Interview with Alex Modny and Eric Musco on Bad Feeling Podcast

[idnewton]

Hardmode sparky the adds NEED to die fast, the stacks don't go away and you will melt.

Bulo: no

Torque: hardmode, turrets pop up on the panels and need to die fast as they can enrage

M&B: no

Cortani: no

Malaphar: the red circle doesn't one shot the adds in hardmode, need to be aoed down

SS: no

Underlurker: if a tank positions correctly you can hit the boss and two adds with AoE

Commanders: in hardmode adds enrage need to die ASAP especially in the burn phase since they don't stop spawning

Revan: no

 

So half the bosses

 

Yep, those were the ones I was thinking of. Decided I'd keep it simple and say at least half rather than list them. I wasn't totally sure about Revan/Coratanni though, as I haven't beaten them (or even tried), which is why I played it safe and said at least half.

Edited May 31, 2015 by idnewton

[Lyons_Crest]

Upcoming PvP Changes:

 

Goals are to increase pvp population, increase competitiveness, and speed up pvp progression:

 

1. PvP Gear Cost Reduction (33% reduction for exhumed, 81% reduction for Dark Reaver)

2. Dark Reaver will now be bought with WZ comms, ranked comms are removed from the game entirely.

3. Warzone XP and Credit gain are being doubled.

4. They are adding Warzone Commendation Lockboxes which will allow you to transfer wz comms throughout your legacy.

5. RANKED CHANGE: You must have 2018 expertise to queue for ranked now.

 

1- thru 5 are excellent changes and will be very helpful to many in the pvp community. I feel that this provides a lot of incentive to pvp throughout all levels (even low and mid be again) and hopefully should allow players to gear up faster.

 

6. RANKED CHANGE: Starting in Season 6, the way ranked rewards are distributed is being changed. You will now be getting ranked tokens which you can trade in for a variety of different rewards. The amount you get at the end of the season is based on your rating, but you also will get tokens after every ranked match. A bronze player could theoretically get enough tokens to get the gold speeder, but they would need to play A LOT of games. However, there will still be one exclusive reward per rating tier. Top 96 players get one of every item.

 

I like this idea of the token reward and I think many players would enjoy the opportunity to obtain other seasonal rewards as well. I also feel that this will boost the pvp morale as well by allowing players a chance to que and gain a reward - while allowing the games 2% elitist the chance to maintain their pvp rating as well.

 

 

7. AOE's in warzones can no longer interrupt captures. Justification is that it will make stalemates less common. (they would like some feedback on this)

 

Number 7.... I don't like this idea and I only see this causing problems. At present many players feel that the game is dominated by " stuns" and too many at that. I can only imagine how many people will put in tickets of the " would be hackers" that capped while they were taken damage. No ... LOL I don't like this idea and feel it would do more harm than good.

 

3. According to Bioware, their metrics indicate that snipers are performing really well despite the community's perception.

 

I would say trust the community on this subject over the metrics. Those same metrics suggested Mara's and Sents were doing well and those classes still need balancing and help with survivability.

 

5. The devs would like to hear your thoughts on whether rewards from previous ranked PvP seasons should become available again. Their current stance is that they feel these should remain exclusive but are open to feedback.

 

I'm sure many people would be happy to compete for those rewards, there was a huge demand for the " Season 3 Rewards" As many people missed out on them.

[DariusCalera]

Hardmode sparky the adds NEED to die fast, the stacks don't go away and you will melt.

Bulo: no

Torque: hardmode, turrets pop up on the panels and need to die fast as they can enrage

M&B: no

Cortani: no

Malaphar: the red circle doesn't one shot the adds in hardmode, need to be aoed down

SS: no

Underlurker: if a tank positions correctly you can hit the boss and two adds with AoE

Commanders: in hardmode adds enrage need to die ASAP especially in the burn phase since they don't stop spawning

Revan: no

 

So half the bosses

 

On the ones you mentioned, the adds go down far faster if you single target and burn.

 

Other than the Commanders that is since I already said it was the most useful there.

Edited May 31, 2015 by DariusCalera

[AlrikFassbauer]

This isn't ranked warzones, putting this level of skill and communication required into unranked warzones is a mistake.

 

I agree. Unranked becomes more & more a mere farming field for Ranked players.

 

The Cattle and the Farmer.

[AlrikFassbauer]

I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it.

 

Pointer Sisters

[mmmbuddah]

I agree. Unranked becomes more & more a mere farming field for Ranked players.

 

The Cattle and the Farmer.

 

I wonder if BW will actually listen and not go through with those changes. It seems the majority are already vastly against the AOE change.

