housing got decoration hooks :((

[Zoom_VI]

I would speculate the bad code in this game almost made housing impossible....case in point, our starships. They are not customizable. Not in placing decorations, changing colors, not even in deciding where terminals go or our NPCs...which do not even walk around. Heck, even sitting breaks.

I going to take a wild guess that you absolutely zero background in any form of programming, animation or software development, because as someone who does have experience in said categories that comment of yours made me spit my drink out.

The starships are not customizable because they have cutscenes in them. That is the reason why, they had enough issues fitting in training dummies and gtn terminals in. That has nothing at all to do with "bad code" just as not having a day night cycle has nothing to do with "bad code" it was a design decision to prioritize the cutscenes (which are probably the biggest thing this game is known for)

Edited July 19, 2014 by Zoom_VI

[Deewe]

I going to take a wild guess that you absolutely zero background in any form of programming, animation or software development, because as someone who does have experience in said categories that comment of yours made me spit my drink out.

The starships are not customizable because they have cutscenes in them. That is the reason why, they had enough issues fitting in training dummies and gtn terminals in. That has nothing at all to do with "bad code" just as not having a day night cycle has nothing to do with "bad code" it was a design decision to prioritize the cutscenes (which are probably the biggest thing this game is known for)

Forgot about that one, right.

 

I so often skip them that I tend not to remember there are any

[Vinak]

You mean you'd rather have game play from a game over 10 years old than this one?

 

Frankly, SWG's decade old housing system is superior to SWTOR's in every conceivable way. Other than graphical fidelity of course, and Arguably the lack of a GUI, maybe. But the commands used to decorate were straight forward.

 

You'll never (ever) have the same level of creative freedom with the system EA opted to go with than what is possible within SWG.

 

If they could just allow us to drop floor objects at our feet rather than restricting us to fixed hook points...And adding various clutter items to place on tables and shelving (for example) in the future.

Edited July 19, 2014 by Vinak

[Deewe]

Frankly, SWG's decade old housing system is superior to SWTOR's in every conceivable way. Other than graphical fidelity of course, and Arguably the lack of a GUI, maybe. But the commands used to decorate were straight forward.

 

You'll never (ever) have the same level of creative freedom with the system EA opted to go with than what is possible within SWG.

 

If they could just allow us to drop floor objects at our feet rather than restricting us to fixed hook points...And adding various clutter items to place on tables and shelving (for example) in the future.

I was teasing you Vinak, in fact I used to be a house decorator in SWG at some point when I was bored of killing things.

[Vinak]

I was teasing you Vinak, in fact I used to be a house decorator in SWG at some point when I was bored of killing things.

 

for some reason I didn't notice your name next to the post....

[Deewe]

for some reason I didn't notice your name next to the post....

How offending!

 

Be safe

[LordArtemis]

I going to take a wild guess that you absolutely zero background in any form of programming, animation or software development, because as someone who does have experience in said categories that comment of yours made me spit my drink out.

 

Well, you wasted a beverage. Your wild guess is wrong.

 

The starships are not customizable because they have cutscenes in them. That is the reason why, they had enough issues fitting in training dummies and gtn terminals in. That has nothing at all to do with "bad code" just as not having a day night cycle has nothing to do with "bad code" it was a design decision to prioritize the cutscenes (which are probably the biggest thing this game is known for)

 

Your right naturally. I've pointed this out myself many times. I have also talked about the public statements that Bioware released with respect to programming the ability to sit in a chair in our starships...how difficult it was, how often it breaks...etc.

 

It's pretty common knowledge.

 

You know, its getting pretty tired, this "we don't have a valid argument, so lets fall back on trying to call someone an armchair programmer" thing.

 

To accuse me of this is pretty foolish. I bet there are folks in this very forum that would be more than happy to explain to you why.....

 

This isn't a contest Zoom. Demonstrate some self respect and think before you post.

Edited July 19, 2014 by LordArtemis

[aeterno]

They've got a 4 stronghold limit due to "performance" issues that could potentially come with a larger amount of what I'm assuming is primarily decorations placed.

