Thank you so much Chris and Eric for the GSF Q&A (answers within)

[Nemarus]

Questions and dev answers below. Italicized text represents my thoughts only.

 

Once again, thanks so much Chris and Eric for taking the time to do the stream and answer so many questions candidly!

 

I know I forgot some questions that were answered, so others in the forum feel free to reply with other answers given and I'll update main post.

 

1) Damage Overcharge appears to be tripling damage, whereas the patch notes for 2.6 indicated it would double it. Is this intended?

 

This does seem to be a bug. Devs will investigate.

 

2) Are you satisfied with the current situation regarding capital ship turrets, spawn camping, spawn mining, etc. in Deathmatch?

 

They are not currently satisfied, but it's a hard problem to solve. They are looking at randomizing default spawn so new pilots do not keep spawning in the same camped place. I get the sense they know this is not a complete solution, but a partial mitigation.

 

3) Any chance we could get a "target nearest ally" command, so that we can more easily form up with allies (or know when it's safe to leave a held satellite to help at another)?

 

Interesting idea, not easy to do at the moment. Maybe someday.

 

4) Are you happy with Ion Railgun balance?

 

No. Chris is not personally happy with it. Pretty definitive "no" here. Rebalance coming?

 

5) Right now, if you launch a mine of a type for which you already have the max launched, the oldest existing one will explode and deal damage as if triggered. This seems to be happening with Seismic, Ion, Concussion, and Interdiction mines. It makes for interesting strategy, but is it intended?

 

This is intended. However, seemed like Chris was surprised to learn mines also explode and deal damage when the parent Bomber is destroyed.

 

6) Domination matches demand everyone fight on or relatively near the satellite, save for Gunships and those pursuing them. This makes the features of the map which aren't close to the satellites less interesting. Any plans on tweaking Domination to expand the battlefield away from satellites? Maybe an ability to open up spawn points that aren't linked to node control or some secondary way to earn points?

 

No changes to Domination. Chris likes objective based gameplay. New Domination map in 2.7 should change things up a bit due to there being two fixed spawns on each side, faction-equidistant from A and C.

 

7) Will we ever have any "armored objective targets" to shoot besides satellite defense turrets?

 

Maybe someday. Kinda coy.

 

8) Could we get a map themed after Cloud City, with a floating city and buildings to fly around, and floating tibanna gas platforms (which could blow up for AOE damage)?

 

Maybe someday. They do look at forums a lot, so are aware of various map ideas.

 

9) Will class ships ever be usable in GSF?

 

Lots of coyness here. Admitted it's something they are looking at, but noted it wouldn't just be using your class ship as an alternate model for existing ship types. I suspect a new class ship role at some point.

 

10) Are you happy with Burst Laser Cannons balance?

 

Pretty much. They are being watched carefully for balance.

 

11) What about matchmaking?

 

Matchmaking algorithm is solid, but ultimately it is dependent on the number of players queueing. At off times, mismatches may be the only possible matches.

 

12) What about cross server queues?

 

They know this is a request across many features. Nothing to announce now. No need to keep shouting about it.

 

13 ) What about ranked GSF or solo queue vs. group queue?

 

No desire to split the pool of players, as that will increase queue times.

 

14) For command system abilities coming in new 2.7 ships, do ally targets have to stay in the radius to keep getting the buff, or do they just need to be there at time of cast?

 

For "most" of those abilities, allies just have to be there at time of cast. I suspect the exception is Repair Probes.

 

15) Is new map only Domination?

 

Yes.

 

16) What's with all the Engine ability nerfs coming in 2.7?

 

Barrel Roll being used so heavily as a travel skill was unexpected. Missiles also being evaded more than intended. Make engine choices more interesting, missiles more useful.

 

17) Any chance we could filter the Battle Record by gametype (Domination, Deathmatch, etc.)

 

Neat idea. May consider.

Edited March 27, 2014 by Nemarus

[QuinMantha]

Man, look at you, Nem. You took notes for the test.

 

I'll keep an eye out for you when you fly next, though, man.

 

And yes! Big thank you for Eric and Chris for spending part of your afternoon with us!

[SammyGStatus]

Thanks Nem!! I appreciate the info. Cool to know the Devs actually read the forum

[QuinMantha]

Oh, also, Nem, you should mention Legacy Hangars and the decision that was made about them early on, since that got touched on.

[Applejacxs]

Very fair answers. Was there any response to there thoughts on the current contirbution/afk system?

[Armonddd]

Timestamps!

