My farewell letter

[Chickensevil]

(What I submitted to their "feedback" when I unsubbed)

I am pulling my sub after recent changed to the powertech class. I stuck through this crap with 2.0 hoping to see some changes. The problem was not that the game is unballanced... there is ALWAYS going to be balance issues here and there. It is how you are deciding to handle said balance issues or lack of action...

 

The dev responses were disappointing to our class questions... maybe our questions were bad, but the devs just feel out of touch with the class. Telling people who have been playing this game since day one that it is a perception problem (a nice way a saying L2P noob) is just terrible.

 

If we really suck at playing the game that much tell us what we are doing wrong and back it up with MATH and EXAMPLES. I know I have spent countless hours providing quality feedback, and you give me a response that amounts to L2P... that is just terrible.

 

I have been playing since Closed Beta, I was willing to stick through all of the minor things to let you fix them in your own time (which you seem willing to do) and the game in general is going in a great direction... but class balance is ****. Seriously it was in a better place overall pre-2.0 than it is today. The only classes that are in a great place right now are OP healers, Jugg tanks, and Sniper/marauder dps. All the others while some are worse than others just are not even remotely at their level.

 

All in all, loging in and playing the game, no matter how great it is, when your class/character sucks... it drags the rest down and drives people away. Please, for the sake of the games health put more effort into game balance and maybe someday I will be back. Listen to your players who know what they are talking about. Most all for my class have either switched classes or left the game. That should be telling enough as it is. For now, FFXIV is calling me, and it makes me sad to leave this game because it could have been so much more than it is.

[Chickensevil]

For those willing to stick out the class to hope they change things for the better, good luck. I am just tired of it, and I don't feel like rerolling to have a better experience. I will likely keep posting for a while, especially in regard to the PTS, to see what changes we can talk them into. But I too, have given up hope of seeing anything special come around of this.

[af_raptura]

I'll miss you, Chickensevil. You did contribute a lot to this forum on behalf of us powertechs. Edited August 26, 2013 by af_raptura

[hallucigenocide]

i feel with you.. i love the game but i cant really be bothered to play any of the other classes since i do not enjoy them.. i will probably stick around til the patch hits though.. after that unless they revert the new changes in the pyro tree i will be gone aswell.

[mfourcustom]

I understand where your coming from dude...

 

I myself have stuck it out since 2.0.. I gave it my all but not matter how you min/max or how you play it *I've tried to do everything i could think of at least* there's just no way around our classes faults since 2.0. Our class vanguard or powertech has ALWAYS had a bad reputation for being "easy" granted it is on the lower end of classes in terms of time applied to become a top notch player but the launch vanguards/powertechs that are playing are heads and tails above 1.3 or 1.5 vanguards that rerolled the class as FOTM. We were perfectly balanced pre 2.0 we were forced to be in melee range to do our big damage we had little to no utility, our utility was our burst now its gone.

 

It might be the redesign of the crit system in 2.0 or it could be the armor pen nerf it could be all of them just piled on top of one another but when it comes down to it, it feels like our damage just didn't scale.

 

3k to at the highest 5.5k *consistent basis mind you.* rail shots/hibs 2.5/3.5 flame burst/ion pulse.

While other classes hit like trucks....

 

We just don't stack up these days and sadly i fear we never will, Its clear now that devs of this game play favorites with classes and our class isn't on that favorite list. People always say "YOU WHERE THE KINGS OF PVP FOR FAR TO LONG DON'T SAY THE DEVS HATE YOU NOOB!!" but sadly thats not true. If people would go back and look at those old patch notes since launch it has been nerf after nerf after nerf and after our range had been nerfed our class was golden as I said above, but in bioware's eyes we are either random FOTM players or we are all people with the same perception problem..

 

I hate to see the VG/PT community loose anyone at this point seeing as how our community has shrunk at an exponential rate since 2.0 but i cant blame you for one damn second for leaving. Our future as an advanced class in this game doesn't look bright, I see no end of the tunnel here for us soon our advanced class with be nothing more than a myth.

 

Good luck my friend I hope you find a game with real developers a game you can sink time in and enjoy like you once did with SWTOR.

Edited August 26, 2013 by mfourcustom

[Chickensevil]

Thanks for the responses guys. It is nice to know that I had contributed in some small way to help our community, and possibly helped someone out. I don't feel like I have done as much as many others, but if I helped someone out then I am happy with that

 

I too was going to ride out the patch, and I suppose it isn't too late for them to come around, 2.4 isn't for a while. But given their responses I have lost hope.... I am sorry to be so negative about it. I have always tried to give BW the benefit of the doubt, but I just... cant, anymore. I never thought I would hit the day when I would leave the game because of something like this, and especially never thought I would be "that guy" that posted his frustration and quitting the game speech. I have seen many people leave the game over some tiny little change and certain phrases get passed around frequently that it is almost comical. But I really would not have pulled the trigger on this if not for the unplayability of our class (perceived or real)...

