Changes Coming in Tomorrow's (1/21) Maintenance

[wolfyde]

My complaints are against the company, not the devs personally.

 

Wasn't the original dev team also replaced at some point?

Combined with the hometweaked version of the beta of the Hero engine they're using, I can just imagine the conversations...

 

"How about if we change this here..."

 

"Don't touch that! Whathisname wrote that piece of code in 2009, we have no idea what it does but if you change it everybody's heads disappear!"

 

Or something along those lines.

[Divona]

However, I am sure there are plenty of people that would love to help QA raids and changes to raids as a raid team. Why they don't just hire some people from the community to test out a raid boss for a week is beyond me. There are a ton of talented bleeding edge raiders out there that could definitely help them tweak things to where they need to be.

 

They did invite "special" guilds to test new ops. And im not going to name who but all know her blogs well.

And we have the outcome now we see...

 

Problem is that few elitist ops runners testing whole content and not majority playerbase on PTS. They will never hire from community to have QA testers since it costs money.

[TravelingNomad]

They already are making little to no headway...

 

Entire games are created in the timeframes we're look at and what do we have?

 

Even if you roll up everything for a 2 year period from 2.0 to 3.0, you're looking at 3 planets, a few daily areas, a few raids, a few flashpoints, a space mini game that might justify $5 on Steam, and housing that... well... is what it is...

 

In that time, games such as Infamous Second Son, DA:I, Watch Dogs, and The Witcher 3 were developed... all with a whole lot more content than SWTOR has seen.

 

SWTOR is now 3 years old... Given a proper budget and a proper dev team, they could have done the next 3 chapters of class stories in that time. Not with the current budget of course, but they have had the time to do it.

 

I can see your point there, and it reflect many of my thoughts as well. I don't see myself playing SWTOR for another year without radical and rapid changes, Star Citizen is much more appealing for a long term game. If we don't see a new Op, or any new content for that matter, by mid summer, I'm likely going to leave the game for good.

[lironBD]

Wasn't the original dev team also replaced at some point?

Combined with the hometweaked version of the beta of the Hero engine they're using, I can just imagine the conversations...

 

"How about if we change this here..."

 

"Don't touch that! Whathisname wrote that piece of code in 2009, we have no idea what it does but if you change it everybody's heads disappear!"

 

Or something along those lines.

 

I'll pay good money for them to touch that line muhahahhahah

[Heat-Wave]

Wasn't the original dev team also replaced at some point?

Combined with the hometweaked version of the beta of the Hero engine they're using, I can just imagine the conversations...

 

"How about if we change this here..."

 

"Don't touch that! Whathisname wrote that piece of code in 2009, we have no idea what it does but if you change it everybody's heads disappear!"

 

Or something along those lines.

 

Most of it was... the original team had a rather closed minded attitude about a lot of things, which is why the launch game wasn't that great... If it was anything but Star Wars it wouldn't have lasted a year.

 

Things like the long travel times, the fixed stat gear, the inflexible companion system, etc...

 

A lot of stuff has been added since to remove some of the pain, such as the priority transport terminals outside the fleet hangers and legacy cool down timer reductions for quick travel and fleet pass...

 

The CM and F2P has brought more such things of course, but the core design of the game wasn't very casual friendly at launch.

 

Further, the original devs are on record for saying that they thought that it would take a few months for the initial player base to burn the launch content. This was their first MMO and frankly that statement says a lot about their views on developing it. It took less than 60 hours for someone to hit level 50... within a week there were a thousand players on fleet at level 50 trying to figure out what to do...

 

Now why people do that is beyond me, it took me several months to hit 50 the first time, but that's me. If I'm developing a program, I'm not thinking about what *I* want, I'm thinking about what my customers want (and need).

 

If I was developing a MMO today... sheesh, that would be an interesting challenge... It would be easy to go into "feature checkbox mode" and say: "Well, we have to have crafting, and housing, and this and that and such at launch", and we'd do it, but run the risk of half of it sucking to hit our launch date. From experience, I understand feature creep and how you have to, as a business person, sit down and decide what you can really get done in a given period of time and what you can't.

[DarkNecroCrusher]

Problem is that I doubt the money earned from Cartel Market coins goes in the game development resources.

 

That's why we are here.

