Combat Changes in Fallen Empire

[idnewton]

Why not roll Shield and Absorb into one stat as well, just like Critical and Surge?

I think the reason for this is kinda obvious. Between Secondary and Tertiary stats, there are only three for tanks: Defense, Shield, and Absorb. Shield and Absorb have both become Tertiary stats, while Defense will be a secondary stat (as I think it is now). If Shield and Absorb were rolled into one stat, then every single one of your tank's Secondary stats would be Defense, and every single one of your tank's Tertiary stats would be this Shield/Absorb combo stat. There would be absolutely no stat choice for tanks which would be awful.

[Joefjr]

Level sync sounds like a fun idea BUT it should NOT be forced, we SHOULD be allowed to toggle it like we can with the 12xp.

[KelbornX]

It would certainly be nice if the weapons were only for show for companions. That way you could give your Jedi companion like Nadya or Kira an actual Jedi Lightsaber instead of their "Sith sabers" (dual bladed lightsabers) without having to sacrifice any efficiency or immersion. That said it would be great if any companion would be able to use any weapon of any type efficiently as well, so you could gear them all up to fit the theme of your character.

 

LOL no. Just because the first daul-saber showed up in canon in the hands of Darth Maul does not make it a "Sith saber". Jedi Shadow uses them... and all over the Extended Universe we've seen Jedi use them. If I remember correctly some part of the Jedi Temple Guard used them (or they used the spear type) too.

 

If anything, the only real "Sith saber" would be the curved hilt saber, as it was designed for the more aggressive nature of Juyo Form, which was far more used by Sith than Jedi.

Edited October 5, 2015 by KelbornX

[idnewton]

You must be an angry employee...

Are you kidding me? I don't have the political correctness to work at BioWare and I never will. Don't accuse me of being an employee, as claiming to be one is pretty much the most serious offense in this game.

 

Accept that I'm a player just like you, and that I've proven you wrong with facts and analysis. Don't try to label me as a coping mechanism for getting trounced.

 

Here's a word of wisdom for you, if you support smart, logical and factual viewpoints, you never have to worry about being proven wrong.

Edited October 5, 2015 by idnewton

[Eanelinea]

All of what you said except the last sentence...

 

 

I already knew all of that, i did NOT ask about any of that, nor did it not pertain to my post which i was very SPECIFIC about... Would Republic toons get the stats from Empire ONLY Datacrons and Vice Versa, or will they be voided for the opposite faction. They can't stack, because stacking would imply getting the same Datacron again and benefiting from it again.

 

If they let the stats from faction specific datacrons effect the opposite faction then that would be a buff to every one who got all of them for whatever reason.

 

I'd think if the datacrons are all legacy, then your 'If they let the stats from faction specific datacrons effect the opposite faction then that would be a buff to every one who got all of them for whatever reason' would probably happen.

 

And sorry but I misunderstood you originally.

[idnewton]

LOL no. Just because the first daul-saber showed up in canon in the hands of Darth Maul does not make it a "Sith saber". Jedi Shadow uses them... and all over the Extended Universe we've seen Jedi use them. If I remember correctly some part of the Jedi Temple Guard used them (or they used the spear type) too.

 

If anything, the only real "Sith saber" would be the curved hilt saber, as it was designed for the more aggressive nature of Juyo Form, which was far more used by Sith than Jedi.

 

Oh man I did not see that part of his post. I would've responded in a similar way, as that is simply wrong.

 

 

However, you are also wrong in your assessment of the curved lightsaber, which is actually designed for Form II (Makashi) which is roughly equivalent to our 'fencing' (which is why Dooku uses one and consequently his Makashi - trained apprentice Asajj Ventress).

 

I'm not sure I'd classify this as a "Sith saber" since, for one, as stated, it doesn't pertain to Juyo. The other reason is that a more effective lightsaber simply does not dictate whether it's a "Sith saber" or not. Corran Horn's lightsaber was a dual-phase lightsaber, offering additional combat effectiveness, and yet he wasn't a sith.

Edited October 5, 2015 by idnewton

[idnewton]

New subscriber stated. I'm a founder...

And I've been subscribed since the first day of pre-orderers' early game access without interruption. Don't wave your little titles around as if it justifies being a jerk to new players. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Edited October 5, 2015 by idnewton

[Joefjr]

And I've been subscribed since the first day of pre-orderers' early game access without interruption. Don't wave your little titles around as if it justifies being a jerk to new players. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.

