davidp_newton Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 We now have a much clearer idea of what is coming this year in terms of content for this game from Bioware. We know that patch 3.3 is scheduled for 21st July, maintaining the 11 week patch cadence we have seen since 3.0 more or less. Patch 3.3 has the Yavin stronghold, may have the Togruta race in it and has the PvP gear cost revamp. The Yavin stronghold is new content, albeit not particularly meaty new content and that is the only new content guaranteed for patch 3.3. We also know that Knights of the Fallen Empire is scheduled for general release on 27th October with early access starting on 20th October. However there are implications for new content in the game which those dates enforce which a lot of people don't seem to have realised. After patch 3.3 had things continued along for Shadow of Revan the next content patch would have been 3.4 to be released 11 weeks after 21st July. When is 11 weeks after 21st July? 6th October. I hardly think that patch 3.4 would be released 2 weeks before early access for the next expansion is due to start which means that patch 3.3 is likely the last "content" patch for Shadow of Revan. What are the implications for the game if patch 3.3 and KotFE are the only remaining content for the year? For those who play the game for class story the implications are that they will get a lot of new content to go through and provided that content is of good quality they are likely to be very happy. That is what Bioware have said they are aiming for and so far, so good. What about those who PvP in the game? The revamp of gear cost is an attempt to revitalise PvP in this game, no doubt. I don't know if it will work, but given the lack of support that PvP has received over the past couple of years, plus the fact that there is no new PvP content on the horizon in either 3.3 or KotFE if current indications are true strongly vitiates against it succeeding. What about those who do PvE endgame in the game? The situation looks extremely bleak for endgame PvE at the moment. If 3.3 is the last patch of Shadow of Revan then there will be no more level 60 raid content. No second tier and certainly no nightmare modes. Worse by far is what is KotFE is a harbinger of. In the information about KotFE it strongly indicates that current operations and HM flashpoints will all be scaled up to level 65 when the expansion hits. It trumpets this as giving "more choice" in elder game content. Only problem with that line is by the time the expansion hits everyone who regularly does endgame PvE content will be heartily sick of the current content. Scaling this content up to level 65 will not provide anything new. If there are new flashpoints they likely to be tactical flashpoints integrated into the story in the same manner as Blood Hunt and Battle of Rishi. What does that leave those who do endgame PvE content with to do? Nothing at all. Now we come to the real kicker and what makes me extremely concerned for the future of the game. Those who PvP and do PvE endgame content are a minority in the game, there is no doubt of that. Let's assume that the story content of KotFE is brilliant in its plot and execution. What could be better for those who enjoy story in the game? What could possibly go wrong? The thing that will most likely go wrong is the incentive to subscribe to the game consistently being taken away. Personally speaking between character slot unlocks, bag unlocks, bank unlocks and crafting unlocks I have more than enough to keep a character of each class available to play through story content with no problems as a preferred player. PvP is of no interest to me, so it is irrelevant in terms of subscriber benefits and incentives for me. If flashpoints and operations go as outlined in the previous paragraph then there will be no new PvE content and I am likely to be extremely bored of the current PvE content by then. Consequently scaling it all to level 65 will not provide any new incentive to do it, making subscriber benefits and incentives for that irrelevant as well. What is then left as an incentive to subscribe to the game? The only real answer that I can think of is unlocking new story content with each new chapter release. However Bioware have potentially shot themselves in the foot here as well. As I read things any time you subscribe for a month the story content that has been released up to and including that point will become available. If your subscription then lapses that story content remains available on your account permanently. If Bioware do maintain the cadence of monthly releases of story content what is to stop people subscribing in such a manner that one subscription period covers two content releases? The worst that they might have to do is to delay starting a subscription by a couple of days so that it catches two months' worth of content inside its span. That instantly cuts the subscription revenue from the player concerned by half and it assumes that Bioware manage to maintain the monthly release cadence. Past form would suggest they will not be able to do so. If that monthly release cadence slips to longer periods the subscription revenue loss outlined above would get worse as people would need to maintain a subscription for less than half the time to fully experience the story content of the game. Naturally I don't know what the split between subscription revenue, subscriber cartel market purchase revenue and non-subscriber cartel market purchase revenue is. However if Bioware does end up in a situation like outlined in the previous paragraph where they lose a significant proportion of subscription revenue then it is likely to be very bad for the game's future. I don't know if it would be terminal for the game's future, but that is a real possibility. Bioware releasing a lot more story content for the game is fantastic, but they need to be very careful they don't fall into the trap of spiraling loss of subscriber revenue outlined above. Going free to play to save the game isn't an option a second time. 