Companion Change Feedback

[brutin]

You exclusively used the wondrous (read: notoriously arbitrary) swtor "metrics" to bring the sledgehammer to companions in the last patch, and NOW we need to supply this information for additional changes?

 

I think I need to seek help. I'm starting to enjoy watching these kinds of decisions being made, and not being helpful anymore whatsoever.

 

This.

 

BW claims they had interneal numbers that showed this nerf was needed but this time we have to supply data to see IF any changes are needed? Something doesn't add up here. Where was the data gathering thread to see if this nerf was needed?

[Xenooo]

Your level - 16

Roughly Average Item Rating - level 15 greens

Discipline - Marauder

Companion - Vette

Companion role - heals

Companion Influence level - 6

Which Mission or Star Fortress are you playing (Solo Mode? Heroic Mode?) Dark Temple

Your personal experience while playing this content

 

I was unable to kill both elites on the Dark Temple heroic with Vette without the help of another player and companion. Vette's heals and my limited defensive cd's were not enough. It also takes Vette 10+ seconds to heal me from -10% to full when out of combat. I also dropped to 50% or less HP on each strong mob.

 

Your level - 65

Roughly Average Item Rating - 208 pvp all augmented

Discipline - Powertech

Companion - Major Peirce

Companion role - heals

Companion Influence level - 18

Which Mission or Star Fortress are you playing (Solo Mode? Heroic Mode?) Belsavis Heroics

Your personal experience while playing this content

 

There are a couple of heroics in Belsavis that consist of many elite and 2 strong groups until you come to a Champion sith or jedi at the end. I could previously complete those heroics in 4-5 minutes. It now takes at least 15 minutes because I have to kite all over the place praying for heals using cc when it's off cd and just barely make it through a single group. I have to wait for my cc's to come off cd again, heal both myself and companion before starting the next pull. This seems more tuned for solo heroic Star Forge than a heroic 2.

 

/canceled_sub

Edited November 19, 2015 by Xenooo

[Neoforcer]

The beauty of BW putting the burden of proof on the community is that they don't have to be right. They don't even have to defend themselves. All they have to do is sit back and wait for one slip up from us, and it will validate every single thing that they have done and make every argument we make invalid.

 

Pretty much ravagers 2.0 slot machine 2.0 what we got here is failure to communicate 2.0 some men just can't reach so you get what BIOWARE had last year which is the way he want's it well he gets it. Which is going to leave this game dead and the devs will have to explain to disney and EA why it happened. Should do what we all did in SWG go to teh disney forum and complain like we did on the LucasArts forums

[geschmonz]

If Alliance is the new end-game, that's great. I love it. In that case, absolutely everything in game--OPs, PvP, FPs, GSF, whatever--should give mission rewards that help to build your Alliance. That way no matter what a player likes, they can use it to build Alliance.

 

Making these changes would go a long way to improving peoples' game experience.

 

No, as this only would reward hardcore gamers more than casual gamers.

 

Mission rewards should be limited to components everyone is able to access. Completion quests for the star fortresses should be accessible to anyone as well.

 

Bioware should only make groups mandatory for operations. Everything else, including h2 content, should be soloable by the average player in gear where the content played rewards improvements.

[Joesixxpack]

This.

 

BW claims they had interneal numbers that showed this nerf was needed but this time we have to supply data to see IF any changes are needed? Something doesn't add up here. Where was the data gathering thread to see if this nerf was needed?

 

pic related

[Krucify]

What i want to know is what was the companions hurting before the nerf? What, heroics that you want us to daily, over and over?

 

People were having fun. I don't understand the need to nerf the solo aspect of the game. Making ppl grind through tedious is not fun and not a way to keep ppl subbed. To keep ppl subbed is for them to have fun and by leveling alts. Going for acheivements, mount hunting, so on so forth. Not having to trudge through tedious content on a daily basis. I don't think many ppl are going to be leveling alts now. I know i'm not, not until this is fixed anyway. Also, if it's not fixed i won't even be staying.

 

Sad part is you actually had it right and took it away. If you don't fix this then you deserve to lose every single sub.

