I'm interviewing Eric Musco live tomorrow (15th Oct) 7pm GMT+1

[snave]

Just as a reminder for anyone who wasn't aware, I'll be interviewing Community Manager Eric Musco tomorrow (15th October) at 7pm GMT+1 / 1pm CDT on the topic of community management; specifically that of the PvP community.

 

This will be streamed via my twitch channel - http://www.twitch.tv/snave1208 - so please drop by if you'd like to watch or have anything to contribute. I can't promise I'll get time to ask questions from chat and it really is more of an interview than a Q+A session (well at least hopefully) but I'll see what I can do.

 

On a slightly unrelated side note I hit 1000 followers today so I'd like to give a big thank you for all the people who've supported me and continue to support me in the future. I'm kind of a big deal.

Edited October 15, 2014 by snave

[Raansu]

Well this should be interesting....

[DrewFromPhilly]

I'd be really surprised if Eric actually gave tangible, new information about anything and I'm expecting a lot of "I'll talk to that department", "it's on the wall of crazy", "I don't want to say never", "I can't talk about that" etc

 

gl getting anything out of him

Edited October 15, 2014 by DrewFromPhilly

[Raansu]

I'd be really surprised if Eric actually gave tangible, new information about anything and I'm expecting a lot of "I'll talk to that department", "it's on the wall of crazy", "I don't want to say never", "I can't talk about that" etc

 

gl getting anything out of him

 

I only want to know how true those community event questions were, particularly the "better than cross server" comment.

[Pistols]

I wouldn't expect anything worthwhile tbh.

[Pistols]

I only want to know how true those community event questions were, particularly the "better than cross server" comment.

 

Last time I asked Eric about Ranked @ a community event (in person mind you), I was told to expect solid updates to the system; a few weeks later we were told 8's were being removed.

 

Not a lie.

Edited October 15, 2014 by Pistols

[Kenjigreat]

Ask about where it is really RIP Melee

[snave]

I'd be really surprised if Eric actually gave tangible, new information about anything and I'm expecting a lot of "I'll talk to that department", "it's on the wall of crazy", "I don't want to say never", "I can't talk about that" etc

 

gl getting anything out of him

 

Well the interview will primarily revolve around the PvP community itself rather than asking to add specific things to the game - although there will be a tiny bit of that.

 

Ultimately Musco is there to pass on our concerns and to be our voice to the devs, he is the conduit through which information and issues are meant to flow and I'm very interested in speaking to him about how that flow has been during the 2.x expansion.

 

This isn't so much a "get something out of him" type affair and often you get as much information from a question being avoided as you do getting it answered

[SmashPony]

Well this should be interesting....

 

If by interesting you mean the opposite of interesting.

 

"So eric, we've heard that you guys..."

 

*cuts interviewer off "No!!!!"

 

*Ends interview, retreats to cave

[ThorgrimLutgen]

Just let him know that some of us have given up and are waiting for our subs to lapse, we are past caring about things that might happen in two years time.

 

They have won, they got what they wanted. Star Wars PVP full of people who cannot PVP.

[-Bob-]

I think Eric Must go looks a bit like Joe Rogan

[Candleper]

I want to know who really is the driver who designed the pvp system for this game, because it's actually a really well designed system that you guys aren't capitalizing on and leveraging it properly.

 

Is it Musco or some unkown people?

 

Fact: It's a better pvp system than Wow's so why are you guys neglecting it?

 

Maybe the metrics show that pvp is not as profitable at pve? No doubt, Even though I and others only pvp.

 

Ultimately...

 

I say again Ultimately,

 

The reason anyone plays this game and keeps playing is because of the social aspect. In other words it's friends who keep us in the game because it's fun, and it's fun to play with our friends whether it's pve or pvp.

 

What's my point? Probably support pvp even if it's not as profitable.

 

And you should do some tournaments and games for money like Wow and League of Legends does. Even a 10K prize would help at least. You just need a director of game tournaments to run this ****., let's go.

[ShatteredVision]

Just let him know that some of us have given up and are waiting for our subs to lapse, we are past caring about things that might happen in two years time.

 

They have won, they got what they wanted. Star Wars PVP full of people who cannot PVP.

 

So sad and so true...

[TrigPt]

I'd be really surprised if Eric actually gave tangible, new information about anything and I'm expecting a lot of "I'll talk to that department", "it's on the wall of crazy", "I don't want to say never", "I can't talk about that" etc

 

gl getting anything out of him

 

Sounds like the beginnings of a drinking game.

[Raansu]

I want to know who really is the driver who designed the pvp system for this game, because it's actually a really well designed system that you guys aren't capitalizing on and leveraging it properly.

 

Chances are they no longer work for BW as after 1.2 most of the original dev team got fired or left.