 

Take a guess why we're not allowed to place 437 chairs and a vase in a way they form a death star in a middle of a room.

 

It's a small miracle they've made it possible for 60+ people to be in the bloody instance without crashing even the so controlled conditions.

Edited July 19, 2014 by aeterno

[Twin]

After trying this out personally on PTS i have to say that all my fears and assumptions were entirely correct.

 

They went the wrong way about this feature in all directions possible imo.

[Aries_cz]

After trying this out personally on PTS i have to say that all my fears and assumptions were entirely correct.

 

They went the wrong way about this feature in all directions possible imo.

 

I don't know, what I tried, I actually liked. However, i only had the fun in PTSGuild stronghold, because I was too lazy to transfer crapload of mats to craft prefabs, so I just used whatever the guild got. And people managed to create some awesome looking rooms there.

Edited July 30, 2014 by Aries_cz

[LordArtemis]

After trying this out personally on PTS i have to say that all my fears and assumptions were entirely correct.

 

They went the wrong way about this feature in all directions possible imo.

 

This was my fear. I feel this is what happened with GSF (speculative naturally since I am not privy to utilization numbers in the playerbase). I think they set their minds to a specific design goal and intent, forged ahead on that goal full speed without taking any real feedback from the playerbase into consideration...except perhaps the existence of legacy storage.

 

I am disappointed with the overall design, though it not a complete disappointment to me like GSF. And certainly both features are head and shoulders above other features added in the past during the reign of the original dev team.

 

Still....I expected a design superior to the one in place.

[OddballEasyEight]

I had a ton of fun on the PTS.

Only thing I had a problem with was the relatively low max number of items you could place.

50 items in the 3 room + hall default DK apartment seemed very low.

400 items in the entirety of Nar Shaddaa seems way too low.

 

There's just so much space to cover and not enough stuff IMHO (with those limits I mean).

 

Other than that, I found I could do pretty interesting decorations. The houses I checked out certainly looked very different from eachother (except for the fact that EEEEVERYONE places their mailbox and legacy bank at the entrance pretty much )

[Aries_cz]

This was my fear. I feel this is what happened with GSF (speculative naturally since I am not privy to utilization numbers in the playerbase)

I would argue that people expected something completely different from GSF, something that went against the original concept BioWare had in mid for it. People for some reason expected a free-form flight in the galaxy to just dick around (JTL), while BioWare had a squad based shooter in their mind.

I personally like GSF, and I think that there is only one way to fix it - make more people play it to balance the teams (or add some sort of bolster).

[Daekarus]

They've got a 4 stronghold limit due to "performance" issues that could potentially come with a larger amount of what I'm assuming is primarily decorations placed.

 

Take a guess why we're not allowed to place 437 chairs and a vase in a way they form a death star in a middle of a room.

 

It's a small miracle they've made it possible for 60+ people to be in the bloody instance without crashing even the so controlled conditions.

 

The reason for the 4 stronghold limit right now is that they feel it is better to give than take away. Their testing indicates no performance issues with players having all of the currently existing strongholds, but they don't know about how the system will handle 5, so they're releasing with the limit in place. If future testing on later strongholds indicates that 5 isn't a problem, they'll raise the limit. You should check out some of the various SWTOR podcasts, they have a lot of information on things.

[LordArtemis]

I would argue that people expected something completely different from GSF, something that went against the original concept BioWare had in mid for it. People for some reason expected a free-form flight in the galaxy to just dick around (JTL), while BioWare had a squad based shooter in their mind.

I personally like GSF, and I think that there is only one way to fix it - make more people play it to balance the teams (or add some sort of bolster).

 

I wouldnt agree with this, only in so far as the poll that was in the forums and it's conclusions (naturally not close to scientific)....most folks picked BF2, or more specifically a BF2 like system, and GSF has a few elements of BF2....but left out most of what made BF2 fun IMO.

 

Instead of having gearless combat, quick twitch based play, on foot combat on capital ships and the like they provided the space combat in a confined arena and little else that was requested.

 

That is why I personally believe GSF did not reach the kind of usage numbers that Bioware likely expected or wanted.

