August Livestream Wrap-up

[AdrianDmitruk]

I'd like to add my voice to the concerns expressed regarding companion gearing.

 

Establishing a stat floor that goes by level is appropriate. I can see the reason why companion bolster would be good for the game, especially for new players.

 

However, I do take notice that (at least for PVE content) bolster is a floor, not a ceiling. We aren't obligated to have our stats nerfed by bolster to run SM operations for example; we get the benefit of either bolster or our existing gear, whichever is higher.

 

1) Will we still be able to upgrade our companions' gear above the baseline established by the companion autoleveling/"bolster" system? (I noticed you avoided using the word "bolster" in the stream, but it seems like a similar mechanic for companions.)

 

2) If no, will we at least be able to somehow allocate a given stat budget, or will we be stuck with high endurance companions that hit (or heal for) wet noodles?

 

3) What general gear level will companions be bolstered to? On-level green equivalent? On-level blue equivalent? On-level purples? Mid-tier comm gear at level cap (i.e. the way Yavin gear is now)?

[Millardkillmoore]

I sure am glad that all the big questions about companions were answered in the stream as promised. It's clear from this thread that the information presented wasn't at all vague, unclear, or woefully incomplete. Definitely no confusion for anyone here. Edited August 27, 2015 by Millardkillmoore

[MrArrogant]

Q1: How much of these companion changes apply retroactively to pre-KOTFE content? All of them?

 

Q2: Following the previous question, does the ability to summon companions before we meet them in the storyline in KOTFE apply retroactively to allow us to summon companions before we meet them in the original class stories?

 

Q2: I understand you don't have to wait around for your companions to appear in the storyline, but once they do appear, and say you make a choice to kill them or piss them off so they leave, are you still able to use them in non-story related content afterwards?

 

Q4: Once you choose a combat role for your companion are these locked in at all or can you freely choose between them at any time?

 

Q5: With all companions assuming any combat role, is there any differentiation between their abilities or do they all just employ the same stock abilities?

 

Q6: Will there be additional companion side quests/story content for old or new companions or will all story related companion content just be part of the main ongoing storyline?

 

Q7: If you haven't maxed your companions' affection pre-KOTFE are you locked out of all of those cutscenes/choices once you begin KOTFE?

 

Q8: Following the previous question, are there new opportunities to initiate romances/marry old companions post-KOTFE if you change your mind about them and didn't start one of those relationships before?

 

Q9: Can you build romance relationships with old companions that belonged to other classes previously?

 

Q10: Will there be opportunities to romance previously unromanceable companions post-KOTFE?

 

Q11: So are companion stats based solely on level or does "influence/affection" play into that as well?

 

Q12: Any chance at getting appearance tabs for companions?

 

Bonus Question: Are you ever going to fix companion color matching for default chest colors in story cutscenes?

[Torvai]

Doing a stream about companions and not answering anything about companions. Classic Bioware. At least that's what it looks like, with almost 20 pages filled with questions revolving around the topic AFTER the stream:rolleyes:

 

(haven't watched it yet, cause it was in the middle of the night for me and right now I'm at work )

Edited August 27, 2015 by Torvai

[Monumenta]

1. Will my smuggler be able to recruit T7, SCORPIO, and 4X in lieu of 3 classic smug comps?

2. will we be able to dump Lana at some point if we don't want her?

[Aries_cz]

People ask a lot of different stuff, and also ask question they specifically said they will not answer (like "can I get companion XYZ back?")

[Mubrak]

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.

 

So I do the quest to start KotFE, and something happens that will have my BH frozen in carbonite for 5 years. Obviously Skadge moved on to bother someone else, and now I'm on an epic monthly updated quest to get my cute little Houk back. So far so good.

 

But whenever I go "outside the story chapters" (What does that even mean? Sounds as if KotFE is a series of solo flashpoints) I can simply summon Skadge and run around farming dread host forces on Oricon? Even though he hasn't returned yet sory wise (and, well, the Dread Masters are supposed to be gone for half a decade).

Edited August 27, 2015 by Mubrak

[Rouakh]

Wait a bit... Jedi was shooting lazers out hes eyes or it was special guest for lifestream - superman? :| Can't say I absolutely dont like it, but it makes no scence or does it? Edited August 27, 2015 by Rouakh

[Aries_cz]

Wait a bit... Jedi was shooting lazers out hes eyes or it was special guest for lifestream - superman? :| Can't say I absolutely dont like it, but it makes no scence or does it?

 

it is a devshard ability, basically it kill everything around so they don't have to waste time fighting. It is not a game ability

 

Basically if you ever hosted any server for any game, it is equivalent to "/killall" command (and commands like that)

[Aries_cz]

So I do the quest to start KotFE, and something happens that will have my BH frozen in carbonite for 5 years. Obviously Skadge moved on to bother someone else, and now I'm on an epic monthly updated quest to get my cute little Houk back. So far so good.