 

Damage overcharge tripling, instead of doubling, damage done: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=9m53s

 

Capital ship turrets and spawn camping: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=10m23s

 

Target nearest ally: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=38m38s

 

Ion railgun balance: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=19m05s (also covers build variety and T2 gunships) & tangentially at http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=62m35s (also alligators and bears)

 

Bomber mines: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=20m37s and http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=25m39s

 

Spacing in Domination matches: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=31m13s

 

Armored objective targets: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=52m23s

 

Cloud effing city: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=50m42s

 

Class ships: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=58m37s

 

Burst laser cannons balance: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=30m52s (bonus rapid-fire cannons commentary)

 

Matchmaking: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=10m38s & http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=63m54s (bonus Phytia torping Chris point-blank)

 

Cross-server queues: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=23m56s (the camera crashed slightly before this, so the video is frozen but the audio works)

 

Ranked and/or group vs group queues: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=26m28s

 

Hitting allies with command abilities: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=42m18s

 

Denon game type: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=29m23s

 

W.T.F. MAH BARREL ROLLZ: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=33m45s

 

Battle record by game type: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=15m48s

 

(The following were not addressed above, but I figured I'd include them for posterity.)

 

Numbers of each ship type: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=14m17s

 

Free-for-all/faction-agnostic GSF map: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=15m08s

 

Thought processes for new scouts: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=16m41s

 

Gunship zoom: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=17m33s

 

Joystick support: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=18m19s

 

Ground rewards: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=27m37s

 

Auto-fire missiles after lock-on: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=28m25s

 

"Look at these mines... there's a lot of minefield going on right now": http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=29m54s

 

"We love Nemarus": http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=30m50s (and if I hadn't slept through the stream, they might have said the same about me :<)

 

Stasie blows Chris up: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=32m10s

 

Abilities not working out as planned: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=32m22s

 

Rapid-fire lasers are "pretty good all-around": http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=34m48s (I'm not biased at all)

 

Fleet req: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=36m32s

 

Bombers on objectives: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=37m37s

 

Not SD on using engine maneuver: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=39m09s

 

New command ships: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=39m57s

 

"Duplicate" ships for multiple loadouts: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=42m48s

 

More ships for starting players: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=43m42s

 

Legacy GSF: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=45m24s & http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=48m00s

 

Disconnecting crew abilities from specific crew members: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=46m10s

 

Player suicides in TDM: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=48m47s

 

Plans for future ships: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=51m24s

 

Capital ship battles: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=53m57s

 

Odds of getting any particular map next patch: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=54m54s (tldr: 20% each)

 

Devs vs community on PTS: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=55m59s

 

GSF leaderboard: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=58m05s

 

Premium command ships: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=61m07s (no)

Edited March 28, 2014 by Armonddd

[DanNV]

11) What about matchmaking?

 

Matchmaking algorithm is solid, but ultimately it is dependent on the number of players queueing. At off times, mismatches may be the only possible matches.

[/color]

 

This answer is total BS. I did a match just now where there were 8 pretty low mod ships and guys with 2 or 3 (7 out of 8) against a team the mostly 5 ships and obviously high mods (7 out of 8) all in the same faction. That isn't matchmaking that's working. That's a poor algorithm putting like with like then looking for someone to match with. It's totally stupid and needs to be fixed. (Yes, I'm pissed off right now, I've had 6 matches with the matchmaking that screwed up today, out of 6 for my daily (I was the 1 poorly modded guy on one team once and got a win.))

[Kuciwalker]

Thanks for putting this up.

 

12) What about cross server queues?

 

They know this is a request across many features. Nothing to announce now. No need to keep shouting about it.

 

We absolutely do need to keep shouting about this until it actually happens.

[Devrius]

Oh, also, Nem, you should mention Legacy Hangars and the decision that was made about them early on, since that got touched on.

 

This is something I found odd when I started playing GSF, I have access to all faction companions as crew members.

 

But all hangars are personal? That doesn't make sense, I'm sharing all my companions, meaning GSF cares for what you have unlocked in legacy and at the same time insists piloting is a solo affair.

 

In my opinion, GSF should be faction wide and you use your legacy name as your call sign.

[Devrius]

This answer is total BS. I did a match just now where there were 8 pretty low mod ships and guys with 2 or 3 (7 out of 8) against a team the mostly 5 ships and obviously high mods (7 out of 8) all in the same faction. That isn't matchmaking that's working. That's a poor algorithm putting like with like then looking for someone to match with. It's totally stupid and needs to be fixed. (Yes, I'm pissed off right now, I've had 6 matches with the matchmaking that screwed up today, out of 6 for my daily (I was the 1 poorly modded guy on one team once and got a win.))

