Producer Letter Livestream Wrap-up

[Justbee]

The sad thing is, at this point, we're all just venting. Nothing we say can really change anything. Even if the leadership at Bioware reads through this thread and has a complete change of heart. Even if they decided right now that they need to get an op out as soon as possible, and put a heavier priority on end game group content, it wouldn't make a difference.

 

 

I abbandoned my hope in Bioware. Star wars license was too much for that company. they go back to known stuff, single player rpgs...like mass effect. but this is noit the way a mmo works. they made bad decisions since launch, and the havent learned.

 

A MMO with an expansion without any new grp content....epic fail! so yes swtor will die...a long bitter dead....

 

ill wait till that livetream, no new infos , no apologies bout that broken promise considering operations...and ill leave and wont come back...

 

lets hope disney will gift us a real mmo....bioware failed it

[Furtled]

We hope that this addresses some of the concerns that you may have. As always, I will pass on updates as I have them. Thanks everyone.

 

-eric

 

Given the emphesis put on story, any news on the devs being aware of the issues with romanced companions and broken influence on courting gifts please?

Edited December 13, 2015 by Furtled

[Divona]

After putting together many pieces of puzzle it came clear to me that my story also ends with SWTOR this year until my sub runs out. Been here since the beta and supported game since then. Bioware made mistakes but so do all mmorpg companies, but one cant just go without big updates for long period hoping subscribers will stay.

On top of that big bugs recently that are still not fixed is clear indication that game has very low number of employees left working for this game and those who are still developing this game have to put a lot effort to get anything delivered in a reasonable timeframe - many updates are being pushed back lately.

 

Also hearing that senior group content design leader is moved to new project confirms what Eric said - No news about pve content at this time for us. My personal reasons for leaving are also tied to recent bugs and how they were handled. Then it was clear Bioware lacks manpower to fix bugs fast and have to deal with consequences. But even harder and takes more time to investigate problems hence why many not really guilty people got dragged into this mess.

Then we have bugs with each small patches and its getting worse without some good explanations - live server rollbacks and gtn not working properly!

 

I do wish the best for Bioware team finishing off story content and fixing loads of bugs because thats going to affect community the most in coming next months.

Edited December 13, 2015 by Divona

[shonezi]

Hey folks,

 

We know you are looking for more information on the timing of future group content. Although I cannot go into any details yet I will say this… We are actively working on a new Warzone, and we are looking to start revealing details in February (Insert my usual disclaimer of all things are subject to change). On the PvE side, we do not have anything specific to announce at this time but we will certainly share more information as we have it.

 

The team is hard at work on the 7 remaining Chapters in Season 1, as well as additional content, which you will get monthly starting in February. For us, it is important that all of the our content, group content included, ties into the storyline of Fallen Empire and connects to your character’s story. Story is what sets The Old Republic apart and it is important for us to deliver your personal story across all aspects of the game.

 

We hope that this addresses some of the concerns that you may have. As always, I will pass on updates as I have them. Thanks everyone.

 

-eric

 

If we counted how many times you have used the very same words over and over, like "we can't reveal anything new but we are looking into", " at this point of time our team is working so hard", and a lot of other bunch of pile of c..p

 

Developers and who ever is making decisions have done everything to make people stop subscribing for this game which is sad, and let me tell you, you will kill this game entirely

 

You made KOTFE, yeah very nice, I finished story in 3 hours and then what, just tell me then what. Oh yes I feel so sublimly happy for doing THE SAME story on all my characters, it's what keeps me going. Yeah give me a break

 

No new OPS, no WZ maps, no GSF maps, what a hell do you people doing. We have 9, let me say this again, NINE Operations. I am so thrilled to do same old same things all over again. Not to mention the fact of CONSTANT bugs and problems. Then you fix something and you broke 10 times more things.

 

One MAP for WZ, how awesome, how great, let us all clap together for outstanding achievement.

 

All of this becomes simply sad and ridiculous. Nothing else to say

[Costello]

This may have been asked before but I haven't seen it answered.

 

As the bonus of months of subscription is to play as HK, with the HK companion be able to be geared like a playable character or even the old style droid,

 

Currently companions can not benefit from any gear not even weapons (though they can equip them), When I am getting to play HK on his special mission will I be able to gear myself or will it really be a mini game specifically designed for a basic level HK droid at level 1 influence with no presence bonus?