 

Says the person with a signature like yours is very ironic.

[eartharioch]

16 slots by default as a sub? What game are you playing? Not only are you wrong, but the number of slots an account can have by default OR at max has no relevance whatsoever to the point I made.

 

Again, your number is laughably wrong, nice guess, but it's a guess, and therefore it's pathetic, and it already shoots your entire post in the foot (twice). I'll tell you what's wrong with playing "at-level" content -- it gets boring, especially after doing it on 16 characters (using your own number). Variety is the spice of life. I'm sorry you haven't played enough to realize that, as is evident by the things you're saying.

 

Yeah, because 22 of my 23 55+ toons definitely aren't on PvE servers... oh wait, they are. Why are you assuming I'm as selfish as you? I support this change for the good of the game, not just personal benefit.

 

Because invisible armor is still armor, it still has stats and it still affects your character's numbers. No character should ever be able to sit in a giant pack of enemies with no gear on and survive for minutes on end without player input.

 

Except you may not have a level 18 or a 25 or whatever is the level of the person you want to help. It's nice to be able to use a level 60 to help a guildmate and still get XP towards 65.

 

No, it's not what I'm advocating, and I'm humored that your mind can't understand it. Admittedly the 56 on Corellia was a poor example, as I would still gain minimal XP from higher-level Corellia missions, but not from 48s, and I'd be getting nothing from there in 2 more levels -- certainly nothing as a 60. You completely disregarded core principle of the statement, as well as my Sorcerer gaining XP from lowbie missions, which are much more interesting to do as I haven't already done them 10 times in the past 6 months. As I said, "Gives more players options FOR LEVELING", not just 'doing'. You ought to actually respond to the examples I gave and, ideally, stretch your brain a little and understand the core principle I'm getting at with said examples.

 

The only Flashpoints getting solo modes are the story-heavy Flashpoints, and Heroics are not story-heavy (they have story like everything in the game does, but they are not central to the general story of SWTOR throughout the leveling process). Soloable stuff is story, story, story. It's the constant throughout the changes you mentioned, and it's very obvious too. I'm starting to wonder if you miss these points on purpose just to claim I'm "0/20" and stroke your ego.

 

Hahaha, wow. Such a good summary of your post. I'll save this one to the end.

 

You're suggesting this and then citing resource cost as a reason for the idea? Level-Sync has and is already being tested. It doesn't require "additional resource cost". What does require additional resource cost would be taking out a whole chunk of a planet and copying it into its own phased area and bugtesting it (it'd be incredibly broken).

 

Ah, I see your mind is still trapped in the system of level numbers. You should really try and break out of that BS mentality and think about what is enjoyable for the community as a whole, rather than your character's epeen (and, consequently, yours).

 

I specifically referenced gathering skills, not crafting skills. Are you literate? These were specifically referenced in the stream and its summary, neither of which you read/watched as you've already shown. Stop playing dumb and trolling -- this is a serious topic and your BS is not welcome in this thread.

 

Oh, you mean the changes they're making in 4.0 to leveling? You have guts to be so bold about a topic you know nothing about. Such ignorance, at least have done your research before joining the conversation. You are why we can't have nice things.

 

Yeah, much less effective ones. This "technique" is only "invasive" because of your ego. Also, overcrouded maps/servers is not relevant to this topic at all.

 

After all the focus given to Heroics, you're honestly going to tell me that PvP will be more effective in conquests than Heroics? Oh wait, I forgot, you didn't even read up on the changes to Heroics. I'm sorry. I expected you to be educated on the topic -- my bad.

 

Oh, great, you failed ECON-101. Is using a dictionary really that hard?

 

This is not the primary reason for Level-Sync. If it was, it wouldn't be a sufficient one. However, it's not, and it is a relevant side-benefit. Your "this isn't sufficient reason to implement Level-Sync" is a pretty stupid argument to make when I listed 19 other reasons.

 

These quests are in the Companions category of the Mission Tracker. Do you even play this game? I doubt it.

 

It appears I do have to, because apparently it wasn't obvious enough. Clearly, people without Level-Sync (which is a hypothetical non-existent situation, because Level-Sync is coming and you can't stop it) wouldn't be scared about trash mobs, but lowbies in the area would. However, with this change, the KotFE NPCs would be the level of the planet too (yes, a lowbie planet's level, cry me a river and get over level numbers), as would the players, allowing lowbies and high-level players alike to kill these mobs with reasonable effort (not difficult, but not an utter pushover). This is not hard to understand.