 

Fact: It's a better pvp system than Wow's.

 

That's a matter of opinion. I like swtor pvp, but imo WoW's pvp is still leagues better.

 

why are you guys neglecting it?

 

Its the other way around. This games pvp had a ton of potential. Even at launch the developers were surprised at how many people were pvping. They created it as a side game and there was never a major focus on it. They tried to change gears and had a big guild summit and everything to keep people around for 1.2.

 

Literally 24 hours before 1.2 went live they pulled ranked pvp out of the patch and we didn't get it till 1.3 and when we finally got it, ranked pvp was stuck in pre-season for almost two years with horribly slow patches (example bubble stun existed for months and completely broke pvp). They also removed the solo queue option which many were looking forward to. There was also a queue function planned for teams and solo players put together for people who had maybe only 6 people or something could queue and pull in a pug from the queue. It was an interesting idea but I can see why it was scrapped.

 

They "tried" to fix Ilum and owpvp, they instead just removed it.

 

They "tried" to fix ranked but decided to wait until AFTER they opened up server transfers. People transferred to servers to get more 8v8 ranked, a month later they announced they were REMOVING 8v8 ranked and replacing it with a less popular format arena (don't get me wrong, I like arenas but most of the ranked community wasn't happy with the change). Naturally people were pissed and it mostly killed the pvp community.

 

The community isn't perfect and has some of its own faults, but the pvp struggles in this game are primarily at the fault of BW. They were too slow to update content, too slow to fix things and their ultimate fix for content was to completely remove it. Naturally most pvpers in the game were pissed off. The only ones left are just regstarring because its SW and even those are running thin. Any potential this games pvp could have had is long gone.

Edited October 15, 2014 by Raansu

[TUXs]

Last time I asked Eric about Ranked @ a community event (in person mind you), I was told to expect solid updates to the system; a few weeks later we were told 8's were being removed.

 

Not a lie.

I'm not saying you shouldn't be upset by that, but you also need to remember that Eric is simply the public face - that decision wasn't made by him...and I seriously doubt the people that did make it, gave a **** what he thought about it. I know it's a bit more personal because you were face-to-face with him...but realize he's just the messenger.

 

On-topic...looking forward to this

[Anzel]

I think Eric Must go looks a bit like Joe Rogan

 

Joe Rogan is a jiu-jitsu black belt and would probably triangle choke you for that comparison LOL.

[Pistols]

I'm not saying you shouldn't be upset by that, but you also need to remember that Eric is simply the public face - that decision wasn't made by him...and I seriously doubt the people that did make it, gave a **** what he thought about it. I know it's a bit more personal because you were face-to-face with him...but realize he's just the messenger.

 

On-topic...looking forward to this

 

Totally understand that POV for sure, but the thing is, he knew at that time 8's were going to be removed. He could have easily said something along the lines of "expect some "changes" to the ranked system itself", but instead I was told they were listening to the PvP base in regards to rankeds (8's) and to expect awesome "updates" to it. Like I said, it was 2 weeks later or so after that event when 8's were announced to be removed, so if anything that event would have saved me a headache of trying to talk about 8's and getting info on it, especially when Eric knew weeks ahead of time I was coming down to specifically discuss 8's. (Especially when he was aware of my Q/A thread(s) I had going. Here and here.

 

Was just a huge disappointment for me to waste my time/money to go down there and beg for updates on PvP ranked, only to be told weeks later it's being removed. We knew at the time, and the event, that arenas were coming, why not just let peeps know that they were replacing 8 man rankeds then? I know Eric is the messenger of sorts, but he wasn't the only one there talking it up, so was Bruce Maclean (Senior Producer). I dunno, I guess in the end it really didn't matter much, but I was peeved at being mislead on my dime, especially given this games track record. That's what I get for nerding it up, lol.

Edited October 15, 2014 by Pistols

[SomeJagoff]

Just let him know that some of us have given up and are waiting for our subs to lapse, we are past caring about things that might happen in two years time.

 

And this will help how? I'm sure they're well aware of the number of people who have actually unsubbed as well as the number of people who have claimed to have unsubbed, but either didn't or did only for a minute before resubbing.

 

I've been watching people threatening to unsub over and over for almost 3 years now. People who continue to post on the forums regularly, a privilege reserved for subs Only. This was especially prevalent several months ago when Eric Musco made his infamous "no" post, which countless people updated their signatures to cite as a reason they were unsubbing....but continued to post/continue to post daily.

 

So whether somebody keeps playing the game or has stopped playing the game, but continues to post on the forums daily, threatening to unsub/claiming to have unsubbed, but continues to pay for a sub, it's not the least bit effective in swaying anyone, from the top EA people, to the top Bioware people, let alone the community manager, who most likely will just be rolling his eyes.

