Companion Change Feedback

[MeNaCe-NZ]

Or y'know just look at how fewer people are playing now than just two days ago and make a decision based on that.

 

I would LOVE to get those numbers, they would be truly telling. And the true amount of dropped subs, we'll never know though because if we did one side or the other wouldn't believe the figures.

[CombatLord]

Because they can't account for how inherently bad so many players are at playing games these days and how unwilling they are to learn to get better or even attempt actual gameplay.

 

The curse of the modern day MMO, it brought people into games that have no interest in actually playing games. They just want a casual walk with some lighting effects, maybe a movie or 2 and some nice loot to reward them for said casual walk.

 

And what is wrg with that if they are paying their monthly sub fee. You or anyone else don't have the right to say who plays and who do not play. It sounds like those gamergate idiots that say women have no right or place in gaming and they no grounds in which to decide who is in gaming and who is not, just like no one has the right to tell anyone that they can play or how to play.

Edited November 20, 2015 by CombatLord

[Talrol]

• Your level: 65
  
• Roughly Average Item Rating: 216 w/ 220 weapon
  
• Discipline Seer
  
• Companion Deadeye
  
• Companion role DPS (attempted tank at one point)
  
• Companion Influence level 18
  
• Which Mission or Star Fortress are you playing (Solo Mode? Heroic Mode?) HM Alderaan SF
  
• Your personal experience while playing this content: I felt that the content was too difficult given my familiarity with this class as well as my current gear level. While I was indeed able to finish the heroic you will notice that my companion could not last even for a few moments on the last platform with the boss, the only reason that I was able to finish this was knowing my class and utilizing the added buffs that my alliance allows me. Prior to running this flash point I purchased a PVP blaster for deadeye which increased the DPS output by approximately 20%, my understanding of the new companion system is that weapons/armor are for cosmetic purposes only?
  

If you have a video or other related content to go with your feedback, feel free to link that as well as it will allow us the best insight into your experiences.

 

Here is a link to the video, it took me a little over an hour to complete this flashpoint:

 

The team will be reviewing all feedback, along with supporting data, to see what / if any future adjustments need to be made. Thank you all in advance for your feedback!

[Jeweledleah]

ok. more testing.

 

discipline - concealment operative.

level 15.

gear - blues you get from heroic boxes (prior to that I ran all the hutta heroics, they felt same as before, although I probably should have tried them with Kaliyo dpsing, but oh well) - one concession, I did have cartel hawkeye crystal in her weapon.

companion - Kaliyo in healing spec, influence rank 1.

content - H2 on dromuund Kaas

legacy level - 2, no buffs other then baseline agent.

 

tried saving face. figured I'll jump right into deep pool, since it used to be h4.

 

well.. it felt like it still was. and that is with Kaliyo in healing spec. I didn't die. but I came damn close to it. medpacks were used. experiment was also somewhat ruined by a lvl 65 jumping it very soon after I pulled the last champ. yes I was moving out of his AoE when my stun was down. don't have interrupt yet.

 

this is early heroics. I'm guessing it will only get worse from then on.

 

this is not at all friendly for people who maybe newish to the game or rerolling

Edited November 20, 2015 by Jeweledleah

[KareBarey]

In addition, healing companions have been broken since 4.0. They stop healing mid fight, wander off, do a crossword, anything but heal. Before this patch, they would spark into life and burst heal me for 20K, so this poor coding on your part was covered by the powerful heals.

 

Now, after scratching their backsides, they decide to heal for about 6K instead, which doesn't make up for your poor AI coding and I die.

 

LOL So True!!

[SnakeSNMF]

The issue with the statement that suggests we 'expect players to be good' -- is that throughout the entire game, there is no reward nor no idea behind that. There's no dialogue that tries to tell people how to play. They have to learn by themselves. That's a handicap, since as you've seen; a lot of people plainly don't. Yes, you can read. Yes, people do. Some ideas are not expressed to the best of their ability, and that is on you as the writers/creators of this game.