 

So, you mean, players will either have to play better or -- oh no, what a tragedy -- actually group with someone else in an MMO? I hope you're joking.

 

Not really. There's no reason to put a random arbitrary instance on a lowbie planet unrelated to anything else (like they did with Nightmare Pilgrim, which wasn't even the original goal, that was supposed to be the EC boss inbetween Vorgath and Kephess in the cave). Naturally there would be KotFE-related story content in that area, and that would lead to a raid boss on the same planet.

 

 

On the contrary, you are 0/20 at proving me wrong, and 14/20 at trolling and/or being uneducated and/or having no understanding of the topic or the adjacent topics.

 

 

This perfectly summarizes the reason you don't belong in this discussion. You have neither watched the stream nor even read the typed summary on dulfy.net. I apologize for considering you a rational member of this discussion. Your points hold no substance, no merit, and therefore no place in this thread. If you wish to re-join the conversation, feel free to educate yourself on the recent information of KotFE, on the basics of economics, and on the fundamentals of reading English.

 

I believe you've done a sufficient job of showing you're not in this thread to agree with anyone, but rather to troll, to create disruption and to provoke negative reactions. As such, I am reporting you for trolling and ignoring you until you can prove to me that you're in this thread for the benefit of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Have a fine day, gent, but try focusing on actually improving the game, for once.

 

Gee, sorry I forgot subs "only" get 12, not 16, it's been a while since I had that few. As far as "reading comprehension" goes, *mine* is quite fine, thank you. I don't need you to vet whether or not I've read enough off-forum discussion to justify being in this forum discussion. I don't have the time to waste watching dev streams or digging around third party web sites, I'm fine waiting for BW to post the information here, which (in the case of Heroics) they did this morning.

 

It's clear you are in love with level sync, so nobody is going to change your mind, but you don't need to be rude and insulting to everyone who disagrees with you. I'm not one of the people threatening to quit or raging about it, and while I may have been a little sarcastic, your response went well beyond that. TBH, I don't anticipate level sync affecting my gameplay much. I find level sync distasteful, but as I said in a previous post, it's mainly because it seems like a bad/clunky design to make a level/gear-based progression game and then level adjust everybody for almost all content (bolster in warzones, bolster in tactical fps, bolster in event boss instances, bolster for GF operations, bolster in Gree PVP, solo mode fps, GSIgus droid, and now level sync).

 

And just so we're clear, just because I find it "distasteful" doesn't mean I'm saying the devs *should* have done something else. My point is that they *could* have addressed your 20 points in other ways -- i.e., that [mandatory full planet] level sync wasn't/isn't "necessary". I'm pretty sure that what they've done will be "sufficient", assuming they get some new level 65/endgame content out "soon enough" after launch.

 

But I'm not going to get all worked up over it. I took advantage of 12x XP all summer and will have at least one of each base class level 60 and through Ziost by the time KotFE goes live, so I'll use my free 60 to go through it (why risk a real character on early access bugs), and if I like it, I'll play it with my other chars. If I don't make it to 65 just from the first 9 chapters (what we get at launch), which I assume is likely, then I'll either do level-synced content if it doesn't suck or wait for more new content if it does. Since there are no new operations (or fps or other endgame content) yet, I don't *need* to be level 65 for anything, so I'm not going to feel "forced" replay old content.

[Eanelinea]

One thing to consider, if it's hard finding people to group with now, whether for low level things, operations, flashpoints, what have you, what makes people think that having Joe Blow lvl 60/65 down scaled to whatever level planet they go to, will suddenly and magically make them group up?

 

I KNOW there are people who group and enjoy grouping with others, but there are also people who will solo every single thing they can if it's possible. All this does is annoy people.

 

If level sync remains mandatory, then it remains mandatory, but as I said, it won't magically make people group up more. The higher levels just won't do the content/go to those planets/remain in the game.

 

As it is, majority of higher level people either go to the daily areas like Section X, Black Hole, Ziost, etc or stay on the Fleet waiting on group finder for HM flashpoints or Operations.

 

And since we ARE keeping our level 60/65 gear and abilities, we MIGHT just be OP enough to STILL not group up for content on the lower level planets.

 

Yes, SOME will group up happily with groups/guildies, but it won't increase a whole lot.