 

Also, I'm pretty sure they launched 3.0 without it to be finished to boost their 2014 stats.

Edited January 21, 2015 by DarkNecroCrusher

[Heat-Wave]

I can see your point there, and it reflect many of my thoughts as well. I don't see myself playing SWTOR for another year without radical and rapid changes, Star Citizen is much more appealing for a long term game. If we don't see a new Op, or any new content for that matter, by mid summer, I'm likely going to leave the game for good.

 

One way to look at it is what else can you spend the $180 sub cost for a year of SWTOR on?

 

You can buy 3 full games at launch prices for that money, or 6 games at 50% off a few months after they are released (and bugs fixed).

 

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Dark Souls II

Divinity: Original Sin

Wasteland 2

 

What gives you more entertainment value for the dollar? Granted, part of the $15 per month SWTOR charges is to run the servers.

 

Fine, lets say it is $10 a month for that and only $5 a month goes towards content. Then we should be able to get a DA:I worth of content once per year at that rate.

 

Why don't we?

[Heat-Wave]

Problem is that I doubt the money earned from Cartel Market coins goes in the game development resources.

 

That's why we are here.

 

Also, I'm pretty sure they launched 3.0 without it to be finished to boost their 2014 stats.

 

I said back in Sept of last year that 3.0 would launch in 2014 just to avoid the "oh noes, they missed the launch".

 

Many of the defenders of Bioware said "oh no, they PROMISED it would be out in 2014, so THERE".

 

Yea, well, it was out, bugs and all...

 

Look at GTA 5, they are delaying a bit for that release to spit and polish. Now we won't know if it is worth it until it launches, but if they launch free of major bugs, then they deserve praise because that is what should be done.

 

It is ready when it is ready.

[wolfyde]

Fine, lets say it is $10 a month for that and only $5 a month goes towards content.

 

Well, there's the community team, so that's at least 3 people we know of they have to pay wages.

[OddballEasyEight]

so if they put a lightsaber hilt in the cm that give +50000 power, thats ok because it can be resold in the gtn?

 

Pretty much.

 

Well no, it wouldn't be "ok".

 

But it still woudldn't be Pay-to-Win since you could still get it without "paying".

 

And of course, that is assuming that there'd be a craftable +50000 power crystal in-game that could be aquired without using cartel coins at all.

Edited January 21, 2015 by OddballEasyEight

[DakotaDoc]

Hey folks,

[*]Lastly, we have increased the cost of each Slot Machine coin from 500 to 750 credits. It was always our intent that the coin cost would increase over time as we add more Slot Machines that accept the coin

Thanks everyone!

 

-eric

 

More that accept the coin? Are they also going to drop different Rep Items and mounts?

Edited January 21, 2015 by DakotaDoc

[OddballEasyEight]

More that accept the coin? Are they also going to drop different Rep Items and mounts?

 

I'd assume so.

 

I assume there will be a slot machine for every cartel rep eventually.

 

I doubt they'll be dropping all that fast though. Maby one each shipment? Or even one every other shipment.

 

If they stick to the "one per shipment" option, that would mean that each one is released just as long after the reputation introduction as this one was. Meaning that it would be about 2 years after the reputation was introduced in the first place.

That's a decent amount of time to have passed.

 

That means we'd get the stronghold shipment reputation slot machine sometime in 2016.

Edited January 21, 2015 by OddballEasyEight

[LordArtemis]

This is the end....beautiful friend.

 

This is the end...my only friend, the end.

 

Of our elaborate plans, the end. Of everything that stands, the end.

 

No safety or surprise, the end. I'll never look into your eyes...again .

Edited January 21, 2015 by LordArtemis

[BilboDabbingz]

hey folks,

 

first, as tait alluded to we will be having a maintenance tomorrow, on wednesday the 21st. We didn't have our regular tuesday maintenance due to the federal holiday here in the states. I wanted to let you know a few of the things coming in tomorrow’s patch:

• item rarity borders will now show properly
  
• no more getting stuck in blood hunt if someone dies to jos or valk beroya
  
• the underlurker will no longer rush extremely quickly back to his target after leaping
  
• there have been adjustments made to the contraband slot machine (more on this in a second)
  
