Summer of SWTOR

[faiaaar]

lol bolster, everyone was complaining about it on PTS and they released it on its exact state live..didnt even make a single change to it.

[curtkram]

pretty sure they said they did change it, and fixed the problem people were concerned with, but that created a new problem that was different but seemed to have the same effect.

 

i think i found my source for this:

The truth is that when we fixed one aspect of the system we opened up another edge case. Last night when it became apparent we had not done enough to fix the issue we started an investigation (yes at 3am CDT in the morning) and have been working all day on a plan of attack to shore up this system so that it is fun and balanced for all parties.

http://www.swtor.com/community/showpost.php?p=6121757&postcount=451

Edited May 28, 2013 by curtkram

[Darth_Victus]

Hello everyone,

 

My name is Bruce Maclean and I am a Senior Producer here at BioWare Austin. I know there have been a lot of questions around the forums about what kind of content you can expect from us this year and so I’m here today to give you all a bit of information about what we’re working on bringing to you this summer!

 

First up, Game Update 2.2, which is currently targeted for launch on June 11th:

• Nightmare Mode Terror From Beyond. It’s got vicious new mechanics and is definitely not for the faint of heart. I’m very excited for you to see the new gear that comes with this, which uses a new appearance system we’ve developed for armor and weapons called ‘Scrolling UVs’.
  
• New Guild Bonuses! Players in guilds currently receive a +5% experience bonus, but now every 5 active players in the guild will add an additional 1% bonus to XP and reputation, up to a maximum bonus of 10% each.
  
• Crafters can now craft Underworld gear! But don’t RE that piece if you are still using it…
  
• Unified fleet chat channel for each faction, for easier group finding without having to hop between instances.
  

 

We’ve seen a lot of requests for a rerun of our Double XP weekends. Well, okay! We’d like to help you stay cool in the heat of the summer with three weekends starting June 22nd and continuing through July 7th. The third and last weekend will actually start early on Thursday the 4th of July, in case you are enjoying a long Independence Day weekend.

 

By July 9th Ops groups will have had four weeks to cut their teeth on Nightmare Mode Terror From Beyond. That’s when we will launch Nightmare Mode Scum and Villainy as a part of Game Update 2.2.2! New mechanics and unique loot for you.

 

July 23rd look for a return of the Relics of the Gree Event for a nice two week long run. Per community request the Event will scaled up to level 55 on this next run!

 

August 6th is our target date for Game Update 2.3, which we are working on right now and will be our biggest update since 2.0. Some of the bigger parts of this update are:

• New Flashpoints
  
• New Daily Area
  
• New Recurring Event
  
• Significant graphical upgrades
  

 

This isn’t an exhaustive list, and we are also working on some longer term stuff. Sometimes we have been averse to discussing specific dates well in advance, because we aren’t going to release anything unless we feel it is ready to go live and we don’t want to upset folks if we move a date back. Well I think we should just tell you what date the teams are shooting for, and if we don’t hit them we’ll just tell you why. Radical thinking, I know. As we get closer we’ll have a lot more juicy details on these - keep your eyes peeled to the forums and SWTOR.com for more information. Also, for those who are curious about the next updates to PvP, I will just say… apart from minor tweaks (like stunbreak abilities cooldown being reset on death in 2.2) you should look forward to Game Update 2.4. /rubshands

 

I don't see Pazaak/Sabaac in there =(

[Nrock]

wow 2.2 looks pretty ******

[Warforever]

After reading a majority of these posts...it's so sad to see so many Star Wars fans, SWTOR fans leave the game. What's even worse is that you, the developers, producers, etc etc don't seem to be listening and or don't even care. I myself am a PvPer. Only when I joined my guild <Care Bear Tickle Party> did I become a Endgame PvEer. But I still play PvP a majority of the time.

 

I don't understand what's going through BW's head(s). I'm excited about some minor content changes but very disappointed about the lack effort put into PvP. If its not your focus then do away with it. Or fix.

 

BW please get your priorities right. Listen to your players, your consumers, your fans....cause you're already losing a lot. Thanks

[MadBernieSkills]

I see you didn't post about server transfers but understand that the plan is 2.2. I understand you can't give a specific date.

 

That being said, please comment on the prices. Surely that has been decided.

Price per character, per server, per account?

 

More importantly, can we use cartel coins? I've been saving all of my coins. If cartel coins will not be allowed, I'd like to know that now.

Also, if coins are not allowed, I would like a reason.

 

Also, will transfers be allowed across server types. PVE -> PVP, PVP -> PVE, etc.

