Companion Nerf, Who is leaving/unsubbing poll

[DamienRay]

unsubbed.

[realID]

I left a long time ago before the first expansion because the game was crap.

 

After 4.0, and suffering from just too much WoW but still wanting a MMO, I gave SWTOR a go. LOVED having companions that meant something. I'm subscribed for 3 months. If the companions aren't buffed again to be valuable, I'll be canceling once again.

[Psicotic]

Unsubed

[Lazerpew]

This companion nerf may have sealed their fate. So sad. They were so close to getting back on the horse.

 

BW said they nerfed companions because they were too strong and the game was essentially playing itself.

 

Let's look at this logically. If people want a game that plays itself because they ENJOY it more (key word ENJOY) then why tweek something people enjoy?

 

Revert the changes made to companions and maybe you can escape this mass unsubscription mess.

 

Keep in mind, the more people that unsubscribe, the less of a community this will feel like, thus, more people will unsubscribe.

 

You're looking at days to fix this. Take a look your profit losses post patch. You really don't have time to sit back and collect data. You have to act now or forever regret your epic screw up.

[bseefeldt]

Really. And this elitist stuff and so forth. The funniest one is this thing about players who spend loads on cartel coins or are kiddos at home or something. Wait, what?

 

I still think the OP companions should have never launched, thats what caused this mess more than anything - lack of testing. But it was an obviously needed adjustment - and at least they showed the courage to get it done.

 

But the forum had become toxic, and I'm starting to think that - as much as the game needs these people's money for production and so forth and as much as I care about that....that maybe it really is better off without some of these folks.

 

I really hate to say that. Hopefully they'll keep Treek strong for those people. And make a really strong, expensive Jar Jar Binks pet for them too. I'm all for them staying and having the game they want.

 

Treek is broken and has been since 4.0 so ya keep her strong lol. as for a jar jar that would be cool lmao and as for people leaving and you think that might be for the best?lol ok that make sense;)

[Shwarzchild]

If people can stomach it I would urge anyone that really was enjoying KOTFE to stick around a bit longer. I know it's not the ideal standard people are craving, but I would stress waiting until you get your influence on your favorite companion to 16-20, maybe get higher level gear from the comm vendor if you're not at 216 before trying to tackle the higher level heroics (I would say maybe Voss and up level wise). After doing the smaller stuff up to Voss, grabbing the crystals from there, raising your influence with the alliance people which also gives great companion gifts to raise influence, and get a bit more of a cushion from better gear you're still having tons of problems, then I'd say unsub.

 

But, give it a chance to be the great content you were enjoying previously. I know a lot of people are upset about the nerf. I just see too many ways to negate it to fully say sure unsub if you're unhappy. After all, people loved the content. The content hasn't changed. It's still the same content you all loved. It's just a companion thing that has avenues to improve in game by player action.

 

Treat it as a progression thing (I know I know players in this vein really hate that idea, but just be open minded). Start out at the easier planet's heroics then go to the mid tier, then go to the higher planets. Then, go to star fortress solo. Once you're at a level where you can go farther with the skills you currently have move on to heroic 2 + star fortress and work on the easier ones and move up.

 

Overall, yes.. i've trolled people before on this topic, but ultimately, I don't want to see people leave over things that can be overcome by the player in the game as it stands.

[bseefeldt]

To be honest, It's not just the companions. I think that was just a breaking point and yes we all could just deal with it. But then its about so many thing now, as players vent you find out some of the other underling things and it just piles up until players want to quit. I was going to name all the things that are broke or just F--ked up but why bother.

[PallyHk]

If people can stomach it I would urge anyone that really was enjoying KOTFE to stick around a bit longer. I know it's not the ideal standard people are craving, but I would stress waiting until you get your influence on your favorite companion to 16-20, maybe get higher level gear from the comm vendor if you're not at 216 before trying to tackle the higher level heroics (I would say maybe Voss and up level wise). After doing the smaller stuff up to Voss, grabbing the crystals from there, raising your influence with the alliance people which also gives great companion gifts to raise influence, and get a bit more of a cushion from better gear you're still having tons of problems, then I'd say unsub.

 

But, give it a chance to be the great content you were enjoying previously. I know a lot of people are upset about the nerf. I just see too many ways to negate it to fully say sure unsub if you're unhappy. After all, people loved the content. The content hasn't changed. It's still the same content you all loved. It's just a companion thing that has avenues to improve in game by player action.

 

Treat it as a progression thing (I know I know players in this vein really hate that idea, but just be open minded). Start out at the easier planet's heroics then go to the mid tier, then go to the higher planets. Then, go to star fortress solo. Once you're at a level where you can go farther with the skills you currently have move on to heroic 2 + star fortress and work on the easier ones and move up.