• there is also one other fix, check the final patch notes for more info
  

let’s talk about the changes coming to the contraband slot machine. When we were going into 3.0.2, we wanted to make grade 11 materials more accessible to more players than they were at the time. As you know, we simultaneously put in the contraband slot machine, which afforded you a fairly good chance to get jawa junk and other jawa vendor scrap parts. This had two effects:

• it had the risk of taking the grade 11 material costs in the economy, in the long term, to a price below where we would like
  
• it created a situation where it could be more profitable to completely ignore crew skills by use of the slot machine
  

with those in mind, we decided to make the following changes, which will be live tomorrow:

• the drop rate on all jawa scraps, has been greatly reduced
  
• the drop rate on contraband reputation items, has been increased
  
• to insure that the slot machine is still an awesome item to strive for, we have added a faction specific walker mount as a very rare drop
  
• lastly, we have increased the cost of each slot machine coin from 500 to 750 credits. It was always our intent that the coin cost would increase over time as we add more slot machines that accept the coin
  

thanks everyone!

 

-eric

 

 

fix the goddamn sound and animation on forcequake, i know id software programmers that can code better than you mooks.

[NikSunrider]

Well, not like I didn't expect it.

 

Nerf to jawa drop rates (the only stuff that matters - we really don't need higher drop rate on rep, because I maxed mine out for 200k and one week's worth of break for the weekly cap reset)

A little sweet to 'pacify' us - the walker. Firstly, what's' the drop rate on it? 0.02% like the Rancor for nightlife? It's an obvous money sink...taht will go no-where.

Also, how can they give us a "new walker" in 4 days of prep time? Oh, I know, I worked with 3D design, and it takes less time to recolor, but what creative authority can they hold?

 

Eh, whatever, don't know, don't care.

 

What actually impresses me, is that I called it, pretty much: we are getting this for more rep tracks.

To all those people syaing "it'll be a 2-year delay" blah-blah, consider this:

 

• They are running out of content. So, it got released two years after not because it was pre-planned, but because they just thought of it 2 years after the original idea; or, I'd actaully say, some time September-October 2014.
  
• There is no reason for them to wait 2 more years to add another one or whatnot. The game won't likely be alive (the server hardware will just die) in 2 years time, like as not
  
• What was the other ridiculously unpopular thing I wanted to say? Nevermind.
  

[OddballEasyEight]

What actually impresses me, is that I called it, pretty much: we are getting this for more rep tracks.

To all those people syaing "it'll be a 2-year delay" blah-blah, consider this:

 

• They are running out of content. So, it got released two years after not because it was pre-planned, but because they just thought of it 2 years after the original idea; or, I'd actaully say, some time September-October 2014.
  
• There is no reason for them to wait 2 more years to add another one or whatnot. The game won't likely be alive (the server hardware will just die) in 2 years time, like as not
  
• What was the other ridiculously unpopular thing I wanted to say? Nevermind.
  

 

I think you misunderstand the "2 years" thing.

 

If they release one slot machine with each shipment, then that slot machine will always be 2 years (roughly) after the introduction of the reputation it gives.

Because there's a new reputation introduced with each shipment.

And each shipment is 4 packs, 1 each month.

That means that if they drop a slot machine for the bounty packs in the next shipment, it's going to have been nearly 2 years since the bounty packs.

And then if they drop a slot machine for the starfighter packs in the shipment after that, it's still going to have been nearly 2 years since the starfighter packs, since these packs are on a schedule.

 

Only if they drop more than one type of slot machine in one shipment will it be less than 2 years.

So they're not going to "wait 2 more years" to drop another one since they don't have to, it'll still be 2 years from the rep introduction to the slot machine drop.

Edited January 21, 2015 by OddballEasyEight

[TheGreatFrosty]

One way to look at it is what else can you spend the $180 sub cost for a year of SWTOR on?

 

You can buy 3 full games at launch prices for that money, or 6 games at 50% off a few months after they are released (and bugs fixed).

 

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Dark Souls II

Divinity: Original Sin

Wasteland 2

 

What gives you more entertainment value for the dollar? Granted, part of the $15 per month SWTOR charges is to run the servers.

 

Fine, lets say it is $10 a month for that and only $5 a month goes towards content. Then we should be able to get a DA:I worth of content once per year at that rate.