 

Since we are just waiting for the code bugs to be worked out, throw us a bone with some info.

 

Thanks.

[IdrianDave]

Hmmm, Im a staunch supporter of this game but this is bordering on pathetic. Thankfully we can all be out of our misery soon with many new titles being released later this year, fingers crossed they don't shaft us the same way we have been here.

[BruceMaclean]

After reading a majority of these posts...it's so sad to see so many Star Wars fans, SWTOR fans leave the game. What's even worse is that you, the developers, producers, etc etc don't seem to be listening and or don't even care. I myself am a PvPer. Only when I joined my guild <Care Bear Tickle Party> did I become a Endgame PvEer. But I still play PvP a majority of the time.

 

I don't understand what's going through BW's head(s). I'm excited about some minor content changes but very disappointed about the lack effort put into PvP. If its not your focus then do away with it. Or fix.

 

BW please get your priorities right. Listen to your players, your consumers, your fans....cause you're already losing a lot. Thanks

 

Hi Warforever!

 

We are listening and do care. For what it’s worth I’m a PvPer too. PvP is one of our priorities and we are not going to do away with it. I’m not a big believer in making excuses, and can understand why it might feel like we are not focused on PvP, but here’s a bit of an explanation why the next big PvP update is several months out:

 

PvP and Class Balance are the same team of guys. It makes sense that the designers working on one also work on the other. This means that raising the level cap to 55 for Rise of the Hutt Cartel last month and redoing all the talent trees for all classes and extending the PvP game to level 55 and redoing the PvP gear for Rise of the Hutt Cartel has kept them busy. In fact, it took a heroic effort on their part to accomplish all this. This team plays PvP every day and share your and my passion for it. Now that Rise of the Hutt Cartel is behind them they don’t want to just service PvP by adding another warzone to the rotation, they want to address PvP with a meaningful update. We’ve given them the go ahead to do this and that’s why the big PvP features are several months out.

[TUXs]

Hi Warforever!

 

We are listening and do care. For what it’s worth I’m a PvPer too. PvP is one of our priorities and we are not going to do away with it. I’m not a big believer in making excuses, and can understand why it might feel like we are not focused on PvP, but here’s a bit of an explanation why the next big PvP update is several months out:

 

PvP and Class Balance are the same team of guys. It makes sense that the designers working on one also work on the other. This means that raising the level cap to 55 for Rise of the Hutt Cartel last month and redoing all the talent trees for all classes and extending the PvP game to level 55 and redoing the PvP gear for Rise of the Hutt Cartel has kept them busy. In fact, it took a heroic effort on their part to accomplish all this. This team plays PvP every day and share your and my passion for it. Now that Rise of the Hutt Cartel is behind them they don’t want to just service PvP by adding another warzone to the rotation, they want to address PvP with a meaningful update. We’ve given them the go ahead to do this and that’s why the big PvP features are several months out.

 

I appreciate the reply Bruce, but didn't you say essentially the same thing about the HUGE massive Ilum revamp? Wasn't that meant to be a "meaningful" PvP update too? Instead, you made it a joke that gets thrown at us every few weeks.

 

I implore you to create several new WZ's asap! Not every WZ needs to be a flippin story Bruce - re-skin the existing ones, change the terrain around, make some day/night maps, keep objectives the same and release something similar, but "different" - not "meaningful". Variety!!!

 

Toss in a daily "Kill XX opposite faction players on __(planet name here)__" to create "organic" PvP that you guys so badly want. Sure, some people will cheat the system by trade killing, but that won't be the majority activity on PvP servers. Cater to your PvPers...just once please...not your cheaters.

[Yodawizard]

Hi Warforever!

 

We are listening and do care. For what it’s worth I’m a PvPer too. PvP is one of our priorities and we are not going to do away with it. I’m not a big believer in making excuses, and can understand why it might feel like we are not focused on PvP, but here’s a bit of an explanation why the next big PvP update is several months out:

 

PvP and Class Balance are the same team of guys. It makes sense that the designers working on one also work on the other. This means that raising the level cap to 55 for Rise of the Hutt Cartel last month and redoing all the talent trees for all classes and extending the PvP game to level 55 and redoing the PvP gear for Rise of the Hutt Cartel has kept them busy. In fact, it took a heroic effort on their part to accomplish all this. This team plays PvP every day and share your and my passion for it. Now that Rise of the Hutt Cartel is behind them they don’t want to just service PvP by adding another warzone to the rotation, they want to address PvP with a meaningful update. We’ve given them the go ahead to do this and that’s why the big PvP features are several months out.