[Glzmo]

Why not roll Shield and Absorb into one stat as well, just like Critical and Surge?

 

I really like the idea of level sync. However I have a question: If the XP for all group members now depends on the difference of the highest level group member vs. the NPC, does this count the level sync level or the actual level of the character? If it's the latter, I'd strongly suggest to change it to the level synced level so low level players won't be punished for accepting help from their high level friends. Grouping and bringing friends of all levels along for questing and any other activities should always be possible, rewarded and encouraged in an MMORPG for everyone that participates, not punished! It's been a huge flaw of TOR (and other MMORPGs) in the past that this wasn't the case.

If you are asking for help for a quest you should not be gaming. Plus you do get the xp for completing the quest with out penalties. Just not the kill xp. In which you dont deserve anyway.

What you need to do is grind a few levels higher then the current quest you are on, that might help. Use med packs and boost.

Who do you think you are to tell anyone they shouldn't be gaming?

 

It's not about being unable to solo things. I can get through much of the quests and content in this game with my eyes closed or trained at the TV by now. It's about having fun with other people. You know what MMO(RP)G stands for? Massivelly Multiplayer Online (Role Playing) Game. You'll be shocked to hear that there are many people out there that actually enjoy play such games with others. You know, people - friends, family and such.

 

Your the reason this game is failing.

Mhm. Sure. I'm not sure why you think the game is "failing" or why I might be responsible, but if you say so, it must be true, right? That would make me an immensely powerful person of great influence towards the development of this game indeed. I wonder why I haven't been able to utilize that immense power and influence to get chat bubbles implemented yet...

 

Do you pay? probably not.

No, you're right, probably not... If having been a subscriber on my main account non-stop on 6 month subscriptions since launch (and having played since early access, more accurately closed beta) doesn't count. Or owning the Collector's Edition on my main account and two more being regular pre-order accounts or currently having three subscribed accounts with 6 months subscription and another one on a monthly doesn't count as "paying" either. Or paying for all the unlocks like a maximum of character slots on all accounts, etc. that I've bought over time. Apparently that isn't paying either in your eyes. I wonder what is.

 

That said, what does payment have to do with it? I don't mind if one is free to play, a preferred player or a subscriber. They all should have an enjoyable experience, no matter their playstyle. And it shouldn't just be some solo players that think they are entitled to something or other just because they may or may not have done things or sunken loads of cash into a game.

 

I soloed this game all the way up to 60, not once but 4 times.

Wow, what a great achievement! Four level 60 characters! Incredible! What do you want? A cookie? Please give Mr. Shakar a round of applause! Yay!

 

You might understand that I don't really find it a huge achievement, considering that I myself have levelled 22 characters on one account and one server to level 60 (most solo as well except perhaps my first character, since the levelling together with others in this game is awful right now and you outlevel them pretty quickly if they miss a play session) without any XP boosts and another handful on my other accounts (not even counting the ones I levelled up with the 12x XP boost). I've also play all classes, advanced classes and the available group roles for them.

Perhaps if you had levelled up a couple of more characters, you would understand the value of the XP boost, level sync and even levelling together with other players and roleplaying through content, because you can only do the same quests so many times even in the variations given by dialogue choices before they get completely and utterly boring. And believe it or not, (role-)playing together with others can shake things up and make playing through the quests less boring as well!

 

 

Just to clarify, I'm not claiming I'm better than anyone for having done these things or shoved money up Bioware's behind, and I'm certain it also pales in comparison what others have "achieved" in the game or "paid" for it.

I'm a player just like any other. The reason why I'm posting these facts because you, Mr. Shakar - if that is actually your real name - have been talking trash about me personally (as well as others) and I thought it would be a good idea to point out the flaws in your "arguments". Perhaps it would be wiser if you had stopped and thought for a second or two or at least do some research (for example, the fun fact that you can't post on these forums without an active subscription) before making a fool out of yourself and bragging about things and making assumptions about other players that couldn't be further away from the truth and accuse them of things without any facts.

 

Let's get back on topic now, however.

Edited October 5, 2015 by Glzmo

[idnewton]

Says the person with a signature like yours is very ironic.

But I'm not using it to justify my actions, nor am I being a jerk to new players, discouraging them from enjoying the game, or bullying them out of the thread. Edited October 5, 2015 by idnewton

[idnewton]

This message is hidden because eartharioch is on your ignore list.

