Dev post about forthcoming article has been deleted...

[MeNaCe-NZ]

I am fairly confident that someone will beat me to it (you folks are crazy quick when it comes to summaries), but after the stream I will do a follow-up in the thread which has some of the key things we cover. Remember that we also archive all of the streams as well so you are welcome to watch them after the fact.

 

-eric

 

Wouldn't it be possible for you to have someone summarise the "official" announced parts you bring to the stream before the stream then just release it after the stream to keep everyone in the loop and stop this crazy word of mouth that's going on?

 

I mean on one hand you say no one should speak about any data that is basically not officially released and on the other hand you have staff actively leaking information at events like the recent GDC based on what we read on Dulfy's website - I'm yet of course to see any of that "officially released" or even confirmed the staff actually spoke to these people but then you have miners basically confirming the leaks and well yes ... you can see that you have a problem on your hands.

 

So why not help prevent this word of mouth spreading of information by first tidying up what staff within Bioware go around telling people "privately" and pre-empt what's going to occur at streams etc. and have summaries pre-written.

You know what you're going to talk about ( I certainly hope anyway, would hate to think you go into any of these things without a plan ) so you should have no problem releasing these notes as the stream runs or just after it concludes thereby cutting off the word of mouth aspect of summaries etc. and any room for "misinterpretation".

 

Of course you can't control Q&A ahead of time etc. but that can't be helped and I guess you would really rely on the community to summarise that but again I would doubt you would be answering questions or givings answers to questions about items you've not previously "officially" spoken of to begin with ( like staff at GDC did ) because this is where issues and rumours arise and what drives people towards looking at mining for confirmation of rumours.

[Transcendent]

Eric, I'm happy with the notion that BioWare doesn't want to divulge spoilers...or at least very many of them. That's pretty much always a good idea in my book.

 

However, in the opinion of this subscriber, I think the the lack of details regarding almost any of the mechanics changes (itemizations, crafting, companions, flashpoints, operations, questing, new skills, etc.), which we know much exist in any expansion, even without ToS breaking data mining. continues a relatively long history of poor communication between BioWare and the players.

 

Silence is never the right decision, yet for some reason, it continues to be the position your company chooses with all too much frequency. Can you please offer some explanation why BioWare believes this is the BEST course of action, despite continued requests from the community to be more open?

 

This sums it up nicely for me.

 

Sadly, larger organisations tend to ignore the feedback being fed up the chain, unless they are losing market share. Seems to be the case within BioWare as well, which results in losing customers that they will probably not regain at a future point in time.

 

On the issue of communication though, you would have thought that the marketing team would want to be providing as much spoiler free detail as possible, to help generate interest / potential revenue streams. Instead they seem more interested in spamming Twitter (and probably Facebook which I refuse to use).

 

Would be nice if they used the official game website / forums on the more important things related to this game.

[Exly]

I am fairly confident that someone will beat me to it (you folks are crazy quick when it comes to summaries), but after the stream I will do a follow-up in the thread which has some of the key things we cover. Remember that we also archive all of the streams as well so you are welcome to watch them after the fact.

 

-eric

 

Why don't you put down the string cheese for a couple of minutes and prepare your post in advance of the live stream. Then you could release it to coincide with the live stream and we would have your official version of the information before anyone else has a chance to summarize it.

[TheSeventhJedi]

Some others in the thread have guessed correctly. The thread where I made that post got out of control. Lot's of people doing things and making posts which were against the rules so we opted to have the thread removed.

 

I know there is frustration right now about the amount of information you have. We are actively working on gathering details around a lot of the questions you have and will start releasing them very soon. I will have specifics in the next few days, but you will start getting more details about some of the nitty gritty things with our live stream next week and beyond.

 

-eric

 

 

Like Gamescom - right?

[Rafaman]

That is possibly the worst analogy anybody has ever made.

 

No, comparing it to how McDonlads hides their Mcrib until the holidays would be the worst analogy.

[ikinai]

No, comparing it to how McDonlads hides their Mcrib until the holidays would be the worst analogy.

 

Wait, did you just say the McRib is Ronald McDonalds actual rib? I'm pretty sure that's what I just read. That is one magical rib, no wonder people like it.

[Andryah]

On the issue of communication though, you would have thought that the marketing team would want to be providing as much spoiler free detail as possible, to help generate interest / potential revenue streams. Instead they seem more interested in spamming Twitter (and probably Facebook which I refuse to use).

 

For the people getting so worked up about lack of information.. most of what they are asking for (demanding is more like it) falls into the area of spoilers (mild or major) IMO. That includes changes to game mechanics... which frankly.. nobody needs to know before 4.0 actually goes live.