 

Is the entire PT/VG community unable to play this class? I mean is that REALLY what they told us? (I still am in a state of denial over this... I can't believe that this actually happened... I see it... but I keep hoping I wake from a bad dream.) I get that everyone always feels underpowered in some way or another. But there is a difference between some minor quality of life issues and the entire thing being broken.

 

As for buffs vs nerfs, I think the last "real" buff was moving TD/AP off the same CD as Sticky Grenade/Explosive Dart. Everything else has been nerfs, but I agree that most of them were warranted. If things had stayed as they were I would almost be willing to accept some minor nerfs on our pre-2.0 damage since we were starting to get a little out of balance there, but they changed the dynamic with 2.0 and gave everyone really good burst... so I would likely wager we would have been on par with the other classes for burst maybe slightly ahead, which, given our lack of survivability would likely still be somewhat balanced. But again, even with a slight nerf on that, would be acceptable. I was never asking for our class to be on top. I can live without being on top, because I am a good enough player that I will pass most of those playing the "top" class and kill em anyway (or out damage them).

 

BTW mfourcustom, I got some serious LOL's out of your new sig.

[mfourcustom]

Thanks for the responses guys. It is nice to know that I had contributed in some small way to help our community, and possibly helped someone out. I don't feel like I have done as much as many others, but if I helped someone out then I am happy with that

 

I too was going to ride out the patch, and I suppose it isn't too late for them to come around, 2.4 isn't for a while. But given their responses I have lost hope.... I am sorry to be so negative about it. I have always tried to give BW the benefit of the doubt, but I just... cant, anymore. I never thought I would hit the day when I would leave the game because of something like this, and especially never thought I would be "that guy" that posted his frustration and quitting the game speech. I have seen many people leave the game over some tiny little change and certain phrases get passed around frequently that it is almost comical. But I really would not have pulled the trigger on this if not for the unplayability of our class (perceived or real)...

 

Is the entire PT/VG community unable to play this class? I mean is that REALLY what they told us? (I still am in a state of denial over this... I can't believe that this actually happened... I see it... but I keep hoping I wake from a bad dream.) I get that everyone always feels underpowered in some way or another. But there is a difference between some minor quality of life issues and the entire thing being broken.

 

As for buffs vs nerfs, I think the last "real" buff was moving TD/AP off the same CD as Sticky Grenade/Explosive Dart. Everything else has been nerfs, but I agree that most of them were warranted. If things had stayed as they were I would almost be willing to accept some minor nerfs on our pre-2.0 damage since we were starting to get a little out of balance there, but they changed the dynamic with 2.0 and gave everyone really good burst... so I would likely wager we would have been on par with the other classes for burst maybe slightly ahead, which, given our lack of survivability would likely still be somewhat balanced. But again, even with a slight nerf on that, would be acceptable. I was never asking for our class to be on top. I can live without being on top, because I am a good enough player that I will pass most of those playing the "top" class and kill em anyway (or out damage them).

 

BTW mfourcustom, I got some serious LOL's out of your new sig.

 

Glad you liked them

[DarthOvertone]

I like your posts OP. I have learned a lot about both Van and PT from your feedback and number crunching. It's a shame you are bailing, but to each his own.

 

Personally, I'm not a quitter. Somehow I've stuck with the PvP in this game since EGA even through all the cr*p mainly because BW did do a lot of things right (plus $15/month is a pittance lol).

 

However, if you are not having fun, then that's a different story. You definitely should take a break and try some other stuff. I take breaks to hit up BF3 all the time when I start to feel SWTOR burnout. I usually come back after a few days.

 

Anyway, best of luck to you and have fun with whatever floats your boat.

Edited August 26, 2013 by DarthOvertone

[ausmisc]

I was a launch day Pyro PT and I too unsubbed the other day after reading the Dev response. Stated so in my reason for unsubbing so hopefully enough people did that they might get the message /shrug. I'll try F2P for a bit but won't be paying anymore for a game where my favoured class is so far behind the 8 ball.

[Brunner_Venda]

Can I have your stuff? I'm kidding man, someone had to say it though. It might as well be the resident jerk.

 

I'm going to be happy playing AP with the changes. They will tear people up.

 

I may unsub, but only because they are thinking of letting F2P run unlimited warzones. If they really do that, why pay? It's not like I need any cash at this point, or 'unify colors' when I can just dye everything.

 

Can I assume you'll be back if they fix this disaster later this year?

[Kooziejr]

I was a launch day Pyro PT and I too unsubbed the other day after reading the Dev response. Stated so in my reason for unsubbing so hopefully enough people did that they might get the message /shrug. I'll try F2P for a bit but won't be paying anymore for a game where my favoured class is so far behind the 8 ball.

 

Will miss you dude. No doubt bw are a bunch of feeble minded cokksuckers when it comes to our class. Yeah sorry but I dont use rhetoric or sarcasm I just call it how it is.

[Mathemagica]

I'm bad at this, so I'll keep it short.