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JediSnaps Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 As to your point about cutting the sub in half of sorts by canceling and resubbing to get caught up, I suppose Bioware could go the same route as gw2 does with their living story. When it's released, if you log in and play it, it is unlocked. However, if you don't log in, it then becomes locked (after a certain time, can't remember offhand) and only available through their store to get that episode. Now sure, you can skip an episode and play the next, but if you are enjoying the story, why would you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidp_newton Posted June 17, 2015 Author Share Posted June 17, 2015 As to your point about cutting the sub in half of sorts by canceling and resubbing to get caught up, I suppose Bioware could go the same route as gw2 does with their living story. When it's released, if you log in and play it, it is unlocked. However, if you don't log in, it then becomes locked (after a certain time, can't remember offhand) and only available through their store to get that episode. Now sure, you can skip an episode and play the next, but if you are enjoying the story, why would you? You misunderstand what I am saying. I am not saying that people don't log in for a month in between subscription periods. I am saying that people play the game as preferred status during the period they are not subscribed. If they time their subscription periods correctly they will get all the content for half the price. Also you have to remember that Guild Wars 2 is fundamentally different from SWTOR in that it is buy-to-play rather than free-to-play. You do not have to make any purchase to play SWTOR. You do to play GW2. So people would be subscribed for half the time at half the cost, and playing all the content. The worst that would happen to them would be delaying activating a subscription period for a few days to make sure that two content releases fall within that single subscription period. That is the problem that I fear Bioware will run into with this strategy and content model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobs_YourUncle Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 What about those who PvP in the game? The revamp of gear cost is an attempt to revitalise PvP in this game, no doubt. I don't know if it will work, but given the lack of support that PvP has received over the past couple of years, plus the fact that there is no new PvP content on the horizon in either 3.3 or KotFE if current indications are true strongly vitiates against it succeeding. Its not just a gear revamp, but also some tweaking to pvp itself. AoE capping and Ranked eligibility to name a couple off the top of my head. The overall changes should increase the participation in PvP, and I tend to think they are going to see how much more popular PvP becomes before deciding to release more pvp content, but at the same time they could be working on that now, it is a separate team than those that work on story. What about those who do PvE endgame in the game? The situation looks extremely bleak for endgame PvE at the moment. If 3.3 is the last patch of Shadow of Revan then there will be no more level 60 raid content. No second tier and certainly no nightmare modes. Worse by far is what is KotFE is a harbinger of. In the information about KotFE it strongly indicates that current operations and HM flashpoints will all be scaled up to level 65 when the expansion hits. It trumpets this as giving "more choice" in elder game content. Only problem with that line is by the time the expansion hits everyone who regularly does endgame PvE content will be heartily sick of the current content. Scaling this content up to level 65 will not provide anything new. If there are new flashpoints they likely to be tactical flashpoints integrated into the story in the same manner as Blood Hunt and Battle of Rishi. What does that leave those who do endgame PvE content with to do? Nothing at all. I believe its a huge assumption you are making about PvE endgame. They only said they are focusing on story. They did not say they were not doing any ops or fps anytime soon, they specifically said that that aspect is being worked on too, or "not forgotten" maybe, but at the very least its just not the main focus. Still a focus. Of course they should prioritize what they do do for the game towards what is most popular about the game, but they can do multiple things at once. Has there ever been a story arc that did not contain at least one FP or Op? Is there anything to lead us to think there wont be an op tied to the last part of the RotE story, or any part of the first 9 chapters or so of this new expansion besides the fact they did not specifically say there was one coming? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidp_newton Posted June 17, 2015 Author Share Posted June 17, 2015 Its not just a gear revamp, but also some tweaking to pvp itself. AoE capping and Ranked eligibility to name a couple off the top of my head. The overall changes should increase the participation in PvP, and I tend to think they are going to see how much more popular PvP becomes before deciding to release more pvp content, but at the same time they could be working on that now, it is a separate team than those that work on story. I believe its a huge assumption you are making about PvE endgame. They only said they are focusing on story. They did not say they were not doing any ops or fps anytime soon, they specifically said that that aspect is being worked on too, or "not forgotten" maybe, but at the very least its just not the main focus. Still a focus. Of course they should prioritize what they do do for the game towards what is most popular about the game, but they can do multiple things at once. Has there ever been a story arc that did not contain at least one FP or Op? Is there anything to lead us to think there wont be an op tied to the last part of the RotE story, or any part of the first 9 chapters or so of this new expansion besides the fact they did not specifically say there was one coming? True there are the AOE capping changes and the ranked 2018 expertise anti-troll requirement. We will have to wait and see how those pan out. As for the PVE, it is not an assumption, it is a deduction based on the current information we have. In the information about KotFE they trumpet about scaling up current ops and flashpoint content, but they don't say anything about new ops content. Why do they not say anything about new ops and flashpoint content? Consider the equivalent launch pages for Shadow of Revan and Knights of the Fallen Empire. Shadow of Revan has the following to say about flashpoints and operations, "Fight in New High-Level Flashpoints and Operations – Team with allies to face the most epic foes in the galaxy with two new role-neutral Flashpoints, four Hard Mode Flashpoints and ten new powerful bosses across two Level 60 Operations. " Fallen Empire has the following to say about flashpoints and operations, "". It says absolutely nothing about them on