 

I get that people want to know everything..... but they in no way NEED to know everything. And some people have said flat out they want the information so that they can prepare ahead of time... in effect to get a jump on everyone else.... particularly crafters.

 

Besides.. any information given will just generate wild speculation, tantrums, and demands for clarifications and more information.

 

I would like more information as well.. but I understand that it simply satisfies curiosity... it really does not impact my current game play and it cannot be played until 4.0 goes live anyway.

Edited August 18, 2015 by Andryah

[MandFlurry]

The Devs are taking bets on how many subs they will lose by keeping all the info locked up lol.......wonder what will happen when they start laying their staff off from the drop in money and subs.....

 

And there in lies the Truth.

[Reno_Tarshil]

And there in lies the Truth.

 

Speculation is truth now?

[Cylluz]

Some others in the thread have guessed correctly. The thread where I made that post got out of control. Lot's of people doing things and making posts which were against the rules so we opted to have the thread removed.

 

I know there is frustration right now about the amount of information you have. We are actively working on gathering details around a lot of the questions you have and will start releasing them very soon. I will have specifics in the next few days, but you will start getting more details about some of the nitty gritty things with our live stream next week and beyond.

 

-eric

 

My apprehension about this expansion is completely my own fault. I chose to get info from data mined sources. I chose not to wait for official sources. That's my end of the story.

 

But... the information is out there. Incomplete as it may be, it is out there. Bioware/Eric did say that more info would be coming as we got to gamescon... and then something changed. Either the droppings we got from the folks that attended gamescon were all we were intended to get or the plan to release info was changed. Either way Bioware lost it's opportunity to control the flow of information and the perception of that information.

 

Some of that information is disconcerting. And it raises questions that we don't have answers to: Which companions are we losing? Is that loss permanent? Did people waste time and creds raising companion affection? How are the changes to the companion system going to affect crafting? Did people waste cash purchasing CM gear for our companions that we will lose? What will happen to dyes (black/black & white/white) that are in the gear that is on our companions that are now locked into those pieces of armour? Did we really waste the cash on those or is there a plan to unbind those dyes or refund the CC? Will we actually have a choice to use the items lost to our companions as we see fit or is it going to sit in our inventories bound to an item that we may or may not be able to use on our 'new' companions?

 

The end result, for me at least, is that I've gone from excited about this expansion to apprehensive. This feeling of apprehension is totally my own fault... but better communication about information that you had to (did) know would be mined sure would have helped. You (bioware,) have admitted in interviews that you have a kind of love/hate relationship with dataminers... so you knew this would happen and still all we've gotten is "Soon™".

 

I'll keep playing, stay subbed and continue to look forward to the expansion and the story. But I'd (we'd, some of us anyway) really appreciate some answers about the info that is already out there and how it's going to affect me (us).

Like 2 weeks ago...

Edited August 18, 2015 by Cylluz

[HKtheindomitable]

Speculation is truth now?

 

Answer: This is the internet. Anything is truth. No matter how off the wall.

[HKtheindomitable]

For the people getting so worked up about lack of information.. most of what they are asking for (demanding is more like it) falls into the area of spoilers (mild or major) IMO. That includes changes to game mechanics... which frankly.. nobody needs to know before 4.0 actually goes live.

 

I get that people want to know everything..... but they in no way NEED to know everything. And some people have said flat out they want the information so that they can prepare ahead of time... in effect to get a jump on everyone else.... particularly crafters.

 

Besides.. any information given will just generate wild speculation, tantrums, and demands for clarifications and more information.

 

I would like more information as well.. but I understand that it simply satisfies curiosity... it really does not impact my current game play and it cannot be played until 4.0 goes live anyway.

 

Agreement: I have no words. This is well put. It is exactly what has happened in the past, and will happen again and again.

[MandFlurry]

remember how secretive about the "super secret space project" they were? that went over well. keeping secrets forces people to try to imagine in their head what the update will be like. if they dont tell us what we are getting, it will always be short of someones fantasy version of the update. then they get pissed and quit. bioware will never learn.

 

You've Lost all Facts.

 

1) The Space.Expansion was very well recieved by about 98% of ppl in the Forums and Most Subs. As a Lot of ppl were thinking the GSG would/ could be as good as the SWG version of JTL.

 

2) Biggest FACT of All is that this IS NOT an Expansion, as Much as Is Another Version of SWTOR, but now it will be a Single Player game with 1 Storyline, with most Mechanics in how this SWTOR 2 will be Totally different than SWTOR.

 

Fanbois Are always the ppl in the end that in This case will look like they have no real intelligence, as they Refuse, or Won't Admit that they are wrong, because the Facts of how bad this SWTOR 2 will be with No Class stories. We see Fanbois banding together and attacking others, and trying to get their Posts deleted because of the Awful Truth.

