August Livestream Wrap-up

[EricMusco]

Now that gear for companions is for aesthetics only, is it possible that we can get the old green starter gear back for them somehow? I know I have a few companions that came with gear that really fit their character, but because it was green it has since been vendored. Some of these it's especially hard to find appropriate gear for. For example, Lord Scourge. It's really not possible to recreate his original look because any gear that looks like that is restricted to the Imp side.

 

This is a great question/suggestion. I will pass it on to the team.

 

I would just like to know the impact of the presence stat on companions. Will it be changed and/or will it be similar to what it is now?

 

This is a good question, let me talk with the dev team and I will get back to you on this.

[SebastiaanZ]

Only one question:

 

We know you can recruit companions from other classes, you have confirmed that. With that confirmation I hoped that meant they would become permanent companions. From what I am getting now, there are two types, companions story wise for KotFE and for traveling purposes (all companions not involved in the story).

 

Can you confirm whether or not we'll be able to use companions from different classes in traveling / outside KotFE missions?

[smithre]

Question 1 - in the stream you mentioned that all existing gear on companions will be returned to us. Are you extending the cargo bays and legacy cargo bays?

 

Question 2 - Treek, despite her chattering, I love the little furball, especially her tank+heal combination. With the mechanic changes, will that option disappear? Please only change Treek's chattering.

[Excise]

Question #2/3 - Are you specifically talking like "in your cantina or on your ship" type conversations? Or just dialog directly with that Companion?

 

"In your cantina or on your ship" type conversations.

 

Thanks for looking at these questions, by the way.

[solksjaer]

can we finnally get rid of skadge?

[EricMusco]

Chances these get a reply are close to non-existant, but what the hell, I'll ask anyway.

 

1. Will be able to meet and/or recruit companions that don't belong in our class? (for example, if I play the demo with my agent, will I still see T7?) yes or no will suffice.

 

2. What affects the companions effectiveness in battle? Only our level? what about Presence stat? what about affection?

 

3. Will any and all changes to the companion system also be applied to the 1-60 leveling experience?(multiple roles in combat, or whatever changes you introduce to crafting)

 

4. Since some companions are not customizable via armor, I am correct to assume that the customization slot will still be there?

 

5. What will happen to earpieces and Implants on companions? Should I remove them before starting KOTFE?

 

1. Yes.
   
2. Level and Presence. What Presence does is increase damage, healing output, and total health of your Companions.
   
3. Yup!
   
4. Yup again.
   
5. The plan right now is they will be mailed to you when they come off your Companion in 4.0.
   

[J_Fairfox]

"Starting in KotFE your Companion's power and stats scale with your level"

 

Just level.. or your gear as well? If im in top gear.. will my companion be more powerful than if i were in quest gear for example?

 

based on the stream, gear is just cosmetic for 4.0 It seems [As far as companion is related]

 

I would like to know if we get to kill any companions, [old]. Personally theirs one spesificlly I would like to

[SebastiaanZ]

1. Yes.
   
2. Level and Presence. What Presence does is increase damage, healing output, and total health of your Companions.
   
3. Yup!
   
4. Yup again.
   
5. The plan right now is they will be mailed to you when they come off your Companion in 4.0.
   

 

Since you answered Cach-X's questions, including question 1, can you answer mine from a few posts back? Basically a follow up on his first question?

[Margorn]

What happens to my existing Companions in KotFE?

When Fallen Empire launches, all of your existing Companions remain accessible to you outside of the story Chapters. In the KotFE story there is a specific cast of characters that is a part of that ongoing storyline.

Vice versa I would like to know whether it Nico Okarr is already available (like Treek/HK from level 10) when I start a new character.

[Reno_Tarshil]

Will all companions from every class be recruitable or only a select few from each?

[airswoosh]

You said in the stream that the gear will carry over, but the aim etc mods /armoring won't matter, will there be a com give back (or something of that nature) for those of us that have spent all that time and basic/ planetary etc coms to get those specific mods etc to gear up the companions?

 

Also will there be a limit to how many companions we can have? Will we be able to summon cross faction companions, ie: Knight can summon Vette?

Edited August 27, 2015 by airswoosh

[BenKatarn]

Question #2/3 - Are you specifically talking like "in your cantina or on your ship" type conversations? Or just dialog directly with that Companion?

 

Both, obviously. These are companions and not pets. They should be involved in the story and have their own individual stories with the MC continued (Felix Iresso with the thing in his head for instance).

 

Also, lets see if I get this straight:

 

My companions (from my class story and/or Cartel Market) are still around. I can still use them once KOTFE hits. But their presence in cutscenes (like with the one we saw in Capter 3) is disregarded since we haven't officially rediscovered them yet. But they will eventually make a return? My Jedi Knight will reunite with Doc and Kira etc again, yes?

Edited August 27, 2015 by BenKatarn

[KakeWaffo]

It seems from what I read that we will be running across all of these new companions and some old companions from the various classes as part of the story. Will there be a hard limit on how many companions I will be able to keep as "permanent?" For example if I have five of them by the end of Chapter N and want to add another as they appear in the story will I have to release someone to the wild?

[Kazyon]

Will companion bonuses still affect crafting?

[Ghisallo]

Well thats MMO for you. You also can see tons of Khems on Korriban running around with acolytes, when he is supposed to be very rare and unique Dashade killer only your character discovered and freed. And that is much bigger story problem than what awaits us in KOTFE.

 

There is a difference between the two though. What you note makes perfect sense if you look at that in terms of the "personal story" because how many Sorc Darths are there? How many "Heroes of Tython" or Barsenthors?

 

The path they are taking however is a blatant contradiction. If they had just said story and not waxed poetically about "with consequences" I wouldn't be annoyed at all tbh. I would just say "MMO marketing spin ftw." However this basically takes the idea of "consequence" kicks it in the teeth, gives it a double tap to the head and then tosses it in the river.