 

Furthermore to add, the expectation of having people geared up before they enter Hard Mode Star Fortresses is just lunacy and idiocy, and the fact that you perpetuate that idea -while- being in charge of the content is laughable. You don't get full 208's by the time you're 65. You don't get enough from the quest. New players will suffer. DPS characters, far and wide, will suffer. Since they will not have 216 or 220's, and their companions will be of low influence. You are reinforcing a grind that will already take far too long and on top of it, be completely unenjoyable. As developers, you are so out of touch with the community that you refuse adamantly to listen to the suggestions of players (while admittedly the majority in their own right are piss-babies, so it's easy to see why you may not) -- All I know is. For the majority of your game, that is. The playerbase, will be unable to solo Star Fortresses.

 

Buff companions by 20-40% -- You'll see them being able to without making it -too- easy as it was. Or reworking how Presence works. And yeah, you're going to ignore this opinion as it's just another to the mass. On top of that, I've pointed out just how stupid your strategy and how ignorant you are to your playerbase. It isn't nice to say, nor hear. But it's the truth.

[Saito_Hiraga]

Want some companion changes feedback?!

 

LET US CUSTOMIZE THEIR GEAR!!!

 

That's my feedback.

 

It totally sucks to be unable to change the looks of our new companions and to be stuck with them on clothes that aren't visualy appealing for most of us. Not to mention that its annoying to have everyone walking around with the same companions looking exactly the same. You can no longer feel you got an unique crew that fits your personal style.

Edited November 20, 2015 by Saito_Hiraga

[Myocyte]

Your level: 65

Roughly Average Item Rating: Mix of augmented 208/216

Discipline: Telekinetics sage

Companion: Lana

Companion role: Tried both heal and tank

Companion Influence level: 30

Which Mission or Star Fortress are you playing (Solo Mode? Heroic Mode?): Heroic star fortress

Your personal experience while playing this content:

Only got to the (optional) first champion on the first level. Lana was healing me for 2-4k per tick with an average of 2k. The champion was hitting for 4-14k per hit with an average of about 10k. I managed to kite him for a while but Lana couldn't recover my health faster than the champion's damage, especially when he pulled or knocked me down. Using heroic moment/unity only delayed death by about 10-15 seconds. I tried the fight about 7 times. The best was a fight lasting a little over 1 minute with the champion down to 40% health. That was with Lana in heal mode. In tank mode, we died with the champion at 90% health when I ran out of force power.

 

From my experience on pre-nerf runs, the boss fight is going to be harder so I didn't try to go deeper in the instance.

[Joefjr]

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

 

Your level 65

Roughly Average Item Rating (SM setbonus defiant

Discipline sage heals/dps

Companion all that are available

Companion role any, because content isn't hard

Companion Influence level 13-25

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

Your personal experience while playing this content

 

Solo mode Star Fortress is easy. It is easy to do if people are picking up the gear on their way to 65. Nothing wrong with having it be slightly more difficult. Just like a lvl 50 class mission can't be done in lvl 25 gear, a lvl 65 solo mission probably can't be done in lvl 50 gear.

 

Heroic Star Fortress is as you described it. If one is trying to complete it SOLO, it is difficult. With a friend it is not hard at all. I've completed it numerous times using the influence above with a friend in lower gear and influence companions.

 

Normal Heroics I've found on all of my characters (from lvl 25-65) are all easily doable. Yes I need to use my skills a little bit more (heroic moment, stuns, regenerate between fights) but it feels like an MMO again. The companions are fine as is.

 

Companions are currently CORRECT. The content is still easy to be completed realistically, but no so easy that the game becomes Hello Kitty. You did this right BW, don't change a thing. They will stay subbed they always do.

 

Bold and underline why, Sage/Sorc bubbles are AMAZINGLY AWESOME for solo as a DPS not mention the HoT and self heal, can also spec so the bubble absorbs even more damage and so both the bubble and barrier heals the player for 2% health every second as long as its up.

[zowiezombie]

My main is a level 65 Inquisitor and with my healing companion nerf the game has gone from enjoyable to tedious. Edited November 20, 2015 by zowiezombie

[-Might-]

Level 65 Carnage Marauder

Gear Rating: 208

Companion: Pierce - Influence 18

Companion Role: Switch between DPS and Healing

 

So far I am really happy with the balance changes made in 4.0.2. Beforehand I was definitely flustered by how easy everything was. I've run through about half of the heroics so far in the new patch, and have been able to solo them all in close to the same amount of time. The only change being a little more recharge in between fights.