 

inb4 somebody challenges this, but not before going back years to edit out all their unsub QQ.

[Pistols]

And this will help how? I'm sure they're well aware of the number of people who have actually unsubbed as well as the number of people who have claimed to have unsubbed, but either didn't or did only for a minute before resubbing.

 

I've been watching people threatening to unsub over and over for almost 3 years now. People who continue to post on the forums regularly, a privilege reserved for subs Only. This was especially prevalent several months ago when Eric Musco made his infamous "no" post, which countless people updated their signatures to cite as a reason they were unsubbing....but continued to post/continue to post daily.

 

So whether somebody keeps playing the game or has stopped playing the game, but continues to post on the forums daily, threatening to unsub/claiming to have unsubbed, but continues to pay for a sub, it's not the least bit effective in swaying anyone, from the top EA people, to the top Bioware people, let alone the community manager, who most likely will just be rolling his eyes.

 

inb4 somebody challenges this, but not before going back years to edit out all their unsub QQ.

 

Many have unsubbed, or have you not noticed that most servers are ghost towns?

[durhame]

Honestly, I don't care about Eric's resume and no one here needs a history lesson on SWTOR pvp. We want solid answers on the future of swtor pvp about what to expect. Anything else is a waist of our time to listen to or read about. Edited October 15, 2014 by durhame

[Technohic]

I wouldn't expect much but I would ask if there really are plans for PvP that are "better than cross server." And the open world PvP not to the scale of Illum, and maybe a general question on where we are headed for PvP. I'm sure he is not going to be there to give specifics as those all have to be approved by higher ups.

[SomeJagoff]

Many have unsubbed, or have you not noticed that most servers are ghost towns?

 

http://www.torstatus.net/shards/us/stats

 

All of the US and European servers seem to have pretty consistent population numbers. All the population trends are also slightly increasing, including POT5, Bastion, and Jung Ma. If there were massive or even significant numbers of unsubs going on, all of the trends would be in a downward spiral, but they aren't.

 

I'm sure it "feels" like the servers/game is dying when a few friends stop playing for a few weeks or take a break for a few months or even unsub for a flat out year or more (speaking from personal experience here), but personal experience/anecdotal evidence isn't reflected in the stats. If there really were massive amounts of unsubbing, you can bet they'd be a lot more concerned.

 

It may be that for every 99 hardcore pvpers that unsub, 100 more new players sub and play casually. So the "quality" of the players may very well be declining, but that's just speculation, as there's no real way to track that. Forum posters claiming to unsub, but continuing to post for months/years also suggests that the more hardcore aren't going anywhere, aside from occasional breaks for a month or two at a time.

 

What it ultimately comes down to is a fraction of players play this game exclusively for pvp (no pve at all) and a fraction of that fraction of players post on the forums regularly about pvp and a fraction of those who post claiming that they're going to unsub actually do. So really, to the devs, no real issue.

 

If you have say 100 pvpers, 10 of which post on the forums/threaten to unsub, and 1 actually does, it's pretty much statistically irrelevant. Did that 1 unsub specifically because the devs didn't support pvp? If so, why didn't the other 9?

 

I don't disagree that PVP has been sorely ignored by the devs in favor of utterly pointless investments. This past year alone, they funded Starfighter (which the devs consider to be PVP, it isn't.), Strongholds (which the devs consider to be important to PVPers, it isn't), and Galactic Conquests (which the devs consider to be important to PVPers, it isn't important to anyone) instead of something like Cross Server Queues, Reworking Ranked 8v8, OWPVP development, engine optimizations to improve large OW engagements, server merges/complimentary transfers for those on lower pop servers, etc.

 

All poor decisions/waste of resources, but does that mean that they've lost a tangible amount of player subscriptions as a result of devoting resources to those projects instead of PVP? No. Hence why there's no point bothering to tell Eric Musco "A lot of people have unsubbed/are waiting for a reason to resub," because back to what I said before, all he'll do is just roll his eyes because he knows the actual numbers.

 

Snip.

 

Pretty much everything he said was accurate

[Pistols]

http://www.torstatus.net/shards/us/stats

 

Please note that BW can change the threshold status of servers on any given day.

 

They've lowered and increased said status several times over the last few years.

 

RP servers "appear" to look heavy all the time, but in reality they're not nearly as populated as say, Harbinger.

 

Since the merges, those thresholds have been lowered a ton since the glory days of the start of the game.

 

Not arguing with ya, I feel what you're saying, but the status readouts are shady when looking at the massive decline this game has seen over the last 2 years. PvP in general has seen the biggest loss of a player base, and those that have played on The Bastion & PoT5 see it everyday.

[Mega_Fallos]

wait Edited October 15, 2014 by Mega_Fallos