 

Likewise will I be able to select any skills for HK, currently he can be a healer, tank or dps, though all of these amount to amount 4 abilities. Will the extent of playing as HK allow me to use more skills in which case will he have them? Or will playing as HK be more akin to two button mashing against weak opponents.

 

Lastly will anything HK does have any influence on the wider game. Nico turns out to be a giant let down, his recruitment quest was dull as could be and that is it he does and says nothing else. Will HK and his special mission be the same a dull mini game of two button mashing that as soon as it is over is forgotten?

 

It seems a carrot to keep people subbing only the carrot turns out to be much less than advertised.

[Noggss]

Devs butt **** pve so they can get ******bed by the pvpers....Again. I LOVE DOING THE SAME OPS THAT I'VE BEEN DOING FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS!

 

When I said I wanted new pve content, I mean GROUP content. This goes back to why is SWTOR even an MMO at launch?

[TUXs]

So...the next Ops we can expect will be sometime in 2017 I assume?

[TX_Angel]

So...the next Ops we can expect will be sometime in 2017 I assume?

 

TUXs, honestly I don't think we'll ever get another one... Maybe a one-off boss like TC or Ziost, but I think they have closed the door internally to new ops...

 

The game will go on, probably for many years. There is a lot of existing content for new players, so they can dribble out a chapter every month or every other month, with a new WZ map every year, for minimal cost, while cycling new players in each year.

 

If you get your production costs way down, the game can continue to be profitable, even at half the current customer base.

 

---

 

I am lothe to bring up SWG, but ignoring NGE for a min, look at the expansions and content. It got a boxed expansion with all new areas and content about once a year, for the first three years or so. Then 2005 rolled around, Trials of Obi-wan came out, and that was it.

 

What new came out after that? The game was still open for another 5 years, but it was squarely in MX mode beyond that.

 

Come back in a few years, mark my words, this'll be the last major content release for this game, or so I predict.

 

I'd love to be wrong of course.

[TUXs]

TUXs, honestly I don't think we'll ever get another one... Maybe a one-off boss like TC or Ziost, but I think they have closed the door internally to new ops...

I hadn't even considered that...but your logic is sound...

 

I hope you're wrong too...but after all the broken promises, I'll have to see anything to believe it ever again from these guys.

Edited December 14, 2015 by TUXs

[Zepoolpe]

The real problem is not "new ops or not new ops", it's deeper than that: they are not staffed for that!

 

In fact, they don't even have the basics such as QA, otherwise how to explain how you can release a NiM mode that does not drop the proper gear (after all, it's just a formula) or the redesigned "invisible" flames on Torque?

 

But that's only the beginning, because after they finally acknowledge that there is an issue, even the basic ones, it takes them ages to fix it!

And don't get me wrong, I know that some bugs are really bastards to fix. I'm talking about easy fixes (ex: you put back online the "old" flames while you take the necessary time to fix the redesigned ones...).

So, i seems to me that the bulk of their staff is on CM stuff, because that's where the money come from, and the rest is below expectation level...

 

As for PR, sorry but that's just crappy work: we just had Eric Musco saying in a post something like "Hello guys, we know there is a problem with NiM loots, it's just a formula problem but we will not fix it now, we'll just take our time and anyway stop complaining cos for the gear you have the highlighted HM ops and for NiM mode you'll have titles and vehicles that many of you already have." (I'm barely paraphrasing) ...

When someone tells you "we know we have an issue, it's a simple thing to fix (adjusting a loot dropping formula should be an easy thing to fix for them by now... just saying) but we are just going to wait to fix it for no apparent reason", what do you really understand? Well, for most of us, we understood "Hello raiders, go f$#% yourself" even if it might not be the intended message, hence many peoples getting angry and fed up and quitting...

 

And it's a pity because it was a good game but now they are slowly removing all the multiplayer aspect of the game (or at least rendering it really boring): this is not really a MMORPG anymore, just a ORPG... tbh, if this game was not Star Wars themed, it would have died some time ago, so BW (and dear ol' EA too): you are lucky to have a SW franchise here and don't try that with some random MMO theme, because I'm guessing that you would loose a ******** of money....

 

PS: bad PR is not a new thing: anyone remember "Sorc are easy to play but hard to master, just LoS, H2full and make them pay!" or "elect class reps, tell what must be fixed in term of balance so that we can ignore all the good work you did to break it even more that it was"?