 

Gameplay wise I am thrilled, and loving it. Fights are more dynamic now as I have to adjust to an ever changing combat situation. It feels nice to have to pop a defensive cooldown every now and then, and we have more than enough to get through, (especially if you have sacrifice or unity on top of your heroic moment).

 

I like to switch my companions role depending on the fight, but neither one has given me any trouble. I am glad to no longer be overshadowed by companions, but now feel as if we are indeed fighting as a team.

 

I'm also on a PvP server, and it has definitely made the open world PvP experience better.

[JourrnoRush]

I would LOVE to get those numbers, they would be truly telling. And the true amount of dropped subs, we'll never know though because if we did one side or the other wouldn't believe the figures.

 

If people are ragequitting because they can't faceroll content anymore then good riddance. BW knows that they aren't going to unsub. Read these people's histories. They are complaining about nearly anything and demanding changes or else they unsub. I read a poster who threatened day one to unsub because of something about romances. He is still here complaining.

 

Don't change a thing BW, the nerfs have made content that should be challenging or "HEROIC" actually as it should be. If you can't solo it, get better gear just like pre 4.0

[JourrnoRush]

Bold and underline why, Sage/Sorc bubbles are AMAZINGLY AWESOME for solo as a DPS not mention the HoT and self heal, can also spec so the bubble absorbs even more damage and so both the bubble and barrier heals the player for 2% health every second as long as its up.

 

Yeah I mean my main is a Sage so I love it.

 

But I play every class and every role. Each one has its utilities of stuns, stealth, CC, pulls, pushes, etc. Plus heroic moment helps and using a companion correctly helps.

[Nexun]

Because they can't account for how inherently bad so many players are at playing games these days and how unwilling they are to learn to get better or even attempt actual gameplay.

 

The curse of the modern day MMO, it brought people into games that have no interest in actually playing games. They just want a casual walk with some lighting effects, maybe a movie or 2 and some nice loot to reward them for said casual walk.

 

hardcore gamer is a dying bread it is the casual players hwo make games money now and if you get them angry they stop paying that is what bioware is doing they keep it up by spring this game will be a ghosttown

[Caulderone]

Quoting myself from a thread moved to Off-topic:

 

"I didn't appreciate all those calling for a companion nerf. I did agree they needed to be toned down some.

 

But, I can't fathom how some became a nuke from orbit.

 

I am locked in through next March, so I won't be leaving, but I certainly hope they can find some acceptable middle ground between OP and NUKED. It would be nice if it didn't take too long, too (yeah, right! as if). "

 

As I noted, companions needed to be toned down. You went too far.

 

There is a common tactic by MMO Devs, which I have seen numerous times. Overnerf something, and then mitigate the outrage by bringing it back closer to where it actually should have been nerfed to. This way, the populous feels like they got something back and the Devs get the nerf they actually wanted. I hope this is where you are going with this, although I find this tactic very distasteful and disingenous.

[Sakeri]

This is great! A job offer from EA Bioware! The position of game tester! It can only go up from there, am I right?

 

All right, I could be even more sarcastic, but I'll save it. I've wasted enough energy. I'm not going to give you any more feedback than this:

 

After 4.0.2 am I able to solo? Yep. Is it as much fun? Nope. Not at all. I don't see the fun in having to regen after every fight (allow me a mild hyperbole). Do I suck? Probably, but I don't give a ****. I don't impose myself on groups. I also NEVER let my companion do the the work for me. I actually focused on playing this game, immersing myself in the story for really the first time since launch (been here since then, have the founder medal and all that ****). It was the best time I've had. Just so much fun and I think that's where the sour grapes are coming from. Companions OP? Maybe but was a nerf of that magnitude required? Jesus Horatio Christ no!!!! *** were you guys thinking - yes I'm implying you're incompetent, sorry, but that's my opinion.

 

This feedback comes free of charge and very respectfully.

 

A former subscriber and SWTOR fan buoy.

