No New Ship Role in 2.8

[Devrius]

Okay... I read that as "Yeah we kinda gave up on GSF, here's a couple ship variants we hope you'll spend CC on mastering while we mothball this space combat mini-game like the previous one".

 

I gotta say, I'm pessimistic about GSF's future, they are using the same argument they have used against cross server queues: "We have bigger and more important content to release right now".

 

Which is code for "sorry, not gonna happen", since there is *always* new content they would rather release then work on cross server, they make money on new content after all.

 

I think they see GSF as a failure, hopefully not, and just decided to cut their loses.

 

Too bad really, had they done a proper PvE intro for new players to learn to fly, diminished the grind and increased cosmetic features they would be rolling on the money generated by CC transactions...

[Zoom_VI]

Well, I no longer feel even remotely upset about cancelling my subscription.

 

WAT!

How dare you unsub. Who is going to pick up the banner of the evil scout conspiracy now?!?!

[Armonddd]

WAT!

How dare you unsub. Who is going to pick up the banner of the evil scout conspiracy now?!?!

 

Bro, this news is like three months old.

[Zoom_VI]

Bro, this news is like three months old.

 

I don't remember such archaic bits of history

[Itkovian]

I don't think anyone is heartbroken over the loss of the Infiltrator. It was probably a nightmare to balance.

 

The bigger concern is whether this represents a fundamental shift in resourcing for GSF.

 

Agreed on both points.

 

Hopefully this is more of a short term shift than a long term one. We know, after all, that they have plans for new game modes. Hopefully they will switch focus on those once Strongholds is done.

 

On the other hand, I have to admit I'm pretty psyched about GSH, as it is a huge deal for us RPers (though I know this puts me in the minority in this forum).

 

And as you said, the infiltrators were probably going to be a mess to balance properly, which could very well be why they decided to shelve them for now, the cost/benefit was just not worth it. Personally I'm a LOT more interested in new maps and game modes, and hopefully those remain on the roadmap for the long term.

Edited May 1, 2014 by Itkovian

[Scrabs]

Hmm I've got mixed feelings about this.

 

As some have already mentioned this (probably) means GSF turned out to be less popular than what they had expected, which is always bad for the GSF community and/or upcoming patches for it.

 

Although I will say that I had hoped they would reconsider putting in a "stealth ship" for GSF. I don't think it would be healthy for the current game to get a mechanic like stealth.

[mandoforlife]

I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed. I understand that they need to focus on providing the best expansions possible, and I support that, but the fact that the ship class that I was looking the most forward to isn't even delayed a patch, but off the table entirely for an unknown span of time really gets to me. It wouldn't bother me if they said we might see it in a patch or two, but being as they have no idea when they'll get to it, and it's off their current roadmap.. sad jawa

[Bull_Five_Golf]

Our roadmap began to shift into a new direction with a high priority placed around both Galactic Strongholds and that other expansion Bruce briefly mentioned before. In looking at our current schedule, we felt that Starfighter was in a healthy state and so by cutting the new role, we could make a better experience for our upcoming expansions.

 

Translation:

 

"Our live development team is too small or too inept. We've come to find out that we only have the resources to work on one project at a time. In the future expect don't expect us to be able to deliver 100% of what we put in our "roadmaps". GSF is "in a healthy state" so you won't see any new maps or gameplay modes any time soon. We promise to get back to it maybe next year, you know, unless another "high Priority" project demands we devote all of our resources to it."

 

Ground PVP has been the red headed step child of SWTOR for almost 2 1/2 yrs. There is no reason to expect GSF won't get the same treatment from this point forward. When they say GSF is "in a healthy state" what they mean is: some people are playing it and it's not full of bugs so we don't need to devote resources to it..

[Nethgilne]

Agreed on both points.

 

Hopefully this is more of a short term shift than a long term one. We know, after all, that they have plans for new game modes. Hopefully they will switch focus on those once Strongholds is done.

 

On the other hand, I have to admit I'm pretty psyched about GSH, as it is a huge deal for us RPers (though I know this puts me in the minority in this forum).