PPS: sorry for the wall of text

Edited December 14, 2015 by Zepoolpe

[Zharik]

I hadn't even considered that...but your logic is sound...

 

I hope you're wrong too...but after all the broken promises, I'll have to see anything to believe it ever again from these guys.

 

Considering that most of the raiders will likely unsub this coming year, they'll have even LESS of a reason to spend developer hours making a new Operation. It'll be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[CycloH]

That pretty much did it for me... and our whole team. WE had just put together a great Progression team as part of Torva Nex, and now this.

 

I've been here since launch, 4+ years... had a great time, incredible memories. But our UN-SUB is finally here.

 

This is a really sad day but this is evidence that BW has abandon a huge portion of loyal subscribers, geared towards end game content.

 

Trust me... this announcement is the beginning of the end for this game.

[TX_Angel]

Considering that most of the raiders will likely unsub this coming year, they'll have even LESS of a reason to spend developer hours making a new Operation. It'll be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

 

That is a good point. BW will look at the metrics and see the ops are being run less and less and figure, "well it seems there is less demand for ops now, people aren't running them, so pass on more of those", without bothering to even think of WHY that might be...

[Blackbird]

Did Eric mention "never 14 months without an Operation again!"? Yes, he did. But I'm not too bummed out. I think it's a bit...funny. Quite a few PvE players from raid focused guilds are writing they are leaving now. What exactly are you trying to accomplish exactly? Forcing Bioware into stomping out a concept until february? Development takes time. Even constructing the Pitch/Feature development document of an Operation can take longer than a month.

 

A fair question; but on the flipside, what would they accomplish by remaining and continuing to pay for broken promises? What kind of message does that send to BW and EA?

 

The fact is that no one is "forcing" Bioware to do anything by unsubbing; they are simply making the decision that in SWTOR, Bioware is no longer offering a product which they feel is worth paying for. That is the right of every consumer in a free-market economy, and if that is the way they truly feel, there is absolutely no reason why they should remain subbed at this time. What Bioware does with the knowledge of these cancelled subscriptions is entirely up to Bioware (and EA).

[Mercediz]

I don't often write in these forums, because they are usually toxic and hostile. I will try not to be, even though my mood at this moment would be just right for this.

 

I am an officer of one of the oldest PvE/RP guilds in the game, me and my fellow officers and lots of guildies have worked hard to make this guild what it is, because we love your game, Eric, we love the way it plays we love the story. KoTFE has been very well received in the guild, people enjoy the story, find it engaging and lots of old seemingly lost members have turned up just because of it.

So yes, I can wholeheartedly say that KoTFE is a great expansion.

 

But, here is the thing. This is still an MMO. An MMO with many high quality guilds, that have all done a lot to stay alive. Just like them we try to make the best out of the situation at the moment. We rerun old Operations, we gear up people just so we can have some fun together, and it works. For the moment. It will not work for much longer.

 

A guild CAN NOT be kept alive by a single player story, it simply does not work this way, A guild needs things it can do together. And for that we need your help, devs. We need content, we need Operations. If you do not give us any, I don't know how long we can keep people from going to other games that offer more content, that reward guild activity more. I do not know how else to put it:

This is an MMO, if you want to keep it that way, then give us content for bigger groups.

 

However, should what can be read into your post be true. Should you really think that just expanding on the story with no meaningful chance for group activity is the way to go for your game, then that is fine. It is your decision.

BUT be fair enough to tell us this. If this game should no longer be considered an MMO, then I find you, Eric and all the devs, owe it to all those that have supported this game for years and have put a lot of work into creating the community, have a right to know, so we can make an informed decision if we want to continue supporting it.

 

No this is not a threat of unsubbing. If I wanted to unsub I would find hundreds of reasons. This is a hopeful warning. An intervention of sorts. Eric and devs, please do not let yourself be blinded by the "story" aspect, no one is denying that it is awesome, but it is just not enough to keep this game alive as an MMO. Please understand that even the most loyal supporters will fall off if you overdo it.

 

With this in mind, I ask you, Eric, who is our voice to the dev team and very rarely appreciated for that he has to suffer through in these forums, to bring these concerns to the attention of the team. And please return with an honest answer to just one clear and simple question:

 

Will there be new Operations of the length and quality of KP, EV, EC, TFB, S&V at any point in the next year? Yes or No?

