Ability Delay -- Character Responsiveness (This will make or break SW:TOR)

[aureliastarr]

TL;DNR: A compelling case has actually been made for this problem. Yet, devs have been quiet on all fronts (all on vacation?!). Do we think it will be fixed??

 

 

 

So then, here's the question. I think the compelling case has been made about why it doesn't feel fluid and what is causing it (ie animation timing and priority). It's compellingly cut through a ton of the typical forum nonsense.

 

So.... do we think Bioware will even see this or change it based on the priority of those who prefer fluid gameplay or do we think that they are simply going to come out with a post claiming that this is not high on priority and they prefer to have smooth animations?

 

I mean this is the bottom line. For very very many of us, this clunky frustrating play is very serious. I'm very hopeful for this company and this game... but what has me nervous is that they released the game in late December... and then as far as I can tell they just went on vacation for Christmas. I mean... maybe had some sort of crazy office party and then bailed. Yet, I've seen other companies that gear up and plan on and after release that it's going to be some of the busiest times of their lives. They release patches in a rapid fashion. Dev tracking is buzzing with activity as the community managers answer tons of questions.

 

They're fairly quiet. Certainly haven't seen them address much of anything. Yet, because they decided to release it the holiday season... a larger number of people are playing and raising these issues.

 

I'd like to see this issue fixed sooner rather than later, but I suspect that if it gets fixed at all it will be very low priority. LOTRO was out forever before they started addressing their atrocious animation vs. fluidity problem.

 

What's the verdict, folks. Do we think Bioware is going to address this AT ALL and what time frame? Right now, I'm starting to lose hope.

[Pigdaddy]

That's why we send in costumer service tickets. It's the built in system for comments and complaints. Forum threads just railroad into problems, while tickets are all read by a CS representative.

 

Just to kick the horse some more.. cause he bloody deserves it.

 

Anyone who was around for WoW launch (vanilla or other) would've noticed 1 thing.. The forums COVERED with BLUE Dev posts.

 

So far all we get is the yellow "we closing this thread" or the occasional hollow update from Reid.

 

In those forums the CS AND DEV team obviously realised it was the greater medium for communication with the fanbase, and yes obviously bug reports and whatnot where also used. They where able to more directly interact with the player base and help get stuff sorted faster and more efficiently.

[aureliastarr]

Just to kick the horse some more.. cause he bloody deserves it.

 

Anyone who was around for WoW launch (vanilla or other) would've noticed 1 thing.. The forums COVERED with BLUE Dev posts.

 

So far all we get is the yellow "we closing this thread" or the occasional hollow update from Reid.

 

In those forums the CS AND DEV team obviously realised it was the greater medium for communication with the fanbase, and yes obviously bug reports and whatnot where also used. They where able to more directly interact with the player base and help get stuff sorted faster and more efficiently.

 

HAHA I just raised that issue. You read my mind. It's a hollow excuse for them to cry "holidays" too.

[Scelerant]

Just to kick the horse some more.. cause he bloody deserves it.

 

Anyone who was around for WoW launch (vanilla or other) would've noticed 1 thing.. The forums COVERED with BLUE Dev posts.

 

So far all we get is the yellow "we closing this thread" or the occasional hollow update from Reid.

 

In those forums the CS AND DEV team obviously realised it was the greater medium for communication with the fanbase, and yes obviously bug reports and whatnot where also used. They where able to more directly interact with the player base and help get stuff sorted faster and more efficiently.

 

As I've said about just every major issue that has come up so far, a simple post of "we are aware of this problem and we have it on our list as a such and such priority" would do a lot to calm people down. If it is in fact working as intended just posting "This is working as we intended it to" would do the same.

[Corwingeorge]

i dont think they're gonna do anything. havent piped in on a thread that almost has as many responses as all the stickies combined. Edited December 27, 2011 by Corwingeorge

[ajjw]

What's the verdict, folks. Do we think Bioware is going to address this AT ALL and what time frame? Right now, I'm starting to lose hope.

I'm unsubbing if they either:

 

A) Don't acknowledge this is an issue before my 30days are up.

 

B) Class it as a low-prio issue / Give the feeling it won't be fixed for a long time.

 

Simple as that really.

[Ignito]

Just to kick the horse some more.. cause he bloody deserves it.

 

Anyone who was around for WoW launch (vanilla or other) would've noticed 1 thing.. The forums COVERED with BLUE Dev posts.

 

So far all we get is the yellow "we closing this thread" or the occasional hollow update from Reid.