 

Goodbye, thank you and may the force be with you.

[mfourcustom]

Will miss you dude. No doubt bw are a bunch of feeble minded cokksuckers when it comes to our class. Yeah sorry but I dont use rhetoric or sarcasm I just call it how it is.

 

^agreed 100%

[Chickensevil]

Can I have your stuff? I'm kidding man, someone had to say it though. It might as well be the resident jerk.

 

I'm going to be happy playing AP with the changes. They will tear people up.

 

I may unsub, but only because they are thinking of letting F2P run unlimited warzones. If they really do that, why pay? It's not like I need any cash at this point, or 'unify colors' when I can just dye everything.

 

Can I assume you'll be back if they fix this disaster later this year?

 

Haha! Sure, lemme mail it all over to you

 

Yeah, I think AP will likely be in a decent spot for PVE now for DPS, but I still fear without added utility or being in competition for the number 1 on DPS (don't need both, just need one or the other) then it will still be in your NiM raid's best interest to find another class or beg and plead for you to reroll.

 

I still don't like how FT works for PVP purposes, so unless they make it the single greatest ability in the game, then they MUST make it so you are less susceptible to CC to be more balanced. For such a horribly positional attack AND being planted the entire time AND being susceptible to having it interrupted (in one way or another) just makes it too much of a liability. If you make it work, more power to you, Im not saying it is impossible, but just horribly favored against you.

 

Pyro, is of course, still in a bad spot. I won't be testing the changes pushed forward on the latest PTS build, but, while it seems like they address some of the survival concerns I don't think they realize just how far behind pyro still is on damage.

 

To answer your question, If I come back at all for 2.4, it will be to run through the ops, and see the story (one thing they have never seemed to fail on) and that will likely be the extent of it. I cannot push toward the idea of NiM content while our class is just so far behind. I feel like such a drag on my teammates and I can't do that to them. Lucky for me, I don't have to worry about that now, since our guild decided to make the main focus of our gameplay be into FFXIV. There is still a handful of people who are staying subbed to SWTOR and another handful that will keep playing while under F2P... but overall the vast majority of us (small guild of like 25-30 players) are seriously focusing on the other game. If we come back it will be because things change in this game for the better. I have hope.

[Applicator]

They are still tweaking PTs, have a proper QQ if bad changes go live, not just because they are on the PTS. We just got some nice survivability buffs which was one of the real issues even in PTs heyday.

[MatiSkc]

I've been reading your topics about BH, and I'm impressed. It's a shame that you'll be leaving it.

I've got a question - I wanted to have my BH as a tank, but is it still worth playing as Powertech, or am I almost "forced" to make BH as Merc healer?

[Chickensevil]

I've been reading your topics about BH, and I'm impressed. It's a shame that you'll be leaving it.

I've got a question - I wanted to have my BH as a tank, but is it still worth playing as Powertech, or am I almost "forced" to make BH as Merc healer?

 

Tanking is fine, assuming for PVE content. PVP content... prolly not, but, honestly I haven't done PVP in a while (did it for about 1 month into 2.0 and just got totally fed up with the nerfs and refused to play.) What most people say is that you are ok, as a tank in PVP, just no where near optimal. So if you are running random WZs you would prolly be fine. If, however you are going for the serious gameplay, your group would be much better served to find a jugg.

 

We need some help for PVP, and that change would also likely put us in a pretty good spot for PVE tanking as well (depending on the change) so I would see that as a positive all around, but as it stands you can go into NiM content as a PT Tank and do just fine, and you would not be (or should not be) a drag on your team.

 

As for Mercs, they serve a purpose in Ops content, but you only ever want ONE of them in your group. Whereas the other two healers are good enough that you can afford to have 2 of them in your group (assuming 16 man). 8 Man, I would say if you are really good, you could be useful to the team as a healer. PVP, Operative healers or ****, especially with WZs on the horizon, the single best healer is going to be the Operative.

 

I think most of the issues with this game comes down to, 4 really amazing classes/specs, and then either sub-optimal, or downright horrible specs/classes for everything else... Which has major impact on PVP, more than anything.

[Chickensevil]

They are still tweaking PTs, have a proper QQ if bad changes go live, not just because they are on the PTS. We just got some nice survivability buffs which was one of the real issues even in PTs heyday.

 

I decided to call it quits after their initial wave of responses (both the dev response on the PTS forums and the dev response to the "answers" to our questions)... It was one thing to "wait and see", but when they came out and said they didn't really see a problem with the class, I was just done throwing money at them.

 

To put it another way, if you took your car to the mechanic and it wasn't running correctly... paid them 50$ to have them look it over, only to have them tell you there was nothing wrong with the car (even though there clearly is problems), would you continue taking your car back to that mechanic?

 

Insanity is doing the exact same thing over and over again but expecting a different result... I am tired of being the guy in my signature... it no longer feels good when I stop banging my face against the wall.

[BobyDigital]

im pulling my pt back out after seeing what AP does in arenas lol beast mode again