[Perihelion]

Your forums are all in an uproar. Look at the metrics of whether people are cancelling their subs or not. Are cartel market sales down? That is all the feedback you need.

 

My biggest issue was when I geared my companions myself they performed much better. After 4.0 I didn't mind not gearing them because they were so op. Now I wish I could gear them myself.

 

Any one could see a nerf was coming, they were op. But a 75% reduction? Too far.. The underlying issue was tedious vs a challenge. Now its all tedious (h2's are still quite easy) but heroic SF? forget it. I can do it but I wont bother. I don't have that kind of time, either as solo or waiting hours to find a group.

 

The real question is, do we bother giving you our money?

[Nexun]

This.

 

BW claims they had interneal numbers that showed this nerf was needed but this time we have to supply data to see IF any changes are needed? Something doesn't add up here. Where was the data gathering thread to see if this nerf was needed?

 

it is just proof they listen to those few elitest who said companions were to OP now look at the *****torm they created by listening tot hem

[Nexun]

Your forums are all in an uproar. Look at the metrics of whether people are cancelling their subs or not. Are cartel market sales down? That is all the feedback you need.

 

My biggest issue was when I geared my companions myself they performed much better. After 4.0 I didn't mind not gearing them because they were so op. Now I wish I could gear them myself.

 

Any one could see a nerf was coming, they were op. But a 75% reduction? Too far.. The underlying issue was tedious vs a challenge. Now its all tedious (h2's are still quite easy) but heroic SF? forget it. I can do it but I wont bother. I don't have that kind of time, either as solo or waiting hours to find a group.

 

The real question is, do we bother giving you our money?

 

even tho i have like 80 days left on my sub if changes are not made to make it fun again and for solo players to have stuff to do i will not spend anymore money on this game

[DarthDymond]

This.

 

BW claims they had interneal numbers that showed this nerf was needed but this time we have to supply data to see IF any changes are needed? Something doesn't add up here. Where was the data gathering thread to see if this nerf was needed?

BW uses their metrics to make a decisions: "Rawr! You shouldn't be relying on metrics - they lie! You should be asking the community what we want!"

BW asks for community feedback to supplement their metrics: "Rawr! See, they don't really have metrics! It's all a lie!"

 

This is why we can't have nice things...

[kovodar]

Yesterday I decided I wanted to complete my Star Fortresses achievements to 100%. Because I didn't want people to have to wait for me while I stared out of windows for hours looking for a certain droid I opted to do the heroics myself.

The only challenges I came across were the EPHEMERIS and sun reactor sections. For EPHEMERIS I made strong use of my 60 second CC and had my companion healing while I kited the knights if I was at low health.

 

The Sun Reactor areas was where I had the most trouble, particularly in the rooms where we have to drain the exarch's energy. after trial and error I found that control is key in there, so Admiral Aygo's turret and some of Oggorob's healing went a long way, Sana Rae's relic does wonders against the group of 5 skytroopers too! The use of the alliance tools made it possible to focus on the objective: Drain the exarch's energy. Once that task was done it's like a checkpoint and you won't have to do it again, so just go all out at each section.

 

The exarch's themselves were not much of an issue, but interrupting is key if you want to stay alive.

 

Class: Assassin (Deception)

Gear: 216 non-set bonus

Companion: level ~25 using DPS for most battles, and heals for EPHEMERIS and Sun Reactor stages.

 

In my opinion the changes better reflect the challenge that should be needed in getting such a great title such as "The One and Only", making the game even more rewarding for the players who decide to work hard to get it!

Low effort + little time given -> "yaay" Small mental reward

big effort + time and effort given -> "YAAAAHOOOOO GUYS LOOK WHAT I DID I'M THE ONE AND ONLY! YEAH!" Big mental reward!

 

Don't change it from this, some achievements should be harder than others to get simply because they are more satisfying for those who work to get them.