[JourrnoRush]

hardcore gamer is a dying bread it is the casual players hwo make games money now and if you get them angry they stop paying that is what bioware is doing they keep it up by spring this game will be a ghosttown

 

Lol

 

The game isn't hard though. Those who are advocating for leaving the nerfs as is are mostly casual players too. They just see the logic in there being a cap to how easy the game is. Eventually people are going to hit that cap and need to either

 

1) Cry on here

2) Get better gear

3) Improve compnaions

4) Improve skills utilizing 2/3

 

We aren't advocating for the game to be hard so that snowflakes fail. We are advocating the game to have some kind of skill required for certain content. HEROIC content should be harder than SOLO or CLASS STORY content. how is that terrible?

[heythereqt]

Don't change it, I'm having fun BW. A lot of people are having fun. These social media straw polls don't reflect the community who plays the game. The extremely loud people on these forums don't represent the game. Please look at the data and make a decision, not the tantrums of the general forum.

 

Are you honestly trying to say that a 50-page thread that is 95% filled with people confirming the fact that they just cancelled their subscription doesn't reflect any of the player community? You honestly think that a poll, which shows that over 70% of well over a thousand participants don't like the companion nerf, doesn't reflect the opinion of the people playing this game in any way? You talk as though you and the people who support the nerf are the only people who actually play this game, and everyone that doesn't like it are just people who post on the forums without playing. I completely supported level-sync when it was introduced, but I can absolutely acknowledge that a ton of players didn't like the idea.

 

The response to the companion nerf has been overwhelmingly lop-sided, in favor of the people who disagree with the nerf. Do the people posting on this forum represent the entire playerbase? Of course not. But the literal thousands of people who have voiced negative opinions against the companion nerf absolutely do represent an average of the player community.

[Adaarye]

I highly recommend Fallout 4.

 

I concur

[Nexun]

Lol

 

The game isn't hard though. Those who are advocating for leaving the nerfs as is are mostly casual players too. They just see the logic in there being a cap to how easy the game is. Eventually people are going to hit that cap and need to either

 

1) Cry on here

2) Get better gear

3) Improve compnaions

4) Improve skills utilizing 2/3

 

We aren't advocating for the game to be hard so that snowflakes fail. We are advocating the game to have some kind of skill required for certain content. HEROIC content should be harder than SOLO or CLASS STORY content. how is that terrible?

 

so older heroic content should be boring to do even tho we out lvled it while ago? they should do 1 of 2 things change it back to 4.0 or remove level sync

[Joefjr]

Tank companions are taking way to much dmg, it appears because they have crap armor rating. 13% dmg reduction from armor on a tank role on tattoine? my shadow has more than that.

 

PLEASE fix their armor rating, Shield/Absorb, and defense rating asap. They also need a bigger modifier on their tank stance to compensate for the massive dps nerf so they can actually hold aggro.

[HankMurphy]

Wow, THAT is the best and only response you have to the litany of feedback given to you over the last two days?

 

"hey guys, like, here's a scale of difficulty... and well. so, we like this, what's the problem?" The best you have bioware is some b.s. 'clarification of intended difficulties' and 'expectation management'?

 

Like you didn't have any idea how companions were performing (or going to perform). How dumb do you think your customer base is? You wanted to draw everyone in and you got their money and spent a month not saying a damn word while you counted it.... then you thought you'd pull a fast one.

 

The real logic destroying point is... WHY? What is wrong with you? Don't you like it when people play and enjoy your new game? Like I did, until you nerfed the crap you sold me on and now I'd rather watch paint dry so I unsubbed.

Did it drive you crazy that people were subbing again so you thought you'd nip that extra cash flow in the bud?

 

CONGRATS! PRO GAME DEVELOPMENT YOURE DOING THERE!

 

And you want me to explain to you all the details behind the performance I'm experiencing as if you don't know already.

Lol, wow. The pair it takes to play it like that.

You have any idea how insulting that is? Just insult to injury with you guys. Amazing. I can't imagine trying to pull such schenanigans in my profession. I'd be ashamed of myself. And I'd be fired... probably along with my entire team, my boss and my VP.

 

-You had these changes in the pipe for ages and knew damn well what you were doing.

-You also made a conscious decision to not communicate at all and drop an overnight nerf in the neighborhood of 70-75% performance drop. AND YOU AVOIDED EVEN TELLING PEOPLE NUMBERS BECAUSE YOU KNEW

You don't seem to want to talk about any of this. You don't want to talk shop, you want to put your fingers in your ears and go LALALA

 

You knew before you launched it,

you knew when you were selling people on it,

you knew it when it launched,

you knew when you yanked the rug out from under everyone

and you know now.