 

In those forums the CS AND DEV team obviously realised it was the greater medium for communication with the fanbase, and yes obviously bug reports and whatnot where also used. They where able to more directly interact with the player base and help get stuff sorted faster and more efficiently.

 

 

It wasn't always like that. Back in the day I remember there were 100+ page long threads with people screaming for blue responses.

[Arkimor]

Devs aren't responding to anything right now; as I've said before, to respond to this would either mean admitting fault (an impossibility due to corporate environment) or making an excuse ("look at the purty colors and the animations, WOW! It's like you're Luke Skydancer!...it was dancer right?")

 

This doesn't mean they won't fix the problem, but as far as communication goes, I expect a one sentence blurp in patch notes at BEST, and that's if anything is actually done about this (which whether or not it will happen remains to be seen.)

[Unseenhands]

I understand about tickets, but my point is that this is a cohesive discussion that has gone on relatively without drama for 125 pages on an internet forum! That shows a level of sophistication in the argument, pinpointing exact problems, showing pro & con videos, etc.

 

A hundred tickets about "I lagged" won't give the clarity this thread has created. This thread hasn't been a whine-fest, and very little trolling. It's actually an important discussion being had between us, and then hopefully (if they're doing it right) Bioware themselves.

 

And (small complaint) every ticket I've sent in has been met by a canned automatic response with no specifics. Maybe it helped, maybe it didn't. But here at least a small consensus is being reached.

[Ignito]

I'm unsubbing if they either:

 

A) Don't acknowledge this is an issue before my 30days are up.

 

B) Class it as a low-prio issue / Give the feeling it won't be fixed for a long time.

 

Simple as that really.

 

 

I pretty much agree, it's game breaking for me, there is no way I could raid or pvp in any meaningful way with the current combat system the way it is.

[ajjw]

I pretty much agree, it's game breaking for me, there is no way I could raid or pvp in any meaningful way with the current combat system the way it is.

Oh, or:

 

C) "It's working as intended."

 

Then I'll be gone so very, very fast.

[TripleOG]

TL;DNR: A compelling case has actually been made for this problem. Yet, devs have been quiet on all fronts (all on vacation?!). Do we think it will be fixed??

 

 

 

So then, here's the question. I think the compelling case has been made about why it doesn't feel fluid and what is causing it (ie animation timing and priority). It's compellingly cut through a ton of the typical forum nonsense.

 

So.... do we think Bioware will even see this or change it based on the priority of those who prefer fluid gameplay or do we think that they are simply going to come out with a post claiming that this is not high on priority and they prefer to have smooth animations?

 

I mean this is the bottom line. For very very many of us, this clunky frustrating play is very serious. I'm very hopeful for this company and this game... but what has me nervous is that they released the game in late December... and then as far as I can tell they just went on vacation for Christmas. I mean... maybe had some sort of crazy office party and then bailed. Yet, I've seen other companies that gear up and plan on and after release that it's going to be some of the busiest times of their lives. They release patches in a rapid fashion. Dev tracking is buzzing with activity as the community managers answer tons of questions.

 

They're fairly quiet. Certainly haven't seen them address much of anything. Yet, because they decided to release it the holiday season... a larger number of people are playing and raising these issues.

 

I'd like to see this issue fixed sooner rather than later, but I suspect that if it gets fixed at all it will be very low priority. LOTRO was out forever before they started addressing their atrocious animation vs. fluidity problem.

 

What's the verdict, folks. Do we think Bioware is going to address this AT ALL and what time frame? Right now, I'm starting to lose hope.

 

 

Well if they dont fix it, those of us who are seriously effected by this will have no reason to play after hitting level cap. As of now, i cant even run a difficult flashpoint untill im like 5-6 levels higher then it was designed for because the delay, and I cant PvP so im stuck grinding quests....soooooo ya.

[Fellthar]

Playing the same game the rest of us are playing?

 

I have a 0.0 queue as well, always have since I started because initially I thought the queue was the problem. Try pvping or doing anything really, because that does not fix the problem.

 

I did... it fixed it for me. I'm sorry that your framerate is bad in pvp, and your connection is laggy, but that is your issue.

[Oneiros_IV]

Just to kick the horse some more.. cause he bloody deserves it.

 

Anyone who was around for WoW launch (vanilla or other) would've noticed 1 thing.. The forums COVERED with BLUE Dev posts.

 

So far all we get is the yellow "we closing this thread" or the occasional hollow update from Reid.