Edited November 19, 2015 by kovodar
Added opinion

[Satsuke]

Yo Eric,

 

Isn't this the type of data and feedback you should like, be getting before making a big change to a system/feature? Shouldn't a large change like this be, you know, tested before rolling it out? This is horribly slapdash and feels reactionary in the extreme, with poorly communicated goals for the change beforehand (hence the longer post now) and a complete lack of communication in the immediate aftermath that makes it feel as if you guys were caught totally unaware by the reaction and were rushing to figure out what to do.

 

I keep wanting to think that you guys are going to turn a corner and start consistently communicating well and stop making knee-jerk reaction changes. But then you continue to do this.

 

Why are people angry? Because you're not doing your bloody jobs, that's why.

[Jadescythe]

This.

 

BW claims they had interneal numbers that showed this nerf was needed but this time we have to supply data to see IF any changes are needed? Something doesn't add up here. Where was the data gathering thread to see if this nerf was needed?

 

I'm curious what you think this looks like? Would I just post ever AC I have at any level, every companion I have at any influence, and every piece of content and let them know that I never dropped below 90% health? Everyone knew that healers made you unkillable, the only debate was whether or not that was intended. Now we know what is intended, but players are stating their experience doesn't match watch BW experienced through their metrics and testing, so they want clarification on who is having difficulty to better identify a solution.

[AlixMV]

Based on these statements above, do you think that these are true after Tuesday’s changes? What content is more or less difficult than you expected? Is there something that is just flat out impossible?

 

Please give us your feedback, and we simply ask you to be as constructive as possible. Include information such as:

• Your level
  
• Roughly Average Item Rating
  
• Discipline
  
• Companion
  
• Companion role
  
• Companion Influence level
  
• Which Mission or Star Fortress are you playing (Solo Mode? Heroic Mode?)
  
• Your personal experience while playing this content
  

 

• Heroics
  
  Character levels: 61-64.
  
  
  Classes: Gunnery Commando (DPS), Darkness Assassin (Tank), Immortal Juggernaut (Tank)
  
  
  Roughly average item rating: 186s
  
  
  Companion: Jorgan, Ashara, and Quinn respectively
  
  
  Companion role: DPS, DPS, and Heals
  
  
  Companon influence level: All 10s
  
  
  Missions: Ord Mantell & Coruscant Heroics, Korriban & Dromond Kaas Heroics
  
  
  Personal experience: roflstomps across the board. Maybe I need to do higher end Heroics, but I would disagree that these are 'Medium' difficulty. Difficulty seems 'Low' to me.

  
  

• Heroic Star Fortress
  
  Character level: 65
  
  
  Class: Vigilence Guardian (DPS)
  
  
  Roughly average item rating: 216, 2-piece set bonus
  
  
  Companion: Veeroa Denz (so, does melee DPS as well)
  
  
  Companion role: Heals
  
  
  Companion influence level: 10
  
  
  Mission: Alderaan Heroic Star Fortress
  
  
  Personal experience: I had soloed the Heroic Star Fortresses pretty extensively pre-4.0.2 and rarely had a struggle on this toon, in this spec and with a Heal companion in that Influence range, outside of the last room prior to the final Exarch fight. I would actually have called it 'easy'.
  
  
   
  
  
  I found it much more challenging post-4.0.2, and I would agree that this might be considered a 'High' challenge level targeted by your team. I know my class fairly well and do progression raiding (although not on this toon in this spec) and I had to pull out all the tricks to get past it this time, although, even then, I didn't find it
  too
  challenging. I did use the initial buff item at the beginning of the instance, but got past the Exarch without using the four Alliance items, only popping Heroic Moment once, when I was getting into trouble health-wise. I think I probably could've done the One and Only if I'd wanted to.

  
  

 

I know I'm in the unpopular minority, but from my (albeit at this point) limited experience, I think the Companions are at just about the right level given your stated goals.

 

I now have more motivation to test out the Heroic Star Fortresses on a couple of other classes (well-geared Shadow Tank and an entry level geared Sorc DPS), so I'll try to post that feedback later.