 

You just can't get past your ego or idiocy so you're going to pretend this just needs a little clarification and reinstatement of intent.

 

Don't come here pretending you want some constructive feedback. Think on your terrible communication, your lack of honesty about intentions and direction. You don't need to be asking us qusetions on the forums, you need to be asking yourself questions in the mirror. Come here when you're ready to apologize (I wouldn't accept it, i know it wouldn't be sincere)

Why would I give you ONE RED CENT when I have no idea what I'll be able to expect you to pull out of your hat tomorrow? Put yourself in my shoes for a moment, seriously. When a game developer does the list of crappy or shady things that you've done what makes you think all but the most kool-aid drowned player isnt' going to just laugh and leave your game.

 

 

What that says to me is you don't have any idea what you're doing with this game. You don't have vision or a plan aside from your own whims. You don't care to communicate to your base, you feel you owe nothing to the people that pay for your lights to be on.... we're just the stupid users that don't know any better and are a big pain in your butt.

 

Who would do business with that type of operation?

Jesus, even if you convinced me to stay (you wont), I'd be constantly worried what other handful of sand you'd decide to throw in my face around the next bend.

 

I don't care what happens to your game, your balance, your design goals. I didn't for years and I'll go back to not doing so again.

I wish I did.... a week ago I did!! I don't enjoy being feeling jaded and 'they got me again!". I wanted this to be a pleasant experience.

But, I have to sigh... I already gave you my money (something I swore not to do anymore years ago) and I'll never get it back. I already clicked unsub. what else can I do?

This. That's about it. Rub your crappy business practices in your face and let you know what I think. That'll have to suffice because I know you'd throw a temper tantrum if I actually asked for a refund on my remaining sub.

 

I digress... all over the place

 

The only question I had, why I even clicked this thread... was to if you'd try to reclaim some of your dignity and try to salvage some confidence from your userbase.

What do you do?

Play dumb and 'stick to your guns' because.....well, just because I suppose??? That's the $64,000 question, what could possible motivate you to do something so inept? There is no answer to that.

 

imagine Volkswagon, after completely violating customer trust turning around and telling everyone

"whats the problem everyone? was that wrong? should we not have decieved everyone?"

 

Is it a culture thing?

Are you so insulated and drunk on your own punch you lost all perspective? Wouldn't be the first game to go up in flames from developers putting on their blinders every morning; smelling their own farts and pretending their fresh baked muffins.

 

I'm sure someone in your office has some excellent master plan that involves people like me leaving your game in droves. Someone who feels that the game just isn't working as intended if people can have fun and accomplish their goals in a timely and relatively relaxed manner. That if I only were to spend spend FAR MORE time going through recycled content over, and over, and over, and over and over that it'll just be so much more satisfying and likely to make me stay and play.

 

 

There is no excuse for your management of any of this. I should have known when you coyly hid the full dates and details of the pre-order crap.

Well.... your likely a product of your corporate environment, which means I should have known better when I saw the ME3 zero day DLC and the DA2 copy-paste dungeon areas.

 

Later. Have fun trying to save face.

You wanted people to sign up so you made a game experience they would love, and then you realized it's an MMO and you can't stand the idea of people enjoying themselves or actually playing, so you had to remove any possible fun factor from that.

That's all anyone's going to remember from this episode. That and the hilarious subscriber numbers when they come out.

 

No one says after things like this "boy you know, the users just didn't understand the developer's vision"

They say "wow, those guys sure snatched defeat from the claws of victory" and "you have to have really good aim to shoot yourself in the foot that well"

 

ps: instead of screwing around your customer base, maybe you should have been hmmmm, I dont know, attending to ALL the bugs in the game since expansion (many STILL aren't on your list of known issues even though we've been telling you for a month). Maybe you should be looking at balancing ENGAGEMENTS and content itself instead of swinging around massive 75% cuts to the selling point of your new game experience? Go fix the broken tactical FP bosses, go fix the spawn rates for heroic content (well we're not going to play anymore so this one probably isn't a big one)

 

I must admit there's a bit of schadenfreude to watching failure of this magnitude. I only wish my hard-earned dollars hadn't been caught up in the mess. Well, I'll make sure never to repeat my mistake, I bet a lot of other people wish they could say the same about you.