And I'm guessing I didn't miss much, either

 

 

One thing to consider, if it's hard finding people to group with now, whether for low level things, operations, flashpoints, what have you, what makes people think that having Joe Blow lvl 60/65 down scaled to whatever level planet they go to, will suddenly and magically make them group up?

 

I KNOW there are people who group and enjoy grouping with others, but there are also people who will solo every single thing they can if it's possible. All this does is annoy people.

 

If level sync remains mandatory, then it remains mandatory, but as I said, it won't magically make people group up more. The higher levels just won't do the content/go to those planets/remain in the game.

 

As it is, majority of higher level people either go to the daily areas like Section X, Black Hole, Ziost, etc or stay on the Fleet waiting on group finder for HM flashpoints or Operations.

 

And since we ARE keeping our level 60/65 gear and abilities, we MIGHT just be OP enough to STILL not group up for content on the lower level planets.

 

Yes, SOME will group up happily with groups/guildies, but it won't increase a whole lot.

Now here's a post I can work with.

 

Scaled-down players won't "magically make group up", but, because Heroics are going to be a part of the endgame process now (at least to some extent), it will allow the players who choose to do it to have an easier time finding other players and grouping up for it (even if those players are lowbies, they'll still be contributing members of the group).

 

As it is, majority of higher level people either go to the daily areas like Section X, Black Hole, Ziost, etc or stay on the Fleet waiting on group finder for HM flashpoints or Operations.

Ah yes, but the beauty of Level-Sync is that this won't be the case anymore. People will still go to these places, yes, but they will have many other options now as well, which for long-time players is a refreshing change of pace.

 

And since we ARE keeping our level 60/65 gear and abilities, we MIGHT just be OP enough to STILL not group up for content on the lower level planets.

Yeah, it's probably possible on many (if not all) of the heroics, but those who do that will do so because they want the challenge, not because they want to complete the missions faster (unless they're sneaky stealthers and they do stealth-friendly heroics). That's good, it allows players the choice between having a fun challenge and getting content done fast. The only downside to getting content done fast is that you have to be social. In an MMO. I don't know, it doesn't sound that bad to me. Edited October 5, 2015 by idnewton

[Glzmo]

One thing to consider, if it's hard finding people to group with now, whether for low level things, operations, flashpoints, what have you, what makes people think that having Joe Blow lvl 60/65 down scaled to whatever level planet they go to, will suddenly and magically make them group up?

 

I KNOW there are people who group and enjoy grouping with others, but there are also people who will solo every single thing they can if it's possible. All this does is annoy people.

 

If level sync remains mandatory, then it remains mandatory, but as I said, it won't magically make people group up more. The higher levels just won't do the content/go to those planets/remain in the game.

 

As it is, majority of higher level people either go to the daily areas like Section X, Black Hole, Ziost, etc or stay on the Fleet waiting on group finder for HM flashpoints or Operations.

 

And since we ARE keeping our level 60/65 gear and abilities, we MIGHT just be OP enough to STILL not group up for content on the lower level planets.

 

Yes, SOME will group up happily with groups/guildies, but it won't increase a whole lot.

Yes you are right. But it would at least give those that have longed for helping others with their quests and playing them together with their friends the chance to do so without gimping them in the process or killing their enjoyment of the content due to one shot killing everything.

 

Perhaps there could be some incentives for high level players to help others as well. Like some cool titles and cosmetic perks or even they could use that would only be achieveable through helping lower level players. Perhaps a good amount of cartel coins, even. Then again, that might backfire and people would just do it for the sake of "grinding" instead of actually having fun helping and playing with others. It isn't really an easy thing to solve. It shouldn't be something that feels forced, however.

 

LOL no. Just because the first daul-saber showed up in canon in the hands of Darth Maul does not make it a "Sith saber". Jedi Shadow uses them... and all over the Extended Universe we've seen Jedi use them. If I remember correctly some part of the Jedi Temple Guard used them (or they used the spear type) too.

 

If anything, the only real "Sith saber" would be the curved hilt saber, as it was designed for the more aggressive nature of Juyo Form, which was far more used by Sith than Jedi.

Dual Bladed Lightsaber have been Sith exclusive in canon until KOTOR. I'm not saying it shouldn't be possible, my argument was just that players should have a choice. Most "Jedi" companions have dual bladed lightsabers, I wish we could have a choice to have them use regular, single bladed ones if we preferred them to do so without penalty. Or any other weapons, so you could, you know, roleplay to have a male Jedi companion for a change.