 

I do not need details, I don't think anyone does. So you don't need to work on a formal announcement. Just answer this one question. Everyone knows you can answer it. No company just lives into the day and does have no plans beyond the next few month.

Just a clear Yes or No. Either give us something to look forward to, or make it clear that we should no longer hold our breath. Either give us hope, or end this cruel game of making us wait.

I think the players who have been supporting you for years earned at least this much.

 

Sincerely,

 

Rai

 

Well said

[Ghisallo]

I don't often write in these forums, because they are usually toxic and hostile. I will try not to be, even though my mood at this moment would be just right for this.

 

I am an officer of one of the oldest PvE/RP guilds in the game, me and my fellow officers and lots of guildies have worked hard to make this guild what it is, because we love your game, Eric, we love the way it plays we love the story. KoTFE has been very well received in the guild, people enjoy the story, find it engaging and lots of old seemingly lost members have turned up just because of it.

So yes, I can wholeheartedly say that KoTFE is a great expansion.

 

But, here is the thing. This is still an MMO. An MMO with many high quality guilds, that have all done a lot to stay alive. Just like them we try to make the best out of the situation at the moment. We rerun old Operations, we gear up people just so we can have some fun together, and it works. For the moment. It will not work for much longer.

 

A guild CAN NOT be kept alive by a single player story, it simply does not work this way, A guild needs things it can do together. And for that we need your help, devs. We need content, we need Operations. If you do not give us any, I don't know how long we can keep people from going to other games that offer more content, that reward guild activity more. I do not know how else to put it:

This is an MMO, if you want to keep it that way, then give us content for bigger groups.

 

However, should what can be read into your post be true. Should you really think that just expanding on the story with no meaningful chance for group activity is the way to go for your game, then that is fine. It is your decision.

BUT be fair enough to tell us this. If this game should no longer be considered an MMO, then I find you, Eric and all the devs, owe it to all those that have supported this game for years and have put a lot of work into creating the community, have a right to know, so we can make an informed decision if we want to continue supporting it.

 

No this is not a threat of unsubbing. If I wanted to unsub I would find hundreds of reasons. This is a hopeful warning. An intervention of sorts. Eric and devs, please do not let yourself be blinded by the "story" aspect, no one is denying that it is awesome, but it is just not enough to keep this game alive as an MMO. Please understand that even the most loyal supporters will fall off if you overdo it.

 

With this in mind, I ask you, Eric, who is our voice to the dev team and very rarely appreciated for that he has to suffer through in these forums, to bring these concerns to the attention of the team. And please return with an honest answer to just one clear and simple question:

 

Will there be new Operations of the length and quality of KP, EV, EC, TFB, S&V at any point in the next year? Yes or No?

 

I do not need details, I don't think anyone does. So you don't need to work on a formal announcement. Just answer this one question. Everyone knows you can answer it. No company just lives into the day and does have no plans beyond the next few month.

Just a clear Yes or No. Either give us something to look forward to, or make it clear that we should no longer hold our breath. Either give us hope, or end this cruel game of making us wait.

I think the players who have been supporting you for years earned at least this much.

 

Sincerely,

 

Rai

 

Rai, saddly they will not say this if it is true.

 

Here is the problem...there are two options as to what we see.

 

1. You are correct but, based on reading EA Earnings calls, they are under MAJOR pressure to not simply maintain but show major revenue growth this quarter because they have been in decline for the last 2 years BUT the new movie launches this week and that will hopefully help. So they string group players along as long as possible.

 

2. They do actually intend on eventually introducing more group content BUT there is a rub. Clearly their budget has been cut severely. As such they need to string group players along as long as possible hoping some remain when they do go to release it.

 

Either way the definitive statement you are looking for, and that I agree we deserve, will not be forth coming because their entire plan revolves around using vagueness to keep different groups subed up based on hope, which any sort of categorical statement would compromise.

[gabigool]

Eric -

 

Wouldn't you agree, as a Community Manager, that it is somewhat strange that your playerbase is asking for an answer to a very simple question:

 

"Are there plans to create new Operations content?"

 

and we are hearing exactly... nothing?

 

On the PvE side, we do not have anything specific to announce at this time but we will certainly share more information as we have it.