Edited November 20, 2015 by HankMurphy

[JourrnoRush]

Are you honestly trying to say that a 50-page thread that is 95% filled with people confirming the fact that they just cancelled their subscription doesn't reflect any of the player community? You honestly think that a poll, which shows that over 70% of well over a thousand participants don't like the companion nerf, doesn't reflect the opinion of the people playing this game in any way? You talk as though you and the people who support the nerf are the only people who actually play this game, and everyone that doesn't like it are just people who post on the forums without playing. I completely supported level-sync when it was introduced, but I can absolutely acknowledge that a ton of players didn't like the idea.

 

The response to the companion nerf has been overwhelmingly lop-sided, in favor of the people who disagree with the nerf. Do the people posting on this forum represent the entire playerbase? Of course not. But the literal thousands of people who have voiced negative opinions against the companion nerf absolutely do represent an average of the player community.

 

Thousands LOL

 

Its the same 50-100 people now going back and forth. The "polls" can be tampered and only BW's data will reveal if a fix is needed.

 

I really think a major issue BW found was that people were making tons of credits with how easy the game was. By doing this they toned back the amoutn of people who can farm (not really because its still easy) and people can still complete the solo content.

 

IMO BW found a good medium with how companions are now. The game is a little bit more difficult, but you can still solo just abotu anything with some basic skills and gear. Their data, not the tantrums on here, will determine the next step.

[CombatLord]

Lol

 

The game isn't hard though. Those who are advocating for leaving the nerfs as is are mostly casual players too. They just see the logic in there being a cap to how easy the game is. Eventually people are going to hit that cap and need to either

 

1) Cry on here

2) Get better gear

3) Improve compnaions

4) Improve skills utilizing 2/3

 

We aren't advocating for the game to be hard so that snowflakes fail. We are advocating the game to have some kind of skill required for certain content. HEROIC content should be harder than SOLO or CLASS STORY content. how is that terrible?

Now why do you have to call them snowflakes?? why can't you call them other people that is the decent thing to do.

[quirmucr]

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

 

Your level 65

Roughly Average Item Rating (SM setbonus defiant

Discipline sage heals/dps

Companion all that are available

Companion role any, because content isn't hard

Companion Influence level 13-25

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

Your personal experience while playing this content

 

Solo mode Star Fortress is easy. It is easy to do if people are picking up the gear on their way to 65. Nothing wrong with having it be slightly more difficult. Just like a lvl 50 class mission can't be done in lvl 25 gear, a lvl 65 solo mission probably can't be done in lvl 50 gear.

 

Heroic Star Fortress is as you described it. If one is trying to complete it SOLO, it is difficult. With a friend it is not hard at all. I've completed it numerous times using the influence above with a friend in lower gear and influence companions.

 

Normal Heroics I've found on all of my characters (from lvl 25-65) are all easily doable. Yes I need to use my skills a little bit more (heroic moment, stuns, regenerate between fights) but it feels like an MMO again. The companions are fine as is.

 

Companions are currently CORRECT. The content is still easy to be completed realistically, but no so easy that the game becomes Hello Kitty. You did this right BW, don't change a thing. They will stay subbed they always do.

 

for a start defiant set bonus isnt roughly average for a casual as it is ops drop gear.

we are not all players that can do operations and get the gear that quick and from your influence level it seems you do ops more than anything else.

as sage in heals/dps with a set bonus you are way more powerful than as you suggest use the gear drops as you level from 60 to 65.

i agree that heroic should mean that but your analogy of doing it in level 25 gear is just stupid but when it is impossible for some in level 60 purple gear maybe there is a problem. as regards harder stuff i do wish bioware would introduce a real nightmare level that only 2 or 3 guilds in the world would master before nerfing to sit back and watch the posts from people like you who would say its impossible.

i play for enjoyment and chat with other like minded players we want fun and not to be put down in posts like yours have been ( you have totally denied that anyone could have a problem with the game as "i can do it - therefore you can do it as well" remember - if a game is to be successful; it has to cater for all styles and abilities thats why console games have several levels of challenge you can pick as you start. we could have that here as well if people like yourself would allow it