 

I used to be a Fanboi once. I know how fanbois come together like gangsters in a way, to try and shut the dissenters away.

 

I used to love this game, now it makes me sick, and can't hardly even Log-in, because of what Is to Come.

[MandFlurry]

Speculation is truth now?

 

Confirmed by the Devs in Interviews, boy. You have a Lot to learn.

[Reno_Tarshil]

Confirmed by the Devs in Interviews, boy. You have a Lot to learn.

 

So where was it confirmed by the Devs in interviews that they are taking bets?

 

You have a lot to learn, girl. Speculation =/= Truth, until proven otherwise.

Edited August 18, 2015 by Reno_Tarshil

[Andryah]

Speculation =/= Truth, until proven otherwise.

 

It apparently does in the forum.

[MeNaCe-NZ]

For the people getting so worked up about lack of information.. most of what they are asking for (demanding is more like it) falls into the area of spoilers (mild or major) IMO. That includes changes to game mechanics... which frankly.. nobody needs to know before 4.0 actually goes live.

 

I get that people want to know everything..... but they in no way NEED to know everything. And some people have said flat out they want the information so that they can prepare ahead of time... in effect to get a jump on everyone else.... particularly crafters.

 

Besides.. any information given will just generate wild speculation, tantrums, and demands for clarifications and more information.

 

I would like more information as well.. but I understand that it simply satisfies curiosity... it really does not impact my current game play and it cannot be played until 4.0 goes live anyway.

 

I agree with this and have said similar myself in the past towards peoples outrage. Not to mention the effect changes announced too early can have on the current in game economy - much earlier than what might have otherwise been planned.

 

My almost counter gripe though is they need to somehow stop putting so much data into the end user client we all get and use so bloody early before release. Too much data is being mined and people "in the know" are effectively capable of getting a head start of those who are not.

Yes it's all speculative but to be honest from certain sources it's often correct. Yes everyone COULD get access to it if they chose but for many people they don't even know what mining is and this could prove to be somewhat detrimental to them down the track where other people are getting information they really shouldn't have ( not this is only for in game economy around crew skills mostly though there could be other areas this applies ).

 

Short version - yes I agree we don't need information now but please stick to this Bioware and stop making ti so easy for the miners to get their hands on and release then.

[MeNaCe-NZ]

I used to love this game, now it makes me sick, and can't hardly even Log-in, because of what Is to Come.

 

Then perhaps you should at least stop using the forums and bringing such doom and gloom onto the rest of us?

[HKtheindomitable]

Then perhaps you should at least stop using the forums and bringing such doom and gloom onto the rest of us?

 

Mockery: But we must conform to their hate! We can't like it if they don't! Don't you understand that supposed fact of their life?!

 

Observation: These forums remind me of the comment section of Star Wars posts on a social media site (YouTube, Google+, Facebook, etc.). The post is a happy/cool post about something in Star Wars, sometimes involving a really neat article. After reading the article I think: "Yeah. It was cool. I enjoyed that, especially that one part. I wonder what others thought was cool about it and why." I get to the comments section, and 95% of it is (in summary) "I HATE THE PREQUELS!!!!!11!!@1@!" "JAR JAR IS STUPID!!!!" "GEORGE LUCAS SHOULD DIE IN A FIRE!!!!" "OMG STAR WARS IS RUINED!!!" "WHAT?! YOU LIKED THAT?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!?!". My only reaction is: "This was a post about LIGHT SABERS!!!"

 

Addendum: The increased negativity by those that feel the need to post their hate all over the place, though not always done by just one person, is what's ruining Star Wars. They ruin their own enjoyment, they ruin the enjoyment of other long-time fans, and they ruin the enjoyment of newcomers to the story.

 

Statement: The same thing is being done here with this game. It needs to stop.

 

Fact: Constant negativity dose nobody any good. If you don't like the game that much, then stop posting about it. If you want to post something you disliked that should be fixed, fine. That's one thing. But constantly posting in threads NOT RELEVANT to your plight, or that you utterly hate the game, doesn't help. Negativity is poison.

 

Request: Please do the community and yourself a favor and stop with the hate posts. You'll feel better, your peers will feel better, and even the Developers and Community team will feel better.

 

Weary Resignation: Bah. What do I know? I'm the crotchety old droid that's been around for a while and might have picked up a thing or two along the way. Why listen to me? My ways MUST be out of date. So go on. Keep hating. Maybe you'll get these forums shut down to the point that only the Developers can post here and any feedback will be via in-game communications.

 

Pitying Statement: Poor kids. I pity all of you. Then I blast you.