[idnewton]

On the ones you mentioned, the adds go down far faster if you single target and burn.

No, they don't, by the definition of an AOE.

 

We're talking about Hardmode progression-level content with a group comp that can support these strategies. Regardless of whether you main a class that can support these strategies, they are viable strategies (arguably optimal ones at that), and the fact of the matter is that the suggestion to put every AOE on a cooldown is both shortsighted and absurd.

Edited May 31, 2015 by idnewton

[Grayseven]

Hardmode sparky the adds NEED to die fast, the stacks don't go away and you will melt.

Bulo: no

Torque: hardmode, turrets pop up on the panels and need to die fast as they can enrage

M&B: no

Cortani: no

Malaphar: the red circle doesn't one shot the adds in hardmode, need to be aoed down

SS: no

Underlurker: if a tank positions correctly you can hit the boss and two adds with AoE

Commanders: in hardmode adds enrage need to die ASAP especially in the burn phase since they don't stop spawning

Revan: no

 

So half the bosses

 

If you are using AoE spam on the Sparky adds in HM, you are doing it wrong. If you aren't focus targeting one add at a time, you are allowing too many stacks to be spread across too many toons. We down Sparky easily without AoE spam.

 

With Malaphar, AoE is helpful but not necessary. Again, focus targeting melts the adds quickly to allow your DPS to get back to Malaphar.

 

Torque turrets, again while AoE is nice, the spacing on the turrets tends to negate AoE spam. Their low HP pools also allow multiple players to use AoE to negate the energy drain of just one person doing it. You don't need AoE spam with multiple AoE's available...almost everyone has one.

 

With Underlurker, the longer the adds stay up, the more raid damage going out. AoE's do not put out the DPS of single target attacks. Again, while AoE is nice, it isn't as effective as focus targeting and melting the adds.

 

On top of it all, the energy cost of AoE spam quickly destroys energy pools for all but Sorc/Sage.

[shyroman]

If you are using AoE spam on the Sparky adds in HM, you are doing it wrong. If you aren't focus targeting one add at a time, you are allowing too many stacks to be spread across too many toons. We down Sparky easily without AoE spam.

 

With Malaphar, AoE is helpful but not necessary. Again, focus targeting melts the adds quickly to allow your DPS to get back to Malaphar.

 

Torque turrets, again while AoE is nice, the spacing on the turrets tends to negate AoE spam. Their low HP pools also allow multiple players to use AoE to negate the energy drain of just one person doing it. You don't need AoE spam with multiple AoE's available...almost everyone has one.

 

With Underlurker, the longer the adds stay up, the more raid damage going out. AoE's do not put out the DPS of single target attacks. Again, while AoE is nice, it isn't as effective as focus targeting and melting the adds.

 

On top of it all, the energy cost of AoE spam quickly destroys energy pools for all but Sorc/Sage.

 

Snipers have no problem with aoe and their energy, and with each of the bosses above except for sparky, suppressive fire does really well with damage without negatively affecting the raid.

 

Torque: being able to hit 3 turrets plus either torque or a fire device is a huge damage boost, just hitting 3 targets is a dps boost and only the the shoots lasers are a must kill immediately so aoe does not hurt, if you are able to hit 4 or even 5 targets, nothing compares to aoe.

 

Malaphar: dot spread on the 3 adds makes energy not a problem and then suppressive fire on top of that adds damage and it's not like so much damage is going out that the heals are struggling, or at least I hope not.

 

Underlurker: just like torque, if the tank puts lurker between 2 adds so that 3 targets can be hit, suppressive fire spam works wonders, but this is also assuming that the other dps aren't bad and the adds are getting down in time. If the group is struggling enough on adds that they need to be single targeted, chances are the total dps will not be enough to beat enrage.

[Danery]

If you are using AoE spam on the Sparky adds in HM, you are doing it wrong. If you aren't focus targeting one add at a time, you are allowing too many stacks to be spread across too many toons. We down Sparky easily without AoE spam.

 

With Malaphar, AoE is helpful but not necessary. Again, focus targeting melts the adds quickly to allow your DPS to get back to Malaphar.

 

Torque turrets, again while AoE is nice, the spacing on the turrets tends to negate AoE spam. Their low HP pools also allow multiple players to use AoE to negate the energy drain of just one person doing it. You don't need AoE spam with multiple AoE's available...almost everyone has one.

 

With Underlurker, the longer the adds stay up, the more raid damage going out. AoE's do not put out the DPS of single target attacks. Again, while AoE is nice, it isn't as effective as focus targeting and melting the adds.

 

On top of it all, the energy cost of AoE spam quickly destroys energy pools for all but Sorc/Sage.