 

Just my slant naturally...this is not an indication that you are incorrect, just my views on it.

[Deewe]

The reason for the 4 stronghold limit right now is that they feel it is better to give than take away. Their testing indicates no performance issues with players having all of the currently existing strongholds, but they don't know about how the system will handle 5, so they're releasing with the limit in place. If future testing on later strongholds indicates that 5 isn't a problem, they'll raise the limit. You should check out some of the various SWTOR podcasts, they have a lot of information on things.

It seems strange actually. Why 4 and not starting with one then check how things goes and eventually increase the cap one step at a time.

 

Especially with live tests you'd rather like start smaller.

Edited July 31, 2014 by Deewe

[Daekarus]

It seems strange actually. Why 4 and not starting with one then check how things goes and eventually increase the cap one step at a time.

 

Especially with live tests you'd rather like start smaller.

 

I suppose they're confident that level of baby-steps isn't necessary.

[LordArtemis]

Well, after playing with the system extensively on PTS, this is my current view on the system.

 

Generally speaking, it is better than I expected, but my expectations were pretty low considering they went with hooks in the first place. Overall I was dissatisfied with the system as designed, but that dissatisfaction was tempered a bit by the reduction of legacy storage tab costs. This is the general conclusion I arrived at...at the moment. It's still early in the game.

 

Strongholds seems to me to have some universal appeal, even to those that do not care for the hook system, myself included. The inclusion of various kiosks and terminals, legacy storage and quick travel from almost anywhere makes this the almost perfect pit-stop for convenience IMO.

 

Also, the inclusion of /sleep and /chair emotes was a nice touch.

 

After that, the current system has some desirable traits, but has some serious shortcomings IMO that hamper any real ability to appeal to the widest audience possible...though it is not hopeless IMO.

 

The addition of more hooks (looks like that is in the works) for better coverage, more hook variety, single hooks that can be moved around and dropped where desired before use, the ability to display armor sets other than on companions and more travel options (dailies) would be a huge improvement IMO.

[KidLee]

Here is my first look at the system

[Vinak]

This thread still exists? That's funny.

 

I can't wait for the patch so I can start selling aug kits again.

 

Demand really falls off when the packs get this old.

[LordArtemis]

Here is my first look at the system

 

That was a good vid KidLee. Well done.

[Daekarus]

Well, after playing with the system extensively on PTS, this is my current view on the system.

 

Generally speaking, it is better than I expected, but my expectations were pretty low considering they went with hooks in the first place. Overall I was dissatisfied with the system as designed, but that dissatisfaction was tempered a bit by the reduction of legacy storage tab costs. This is the general conclusion I arrived at...at the moment. It's still early in the game.

 

Strongholds seems to me to have some universal appeal, even to those that do not care for the hook system, myself included. The inclusion of various kiosks and terminals, legacy storage and quick travel from almost anywhere makes this the almost perfect pit-stop for convenience IMO.

 

Also, the inclusion of /sleep and /chair emotes was a nice touch.

 

After that, the current system has some desirable traits, but has some serious shortcomings IMO that hamper any real ability to appeal to the widest audience possible...though it is not hopeless IMO.

 

The addition of more hooks (looks like that is in the works) for better coverage, more hook variety, single hooks that can be moved around and dropped where desired before use, the ability to display armor sets other than on companions and more travel options (dailies) would be a huge improvement IMO.

 

I like your ideas here. A dailies travel terminal would be awesome, armor mannequins are almost a must (would give me a reason to bother buying armor I have no intention of ever wearing and therefore reason to participate in events I'd otherwise simply ignore after doing a minimal amount of participating), and that "placeable" hook sounds great.

 

I have to say, I am pleased with how much effort they're putting into the system. It's not what everyone wanted, but it looks flexible enough and accessible enough to satisfy a lot of people.

 

I'm impressed with how they integrated it in with Conquest to encourage participation. They took me from a "I couldn't care less as long as I get Legacy Storage" to a "I need to do this to support my guild." Sneaky buggers.

Edited August 11, 2014 by Daekarus