 

Hey Bruce, if you actually care and are a PVPer you would understand that having to grind new gear and new levels so that we can continue to pvp is more of a chore than any sort of content we care about.

 

Balance changes sure, but bolster was a real slap in the face and to some extent still is (Crafted implants with 0 expertise still best in slot????). Also why was the pvp community told "soon after 2.0" we would be getting pvp content and then slapped in the face with soon is relative, aka 6 months. Seriously, barely able to hold back some rude language aimed at all of you ruining a game that had huge potential and to some extent still does.

 

I don't think anyone has a vision for the potential of this game with a loud enough voice at your organization, otherwise we wouldn't see updates like "CC breaker resets on respawn" NOBODY IS ASKING FOR THIS GARBAGE....

Edited May 29, 2013 by Yodawizard

[Lord_Karsk]

Now that Rise of the Hutt Cartel is behind them they don’t want to just service PvP by adding another warzone to the rotation, they want to address PvP with a meaningful update. We’ve given them the go ahead to do this and that’s why the big PvP features are several months out.

 

Well this sounds nice and i hope you guys deliver. Just remember the two key elements here

Cross server and arena system with no PvE objectives.

If you throw in a ingame ladder system with 1vs1 2vs2 3vs3 stat system that everyone can check out

then you have a winner.

 

A simpel system that fps games use were lets say the 3vs3 ladder you can have a team, in that team

you can have two chars , so can the others,if team is deleted team ranking goes away aswell.

 

Also a very smart thing in the 8vs8 could be to make is so you have to join the ranked team with all

8 advanced classes, that way all AC know their classes is wanted in ranked.

 

Also what BF2 did was a huge success

Favorite Victim and Worst Enemy stat system.http://bf2s.com/player/44182124/

A page like this ingame to see what you have done will give players a reason to pvp.

Edited May 29, 2013 by Lord_Karsk

[Icebergy]

Hi Warforever!

 

We are listening and do care. For what it’s worth I’m a PvPer too. PvP is one of our priorities and we are not going to do away with it. I’m not a big believer in making excuses, and can understand why it might feel like we are not focused on PvP, but here’s a bit of an explanation why the next big PvP update is several months out:

 

PvP and Class Balance are the same team of guys. It makes sense that the designers working on one also work on the other. This means that raising the level cap to 55 for Rise of the Hutt Cartel last month and redoing all the talent trees for all classes and extending the PvP game to level 55 and redoing the PvP gear for Rise of the Hutt Cartel has kept them busy. In fact, it took a heroic effort on their part to accomplish all this. This team plays PvP every day and share your and my passion for it. Now that Rise of the Hutt Cartel is behind them they don’t want to just service PvP by adding another warzone to the rotation, they want to address PvP with a meaningful update. We’ve given them the go ahead to do this and that’s why the big PvP features are several months out.

 

Bruce, have a look at this thread: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=643220

 

I wrote that out in less than 5 mins. I tried to make it as easy as possible to implement, while it still looks like it would actually be fun. Your PvP team knows the systems and whatnot better than me, so they should be able to come up with something easy like that that you guys can give the PvPers SOMETHING.

 

Hell you have my permission to use that idea if it gives the PvPers something new.

[Nothematic]

Hi Warforever!

 

We are listening and do care. For what it’s worth I’m a PvPer too. PvP is one of our priorities and we are not going to do away with it. I’m not a big believer in making excuses, and can understand why it might feel like we are not focused on PvP, but here’s a bit of an explanation why the next big PvP update is several months out:

 

PvP and Class Balance are the same team of guys. It makes sense that the designers working on one also work on the other. This means that raising the level cap to 55 for Rise of the Hutt Cartel last month and redoing all the talent trees for all classes and extending the PvP game to level 55 and redoing the PvP gear for Rise of the Hutt Cartel has kept them busy. In fact, it took a heroic effort on their part to accomplish all this. This team plays PvP every day and share your and my passion for it. Now that Rise of the Hutt Cartel is behind them they don’t want to just service PvP by adding another warzone to the rotation, they want to address PvP with a meaningful update. We’ve given them the go ahead to do this and that’s why the big PvP features are several months out.

 

You're missing the point though Bruce. The majority of us don't want to wait until August for a PvP patch. We've had the same 5 warzones for months and we're fed up of them. Every new character is a chore knowing that I'm going to have to suffer through playing the same warzones over and over to get my commendations. Even PvP leveling is pathetic after the XP nerf near launch.