 

I'm willing to bet the algorithm is solid and if we had several times the population of players in GSF it would show, but right now few play it because of how hard it is to get into it with no PvE to train.

 

The algorithm could be flawless but with the few players in GSF it'll always throw the first 8/12 it can find at each other.

[KorinHyvek]

I'm willing to bet the algorithm is solid and if we had several times the population of players in GSF it would show, but right now few play it because of how hard it is to get into it with no PvE to train.

 

The algorithm could be flawless but with the few players in GSF it'll always throw the first 8/12 it can find at each other.

 

So, of course, the follow-up question is, If population is the issue, and the devs don't want cross-server queues, are they working on another solution (almost certainly), and are they willing to tell us what this possible solution is?

[okiobe]

Very fair answers. Was there any response to there thoughts on the current contirbution/afk system?

 

I saw this question pop up in the chat but I don't think Musco saw it so it was never address as far as I know.

 

Thanks Nemarus and Mae for posting these so fast.

[Altheran]

This is something I found odd when I started playing GSF, I have access to all faction companions as crew members.

 

But all hangars are personal? That doesn't make sense, I'm sharing all my companions, meaning GSF cares for what you have unlocked in legacy and at the same time insists piloting is a solo affair.

 

In my opinion, GSF should be faction wide and you use your legacy name as your call sign.

 

Not only that, but when you complete some achievements, across multiple characters of your legacy, you are sometimes rewarded fleet requisitions... which will end as one-character reward instead of a legacy-wide reward, since hangars are separated.

 

For exemple, I have all Republic companions except Smuggler ones (beside Corso). When I'll unlock them by levelling, the character who'll receive the reward is my Smuggler. But my Smuggler isn't my GSF character. If I want to have the reward on my right character I have to unlock the last one... by spending more than I'd get. Catch-22.

Edited March 27, 2014 by Altheran

[Devrius]

So, of course, the follow-up question is, If population is the issue, and the devs don't want cross-server queues, are they working on another solution (almost certainly), and are they willing to tell us what this possible solution is?

 

My bet is "no", I highly doubt they are working on another fix.

 

They seem adamant on never ever implement cross-server queueing, they have said so time and time again for WZs, I don't know how complicated it might be, but I know this: it would greatly improve the game if they invested time and money into this feature.

 

We will eventually *need* croos-server queueing to keep PvP alive.

[okiobe]

My bet is "no", I highly doubt they are working on another fix.

 

They seem adamant on never ever implement cross-server queueing, they have said so time and time again for WZs, I don't know how complicated it might be, but I know this: it would greatly improve the game if they invested time and money into this feature.

 

We will eventually *need* croos-server queueing to keep PvP alive.

 

They are not adamant on not implementing it. If you watched the ground pvp stream they explained why they aren't doing it. It would take more work then they can commit at this time. The pvp dev said they would have to push back a major endeavor and Musco said that they would have to sacrifice many other things they want to work on.

 

Just imagine if they said that nightmare content or new pve operations would be pushed back six months to a year so they can do cross server queues. People would rage.

[DanNV]

I'm willing to bet the algorithm is solid and if we had several times the population of players in GSF it would show, but right now few play it because of how hard it is to get into it with no PvE to train.

 

The algorithm could be flawless but with the few players in GSF it'll always throw the first 8/12 it can find at each other.

 

Any truly decent algorithm is going to split those teams so they have a relatively even number of vets/noobs hi/low mods. No excuse for the matches that are terribly out of balance when they are same faction. It's the same complaint people have on the ranked matchmaking in PVP with the same problems.

[Devrius]

They are not adamant on not implementing it. If you watched the ground pvp stream they explained why they aren't doing it. It would take more work then they can commit at this time. The pvp dev said they would have to push back a major endeavor and Musco said that they would have to sacrifice many other things they want to work on.

 

Just imagine if they said that nightmare content or new pve operations would be pushed back six months to a year so they can do cross server queues. People would rage.

 

I would welcome a single push back of PvE content to later date if it would ensure balance and quick match ups in PvP for the foreseeable future, be it ranked or GSF.

 

What people fail to realize is that there will *always* be a "major endeavor" they do not want to sacrifice to implement cross-server queues, my guess is we will never see it.

[Devrius]

Any truly decent algorithm is going to split those teams so they have a relatively even number of vets/noobs hi/low mods. No excuse for the matches that are terribly out of balance when they are same faction. It's the same complaint people have on the ranked matchmaking in PVP with the same problems.