 

Just because its possible to do it one way does not make doing it a different way any less of a good strategy or a viable strategy. The last thing PvE groups need is another nerf to the way they do mechanics solely because of PvP. PvPers make fun of "PvE Warriors" who come into Warzones yet have no problems demanding changes that would negatively iimpact a portion of the game they dont care about

[TUXs]

The objectives in this game will be won by who can stack more people on top of each other in order to cap. You definitely won't be able to tab target through all of them and you can't click on them. Then the other team does the same.

 

Or how many people can you stack in a corner of a bunker and cap?

 

It is not gonna work well at all, AoE interrupts need to stay.

I don't know if this change will hurt or help over time, but I don't believe 1 player with AOE spam should be able to hold off 8 other players from capping an objective like they can now. I'm in favor of trying this. Players will adapt.

 

Someone made a good point. AOE that have a CD should still be able to break caps. AOEs that can be spammed should not break caps.

This would be a good compromise.

Edited June 1, 2015 by TUXs

[Anishor]

Should crafted grenades still interrupt capping?

[TUXs]

Should crafted grenades still interrupt capping?

 

2-min timer...yes.

[Anishor]

I think i like the compromise, of course, hopefully they can implement it without causing adverse effects on gameplay.

[DarrelK]

I think it is about time we get Duo Queue in ranked. Solo should be Solo/Duo Queue. There are literally no drawbacks to this, if implemented correctly, with the appropriate rating weight and matchmaking, in a similar way to the one implemented in League of Legends, for example (imo it's an example of a good solo/duo queue system). The only serious difference is that League is 5v5, SWTOR ranked is 4v4. And it's not impossible to fix/change... or heck, it's not even such a big deal. Fixing 40% or 50% of your team isn't much of a difference. This would also probably eliminate "queue syncing." I'm pretty sure it would lead to more people queuing for ranked, for various reasons.

[Anishor]

I think it is about time we get Duo Queue in ranked. Solo should be Solo/Duo Queue. There are literally no drawbacks to this, if implemented correctly, with the appropriate rating weight and matchmaking, in a similar way to the one implemented in League of Legends, for example (imo it's an example of a good solo/duo queue system). The only serious difference is that League is 5v5, SWTOR ranked is 4v4. And it's not impossible to fix/change... or heck, it's not even such a big deal. Fixing 40% or 50% of your team isn't much of a difference. This would also probably eliminate "queue syncing." I'm pretty sure it would lead to more people queuing for ranked, for various reasons.

 

You mean aside from the fact that most non-stealth classes won't stand a frackin chance? Sap one, kill the other.

[Jadescythe]

You mean aside from the fact that most non-stealth classes won't stand a frackin chance? Sap one, kill the other.

 

I think his idea is still 4v4, but with a duo option. He reference League and in ranked solo queue, you have the option to queue with 1 other player. Only 1 duo queue will be put on a team, so it would be 1 duo and two solos on a team or 4 solos.

 

Not advocating for it, just explaining.

[Lalainnia]

I wonder if those f2p unlimited warzone uses will ever be a thing

[Jadescythe]

I wonder if those f2p unlimited warzone uses will ever be a thing

 

In the data metric interview that was posted to the forums, they noted that 1.5% of F2Pers are hitting the warzone cap. This wouldn't have an impact on WZ population, but would detract from the advantages of being a subscriber so they have no plans to pursue that avenue at this time.

[-Bob-]

I wonder how much the lag affects the data metric BW uses. It certainly affects a players ability to respond in certain situations.

[stephenalandavie]

I am wondering about wz comms limits the restrictions we have in place will they be removed? increased?.

[Jadescythe]

I am wondering about wz comms limits the restrictions we have in place will they be removed? increased?.

 

Already answered earlier.

 

Ranked Comms will be converted automatically at a 1:1 ratio when 3.3 goes Live. In addition, the Warzone Comm limit is being raised to 200,000. And if some player has more than that then there will be a soft cap where the comms will be added but more can't be gained until under the cap. For players in this extreme situation they can purchase the new Warzone Comm Legacy Lockboxes detailed in the podcast to get under the cap on a certain character if they have no gear, medpacs or vanity items they wish to purchase.

[stephenalandavie]

Already answered earlier.

 

Nice must of missed that bit.

[Akulakha]

So...along with these pvp changes r there any possibilites of fixing commando included atlast or r we gonna have to wait another bloody decade before commandos become more viable?

[TUXs]

So...along with these pvp changes r there any possibilites of fixing commando included atlast or r we gonna have to wait another bloody decade before commandos become more viable?

 

Alex seems to have moved on to GSF already, so I have drawn my own conclusion on my Commando getting any help...ever.