 

I'm sure most people would quite happily wait a few more months for ranked if you released ANYTHING at this point, even a redesign of an original warzone that adds a bit of variety into the repetitive rotations. Heck, some of the things you could do to keep us going for a bit are incredibly easy.

• Fix Civil War by doubling the amount of damage dealt by the middle turret, thereby eliminating any problems with it being impossible to come back after half of the points are gone.
  
• Increase the amount of experience delivered from warzones to aid those who are trying to level via PvP. Having to play 20 warzones to get from level 40 to 41, especially going back to my original point of them being the same warzones, is incredibly tedious.
  
• As the guy above said, intoduce random dailies that encourage world PvP to add a bit of variety.
  
• Surely more Hutball maps can't be that difficult when you already have the coding for the game system?
  

Please, we don't want to wait another 3 months to get anything after a 6 month wait for any new content. We understand you only have a small team working on it but 8-9 months between PvP content patches is absolutely ridiculous.

[Yodawizard]

Well this sounds nice and i hope you guys deliver. Just remember the two key elements here

Cross server and arena system with no PvE objectives.

If you throw in a ingame ladder system with 1vs1 2vs2 3vs3 stat system that everyone can check out

then you have a winner.

 

A simpel system that fps games use were lets say the 3vs3 ladder you can have a team, in that team

you can have two chars , so can the others,if team is deleted team ranking goes away aswell.

 

Also a very smart thing in the 8vs8 could be to make is so you have to join the ranked team with all

8 advanced classes, that way all AC know their classes in wanted in ranked.

 

Please do not listen to this.... First off Arena is a completely new pvp system and they haven't even gotten the first system they implemented working correctly yet. Second, demanding all 8 ACs to enter a ranked warzone will completely ruin a large aspect of ranked, and that is designing successful comps.

 

I would suggest;

Ladder system for ranked

Cross server ranked

Online leaderboards

Spectator mode

Automatic reconnects for people who get knocked out due to DC or crash to desktop

Fixing netcode so we don't have missed GCDs

Fixing bugs/sploits like being able to corner cap with body type 1 and using /stuck

New WZ maps and new Huttball maps

Rewards for ranked rating that are actually cool and unavailable elsewhere (different tiers of rewards).

 

This is just the start but this is the type of vision I am talking about, you need a complete system rework and to button up the issues that currently exist. How long is a pre-season supposed to last?

[justandulas]

I appreciate the dev reply, unfortunately it sounds just like more excuses which is what he said he didn't like to give. There is no excuse for nearly a year wait for more PVP content. How can we believe your team takes pvp as seriously as PVE, when we didn't we even get new valor ranks for an expansion? That would have taken all of a single lunchbreak to code in.

[Yodawizard]

I appreciate the dev reply, unfortunately it sounds just like more excuses which is what he said he didn't like to give. There is no excuse for nearly a year wait for more PVP content. How can we believe your team takes pvp as seriously as PVE, when we didn't we even get new valor ranks for an expansion? That would have taken all of a single lunchbreak to code in.

 

Good call about valor, oh wait, valor doesn't mean ANYTHING right now. How about a system that is tied to valor, or legacy rewards for valor etc SOMETHING. All these pvp systems are all half assed. ALL OF THEM.

[TUXs]

Good call about valor, oh wait, valor doesn't mean ANYTHING right now. How about a system that is tied to valor, or legacy rewards for valor etc SOMETHING. All these pvp systems are all half assed. ALL OF THEM.

 

It was just an example. Valor needs to be account wide and it needs to add a value to a players expertise imo.

[Yodawizard]

It was just an example. Valor needs to be account wide and it needs to add a value to a players expertise imo.

 

No thanks, we don't need valor providing an extra gear gap for new pvpers to get stomped by. A reward system that encourages new pvpers to continue pvping for the rewards would seem like a no-brainer though.

[Yodawizard]

I would also like to point out that you might think the ranked community is small, but that is the fault of the system and not the players. Ranked would be much more accessible if you provided a more complete system like I mentioned above and I think you would see a lot more people participating. Instead you are alienating the people you currently have and giving no incentive to a PVEer to even care about pvp.

[justandulas]

Good call about valor, oh wait, valor doesn't mean ANYTHING right now. How about a system that is tied to valor, or legacy rewards for valor etc SOMETHING. All these pvp systems are all half assed. ALL OF THEM.

 

More valor ranks is hardly the solution for more pvp content. Quite the opposite. It was just an example of how little dev time PVP saw since f2p. New valor ranks take all of a lunch break to think up and another lunch break to code in, so to me I feel like we got absolutely zero dev time this expansion.