Edited November 19, 2015 by AlixMV

[Garmon]

As many people have already stated, the companions are bugged, pathing issues, target issues and just plain not working after the patch, so I won't go into a lot of details. What I will add is that trying to do heroics at the level they are on the planets while leveling a new toon are extremely difficult. Difficult enough that doing them is a waste of time and the rewards are not adequate.

 

Lastly, I will offer a couple suggestions I feel would fix the issues and make it more fun for a majority of the playerbase:

 

1. For the companion nerf : fix the influence - make it actually count toward their output as well as base stats

( this would increase the capabilities of the companions that you gain influence with: if people want more of a challenge use a companion that has less influence)

 

2. Make the alliance system legacy wide ( this would encourage playing alts and make the system less of a grind)

 

*Disclaimer - I know everyone will not agree, but I am trying to make positive suggestions to make things fun again.

[Neoforcer]

BW uses their metrics to make a decisions: "Rawr! You shouldn't be relying on metrics - they lie! You should be asking the community what we want!"

BW asks for community feedback to supplement their metrics: "Rawr! See, they don't really have metrics! It's all a lie!"

 

This is why we can't have nice things...

 

And not asking one the forums as only elder game members that are elitist hang on the forums

[TX_Angel]

I'm sorry Eric, but your post just comes across like some kind of work order.

You should this, you should that....

Similarly, We expect this, we expect that.....

 

My bosses at work use those "expect" "should" expressions. That's ok, they pay me.

 

Whatever happened to playing for fun? Whatever happened to thinking about the playerbase, to real consideration and care? 'We expect'.....so far removed from any indication of real consideration - a simply terrible posting.

 

It just portrays a defensive, we are always right mindset. With the onus thrown straight back at the players that if they are voicing serious concerns, then it's all their fault for not being 'good enough'. One of the most odious learn to play messages seen from a so called professional body.

 

I feel you have completely lost sight of the service yourself and your company set out to do. It is a game, people play games for fun, not some obligatory set of expectations being thrown at them.

 

Do you simply not realize that many players where having that fun at the launch of KotFE? Did you completely turn a blind eye to the lists of messages and the poll saying don't change things?

 

But you simply ignored them, hiding behind a 'we know best' attitude that is distasteful. So far removed from really caring about your customers.

 

And what now? When you have created a situation where there are hundreds/thousands of posts showing complete dissatisfaction with your decision making? Where your portrayed arrogance and decision making has resulted in lists of cancelled subscriptions?

 

Where is a simple acknowledgement that you haven't gone about this anywhere near the correct way? That you realise this and will take immediate action to help stop the player exodus?

That you will reverse the changes, then do what you should have done - incremental adjustments on the pts. You know, the server that is there exactly for this kind of adjustment tests?

 

But no - all I see is 'we expect......we expect...' How far this is from a truly caring and supportive organisation.

Inferring that if players are now struggling, or even stopped, with the content - then it's entirely their inadequacy.

 

Do you simply not care that players are leaving, have left already? Do you really want to drive a proportion of the playerbase away? I can only assume this is in fact the case.

 

For simply misjudging the mood of players and for this misdirecting 'down to you' approach, this is one of the worst development responses I have had the misfortune to experience.

 

Reverse the companion changes

Carry out proper incremental testing on the pts

Then make an informed decision

- and for heaven's sake, move away from this 'you should/we expect', player ordering approach.

 

Quoted for truth

[Alssaran]

Sith Warrior - Juggernaut - Immortal - Item Rating ~208 with seven defense augments - Lana on healing duty with influence 31

 

It's one of my three main characters. I can say that most of the statements regarding difficulty level are true. I haven't leveled a character yet, so I will refrain from judging that.

 

KotFE chapters? 2/10 difficulty. They aren't challenging at all, even with low influence and green gear. Knowing some of the hidden mechanics (like stunning Arcann with his own lightning) make them relatively easy.

Heroic 2? Also very easy. There wasn't a single time I dropped below 80% on that character, even when fighting boss mobs. Using a single interrupt can make all the difference here.

Solo SF? The same as KotFE chapters. 2/10 difficulty, with no challenge.