 

This is an interpretive answer. It could mean:

 

a) We have plans, but the timeline is extremely hazy.

b) We have plans, but the timeline is too far out to want to talk about it now.

c) We have plans, but the team is in flux and we want to get that sorted and let them make an announcement.

d) We are not sure. We'd like to, but let's see how this whole KotFE thing goes.

e) We plan not to, but that decision is not final so we'd rather not say so yet.

f) We plan not to, the decision is final, and we simply don't want to lose the subs quite yet so we're saying nothing.

 

Shouldn't it bother you that a fair number of people are leaning towards assuming (f)? It would certainly bother me.

 

Five months ago, we got this info:

 

We felt it was important to first address some of the issues with our Elder Game before moving on to new content. These changes will allow us to be more flexible with how we release new content, as the content no longer needs to be tied to a new gear tier or level cap increase.

 

Aside from a couple posts about NM not dropping 224, that's the last peep we've heard in a yellow post. Not one other word. I think it's reasonable to ask you guys to come out and let us know once and for all if the future of this game will contain Operations content. The above post implies the intent to continue producing it. The complete silence since that post implies the opposite.

 

If the plan is to eliminate it, you should be willing to take the hit of players leaving and move on. If it's as insignificant a percentage of your playerbase as many here like to claim, it shouldn't matter, correct?

 

But as part of that percentage, I'd like to know whether or not I should plan on finding a new game or not. I'll stick around if it's to come in late 2016. Or 2017. I'll even stick around if it's "soon"TM. But I don't see the point of sticking around if it's "never".

 

Thanks much!

[Ghisallo]

Eric -

 

Wouldn't you agree, as a Community Manager, that it is somewhat strange that your playerbase is asking for an answer to a very simple question:

 

"Are there plans to create new Operations content?"

 

and we are hearing exactly... nothing?

 

 

 

This is an interpretive answer. It could mean:

 

a) We have plans, but the timeline is extremely hazy.

b) We have plans, but the timeline is too far out to want to talk about it now.

c) We have plans, but the team is in flux and we want to get that sorted and let them make an announcement.

d) We are not sure. We'd like to, but let's see how this whole KotFE thing goes.

e) We plan not to, but that decision is not final so we'd rather not say so yet.

f) We plan not to, the decision is final, and we simply don't want to lose the subs quite yet so we're saying nothing.

 

Shouldn't it bother you that a fair number of people are leaning towards assuming (f)? It would certainly bother me.

 

Five months ago, we got this info:

 

 

 

Aside from a couple posts about NM not dropping 224, that's the last peep we've heard in a yellow post. Not one other word. I think it's reasonable to ask you guys to come out and let us know once and for all if the future of this game will contain Operations content. The above post implies the intent to continue producing it. The complete silence since that post implies the opposite.

 

If the plan is to eliminate it, you should be willing to take the hit of players leaving and move on. If it's as insignificant a percentage of your playerbase as many here like to claim, it shouldn't matter, correct?

 

But as part of that percentage, I'd like to know whether or not I should plan on finding a new game or not. I'll stick around if it's to come in late 2016. Or 2017. I'll even stick around if it's "soon"TM. But I don't see the point of sticking around if it's "never".

 

Thanks much!

 

Again they won't, why? See my post above. If they can't produce major growth in the quarter that the new Movie is launched there will be a virtual blood bath of terminations and resignations at BW:A and to prevent this an exodus of players at once so they will be purposefully vague to, in essence, string people along as long as possible.

[Avicii]

 

Here is the problem...there are two options as to what we see.

 

1.they are under MAJOR pressure to not simply maintain but show major revenue growth this quarter .

 

2. Clearly their budget has been cut severely.

.

 

Can you site your sources? We can hear the quarterly earnings and info from the meeting however where did you get this info? Thanks

 

Edit: Also you bringing up terminations ect. If that was the case how come there was no major marketing push by EA? It would seem that if you want growth you need to market, heck put a commercial up during Rebels.

 

In addition, if they have huge budget cuts why pay Blurr a $ million or whatever the trailer costs to produce it? It seems like without proper marketing dropping that sort of cash on a trailer is an odd choice. I am curious how you came about this information. Thanks again.

Edited December 15, 2015 by Avicii

[Divona]

Here is the problem...there are two options as to what we see.

 

1. You are correct but, based on reading EA Earnings calls, they are under MAJOR pressure to not simply maintain but show major revenue growth this quarter because they have been in decline for the last 2 years BUT the new movie launches this week and that will hopefully help. So they string group players along as long as possible.