 

And as you said, the infiltrators were probably going to be a mess to balance properly, which could very well be why they decided to shelve them for now, the cost/benefit was just not worth it. Personally I'm a LOT more interested in new maps and game modes, and hopefully those remain on the roadmap for the long term.

 

I'm going to lean towards this line of thinking. I would guess that if it were simply a matter of shifting resources away from GSF, they'd say that the infiltrator is postponed rather than shelved indefinitely.

 

I mean, the concept has been in the works since the start of the project (as far as i can tell from the datamined stuff), If they can't get it to function after that long maybe it was just time to accept that it just wasn't going to work. I just wonder how big of a bump this is for the GSF teams plans.

 

I'd imagine the design, testing, tweaking and redesign of this role took up a large portion of their time, especially trying to get it in by the 2.8 deadline. Shelving this project will invariably result in a vacuum of content. I'm curious to see how the team bounces back from this and where they decide to spend their efforts on now.

[Verain]

As some have already mentioned this (probably) means GSF turned out to be less popular than what they had expected, which is always bad for the GSF community and/or upcoming patches for it.

 

This is a common statement, mostly made by the ground guys who feel vindicated or something in other forums. "I knew that 3-space game was too hard for everyone because I don't understand it!". I know that's not how you meant it, ofc.

 

 

I don't agree. I'm sure that they can see which of us came back just for GSF, and I'm sure they can see which raiders have thrown in with GSF in their spare time. As a side game that is composed entirely of pvp queues that offers ZERO interaction with the rest of the game besides achievements, one entirely unrelated to levels, gear, and anything class related, and that is gated behind a massive SWTOR.exe requirement, I'm sure that they had a pretty reasonable projection of player participation. I'm also sure I can get pops most times of the day, and EVERY time it is the evening, which is pretty incredible when you consider that I will often have TEN TIMES the kills/assists/damage of a new player, who has to (and does) keep coming back to get better.

 

I think GSF is successful for what it is, and for what development time went into it. The game reuses the engine, many models, as much as it can- I'm sure they did this on a budget and with a small team.

 

 

So when I see an announcement like this, heck yes I get cross. I want stealth ships super much (I always play rogues), and I want new maps, especially Denon TDM, and ideally a new game mode. But they really did probably pull their whole team together to launch a new +5 level cap expansion. That doesn't mean that the GSF guys are gonna go leave company or something. It doesn't mean GSF is dead, it means that they are letting it sleep for 2-3 months....

 

 

Maybe. Lets see what the patch notes say too, we could be getting new components or something.

[Zoom_VI]

I need a hug

[Bull_Five_Golf]

I ask myself why would they give up development of a brand new gameplay mode, one that was supposed to be a big deal.

 

This is what I come up with:

 

When GSF started 5 out of 10 people in my guild tried it. Today 2 out of 10 play regularly, and the other guy plays more than I do. We're a typical group of people. We went from about 50% participation in the first month to at best 20% now. I usually play between 8 - 11 PM EST on JC. When I do a "who" for Mesa, Shipyards and Denon, between those hours I never, NEVER, get "showing first 100 results" and usually there are rarely more than 50 people on the Pub side engaged in all GSF matches at any given time.

 

GSF doesn't give any rewards other than what can be used to upgrade ships. If a person who subscribed yesterday joins a GSF match and feels like they are getting steam rolled by experienced players they leave. There isn't anything for them to work for. There is no "shinny" so why would they stay?

 

The GSF population is small, there isn't any denying it. I wish it was large but it just isn't. GSF isn't buggy, a few people are playing it, and they are loyal to it. So the developers call it "in a healthy state" and are going to move development resources somewhere else where they can get more bang for their buck.

 

It's a business decision pure and simple. It's damage control.

 

I like GSF but it doesn't look like it is going to be treated any better than ground PVP. After 2.8 drops I expect we will get a TDM version of Denon before the end of the year, but I anticipate playing against the same people on the same maps over and over and over until the middle of next year.

[Vulta]

Well this is about as much reinforcement as I need to bail on this game, had hoped they'd do more with GSF, oh well.

[Korithras]

Good! We don't need sneaky sneaks just yet

 

We don't need stealth ships at all imo. Part of what drives me nuts about warzones are the stealth classes. So the longer we don't have them in GSF, the better.