 2.2, you are getting two Game Updates within that period. I will say this: Game Update 2.2 has no new Cartel Market features… Also, both of these Game Updates will come with the usual bug fixes, quality of life improvements, etc. which you have come to expect (reference the patch notes for more info).

 

I know many of you will reserve full judgment until you see what happens over the next few weeks. I hope getting a little bit more information on our timeline will help alleviate your concerns. I have stated before that our Cartel Market and content teams are two very different things internally, which is why we can have these two Game Updates release so close together. Hopefully that provides some insight into our plans!

 

TLDR – If you’re concerned that Game Update 2.1 is taking up space in our content cadence and only contains Cartel Market stuff, fear not, Game Update 2.2 is coming sooner than you would expect!

 

-eric

 

PS – The Gree Enclave wanted me to pass on that they will be returning soon…

[TUXs]

I understand your frustration - but you're aiming your anger at the wrong group.

 

Bioware is the one running a business here - as a business, their goal is to find ways to produce revenue.

 

Players buying the CM stuff is the ONLY reason the CM is being developed. If players stopped buying, Bioware would stop developing for it.

[dcgregorya]

I understand your frustration - but you're aiming your anger at the wrong group.

 

Bioware is the one running a business here - as a business, their goal is to find ways to produce revenue.

 

Players buying the CM stuff is the ONLY reason the CM is being developed. If players stopped buying, Bioware would stop developing for it.

 

I don't have a problem with CM stuff. Let's have 1000 CM related things on a daily basis. But if you have say, making up pure made-up and generously low numbers here, even 3000 daily PVP players playing your game, can you not assign them 2-3 developers, dedicated, and have some transparency around when their features are going to go in and what is being worked on?

 

I don't mind cartel related items, what I *DO* mind is the feeling that every other aspect of the game is drastically under staffed.

 

I work for large organizations (the type televised on ESPN) and when there's a monthly maintenance contract its handled with a team of dedicated resources, a road map, an issue voting system and there's no question that the continual revenue is being directly put back into the product. Is that asking too much? The bugs that have been introduced into the game, to me, are a clear sign that there are very, very few developers involved in non-Cartel-Market related features (bolster - who honestly plays this game and doesn't know that relics have different stats than other slots?) and that's irritating because it gives you the distinct feeling that you're being ripped off.

Edited May 14, 2013 by dcgregorya

[Mistress_Ivi]

I personally think I know of only 3... 4 of my current guild who *NEVER* PvP due to personal choice.

 

20 or so of the guild are "full timers" ... another 20 are casual ... and a disclosed number are lurkers or not currently playing.

Of those 40, only a handful do not PvP.

 

Of those 40, only 1/4 of them actively pay for cartel packs with real money (I admit, I am guilty of it myself) - the remainder use in-game means to buy packs if ever. We all sub, when possible, so they use the free coins for the stuff they really like.

 

So... why can't the greater number of people get more Warzones? If cartel updates are every fortnight, could we not expect a new warzone fortmonthly at most?

[Kinvarus]

I always laugh when I read about Character name changes, it's a massive pain to name a character nowadays. Whenever I create a new toon it takes almost an hour before I don't get the "Name is Unavailable" message, god help those who try to change their name now.