Heroic SF? That's a bit more difficult. A 7/10 for me. You need to kite the enemies ever so slightly. Interrupts and CC (like Intimidating Roar or Force Choke) come in handy. They are doable on that character without even dying one.

One for All? I'd say it's a 8.5/10. It's doable, even without an influence 50 companion. But CC and movement are your friends here. Prepare to use a lot of DCD, but it's doable. I completed that achievement yesterday on said character.

 

Jedi Knight - Sentinel - Watchman - Item Rating ~208 - eight epic augments - Theron on healing duty with Influence 33

 

My second main character. It's doable, but offers slightly more challenge than the Juggernaut due to the missing survivability.

 

KotFE chapters? Again: Not really a challenge. Knowing those few little tricks makes it rather easy.

Heroic 2? I have only encountered a single heroic quest where I had trouble staying alive. That one on Voss where you fight Gormakk in that boneyard. You kill a dozen of them first, then proceed to destroy turrets and kill their tribes leader. It was the only heroic that really made me drop below 25% during two seperate fights out of two dozen different heroics I completed.

Solo SF? Again, not really a challenge. You'll be able to kill the defense unit and the Knight fairly easily, all thanks to Saber Ward and Rebuke.

HM SF? This is where it gets tricky. The fights seem slightly off, but not overly so. The missing DCD and survivability of the Sentinel is really obvious here. It's certainly doable, given you know how movement and CC works. But it will be quite a challenge. I think I died a total of two times. Once because of a bug while jumping in the Sun Reactor room, once while fighting the two Knights in the security room. Overall doable, espescially with all crates and buffs.

One for All? I haven't tried that one on my Sentinel yet. I might do it later and provide a video.

 

Imperial Agent - Marksmanship - Item Rating ~208 - no augments - SCORPIO on healing duty with influence 27

 

I think this is the most challenging of all the three characters. I have yet to encounter a situation that is downright impossible, but the overall difficulty has certainly taken a turn upwards since tuesday.

 

KotFE chapters? I finished the last two chapters (VII and VIII) yesterday evening. I can't really say they were difficult. Not at all. Using shield probe a few times made the fights rather easy, as well as...you guessed it...knowing the tricks.

Heroic 2? Working as intended. Going into cover really negates some of the most serious damage, using CC and interrupt negates the rest. I have yet to find a Heroic 2 I can't complete, although I'll admit that some of them are quite...the thing.

Solo SF? Not more or less difficult than the KotFE chapters

HM SF? They are quite the challenge. You have to use CC and interrupt a lot, espescially during the right moments. Using LoS and cover to your advantage is also something you should consider learning when attempting a SF in HM as solo player. It's doable, but you'll break your Shield Probe/Entrench key while doing it.

One for All? Haven't tried. Might do it later.

 

Smuggler - Scoundrel - Ruffian - Item Rating ~208 - three epic augments - Senya on healing duty at 36 influence

 

The most difficult of all of my characters right now. It's not impossible, but you can feel the difference in difficulty.

KotFE chapters? You guessed it: Not a challenge.

Heroic 2? Completely soloable. I didn't even die once, which isn't a really tricky way of saying I use my stealth generator to get the f*** out of there...

Solo SF? The same as Heroic 2, really. You can manage with some of your DCD and good use of overall CC. Not impossible, but certainly adequate for a solo FP furthering the story development and recruiting followers.

HM SF? Here is where it gets tricky. The Paladins do hit really hard. Hard enough that Senya has a hard time following up with her healing. I constantly have to use Upper Hand to heal myself to have an off chance of surviving the Paladin encounters. They might need some slight adjustment.

One for All? Haven't tried.

 

My overall verdict? I believe that the new difficulty is nice, but I do see the controversy and the issue behind it. I'd suggest adding 10-20% to companions again and fixing the tank stance bugs to make up for it. The companions right now can be a real pain in the a**, at least if you have no idea what you are doing. Some classes outperform others bs a margin. Nothing is downright impossible, but some things are considerably harder on my Scoundrel than on my Juggernaut.