 

So you don't mind waiting half and hour or longer for this perfectly balanced match up? Because I'm willing to bet not everyone is, which will lead to longer wait time while they are replaced, Heck you might spend a whole day without seeing the inside of a cockpit.

 

The answer will always be: with a larger pool of players a good algorithm will get you your balanced match ups in a timely fashion, but without cross-server we won't have said pool.

[Armonddd]

So you don't mind waiting half and hour or longer for this perfectly balanced match up? Because I'm willing to bet not everyone is, which will lead to longer wait time while they are replaced, Heck you might spend a whole day without seeing the inside of a cockpit.

 

I think what he's saying is, when same faction matches pop up and one team has five vets and three noobs and the other team has one vet and seven noobs, there's a problem.

 

At least, that's the problem I currently see with matchmaking.

[DamascusAdontise]

Not sure which other servers they play on, but we have encountered this twitch stream once or twice on Bastion (The match they were playing in the video was at least)

 

Kinda wish I had the chance to ask a question now....

 

Something to the order of toning down the BR nerf to 15 with talents - possible / not possible (or at least what their 2.7 testing has told them and whether or not they are happy with mobility)

 

Double just seems like a big first move.... but maybe I just dont like this because I fly scouts (everyone will feel this though, especially lower mobility classes)

Edited March 28, 2014 by DamascusAdontise

[Armonddd]

Moving my thoughts to their own post, cause no one's going to read them if I edit the earlier post. Also, previous post has been updated with timestamps for every question (excluding one about paint jobs and one about missiles after you die, both of which were pretty basic imo).

 

For starters, it's great that Nem's questions were brought up. This clearly shows that the devs read the forums, even if they rarely respond. (We'd like more of that, honestly.)

 

Re: matchmaking: Chris talks about matchmaking being a problem during off-peak hours but, in his personal experience, mostly fine during peak hours. I'd like to know what server(s) he plays on, then, because this is not the case where I play -- TEH rarely has more than two games going at once, and I've had to wait as much as 30 minutes for a match during peak hours. Yes, this is a case of the population being too small for matchmaking to work effectively -- but maybe that should be accounted for in the algorithm or whatever systems supplement the algorithms.

 

Re: gunship zoom: Chris says it's a "playstyle difference" -- you're adjusting your field of view to what you're used to in other games, but the size of the target doesn't change. This is blatantly false; the target's hitbox circle stays the same physical size on your screen regardless of your zoom, but when zoomed out represents a larger area. In other words, the hitbox is a circle centered on the ship with a radius of, approximately, ten pixels. The problem is, when you're zoomed in, those pixels might represent one meter each, but zoomed out they might represent ten meters each. And, of course, when you're zoomed out, the target's movement is less dramatic -- a boost that would take them out of your firing arc zoomed in will just move them a bit to the side when zoomed out.

 

Re: ion railgun: I'm just gonna assume that they're planning to fix the bug where ion aoe hits the primary target and didn't want to discuss it because reasons.

 

Re: dislodging bombers: If the designed counter to bombers on a satellite is EMP weapons and ion railguns, literally half of all the ships in the game do not have any available counter to bombers. And that's before discussing the viability of those weapons for dislodging mines and drones, as opposed to shutting down system and engine abilities as they're primarily used on live.

 

"Duplicate" ships for multiple loadouts: YESPLX I WANT MORE SCOUTS

 

Re: more ships for starting players: It's true that the ideal is that all ships are equal, but that's simply not the case, and adjustments should be made on that front. Much more importantly, however, I don't see why a new player (or a rerolling veteran) should have to wait before they can play a ship they enjoy.

 

Re: disconnecting crew abilities from specific crew members: It sounds like the faction differences between which crew members get what combinations of abilities were intentional. Chris is right that any combination of passives are accessible, but once you throw in co-pilot abilities, there's some glaring imbalances between factions. For example, Lt. Pierce, who provides Pinpointing, Spare Ammo, and Concentrated Fire, is absolutely ideal for pretty much any build with Rocket Pods, because the goal of those builds is to burst down targets quickly. You need Pinpointing because it's overpowered, you need Spare Ammo because you're going to be firing pods constantly, and you need Concentrated Fire because it's a very powerful burst cooldown. Unfortunately, Republic side has no equivalent -- you either have to trade Concentrated Fire for Bypass or In Your Sights (by taking Nadia or Kira), or you have to trade Spare Ammo for Improved Kill Zone (by taking Qyzen), or you have to trade Pinpointing for Rapid Reload (by taking Aric). All of those trades suck.