 

Not even programming in the courtesy of new valor ranks shows the lack of commitment of the pvp team. Such a waste of potential since i really do love the pvp in this game and outside of leveling is the best part of SWTOR, imo. With ESO, EQN, GTA5, wildstar and new consoles all coming this year... 2.4 in october seems like too far away to make a difference. Alot of the pvp crowd will have thrown up their hands and given up by then. Hell, most of the best pvpers i've known in SWTOR have already left since launch since a pvp sub is basically a 2nd class sub.

Edited May 29, 2013 by justandulas

[Yodawizard]

More valor ranks is hardly the solution for more pvp content. Quite the opposite. It was just an example of how little dev time PVP saw since f2p. New valor ranks take all of a lunch break to think up and another lunch break to code in, so to me I feel like we got absolutely zero dev time this expansion.

 

Not even programming in the courtesy of new valor ranks shows the lack of commitment of the pvp team. Such a waste of potential since i really do love the pvp in this game and outside of leveling is the best part of SWTOR, imo. With ESO, EQN, GTA5, wildstar and new consoles all coming this year... 2.4 in october seems like too far away to make a difference. Alot of the pvp crowd will have thrown up their hands and given up by then. Hell, most of the best pvpers i've known in SWTOR have already left since launch since a pvp sub is basically a 2nd class sub.

 

To be fair a lot of the lvl 51 abilities play out well in PvP and I would attribute that to the pvp team and balancing based on lvl 55 and new talent trees was obviously a larger undertaking then increasing a useless valor system ranking to go to a bigger number.

[justandulas]

To be fair a lot of the lvl 51 abilities play out well in PvP and I would attribute that to the pvp team and balancing based on lvl 55 and new talent trees was obviously a larger undertaking then increasing a useless valor system ranking to go to a bigger number.

 

Well, i love the balance in SWTOR pvp and even with the new abilities balance remains fantastic. I give them alot of props for them, they deserve it. However, waiting until october for new content is just too much. I'd really like them to switch 2.4 with 2.3. PVE has seen plenty of love this expansion already (even if it is recycled, but that's another issue altogether..)

[Yodawizard]

Well, i love the balance in SWTOR pvp and even with the new abilities balance remains fantastic. I give them alot of props for them, they deserve it. However, waiting until october for new content is just too much. I'd really like them to switch 2.4 with 2.3. PVE has seen plenty of love this expansion already (even if it is recycled, but that's another issue altogether..)

 

Completely agree, but I would also like to know their vision of what they see pvp as going forward so some of us can decide whether we want to stay or not, which is exactly why they won't tell us.

[Lord_Karsk]

Please do not listen to this.... First off Arena is a completely new pvp system and they haven't even gotten the first system they implemented working correctly yet.

 

So nice to have people like talking like this only to prove that you have no idee, second arenas is awesome and poplular in any game.A good reason wildstar launch with them.

[Mark-JPS]

Hi Warforever!

 

We are listening and do care. For what it’s worth I’m a PvPer too. PvP is one of our priorities and we are not going to do away with it. I’m not a big believer in making excuses, and can understand why it might feel like we are not focused on PvP, but here’s a bit of an explanation why the next big PvP update is several months out:

 

PvP and Class Balance are the same team of guys. It makes sense that the designers working on one also work on the other. This means that raising the level cap to 55 for Rise of the Hutt Cartel last month and redoing all the talent trees for all classes and extending the PvP game to level 55 and redoing the PvP gear for Rise of the Hutt Cartel has kept them busy. In fact, it took a heroic effort on their part to accomplish all this. This team plays PvP every day and share your and my passion for it. Now that Rise of the Hutt Cartel is behind them they don’t want to just service PvP by adding another warzone to the rotation, they want to address PvP with a meaningful update. We’ve given them the go ahead to do this and that’s why the big PvP features are several months out.

 

Awesome reply Bruce.. Now answer this question, do you think it's right for thousands PvPers to wait ten months to almost a year for a PvP update they wanted? Do you think its right as well to have them spend at least $150 just to wait and aspire that the next game update would be related to PvP?

 

What guarantee that this next update will be big? When I say big, it means it's a lot of things being added to PvP, not just one warzone, or something else. If you can guarantee these kind of stuff to PvPers, you can expect them to come back. Until then, promises means nothing until you release some kind of hints as to what they can expect. Going with the track record of Bioware, this 'big update' could just be a recycled content like what Bioware is doing for 2.2, NiM of Terror from Beyond is NOT A BIG UPDATE.