 

I think the reason for this is kinda obvious. Between Secondary and Tertiary stats, there are only three for tanks: Defense, Shield, and Absorb. Shield and Absorb have both become Tertiary stats, while Defense will be a secondary stat (as I think it is now). If Shield and Absorb were rolled into one stat, then every single one of your tank's Secondary stats would be Defense, and every single one of your tank's Tertiary stats would be this Shield/Absorb combo stat. There would be absolutely no stat choice for tanks which would be awful.

Right, I haven't thought about it this way and I can see where you're coming from. It's still a similar duality as critical + surge is and thus from a design standpoint one could argue it should be treated the same. Perhaps if Shield and Absorb where combined together, tanks could get another tertiary stat to even the playing field? One that boosts threat generation, perhaps, which might be rather helpful for some tank classes that can't effectively generate as much threat as others. Edited October 5, 2015 by Glzmo

[Bugattiboy]

If SirCopperfield was still here he would be mad jealous of your "skills" idnewton. Edited October 5, 2015 by Bugattiboy

[alzzin]

I've already posted some reasons why I disagree with scrapping Level-Sync (Source) (Source), I've summarized my argument against and utter detest for the suggestion to make Level-Sync toggleable (Source), and I've shown how Level-Sync could be made optional (but not directly toggleable), but consequently with many less pros (Source), but I have not actually stated what the pros are. Allow me to fix that problem.

Pros of Level-Sync:

 

I really didn’t want to get into a point by point because it was more typing than I prefer to do. looking at your points You made it easier for me by adding so many that begin with “allows” I find all of your argument that begin with "allows" to be speculative in nature since bioware has provided no prof they intend to do any of these things and I find these thing more or less wishful thinking.

 

 

1. Makes lowbie content engaging for max-level characters bored of endgame activities.

1 How is it engaging for Max-level characters they are Max level xp is useless for max level char and bioware has not mentioned how loot drop will be affected but I doubt a level 65 will get level 65 gear from a level 20 mob.

2. Allows overleveled (including max-level) characters to actively participate in lowbie content and earn decent rewards from it.

2 “allows” no proof bioware will do= wishful thinking, as mention above we don't know how loot drops will work, when in a starter zone will you get 10 credits for killing a mob or will that mob now drop for a level 65 player the same amount of credits as a level 65 mob somehow I expect the former rather then the later

3. Lowbie ganking won't be as easy.

3 Lowbie ganking is still a thing? This summer I leveled 4 characters on a pvp server and ran across 5 opposing players all summer. On my light sided sith role-playing I followed an opposing player for 10 min, not willing to commit the first attack (role-playing light side) they ignored me the whole time. Open world PVP is dead on many pvp servers in this game. (i won't say all because i haven't tried all but. do to low populations I finely gave in and made a character on harbinger

4. Resolves the stupidity inherent to the current system (being able to strip my skinny sniper bare and stand in a nest of K'lor'slugs on Korriban yet take no damage because I have a cute little number which says so).

4 Later you talk about player choice but since they are not playing the game like you want them to you think they shouldn’t have a choice. I personally think players should be able to do this. Stand in front of a level 10 mob and force choke it death, Instead for force choking a mob for 10% damage. Let players lightsabers feel like lightsabers instead of nerf bats that glow.

5. Allows players to help other players level without hurting their experience gain.

5 This is a valid point and one expressed by the devs. I am of the opinion it will not be used much.

6. Gives players many more options for leveling (I can take my level 56 Commando and go level with Corellia's planet story if I want, since I've never finished it. Likewise I can take a 60 Sorcerer I don't want to level via KotFE story and instead level through sidequests on Dromund Kaas. This is a huge improvement in PLAYER CHOICE and will vastly improve our SWTOR experience).

6 This is a valid point and one expressed by the devs. I am of the opinion it will not be used much.

7. Requires (or at least encourages) players to group for group content (heroics, ETC), as that's what the content was originally designed for.

7 everything bioware has done lately is geared to solo content, I believe they have looked at their game demographics and this is who their player base is. So why suddenly exclude content the player base currently can and is using?

8. Allows BW to implement these Weekly Heroic missions and the terminals pertaining to them (as well as the awesome priority transport feature included).