 

The 75% nerf was...a bit much. I'd not suggest going back to the status quo of godmode companions, but it can't hurt to raise them by 15% again. That would still leave One for All in a spot to be a challenging achievement to obtain, while offering some easier gameplay and time for new or returning players.

[ChristienB]

 

The real question is, do we bother giving you our money?

 

Honestly, this is the only feedback that truly holds any validity. If people are happy, they stay subbed, if they are unhappy they leave. Simple metrics. The rest can all be twisted to bolster either side of the issue, depending on which side is the more popular that day. Hard, easy, ultra hard, expert, casual or everything in between doesn't matter if players aren't happy and spending money. I know it's impossible to make the entire player base happy all of the time, but again, the only real metric that matters in the long run is how many subs they keep versus lose. None of us can really predict those numbers. In the end, the only thing they will respond to is are they making money or not.

[ScarletBlaze]

Your level _ 65

Roughly Average Item Rating- 208/216

Discipline- DPS Shadow (Infiltration, I believe)

Companion- Koth

Companion role- Healing

Companion Influence level- 19/20

 

Which Mission or Star Fortress are you playing (Solo Mode? Heroic Mode?)- Solo when I doing things on my own. I group with friends and guild members for the heroic. Makes it more fun for me and just the way we do things.

 

Your personal experience while playing this content-

In the Black Hole heroic Koth died two or three times which he hadn’t before but thankfully I didn’t. I do believe you have over done the healing aspect of the companions somewhat. I do not think they need to be to the point they were before but some adjustment should be done.

 

I do have a few concerns about Makeb and especially the one with the puzzles. Those should be tuned a bit differently though I love the puzzles but those that solo could have a hard time.

 

I want to thank you for taking the time and asking our feedback. Have a good day and God bless.

Edited November 19, 2015 by ScarletBlaze

[tahol]

I give you feedback, this one time, because you asked it and it might be you even read it.

 

These last three days have been first time after 4.0 hit, that I had FUN and I had a feeling I'm actually playing a game.

 

I have 2 characters at 65 that I play actively, Sith Assasin and Sith Juggernaut. Jedi Guardian is going through Kofte right now (slowly, so much cutscenes). I'm levelling a Sith Sorcerer (lightning) just by doing heroics from terminal. I have trooper that is doing his class-quest but I have always almost slept in front of my pc when I played him, so he is a bit unlucky. I could play him now, but as it happened I had so much fun playing my two 65's and my sorc I forgot about him. I have two 65's I have levelled there without Kofte and might be they never do it.

 

I'm not a skilled player, I'm 46 years and I just click icons. And I was desperate of the op-companions. I don't have to explain any of it to you, as developers you know very well what games are about, and you have played them yourselves. I don't think you are any different to me in that. You wouldn't want to have a game that can play itself in front of your eyes, and you don't want to handicap yourself and find ways to make things more difficult with cheap tricks. NONE of these people who told us to do so, would do that themselves.

 

To actual feedback from three days now: Finally I got back the GAME. I have zero problems to do the content we have now. If some content is outside my skills, then be it. I can get better if I want to do them so much. I died once with my SI today in Belsavis-heroic, because he is the hardest for me (as I just click icons) and Andronikos was a dps. I don't care. It reminded me to be more careful. I never die in them with my SW. I blast through solo-versions of SF with both Siths. I do heroic SF only with my SW, and he can die, several times, because I'm not a good player (reason why my SI doesn't do them yet). So what. I still finish it.

 

I have never relied on healers to carry me. But, after 4.0 hit and I felt I need a healer, I was in shock of the state of them. They are good now. They don't need to be any better. GL with that. You gave people a God-mode, a Jail-out-card, and they will want it back. For a month you gave them a game that didn't demand anything from them, they will rather leave the game than yield to the fact that game needs to be played. They will find every excuse to justify their will to just sit and watch cutscenes and get achievements on plate. Credits too. Soon you are a laughing-stock of the industry: SWTOR. the game that playes itself for you, only 14,90 month. These things spread, you know. You should have thought a little bit harder when you begin to mess with difficulty in the first place. If you give people a God-mode and take it a way, they will revolt.