 

In those forums the CS AND DEV team obviously realised it was the greater medium for communication with the fanbase, and yes obviously bug reports and whatnot where also used. They where able to more directly interact with the player base and help get stuff sorted faster and more efficiently.

 

I'd say BW is more used interacting with single-player RPG community along the lines of "Hey I just had sex with female team member will it be possible to go **** in game's sequel?? CHEERS FOR GREAT GAME"

 

MMO players who've seen sights before are quite different. So my guess is that BW isn't sure what to do with it us.

[Fellthar]

Because your animations are shorter than your casts. Not everyone is so lucky.

 

Ability Queue has nothing to do with this issue.

 

Before I lowered my ability queue, the game was unresponsive as heck. You are wrong.

[TripleOG]

I did... it fixed it for me. I'm sorry that your framerate is bad in pvp, and your connection is laggy, but that is your issue.

 

Troll??? Idiot???? one or the other.

[ajjw]

I did... it fixed it for me. I'm sorry that your framerate is bad in pvp, and your connection is laggy, but that is your issue.

Are you truly so naive? People these days.

[Xcore]

Devs aren't responding to anything right now; as I've said before, to respond to this would either mean admitting fault (an impossibility due to corporate environment) or making an excuse ("look at the purty colors and the animations, WOW! It's like you're Luke Skydancer!...it was dancer right?")

 

This doesn't mean they won't fix the problem, but as far as communication goes, I expect a one sentence blurp in patch notes at BEST, and that's if anything is actually done about this (which whether or not it will happen remains to be seen.)

 

This is sad but likely accurate, I hope Bioware sets itself apart with Blizzard and proves you and I wrong in this regard. Honest communication is needed, this is the third time I say this: Gamers are generally quite intelligent, this brewing issue will make or break it and communication (honest) is the first step towards "making" it.

[Arkimor]

I did... it fixed it for me. I'm sorry that your framerate is bad in pvp, and your connection is laggy, but that is your issue.

 

Ignorance is bliss, amirite?

 

Go back and read the thread.

[Fujitasix]

130 pages and there's still people arguing there's no problem. I like Star Wars, too... but I'm not stupid.

[Arkimor]

This is sad but likely accurate, I hope Bioware sets itself apart with Blizzard and proves you and I wrong in this regard. Honest communication is needed, this is the third time I say this: Gamers are generally quite intelligent, this brewing issue will make or break it and communication (honest) is the first step towards "making" it.

 

I'd would love, wholeheartedly, to be proven wrong, I really would! The chances of that though are so slim, I have no choice but to be rather pessimistic of the whole thing.

 

I won't go so far as to say "Gamers are generally quite intelligent" because "gamers" would need to be better defined, but I will agree on the honest communication point. I think honest communication is underestimated now-a-days. Actually, I don't think it is, I KNOW it is.

[Ignito]

Oh, or:

 

C) "It's working as intended."

 

Then I'll be gone so very, very fast.

 

 

I honestly hope not, I love the lore and environment of this game, it blows that other mmo that I wont' name out of the water in that regard.

[Xcore]

Before I lowered my ability queue, the game was unresponsive as heck. You are wrong.

 

At this point, I too would recommend reading through 20-50 pages first. I know its a pain but the discussion and understanding of this issue has been analysed quite well and evolved over the course of 120+ pages.

 

When you have hundreds, perhaps thousands of players Brainstorming (once again, gamers are generally quite intelligent) you can't help but bear fruit at the end of a serious discussion.

 

 

Ignoring the past 120+ and next pages would be very foolish of Bioware, a response to open the lines of communication would be their best course of action.

[Xcore]

I'd would love, wholeheartedly, to be proven wrong, I really would! The chances of that though are so slim, I have no choice but to be rather pessimistic of the whole thing.

 

I won't go so far as to say "Gamers are generally quite intelligent" because "gamers" would need to be better defined, but I will agree on the honest communication point. I think honest communication is underestimated now-a-days. Actually, I don't think it is, I KNOW it is.

 

You're right on the intelligence of gamers, I spoke too soon and out of passion but I would regard the intelligence level of this discussion above average and perhaps the MMO gamer or Hardcore Gamer is what I meant.

[ajjw]

I honestly hope not, I love the lore and environment of this game, it blows that other mmo that I wont' name out of the water in that regard.

Lore and environment are nice I won't argue.

 

But personally I'm only really interested in high-end Ops and PvP. Battling through this obtrusive combat system is not worth the hassle for me, so :-/

 

To each their own.