8 “allows” no proof bioware will do= wishful thinking

9. Presumably allows BW to implement the feature into places like Ilum and Rakghoul tunnels so they won't have to rebalance the content for future xpacs, thus reducing resource consumption.

9 “allows” no proof bioware will do= wishful thinking

10. Makes World Bosses challenging even for max-level players, so they actually feel like fearsome foes.

10 this is also harmful to small guild who farm this content to for their guild ship, I expect that since these will be harder less people will do them

11. Allows BW to make the Gathering Skill changes they did without fear of players running right past enemies' faces and getting Gathering nodes for tons of materials.

11 again “allows” I don’t know what these gathering skill changes are, if you do and could post a link for them I would like to see.

12. Alleviates the concerns of players who felt like too much Experience caused them to be overleveled and therefore unnaturally powerful in combat during their class stories and the local side-quests.

12 I have never heard anyone complain that they are too powerful in a MMO, becoming powerful is the carrot that keeps people playing MMOs

13. Allows BW to create future events on lowbie planets without fear of scaling issues.

13 “allows” no proof bioware will do= wishful thinking

14. Allows lowbie guildmates to have (pretty much) as meaningful an impact in conquests as their greatly-overleveled buddies (assuming the lowbies aren't BELOW the level of the planet, of course).

14 Level syc also limits the number of guildies willing to help out a newbie instead of spending 5-15 min it now could take them 45 min to an hour. sure some people might do this, I expect a lot of other to say well i am a little busy right now to help out. beside I suspect most guilds are full of max level char right now and wouldn't use this.

15. Keeping players from blazing through lower-level Daily Areas like Ilum will very likely lower inflation, though it's hard to say by how much.

15 the reason I waited a day to respond because I went and tested this out, I made more credits doing Illam dailies because their was more of them but it took longer, time on speeder, then doing level 60 dallies. so on a cost vs time it is not worth it to do low level dailies for credits

16. High-level characters won't be able to utterly control rare/special lowbie mobs (including World Bosses) by farming them easily and selling the rare drops on the GTN.

16 this is where an understanding of economics comes into play, by having more people put an item on the GTN the price of that item falls, so it is easier for a new player to get an item because it is cheaper on the GTN that if only lowbie were farming the item. by having fewer on the GTN you make it more expensive and then only the lowbie who get a rare item to drop is likely to have and use.

17. Companion side-quest missions (each class has one companion with these, I think) will be relevant again and give XP, which is awesome since I've never been the level of these things (always too high or too low).

17 This is a valid point. I am of the opinion it will not be used much.

18. Allows BW to use the old planets for new KotFE content without having to worry about getting killed by trash mobs in KotFE related areas (since I doubt all areas will be instanced).

18 “allows” no proof bioware will do= wishful thinking

19. Makes it so our Class Story final boss isn't a complete pushover (which in the vast majority of the stories is very unrealistic)

19 LOL again never heard of a player saying I am to POWERFUL! This again seem like a case of you want other players to play the game the way you think it should be played instead of giving them a choice of playing the game like they want to play it.

20. Allows BW to integrate new endgame content into lowbie planets (beyond just Heroic missions). For example, instanced raidbosses like the one we have on Ziost and Makeb, but a new one could be put on, say, Belsavis or Tatooine.

 

 

I'm sure I've forgotten several benefits, but there's the first 20 I could think of.

20 “allows” no proof bioware will do= wishful thinking

Edited October 5, 2015 by alzzin

[eartharioch]

And I'm guessing I didn't miss much, either

 

Only one way to find out, same way I find out what you've said

[Joefjr]

If SirCopperfield was still here he would be mad jealous of your "skills" idnewton.

 

Love your sig!

[Dracking]

So once again i see a game company changing something that does not seem to be broken...

1 out leveling a planet i actually like going into a planet and being above the minimal level that being said i think that level sync should be toggle-able. If you really want to give people this option then put it as an option.

 

2 stats ... for players i do not really see the need to dumb it down a tweak or 2 sure removal seems well stupid.

 

3 Companions couple ideas; minimal gearing based on level is great but allowing us to upgrade and make our companions "bad ***" seems way better than removing all their stats and the work people put into their favorite companions.

 

4 Talent tree... leave it as it is and then just add another tier or another option or 2 to what we have on the tiers. a couple more options would add to the diversity.

 

5 changes and ideas have a look at the galaxies crafting and player made cities. some players love this sort of thing.