[Zoom_VI]

I'm sorry for sounding rude, but a lot of people are very fed up with the way communication has been (or has not been, as the case may be) handled. It's two months until the expansion and we still know next to nothing about our current companions and how we end up frozen in the first place, not to mention how crafting and affection will work. It's worrisome for those of us attached to our companions.

 

So? We know almost nothing (at least from official sources) about ep7, yet I don't see people bashing Disney for not releasing spoilers.

 

The problem isn't that they are not releasing info, the problem is that the info that people want is all of the type that would spoil the content.

[Kaizersan]

So? We know almost nothing (at least from official sources) about ep7, yet I don't see people bashing Disney for not releasing spoilers.

 

The problem isn't that they are not releasing info, the problem is that the info that people want is all of the type that would spoil the content.

 

Those are totally 2 different things as we are funding the expansion with our subs and with our money we spend on the CM and some of these changes in the expansion might cause some people to unsub because they might not like the direction the game is going and they have a right to know asap so they can unsub while with EP 7 we are not funding that Disney is so they can run it how ever they like with information release.

Edited August 19, 2015 by Kaizersan

[JDiablos]

Those are totally 2 different things as we are funding the expansion with our subs and with our money we spend on the CM and some of these changes in the expansion might cause some people to unsub because they might not like the direction the game is going and they have a right to know asap so they can unsub while with EP 7 we are not funding that Disney is so they can run it how ever they like with information release.

 

You're not funding the expansion with your current subscription. You're purchasing the right to play the game in it's current iteration. Those are 2 completely separate things. Also if you don't like the expansion you can unsub when it comes out and not be out ANY money. Because to you, a subscriber, it's free.

[Krikos]

Those are totally 2 different things as we are funding the expansion with our subs and with our money we spend on the CM and some of these changes in the expansion might cause some people to unsub because they might not like the direction the game is going and they have a right to know asap so they can unsub while with EP 7 we are not funding that Disney is so they can run it how ever they like with information release.

 

Exactly the point, BW/EA keeps the info to a minimum, to make sure they keep the money flowing into their wallets.

[MeNaCe-NZ]

Mockery: But we must conform to their hate! We can't like it if they don't! Don't you understand that supposed fact of their life?!

 

Observation: These forums remind me of the comment section of Star Wars posts on a social media site (YouTube, Google+, Facebook, etc.). The post is a happy/cool post about something in Star Wars, sometimes involving a really neat article. After reading the article I think: "Yeah. It was cool. I enjoyed that, especially that one part. I wonder what others thought was cool about it and why." I get to the comments section, and 95% of it is (in summary) "I HATE THE PREQUELS!!!!!11!!@1@!" "JAR JAR IS STUPID!!!!" "GEORGE LUCAS SHOULD DIE IN A FIRE!!!!" "OMG STAR WARS IS RUINED!!!" "WHAT?! YOU LIKED THAT?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!?!". My only reaction is: "This was a post about LIGHT SABERS!!!"

 

Addendum: The increased negativity by those that feel the need to post their hate all over the place, though not always done by just one person, is what's ruining Star Wars. They ruin their own enjoyment, they ruin the enjoyment of other long-time fans, and they ruin the enjoyment of newcomers to the story.

 

Statement: The same thing is being done here with this game. It needs to stop.

 

Fact: Constant negativity dose nobody any good. If you don't like the game that much, then stop posting about it. If you want to post something you disliked that should be fixed, fine. That's one thing. But constantly posting in threads NOT RELEVANT to your plight, or that you utterly hate the game, doesn't help. Negativity is poison.

 

Request: Please do the community and yourself a favor and stop with the hate posts. You'll feel better, your peers will feel better, and even the Developers and Community team will feel better.

 

Weary Resignation: Bah. What do I know? I'm the crotchety old droid that's been around for a while and might have picked up a thing or two along the way. Why listen to me? My ways MUST be out of date. So go on. Keep hating. Maybe you'll get these forums shut down to the point that only the Developers can post here and any feedback will be via in-game communications.

 

Pitying Statement: Poor kids. I pity all of you. Then I blast you.

 

Whilst I'll assume I was only quoted for reference and not the subject of the quoted post ... well said.

 

However if I was the subject of the quoted post .. I hate you, this game, everything!

[MeNaCe-NZ]

You're not funding the expansion with your current subscription. You're purchasing the right to play the game in it's current iteration. Those are 2 completely separate things. Also if you don't like the expansion you can unsub when it comes out and not be out ANY money. Because to you, a subscriber, it's free.

 

Perfectly correct.

 

Exactly the point, BW/EA keeps the info to a minimum, to make sure they keep the money flowing into their wallets.

 

... so by with holding information that upsets some people that is somehow keeping people paying them in the time between now and launch? I don't get that logic ... is that to imply then once we do get more information more people will stop paying?