 

But whenever I go "outside the story chapters" (What does that even mean? Sounds as if KotFE is a series of solo flashpoints) I can simply summon Skadge and run around farming dread host forces on Oricon? Even though he hasn't returned yet sory wise (and, well, the Dread Masters are supposed to be gone for half a decade).

 

Yes. It is a workaround for people who are attached to certain companion and cannot wait until the story reintroduces them. If you played Mass Effect series, think of it as having Liara instead of Jacob instantly from start of ME2

[Icykill_]

 

How does gear come into play here?

Starting in KotFE your Companion's power and stats scale with your level, regardless of the gear they are wearing. However, you can still use gear to determine exactly how your Companions will look. (note: this is not a part of Appearance Designer)

 

I have a question regarding this... I gear atleast one of my companions in pvp gear for when I am doing solo world pvp... This is handy when I get jumped by 2 or more players...

Will I still be able to do this... Emphasis on being able to have expertise stats on my companions

[Lichtfaengerin]

I was wondering if there will be a less tedious way than gift grinding to get all the conversations with the original companions.

[Argonloris]

My only question is if all the gameplay changes to companions will be applied to the original content or will it only apply to them in the Fallen Empire and later content?

 

 

Also don't let Baccus tell the other truth about T7 and the legend of how is memory core was transferred into a certain R2 unit.

[Karkais]

Well, thank you for the devstream (despite it happening at an atrocious 3-4 am of my local time). I watched the recorded stream this morning. Thanks for answering questions about companions. Lana's new look looks good and that armor suits her. I like the concept of all roles for all companions, and that I no longer have to craft gear for my companions. Its looking promising except for this one thing that has been bothering me ever since you made the decision ages ago.

 

I still must voice my disappointment for the story being class-independent. I dont mean that each class should have individual enemies and missions and such. It seems just that characters no longer can do anything cool during cutscenes if the cutscenes are supposed to be class neutral. It takes a lot of the 'oomph' away. In neutral story cutscenes our own characters feel like bystanders. Now it must be Lana who force chokes some random enemy dude - I would much rather have my own Wrath do it while quoting Darth Ekkage ("I will tell your master that you died like a dog"). And so on. Hopefully Im wrong, but somehow I dont think that I am.

 

ps. I dont know the devs by name, but whoever that was, please refrain from tapping the table in excitement when you speak in the future. It created a loud THUMP in the THUMP audio that was THUMP THUMP THUMP rather annoying.

Edited August 27, 2015 by Karkais

[Aries_cz]

ps. I dont know the devs by name, but whoever that was, please refrain from tapping the table in excitement when you speak in the future. It created a loud THUMP in the THUMP audio that was THUMP THUMP THUMP rather annoying.

 

I think it was a microphone picking up keyboard presses. Happens a lot to streamers without special keyboards...

[Iryfindel]

First of all, thank you for doing the stream (even if I had to stay up until 3AM ). While the information we received was still less than I had hoped for (then again, players probably always want to know more), I enjoyed seeing a sneak peek of the gameplay. The cutscenes looked fantastic and I am honestly excited for the 5 year time-lapse, especially because it is allowing the designers/writers so much freedom to mix things up.

 

Having said that, I do have one "burning" question that remains.

 

Question: That some companions have moved on, or died, that's fair game after 5 years. But will the PC at least acknowledge that and get to mourn their loss?

It would definitely feel more like "losing" them if those non-returning companions are simply ignored. Calling them back from a terminal (which I won't be doing anyway) is not the same.

 

This is question is more important for some old companions than others. For instance:

 

 

My female inquisitor would not be surprised if Andronikos ran off with the next hot thing. However, Aric would most certainly turn over every rock in the galaxy and shoot everyone standing in his way to find my female trooper.

 

Edited August 27, 2015 by Iryfindel

[Narratja]

I assume there is a NO GEAR appearance that defaults to their starting appearances (i.e. Kira in the cutscene from the stream).

 

You mean this is not a bug, but a feature? If so, it is a very terrible feature!

 

So if you read this Eric: if this should become a feature (which I would really be fond of), please let it work in some other way than letting players putting the gear off and then companions putting their starter gear back on, regardless if the player wants it or not. Or at least make the Covert Energy Armor work.

 

At the moment some companions put starter gear on, some don't.

I find it super annoying, when they do it. For me it seems strange, that they always wear their gloves and wrist armor. Especially in romantic scenes. And even if they wear the Covert Hand Energy Armor! But not all of them do it. Some examples:

 

Dark Jaesa didn't put her gloves back on.

Vette and Corso did it until patch 3.3. I think it got fixed with "Companion’s equipment dyes now appear correctly during Conversations." - if intentionally or not, I'm so glad it is finally fixed!

But sadly Iresso and some others still always put their starter gloves back on.