[Packgrog]

Too much in this thread to churn through, but has anyone suggested hybrid situations regarding the Level Sync? It's nice for those of us who play at weird times and generally have to solo to be able to decide if we want the mobs to be a challenge or not. It's nice to be able to go back to Heroics or Flashpoints that were missed and just be able to blaze through them to get the story bits or some custom gear (even if way low level). But under certain circumstances, particularly class quests and any time you're in a group, Level Sync should *NOT* be optional. If you have a group, then you should have the proper challenge and not-too-uneven XP distribution. You should always have the proper challenge from class quests. For anything else? Meh.

 

Usually when I do flashpoints with a group, we have to rush through them, skipping conversations, bypassing whole sections, etc. I like to be able to go back to these and just enjoy the story bits at my own pace. Level Sync would have made it impossible for me to ever get to truly enjoy the story arc of The Foundry, for example (not that it's that great, but it's fun to see some old faces and actually savor the dialog). If I'm way over-level and gain no XP as a result, I'm fine with that, as long as it's my choice. Sometimes I'll want the mobs to be a challenge, sometimes I just want to plow through. Give us the option during solo play, and everyone's happy.

 

I'll reserve judgement on the companion changes until it comes out, though I'm not over the moon about those either.

[Shakar]

If SirCopperfield was still here he would be mad jealous of your "skills" idnewton.

 

like.

[Talfax]

Planet Sync is a terrible idea. What's the point to level higher if you are just going to be reduced on lower level planets? Might as well do away with levels, which is pretty much what this is doing. Plus, a lot of armor and stats are not all equal--green, blue, purple, Basic gear. Progressing forward, the content is hard, but to go back and struggle again for dailies and such, that's not a good idea. It sounds like forced-grouping, which is what some other games have tried to do, but failed.

[CaptJames]

Hi there, in response to the below....

 

Companions

 

Like we covered in the PAX Prime Livestream, Companions have gotten a significant overhaul. You can watch the stream here, but here are a few quick highlights:

 

Companions are now summoned from the Companions and Contacts/Alliance window.

Companions now all have 3 roles you can choose from on the fly, DPS/Healer/Tank, and different ability sets based on that role.

Companions that use the same weapon type will share the same ability sets (so every companion that uses Blaster Pistols will have the same ability sets).

Companions no longer generate any stats from gear, their stats are purely based on the level of the companion, so you can dress them up however you want. Accordingly, equipment slots that didn't have any effect on visibility have been removed from companions. Companions will still need a weapon in order to activate their abilities, but the stats of the weapon won't matter.

 

In Fallen Empire player, Companions will continue to be a huge part of your personal story. All of these gameplay changes are to enhance their functionality.

 

 

I'm not entirely sure if this is a good change. On the bright side, you no longer have to continuously gear your companion every 10 levels or so (healer/dps/tank)...but..HOW useful will they be at 65? Would they still be able to handle being a Tank (Char), DPS (Comp) or vice versa in a heroic 2+ or 4 at a similar level or simply mobs in any situation, do you have to sit for 10 seconds just to heal up between mobs, because your companion is rubbish?!?

 

Some of us enjoy the rush of frantically trying to stay alive, while stunning, while dpsing, while watching both health bars and coordinating dps in tight situations in a soloing way. It would be very disappointing should this part of the game die as it is the only interesting part for companions after the story missions are complete, otherwise they will be just redundant. For example Kira Carsen can hit a gold/silver for about 10k of the same level, 1/3 critical hit of power strike. On the rare occasion roughly 25k in total. So...how badly are you guyz bringing them down?

 

I'm worried

[CaptJames]

An alternative might be to add "companion refining" for people who want to make their companions usable at higher levels. With either credits or commendations....dunno...just a thought.

[DalrisThane]

Being on a RP server, "flavour" matters to me, though, granted, not the end of the world.

 

That being said, it was mentioned that, say, every companion with a blaster has the same skill set. No problem. And, all companion can do all roles. Again, np.

 

But, will the animations be generic, or specific to the companion?

 

Example in spoilers due to Imperial Agent story.

 

 

For Example = If Doctor Lokin is put on "tank mode", will he be drawn as a Rakghoul as before? I'm ok with his abilities being the same as Qyzen, but it'd be a bit of a loss if he looked like any human in hand to hand.

 

However, if no Rak-Lokin, oh well...

 

Edited October 5, 2015 by DalrisThane