 

Overall, yes.. i've trolled people before on this topic, but ultimately, I don't want to see people leave over things that can be overcome by the player in the game as it stands.

 

I'm afraid that's not true. In a char with 216 gear and influence 23 companion, the companion can't heal enough.

Edited November 18, 2015 by PallyHk

[ZanyaCross]

Really. And this elitist stuff and so forth.

 

I love how I keep getting called an elitist too because I expect people to learn their class, like I'm some kind of hardcore player. Realistically I'm really only above average. Hell, I've never even been in a group that successfully finished an operation. I hate missions with crazy, overly-complicated mechanics, but I recognize that's just me.

 

I still think the OP companions should have never launched, thats what caused this mess more than anything - lack of testing. But it was an obviously needed adjustment - and at least they showed the courage to get it done.

 

Also a really good point. The whole 4.0 update really feels like it wasn't tested nearly enough and it shows.

 

But the forum had become toxic, and I'm starting to think that - as much as the game needs these people's money for production and so forth and as much as I care about that....that maybe it really is better off without some of these folks.

 

I really hate to say that.

 

 

I really love this game, I don't think I've ever really wished for people to just go away, but the last couple of days have really been so sad and depressing in a way that even fleet chat at its worst has never even come close to.

Edited November 18, 2015 by ZanyaCross

[Chuhu]

Last payment, done..

Well, going down from 75% -> 20% for a tank..Yet, they keep 60% for DPS.

And that is what they call a balanced change.. hehe

Game is starting to get boring sow leaving seems just fine.

You really make me laugh...balance change..

[RogerApple]

Last payment, done..

Well, going down from 75% -> 20% for a tank..Yet, they keep 60% for DPS.

And that is what they call a balanced change.. hehe

Game is starting to get boring sow leaving seems just fine.

You really make me laugh...balance change..

 

They just went entirely too far.

[AndoEyrune]

Still playing, i am perfectly capable without an OP companion.

[Shaji]

Usually the good old "unsubbed" threat is pretty pathetic, but lets be realistic here:

 

1) If you are a (competitve) pvp player this is game should not be your 1st choice to play (unless you really are into star wars).

You can argue all day long, but queues for any kind of ranked say otherwise and the pool of players actually doing this is pretty small.

Random warzones.. yeah, doubt these will keep anyone subbed even if they are new to the internet.

 

2) If you are a progress raider you are still here because you love star wars.

Even with ops scaling to give best in slot gear it is no substitude to acual new content for hardcore raiders.

 

3) So why playing this game again?

 

Because its Star Wars and you get to be the baddass bounty hunter or big bad sithlord.

You experience your epic story with your beloved sidekick, who never leaves your side and holds his ground against any random street thug.. well, kind of.

 

So you build (grind) your alliance .. for what reason exactly?

Making your comapanion even stronger (than some random street thug) .. to do more dailys, so at max level your companion will still be a wimp.

 

I really hope BW is reconsidering their choice how they want companions to be, because for a lot of people this game had been what they were looking for until yesterday.

Reduce healing by 20%, adjust damage output .. no problem. Same as adjusting classskills and pretty standart after expansions or updates.

But this ... ?

 

This expansion brought back a lot of players (for swtor standarts) but i dont see anyone subbing for 1 chapter of story (or 1-3h of actual gameplay) per month.

And in its current form noone will be satisfied playing this game to get their companions level up, just to see how they turn out to be at max influcence level.

[JKMalek]

I'm going to miss god mode just swapped my companion vette to a tank instead of healer. Still can be done for leveling, but just not as fun for me. I got spoiled

[ryoutou]

I really love this game, I don't think I've ever really wished for people to just go away, but the last couple of days have really been so sad and depressing in a way that even fleet chat at its worst has never even come close to.

 

In this one thread (maybe this one? I lose track of all the meh) this one lady said her boyfriend unsubbed in an "icy rage". Almost inhaled my coffee. I wished my forum had a dark side conversation option, but sigh...I let it go.

 

General chat is noise. Guild chat. Maybe some of us who don't have a problem need to gather together somewhere under the "Elitist" banner

[PallyHk]

What the elitists are not getting is that these heroic 2+ are not two player content any more. They are the supposedly single player grind, like what the Yavin dailies were before KOTFE. That content was never even meant to be a challange, the challange part was always the Hardmode flashpoints and Operations.

 

Of course, BW is lazy and don't want to make new operations, so they make the single player part the hard mode.

 

I bet they think they are clever. What else can people do than unsub?