 

I HATED your op-companions with passion. I love the game like it is now. There is your feedback. I hope I never have to write a single word about this bs again.

[Draskuul]

Level 65

Item ratings 216/220 mix, augmented (crystal gear, not ops)

Lightning Sorcerer

Lana, Rank 43, Healing

 

 

Weekly heroics:

 

Prior to 4.02 I ran them all. About half are so long and tedious that I only did them the first time and will never do them again. They weren't difficult, just a time-wasting chore, but about half were tolerable due to the lack of difficulty.

 

After 4.02 I just won't do more than half a dozen of them. The rest are incredibly long and tedious chores, and the change to companions made them vastly worse.

 

 

Star Fortress solo:

 

Prior to 4.02, not a problem. A chore, but fast enough that I didn't mind running them all weekly.

 

After 4.02 I run one and I don't want to even look at the instance again. Every single pull is a far longer fight than it should be, with far more effort and attention needed than should be for trash pulls.

 

 

Star Fortress Heroic, solo:

 

Prior to 4.02, getting to the Exarch was a damned long instance. I never managed to solo kill an Exarch as a solo lightning sorc. I tried several strategies, Lana tanking and me healing, etc. Lana would always die due to broken AI (MMO 101: "Don't stand in sh*t"), followed by me very soon after. After about 350k in repair costs I gave up doing them solo. Even if I could kill the Exarch I don't think I'd ever do these solo just due to the massive time sink just to get to the Exarch.

 

After 4.02 I refuse to even bother given my experience prior to 4.02.

 

 

Star Fortress Heroic, 2 players, 2 companions:

 

Prior to 4.02 they were a bit tedious, but completely doable and actually enjoyable.

 

After 4.02 we haven't even bothered. The changes are too frustrating elsewhere to even want to waste time on it.

 

 

 

I spent years as a 'hardcore raider' in WoW, led guilds in several other MMOs mainly doing end-game type content. I've grown up and I'm tired of working a second job, so I gave up on MMOs completely for years now. SWTOR finally got me back because it had good solo content, and was fairly enjoyable solo. I was on the fence until 4.0 about my long term play because most of it was becoming a tedious grind for me, however. As of 4.0 I finally found myself enjoying it again--with the new companions playing was no longer a chore, no longer a second job. As of 4.02 it's right back to the MMOs I quit, and worse than it was before 4.0 (worse mainly due to the change in end game content being even more of a grind than before).

[StarkHelsing]

http://strawpoll.me/5841131/r The poll before the nerf on companions.

http://strawpoll.me/6044247/r The current poll now.

 

You knew. You knew the majority weren't going to like this patch, you did it anyway and bloody broke a number of things along the way. What were you trying to do? What were you trying to prove? That you knew better than us - the consumer - on how we wanted to play this game?

 

You've damaged your reputation again. You've angered people on the way. And as much as I sit here thinking 'I'll give you the benefit of the doubt' and 'Maybe it'll get less tedious, less boring.' This is your response to the situation? You want to crunch numbers? The poll is your numbers, the drop of subs is your data, the fact bloody Harbinger is looking like a damned ghost town as compared to what it was before the nuking of companions.

 

I don't understand it. Even if people were heavily against the companion nerf you could have nerfed, but you didn't even do it considerably. A 50-75% nerf in heals? What were you thinking? 10-25% would have sufficed, they wouldn't have *****ed. You could have slowly tuned them down with each patch at 5% a hit, weaned them until you felt you were in a safe spot. No, you used live servers with paying people as a testing ground.

 

If you're not going to fix them, then do something about the lack of armour, the lame AI, the fact my companions lose their bloody buffs every time I zone in somewhere. The dampner bug for SF heroic. The fact healers don't heal when you use the turret, the bloody corpse lack of despawns - DK is starting to look like Ziost with all those corpses. Get. It. Together.

 

You made a mistake. You didn't listen. You need to fix it before the weekend hits otherwise you're going to be in deeper poop than you now.