 

Why don't we?

 

I'm fairly sure the majority of the money made via CM/subs etc. is being used to resource other games and fulfil whatever revenue predictions EA originally had for the game, so as to offset the investment so far.

 

Basically, I highly doubt much at all is being invested back into the game, because of the game's perceived inherent limitations and credibility within the MMO marketplace. EA is usually about go large or go home. This definitely didn't go large. With the exception of such things as Strongholds, SWTOR has felt like it is maintenance mode for a while, with the closest thing to regular content being the CM packs...

 

Just compare it to any other MMO and see. We are without regular new events (still repeated same event again and again), new flashpoints (we have to accept HM versions as new content), new raids or, and this is particularly felt by me, new warzones.

 

Or better still, look at the situation with bugs. Anything as crucial as the Ravager's exploit or these slot machines would have been fixed immediately by other companies (look at Blizzard's track record for fixing bugs and responding to player feedback). For us, we get excited for bug fixes like other people get excited for content.

[EvenHardNiner]

I think you misunderstand the "2 years" thing.

 

If they release one slot machine with each shipment, then that slot machine will always be 2 years (roughly) after the introduction of the reputation it gives.

Because there's a new reputation introduced with each shipment.

And each shipment is 4 packs, 1 each month.

That means that if they drop a slot machine for the bounty packs in the next shipment, it's going to have been nearly 2 years since the bounty packs.

And then if they drop a slot machine for the starfighter packs in the shipment after that, it's still going to have been nearly 2 years since the starfighter packs, since these packs are on a schedule.

 

Only if they drop more than one type of slot machine in one shipment will it be less than 2 years.

So they're not going to "wait 2 more years" to drop another one since they don't have to, it'll still be 2 years from the rep introduction to the slot machine drop.

 

Wrong. Quit whining lol

[Defecter]

Somehow I'm half expecting them to screw up and make the Walkers have a 50% drop rate.

 

VENDOR ALL THE MOUNTS!

Edited January 21, 2015 by Defecter

[mikegrijsen]

ill just play the game and have fun..

 

jeeeeeez...

[kysan]

You know, one of these days you guys might want to send in game email polls, rather then basing decisions on the rants of a vocal minority. What I expect, prepare to see drops in your CM sales, now that people see that it is just a simple bait and switch.

 

Agreed but for BW if you're not a subscriber you don't exist. (making a poll for f2p or prefered).

Edited January 21, 2015 by kysan

[Niblix]

Bet they don't fix Big Guns mission

[Niblix]

Bought a lot of coins before the update increasing the price....

 

Results after 100 coins :

 

22 Green Rep, 19 Blue Rep, 7 Purple Rep

No Scrap

No Certificate

No Mount

 

Glad I pulled all my cheap Grade 11 mats from the GTN before the patch

[Mardya]

Bought a lot of coins before the update increasing the price....

 

Results after 100 coins :

 

22 Green Rep, 19 Blue Rep, 7 Purple Rep

No Scrap

No Certificate

No Mount

 

Glad I pulled all my cheap Grade 11 mats from the GTN before the patch

 

Result after first stack of coins:

 

25 green rep, 15 blue, 5 purple

2 green scrap items

no certs

no mount

 

And yes I also removed my crafting mats from the GTN before patch.

 

I agree the slots needed a nerf but this seems a tad excessive.

 

Edit: 2nd stack: reputation items only.

Edited January 21, 2015 by Mardya
updated with new results

[Niblix]

Result after first stack of coins:

 

25 green rep, 15 blue, 5 purple

2 green scrap items

no certs

no mount

 

And yes I also removed my crafting mats from the GTN before patch.

 

I agree the slots needed a nerf but this seems a tad excessive.

 

Result after two stacks of coins:

 

42 Green rep, 36 Blue rep, 17 Purple

1 Green scrap

No certs

No mount

 

The slot machine is now basically a decorative money sink

 

Edit:

 

Result after three stacks of coins:

 

63 Green rep, 48 Blue rep, 20 Purple

1 Green scrap

No certs

No mount

 

Result after fourth (and last) stack of coins:

 

82 Green rep, 69 Blue rep, 25 Purple

1 Green scrap, 1 Blue scrap

No certs

No mount

Edited January 21, 2015 by Niblix