 

The elitists also think that everybody who like(d) this game had:

-Rich parents that gave them money.

-Unlitmited time to play.

-Faultless internet that has no lag.

 

Well, guess what. There are a lot of things that can interfere with that!

-Not everybody has rich parents who can buy them 5000 CC every week.

-Some people have a job, so don't have unlimited time, even if they got lots of cash.

-Some people have families, which means they don't have unlimited time NOR cash.

-Some people live outside the US. That means that compared to their job, the Subscription is much more expensive and the server gives them a big slap of lag. They can go to the EU servers if they are in EU, but that doesn't help with the prices.

-Some people even have other hobbies, and can't spend more than 1-2 hours a day in TOR.

 

I guess all those people don't exists in the elitist world.

[Adaarye]

You do realize there are free, polling websites you could use and put a link in. Be a lot easier to see actual numbers that way (not that people posting here reflect the game player base as a whole).

 

Seriously you are on the internet, take advantage of that fact.

 

And no, not quitting.

We've learned that Bioware pays no attention to those polls. There was one that overwhelmingly indicated that companions should be left as they were. Bioware really payed attention to that one right?

[Shwarzchild]

I'm afraid that's not true. In a char with 216 gear and influence 23 companion, the companion can't heal enough.

 

I'd say there's probably something you're doing play style wise that is hurting your chances. No offense intended here. Which part were you having problems with? Generally, I've seen that most people are having problems on the exarch second generator when there's a ton of adds. The way I handled it when I had lesser gear and lesser influence companions (not saying yours is too low. Yours is probably over the level of influence I'd suggest) is to stun the mob that comes in the door as you finish burning down the two golds in the second generator room. If it's the ambush at the beginning you can burn everything but popping heroic moment/ alliance buffs/ defensive cool downs/ stuns. Both of these places would be the best places to use Unity, or your Heroic Moment, or the turret from Beywon or whatever his name is. Also, the shield generator that drops a ton can be used as well. If it's the exarch, use control F to focus target him that way you can see when he's casting something that you'll want to interrupt as much as possible. Don't go up to the exarch with things on cool down that you'll want to use like heroic moment or the alliance buffs.

 

I have no clue what you're doing in the fights themselves. The guild mates that have asked me for tips have found that they're zerging too much, not using abilities that greatly enhance their survivability, and not generally burning things in an efficient order. When they've paid a little more attention to what they were doing they've cleared it, and the skill range for them is varied. Some still can't, and in guild we've actually put someone in charge of helping those people out one night a week. But, most with a little direction can clear the star fortresses solo still (had to do a lot of helping out last night in terms of strat, but the 4 people who asked me, all cleared there solo runs last night. Some took a while, some didn't. Still absolutely doable though).

[Nightblazer]

I'm staying. I prefer companions better this way. Maybe a bit stronger but not by much, before 4.0.2 it was just sad, no challenge, no fun, just boring. I just stood there and would send my heal comp to solo mobs by himself and he would take them down so quickly.

 

I'm sorry that should never happen, I agree people just got spoiled with how powerful companions were. Could they use a boost, sure but not a lot, maybe a bit. Soloing heroics should be a challenge and make you think a bit on your feet, it shouldn't just a simply send companion off and just come back after making lunch kinda of thing.

 

I shouldn't be able to just stand in once spot with 4 fire aoe's on me and only lose 2% health, that should just not happen.

 

Well that's my two cents.

Edited November 18, 2015 by Nightblazer

[Adaarye]

Really. And this elitist stuff and so forth. The funniest one is this thing about players who spend loads on cartel coins or are kiddos at home or something. Wait, what?

 

I still think the OP companions should have never launched, thats what caused this mess more than anything - lack of testing. But it was an obviously needed adjustment - and at least they showed the courage to get it done.

 

But the forum had become toxic, and I'm starting to think that - as much as the game needs these people's money for production and so forth and as much as I care about that....that maybe it really is better off without some of these folks.

 

I really hate to say that. Hopefully they'll keep Treek strong for those people. And make a really strong, expensive Jar Jar Binks pet for them too. I'm all for them staying and having the game they want.

 

But will Bioware be better off without all the subscription money walking out their door as we speak?

[DarthBama]

Unsubed.

To the people saying everything is fine, could I get some video proof? Say a 100% clean H2 SF run?