[Devrius]

"Duplicate" ships for multiple loadouts: YESPLX I WANT MORE SCOUTS

suck.

 

Here's a thought, how about you get an extra copy of a ship once you have mastered it? In a perfect world said copy would be legacy (or at least faction wide) but at least an extra ship in your hangar, it could even just have the basic load-out.

 

Extra copies of ships is pretty much the only way to have highly specialized builds like the anti bomber scout dis-lodger and so on...

[Verain]

Massive props to the devs and to Nemarus!

 

DO at x3 is a bug eh? Well, that should make some vocal folks on the forums happy. I'm gonna miss that thing, I think it's perfect.

 

ION RAILGUN adjustments! This is probably the biggest news. Like the rest of you, I'm eager to see where this goes.

 

Minelayer manual mine explosion intended! That's good news to me- I like this mechanic a lot. I would be much less impressed with my minelayers if this powerful threat was removed.

 

Burst Laser Cannon gets the green light, which I'm sort of happy with. I mean, I use the cannon and like it, but I personally feel it's just a bit much. Well, that's fine! I wish I had came in here and asked about Rapid Fire Lasers, but I'm sure they read my thread on it at this point- they seem very active.

 

 

I'm VERY glad they officially said no to the relatively awful idea that "people shouldn't be able to group" or "groups need their own queue (hee hee which will never pop, screw those guys with friends!)". No surprise, of course, but good to have an official opinion.

 

 

 

IMO the devs were unusually willing to answer balance questions. That's great, because those questions normally cause drama, so I'm glad they were willing to speak out! I really like that they are watching for map ideas. Maps are so important to this game, and of the four we have, I think the Mesa TDM is amazingly well thought out, and none

 

 

We absolutely do need to keep shouting about this until it actually happens.

 

We really don't. I'm sure they know just how important this feature is.

 

This answer is total BS.

 

It's a fine answer, and it explains what you saw (but we already knew that). Sometimes there aren't enough people to matchmake, so everyone plays and you get ownfaced.

 

 

I think what he's saying is, when same faction matches pop up and one team has five vets and three noobs and the other team has one vet and seven noobs, there's a problem.

 

If the five vets were in a four-group, then only one vet is misplaced. It's probably random to SOME degree, after all.

 

literally half of all the ships in the game do not have any available counter to bombers.

 

That's fine IMO.

 

I wouldn't be opposed to a better way to peel bombers, but I also don't care.

 

It's true that the ideal is that all ships are equal, but that's simply not the case, and adjustments should be made on that front. Much more importantly, however, I don't see why a new player (or a rerolling veteran) should have to wait before they can play a ship they enjoy.

 

I agree. I think this needs to be done differently. For instance: I think there should be a way to "borrow" a ship with a daily quest, and I think you should, on a new character, be able to actually pick out a third ship after some questline.

 

It sounds like the faction differences between which crew members get what combinations of abilities were intentional.

 

And bravo for a factional difference that isn't cosmetic, however minor. I heartily approve of this. I like that Lt. Pierce is good, and I like than Nadia is good, etc. Definitely like.

[Armonddd]

And bravo for a factional difference that isn't cosmetic, however minor. I heartily approve of this. I like that Lt. Pierce is good, and I like than Nadia is good, etc. Definitely like.

 

Yeah, bravo for making me not want to play with a subset of my friends!

 

While the faction divide is a central and crucial part of the storytelling, it really has no place whatsoever in a game with any sort of social aspect, much less a game with PvP. I'm fortunate enough that I dislike PvE to the point where I can mostly ignore it, but really, GSF in specific and SWTOR in general would have a much healthier community if the faction divide didn't exist.

 

It's too late to fix the biggest issues, though, so all we can do is stamp down on the smaller issues when they rear their ugly heads.

[DanNV]

So you don't mind waiting half and hour or longer for this perfectly balanced match up? Because I'm willing to bet not everyone is, which will lead to longer wait time while they are replaced, Heck you might spend a whole day without seeing the inside of a cockpit.

 

The answer will always be: with a larger pool of players a good algorithm will get you your balanced match ups in a timely fashion, but without cross-server we won't have said pool.

 

You seem to have ignored the fact that this was Rep on Rep. The algorithm can sort those teams however it wants. The fact it puts like with like then looks for a team to put them against is poor design. Sorting the teams to be even wouldn't have made the queue any longer.