Edited November 19, 2015 by StarkHelsing

[Lagruell]

Coming back to the game with a friend of mine a couple weeks ago or so.

 

Leveling was a couple characters was a blast and at first tackling HM FP too (Level 65 DPS Shadow/Concealment Operative, and lvl 55-57 Jedi Guardian 'DPS or Tank' / Sith Sorcerer 'DPS')

 

We were looking at HM Flashpoints as our end game, but the nerf was pretty much the end of it for us.

 

Before the nerf:

 

Cleared Legacy of Rakata on Republic side, at least a pack of 3 Elite Droids was unbeatable because of our lack of control. The rest of the FP wasn't very hard, except for Rand who cost us many pulls - I wish every boss felt that hard, but I expected other HM FP's to make up for that.

 

 

After the nerf:

 

- Kaon Under Siege: The turret encounter was unbeatable without cheesing - me (Shadow) kiting the big ones and going out of combat, resurrecting my healing comp, running back after dying... etc. Bonus boss was impossible, even with our two comp as healers, the first wave of adds was unhealable. Enrage would have killed us anyway. Our Republic side chars cannot heal so we gave up on them until this nerf gets reverted.

 

- HM Black Talon: Hitting enrage on everything. Second and third boss were kited to oblivion. First boss (GR-5) showed us our healing comp was utterly useless, and our tank comp not that tanky, though that was ok. Yadira Ban was only doable with both our comps and I (Conc Op) going DPS, and the Sorc going heal. No tank needed, but we won't have that luxury on other Flashpoints, and the game might very well be over for us.

 

We need to get back the possibility of swapping role with our comps and having them competitive again. Healer comps are useless as it is now, and we like to change roles every now and then, but we heavily favor DPS even while having to micro the tank and healer comps.

 

I intend to upload at the Yadira Ban fight, not sure what I have left from the rest. Might provide a link if I have the time later tonight.

[Oldsailor]

Your level: All 8 classes - Level 61/62

Roughly Average Item Rating: 190/192 some augmented some not

Discipline: various

Companion: various

Companion role: healer

Companion Influence level: 10/20

Your personal experience while playing this content

 

Been grinding older achievements so haven't jumped into the newer content yet. Can only really talk about 2 of the first 3 parts concerning personal experience. I think all leveling content and heroic missions are fine except for a few on Makeb. (As covered by a previous poster.) I really think for all intent and purposes you can throw them out as a problem.

 

This on my part is speculation since I haven't done the content yet. I don't see anyone complaining about KotFE chapters, except for bugs, so I think leveling thru them is fine. The problem is mainly in the Star Fortress and Star Fortress heroics.

 

IMHO the problem exists because the companions were overpowered and this condition existed for over a month. I liken it to leaving out a bowl of candy that is constantly full for you to enjoy. Now, in order to have the candy you need to take out the trash, do the dishes and you can only have a few pieces. So a lot of folks are upset. The newer content has become harder/impossible for some casual players. And like you said earlier it's fun being near indestructible, but that wasn't your intent.

 

I understand the intent of downgrading the companions to give the game the feel that was intended, BUT I think a huge Mea Culpa should be sent to the entire community for having the overpowered companions introduced at launch and leaving them out there for so long. Along with again what you intended for them. You can even point to previous posts/releases showing what you intended, ie level of difficulty, gearing, influence levels etc. (You all blew this by NOT immediately seeing this and at least telling the community that there was a problem and a nerf to companions was coming. You have seen the problems with communications, and have tried to fix with releases prior to 4.0, but failed after launch.)

 

(Hopefully I don't get flamed for this part.) I really think the companions could use a little tweaking, but somewhere in between pre/post 4.0.2 I think in keeping with your intent, that that power be put into the higher end of the influence spectrum. Also the buffs provided by the alliance specialists could be increased, making it easier to run the heroic Star Fortress.

 

I for one realize there is a fine line between making a game challenging and fun, and you may never get back the subscribers who had a blast blazing through content with overpowered companions. I guess BW/EA needs to decide where this game is going, and what group it really wants to cater to.