[sengir_cdv]

Thanks for the stream first off all :=)

 

Got "some" questions and i hope you can answer something of that

If not, i hope you can use some of these ideas for the future.

 

important:

- would like to see the offline time of my guild members

- one master account for one "friend account" and one "guild member"

- tells to guildmates out of the guild member window

- friendlist, settings and stronghold permission server wide - not on every local computer

 

nice to see

- costume designer - save more items in stock & costum dolls in the housing zone

- guild alliance

- player cities / "house housing zone"

- more blaster-(rifle?) on imp (e.g. the "tank" bounty hunter)

- neutral side bonus its nice to be dark or good .. but neutral would be a nice option ;=)

 

thanks and bye

[LordSodos]

What about the planets? Will anything change on our old planets?

[BenitsubasaChiyo]

190+ posts already..

 

Eagerly waiting for some answers

[FrozenCascade]

At some point in the stream, was footage of a Woman with the force, dressed all in black, with a yellow saber. (Wannabe Sith Woman.) Her hairstyle; will that be a new feature in 4.0? Allowable for all of us to unlock for our characters? Was quite nice, and from what I could see from under the hood, would really like it for a few of my toons..

[HoloTweed]

You aren't getting it. They said this year is "all about the story". Not only that but a story with CONSEQUENCE. Well if the story says I no longer ever period have Kira as a Companion BUT the game sill lets me summon her, that is breaking the 4th wall. So in my opinion they are indeed failing to do something, namely keeping to their promise of story with consequence because if the story says they are no longer a companion then me still being able to summon them is avoiding the consequence.

 

No, *I* get it fine. YOU aren't getting it. Apparently you think you have the authority to tell everyone else how to play. Personally, I think it's dumb to pull out a character that the story says is gone. I would PERSONALLY rather play the story, so I will. But why should they piss off such a large contingent of vocal players who somehow can't live without Quinn (which I'll never understand, but then again I don't have to.)

 

If you don't want to, don't take out an immersion breaking companion. I know I won't. But stop being such a wet blanket on the forums. WHO CARES if other people decide they HAVE to run with a certain companion? It doesn't mean YOU have to. So there was ZERO FAILS on this point. Really, just stop.

[JeKoCZ]

They claim this is the biggest expansion yet, but exactly how big? Not story, but locations. Planets.

How many are there? RotHC had 1, SoR had 2, that mini-expansion RotE had 1 again and with FA in between which had 2 new locations (Rakata Prime and Manaan) although just for flashpoints. Manaan is technically a planet, but there's nothing to do there.

 

We know about Zakuul, probably that other planet semi-"leaked" in the links for the concept arts here on the site aswell, we also know a new hub is coming aswell (Same size as fleets' main floors, but location unknown) and hopefully it will be ground side on a planet and not another boring space station.

 

I'm betting on 4 planets in total for the first 9 chapters, with possibly at least 2 more to come in the following 7.

 

Oh, and by the way. That insta-kill admin spell is very nice.

Edited August 27, 2015 by JeKoCZ

[HoloTweed]

Since companion gear will be for "look" only (which I happen to think is a great idea for easier leveling and making all your companions equally useful), should we remove all their gear before 4.0 (to save mods and recreate the looks we want)?

 

Also, should we pull any companion customization looks that we have purchased? Along with that, if we don't, then when we run into our companions again in the future, will they be the "stock generic version" of that companion, or will they retain our customization (such as if my Kira has dark skin and black hair, will she stay that way when/if I run into her again in KotFE, or will she be the "standard" Kira look, years older?)

 

Save mods for what? They will be outdated (and you don't need them for companions any more).

 

Also, they VERY SPECIFICALLY SAID you do NOT have to pull anything off of the companion before 4.0. They aren't going to take things away from you. Your customizations should be fine.

[Rafaman]

Thanks for the stream, despite the technical difficulties it was worth it.

 

So, I can’t say I have a ton of questions as I have learned it is better and much more informative to experience the changes than to assume anything. However, I do think there are a few outliers that will help clarify and do not jump into the realm of “when will we see X companion”.

 

First as has been asked, will there be crossover companions now between the two defunct factions? Certain companions have relationships with other companions in the game, will we now see those reunions? That would be a fantastic touch. Vette reunited with Risha? Very cool.

 

Next, Our choices will have an impact. Will they have an impact on which companions we will have the opportunity to recruit? Seems obvious that they would, but I would like to hear from you as it will make the stories vary from alt to alt.

Last, to those of you already complaining about losing the stats on that companion gear you worked so hard for, I think you are forgetting that there is a new level cap. Gear, even that swanky 198 stuff on your companions will mean very little. So, relax. All this means is that you won’t have to grind another set. You will not lose anything because the new levels will make your old companion gear obsolete anyway.

 

One final footnote, to the self-proclaimed industry insider, he knows who he is: LOL! Wow, you are really jaded. I think you should consider a new hobby.