the equivalent page. To find any information at all about flashpoints and operations you need to go to a news article on the SWTOR site about the expansion where it says the following, "Additionally, many of our existing Flashpoints and Operations are being scaled to 60+, giving you many more Elder Game options at Level 65." Somewhat of a difference isn't it. There is an emphasis on story in this expansion, but consider that with Shadow of Revan many people assumed there would be a warzone of some kind because it had been so long since the launch of the last new one, despite the fact that nowhere on the launch page is a warzone mentioned. Was there a warzone in Shadow of Revan? The story focus, plus the complete lack of any information about new operations or even new flashpoints leads me to believe that there may well not be any in Fallen Empire. I am not and I can't categorically say that, but in my view it is the most likely situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dewayne Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 but they did say interview there will be new flashpoints and ops and pvp just not this year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobs_YourUncle Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 True there are the AOE capping changes and the ranked 2018 expertise anti-troll requirement. We will have to wait and see how those pan out. As for the PVE, it is not an assumption, it is a deduction based on the current information we have. In the information about KotFE they trumpet about scaling up current ops and flashpoint content, but they don't say anything about new ops content. Why do they not say anything about new ops and flashpoint content? Consider the equivalent launch pages for Shadow of Revan and Knights of the Fallen Empire. Shadow of Revan has the following to say about flashpoints and operations, "Fight in New High-Level Flashpoints and Operations – Team with allies to face the most epic foes in the galaxy with two new role-neutral Flashpoints, four Hard Mode Flashpoints and ten new powerful bosses across two Level 60 Operations. " Fallen Empire has the following to say about flashpoints and operations, "". It says absolutely nothing about them on the equivalent page. To find any information at all about flashpoints and operations you need to go to a news article on the SWTOR site about the expansion where it says the following, "Additionally, many of our existing Flashpoints and Operations are being scaled to 60+, giving you many more Elder Game options at Level 65." Somewhat of a difference isn't it. There is an emphasis on story in this expansion, but consider that with Shadow of Revan many people assumed there would be a warzone of some kind because it had been so long since the launch of the last new one, despite the fact that nowhere on the launch page is a warzone mentioned. Was there a warzone in Shadow of Revan? The story focus, plus the complete lack of any information about new operations or even new flashpoints leads me to believe that there may well not be any in Fallen Empire. I am not and I can't categorically say that, but in my view it is the most likely situation. ITs still an assumption, the degree of which is based on its relation to evidence. Anyways, yes I get all that, but you still have to leap to the conclusion that they are not working on ops, despite them saying that they are in fact not forgetting about ops, etc. You leapt to the conclusion they meant put on backburner with no work being done on it, while I choose to believe that they meant scaling it down in priority of resources. Since they haven't specified in either way, it is inherently assuming to say they will not release new end game content this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidp_newton Posted June 17, 2015 Author Share Posted June 17, 2015 but they did say interview there will be new flashpoints and ops and pvp just not this year Too late. There should already have been more ops content released or at the very latest to be released within a very few weeks. Not only is that not the case, but there will almost certainly be no more before Fallen Empire and it even looks like Fallen Empire will not release with any new raiding content. It will be like the PvP community with no one left doing serious raiding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GripenWard Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Too late. There should already have been more ops content released or at the very latest to be released within a very few weeks. Not only is that not the case, but there will almost certainly be no more before Fallen Empire and it even looks like Fallen Empire will not release with any new raiding content. It will be like the PvP community with no one left doing serious raiding. Cause screw content if it's not the type of content you want AIMRIGHT? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psychopyro Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 The overall changes should increase the participation in PvP, and I tend to think they are going to see how much more popular PvP becomes before deciding to release more pvp content, but at the same time they could be working on that now, it is a separate team than those that work on story. Really, I doubt it.... I was going to probably PvP more because of the reduced grind and get me a set of gear... However because of the level cap increase, it means a new set of PvP gear. Which means more grinding. Which means why bother grinding out for gear that will now be useless 3 months from when the patch is supposed to go live. Assuming the cost is going to stay roughly the same for the new gear, I *might* get just enough comms to get a set of the level 65 PvP gear when the patch goes live. That is *IF* they let us keep those comms when the expansion goes live. As it stands, I am probably still out for PvP at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidp_newton Posted June 17, 2015 Author Share Posted June 17, 2015 Cause screw content if it's not the type of content you want AIMRIGHT? I'm afraid that both your aim and your spelling are off. It is not just raiding content that there has been precious little of since 3.0, it is all content. This is not just a raiding or a PvP problem, it is a general problem with the game. It looks like this expansion will deal with the story content issue, but I've laid out why I think the way they are doing it could catch them out above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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