[PallyHk]

I'd say there's probably something you're doing play style wise that is hurting your chances. No offense intended here. Which part were you having problems with? Generally, I've seen that most people are having problems on the exarch second generator when there's a ton of adds. The way I handled it when I had lesser gear and lesser influence companions (not saying yours is too low. Yours is probably over the level of influence I'd suggest) is to stun the mob that comes in the door as you finish burning down the two golds in the second generator room. If it's the ambush at the beginning you can burn everything but popping heroic moment/ alliance buffs/ defensive cool downs/ stuns. Both of these places would be the best places to use Unity, or your Heroic Moment, or the turret from Beywon or whatever his name is. Also, the shield generator that drops a ton can be used as well. If it's the exarch, use control F to focus target him that way you can see when he's casting something that you'll want to interrupt as much as possible. Don't go up to the exarch with things on cool down that you'll want to use like heroic moment or the alliance buffs.

 

I have no clue what you're doing in the fights themselves. The guild mates that have asked me for tips have found that they're zerging too much, not using abilities that greatly enhance their survivability, and not generally burning things in an efficient order. When they've paid a little more attention to what they were doing they've cleared it, and the skill range for them is varied. Some still can't, and in guild we've actually put someone in charge of helping those people out one night a week. But, most with a little direction can clear the star fortresses solo still (had to do a lot of helping out last night in terms of strat, but the 4 people who asked me, all cleared there solo runs last night. Some took a while, some didn't. Still absolutely doable though).

 

Oh no, I'm not talking about Heroic 2+ Star Fort. I'm talking about the Heroic 2+ Weeklies.

 

I can't be doing anything wrong, I'm using the Dulfy raid rotation with a level 23 HK-51 as healer, the char itself is Annihilation Marauder with 216 gear and defensively put discipline points (Improved cloak of pain and so on).

 

I also had zero trouble with the Yavin Dailies before the KOTFE, I could even do them with a DPS companion as a DPS marauder.

I also could do the story mode Dread Palace/Fortress with dying 1-2 times in case of wipes. I did have trouble with some HMs due to a slight lag on my end, but that was mostly the lag.

 

So it is not a "learn to play" problem. Bioware decided that the new replacement for Daily content is the Heroic 2+ weeklies that we NEED to do for alliance stuff. I can't even ignore it.

Bioware either needs to make them non heroic, or make companions strong. Because level sync downgrades us and we have worse companions than we did Prior to KOTFE. That is not a good thing.

 

My character is worse off with level 65, 216 stuff, than she was with level 60 and 192 stuff and using a 192 geared companion.. any type of companion.

Edited November 18, 2015 by PallyHk

[Hiply]

I love how I keep getting called an elitist too because I expect people to learn their class, like I'm some kind of hardcore player. Realistically I'm really only above average.

 

You may only be above average as a player, but you're in the epic elite level of forum trolls.

[aktrumpet]

Wow, I never get enough. When I have nothing better to do I make some popcorn and check out the boards to see what the complaint of the day is. No matter what changes are made, some will not like it. No gaming company will be able to make everyone happy all the time. Everyone's idea of what the game should be is different. Just because someone's opinion is different than yours, it doesn't make them wrong. Just as what Bioware did here. The changes don't make them wrong, some people just don't agree. All games are a work in progress and will never be perfect. Some people need to learn to get over it.

 

The biggest complaint now is that people feel they have lost their "GOD MODE" status. I have to admit, 4.0 comps were a bit over the top. I was killing golds 3 lvls above me and not getting below 50% health. We complained that the 4.0 companions were OP. Now we're complaining their too weak. If you don't like it, and can't work with it, leave. If you like it, or can work with it, stay. It's that simple. I haven't had the opportunity to see the changes, but I am looking forward to seeing the changes. I'm sure the majority of people complaining are the ones that need to LTP. You created a FOM toon, maxed lvl as fast as you could, and never learned how to play it. People now days want simple, they don't want to think or work for it because it hurts too much and requires effort. As soon as some people have to use more than 2-4 skills they can't handle it. When they actually have to work for something, they just quit and blame everyone and everything but themselves. This is my opinion and it doesn't make me right, but it's mine, and I could care less if you agree or not.

 

I've been playing SWTOR since beta and have played RPGs and MMOs for a while. I still have my complete 1st edition AD&D library, and have been playing numerous MMOs since 1997 with UO. So, I believe I know a little something about this.

 

Now, for all of you that think you can do it better, please do. Show everyone how you think it should be done. Go make that perfect game that will always be liked by everyone. Good luck, you will fail.

[Hiply]

 

If not, I'm back to EQ2 and/or possibly to play Witcher 1 & 2 that I picked up in a bundle for like 7 bucks, lol. Hey if I like them, I'll try 3. I just don't like having a guy avatar, yech!

 

Let me assure you that Witcher 3 and it's expansion are worth playing through regardless of the character gender issues. The game flat out rocks.