[Pompeia]

I just wanted to thank the devs for listening to our feedback and reconsidering the classic companions removal.

 

Looking great now, good job, cant wait to try it out.

 

Best regards

[Pietrastor]

Question #1 - That understanding is correct.

So will there be a weird situation when, for example, I take my summoned "drone" 2V-R8 to Chapter 5 and bump into real story-2V and they stand and look at each other?

 

2nd question, will the hypothetical summoned "drone" 2V be standing on the ship even though I know story-wise he's actually in a competly different place in the galaxy and I'm not suppoused to reuinite with him until 4 Chapters later?

Edited August 27, 2015 by Pietrastor

[Ghisallo]

We get it. You don't like to be teased.. you want full and complete disclosure NAO. And of course, it better be the way you personally want it.. and to hell with everyone else.

 

Since they are still in "tease" mode.. you have absolutely no idea what the consequences of your story decisions will be yet.

 

Get over it.

 

No I expect absolute statements to be adhered to. I get marketing spin. I get being intentionally vague to avoid being locked in to anything. I expect it. Heck in my other posts on this expac I even go into how much of their selling this expac is pure marketing BS trying to keep as many current players as possible when the break purpose of the expac is to attract a lot of new players on the coat tails of the movie.

 

Where I have issue is... If you say I am getting a steak and you give me ground chuck roast. If you say I am going to have a story with consequences on my game play, where I need to find my old companions and even if found my decisions may force them to abandon me..they did say this....THEN turn around and say "oh but you can still summon them anyway." This is the exact opposite of what they said... So its not even like giving me chuck roast, its like giving me tofu.

 

Teases are vague... The above are categorical statements. A tease would have been leaving it at "you have to go out and find your companions again, along with potential new ones, in an epic story." That's a tease. Maybe you don't understand the difference.

Edited August 27, 2015 by Ghisallo

[ikinai]

No I expect absolute statements to be adhered to. I get marketing spin. I get being intentionally vague to avoid being locked in to anything. I expect it. Heck in my other posts on this expac I even go into how much of their selling this expac is pure marketing BS trying to keep as many current players as possible when the break purpose of the expac is to attract a lot of new players on the coat tails of the movie.

 

Where I have issue is... If you say I am getting a steak and you give me ground chuck roast. If you say I am going to have a story with consequences on my game play, where I need to find my old companions and even if found my decisions may force them to abandon me..they did say this....THEN turn around and say "oh but you can still summon them anyway." This is the exact opposite of what they said... So its not even like giving me chuck roast, its like giving me tofu.

 

Teases are vague... The above are categorical statements. A tease would have been leaving it at "you have to go out and find your companions again, along with potential new ones, in an epic story." That's a tease. Maybe you don't understand the difference.

 

In the past you can still summon them, I killed Revan, yet I can still free him, how the heck does that happen?

[TUXs]

1. Yes.
   
2. Level and Presence. What Presence does is increase damage, healing output, and total health of your Companions.
   
3. Yup!
   
4. Yup again.
   
5. The plan right now is they will be mailed to you when they come off your Companion in 4.0.
   

Wow...awesome! Those are the best replies you could have given...Makes me wonder if I should ask if we're getting a new PvP map any time soon®?

[CloudCastle]

The path they are taking however is a blatant contradiction. If they had just said story and not waxed poetically about "with consequences" I wouldn't be annoyed at all tbh. I would just say "MMO marketing spin ftw." However this basically takes the idea of "consequence" kicks it in the teeth, gives it a double tap to the head and then tosses it in the river.

 

There's a difference between letting the player make "choices with consequences" and having the story writers add in "consequences" of their own choosing without the player having any influence at all. Players like feeling like they can choose how their character's path will go. Players don't like having choices taken away from them.

 

The story starts with an option NO ONE can choose. Everyone will lose their companions for what will most likely be months. Now the devs are giving us a choice. You can choose to not use them and wait for the story to reintroduce them, or you can use them in the meantime, separating in your head which elements of your character's story are IC and which are OOC.

 

I'm kind of surprised that anyone would advocate for the unilateral removal of all players' companions, even if it's obviously unpopular and or against people's will. Do you really think this would make the game more popular?

Edited August 27, 2015 by CloudCastle

[andhros]

Now that gear for companions is for aesthetics only, is it possible that we can get the old green starter gear back for them somehow? I know I have a few companions that came with gear that really fit their character, but because it was green it has since been vendored. Some of these it's especially hard to find appropriate gear for. For example, Lord Scourge. It's really not possible to recreate his original look because any gear that looks like that is restricted to the Imp side.

 

This is a great question/suggestion. I will pass it on to the team.

 

Since the gear is no longer stat important, and we have things like the covert armor set and underwear, maybe you can make the original clothing the new "naked" state.

[veronaaaa]

Q1 Will we be able to recruit Vaylin? I fall in love with her in last stream

Q2 I understand that it is spoilers, but i have to try >.< Will we be able to romance with Arcann or Darth Marr?

[ikinai]

Wow...awesome! Those are the best replies you could have given...Makes me wonder if I should ask if we're getting a new PvP map any time soon®?

 

I certainly hope that some sort of arena or battlefield on Zakuul is added, it looks like it could be a cool map.

[PavSalco]

Keep it up, Eric! Finally we are getting some clear answers.

 

Question #2/3 - Are you specifically talking like "in your cantina or on your ship" type conversations? Or just dialog directly with that Companion?

 

He meant dialogues in the cantina/ship/stronghold AND companion's missions (such as going with Vette to meet her sister on Nar Shaddaa in the vanilla game).

Edited August 27, 2015 by PavSalco