 

2. They do actually intend on eventually introducing more group content BUT there is a rub. Clearly their budget has been cut severely. As such they need to string group players along as long as possible hoping some remain when they do go to release it.

 

Either way the definitive statement you are looking for, and that I agree we deserve, will not be forth coming because their entire plan revolves around using vagueness to keep different groups subed up based on hope, which any sort of categorical statement would compromise.

 

Also i was just thinking about this and then it struck me. Holy crap. When Bioware announced that EA took over customer service on forums and pretty much all bug reports here, it does mean that BW:A is on very tight budget now. Explain also the amount of bugs recently and time it takes to fix.

Its schocking how all seem clear now and why they also delay any news about new group content plans if any.

Can this really be that they are planning to finish story lines and then its the end of this game as we know. Next step would be to announce going totally ftp without content updates? Wow it can truly be that. Because exact same thing happened few other MMO's i played when i started to think about it - then boom some many months later was announcement and it happened.

 

Can you site your sources? We can hear the quarterly earnings and info from the meeting however where did you get this info? Thanks

 

http://swtoreconomics.com/2015/12/10/an-analysis-of-star-wars-the-old-republic-from-eas-financial-reports/

Edited December 15, 2015 by Divona

[Ghisallo]

Can you site your sources? We can hear the quarterly earnings and info from the meeting however where did you get this info? Thanks

 

Edit: Also you bringing up terminations ect. If that was the case how come there was no major marketing push by EA? It would seem that if you want growth you need to market, heck put a commercial up during Rebels.

 

In addition, if they have huge budget cuts why pay Blurr a $ million or whatever the trailer costs to produce it? It seems like without proper marketing dropping that sort of cash on a trailer is an odd choice. I am curious how you came about this information. Thanks again.

 

For the first it's a combination. First you look at two earnings calls and comments by the CFO.

 

 

The first is Q3 2015

Star Wars: The Old Republic also contributed to the segment, with the expansion, Shadow

of Revan, attracting many more people into the game with its epic new storyline. Star Wars

fans remain deeply engaged with The Old Republic universe, and we’re excited to see how

that will build as we get closer to the launch of the new Star Wars movie this December.

 

That is basically throwing down the gauntlet that they expect growth because of the new movie....

 

Next the latest

 

Finally with regards to subscriptions, we launched a

major expansion for Star Wars: The Old Republic on Tuesday. Subscribers are up 33%

since the expansion was announced, to their highest level since February 2014. We’re

optimistic about its continued performance, in terms of both subscribers and free-to-play, in

the run up to the first new Star Wars movie in a decade.

 

What is most telling is that in the first one they state that "The Old Republic also contributed to the segment" BUT it was not named in the part where they actually mentioned

 

Extra content and freemium contributed $314 million, up 47% over the prior year, with

Ultimate Team continuing its strong performance across our FIFA, Madden NFL and NHL

franchises, up 82% year over year in total. FIFA Online 3 in Korea continues to grow year

over year, and the early indications from our partner in China, Tencent, are that it is already

performing extremely well

 

So basically they are "there" but not contributing to increased profits. The same dynamic is shown in the latest earnings call...

Extra content and freemium contributed $195 million, up 27% over the prior year. The

principal driver of the growth was Ultimate Team across our sports franchises. In addition to

the strength of these Live Services, we benefitted from an extra week of FIFA 16 sales in

the quarter compared to last year. The new game modes we added to Madden NFL 16 and

FIFA 16 are proving effective in deepening engagement. In addition, FIFA Online 3, our PC

free-to-play title for China and Korea, continues to perform well and is tracking to our

expectations.

 

So even with that increase in subscription revenue

Subscriptions, advertising, and other digital revenue contributed $83 million, down 9% from last year

Now the increase in subs minimized this because battlefield 4 Premium was the main source of loss BUT they are not contributing to growth on the "freemium/microtransaction" side.

 

If you go through the earnings calls back to the beginning of 2014 you see the same trend... heck they went so far in the late winter/early spring to say that SWTOR LOST them money.

 

You can also use this Summary BUT I wanted to give actual quotes from the earnings calls to provide a little more direct evidence http://swtoreconomics.com/2015/12/10/an-analysis-of-star-wars-the-old-republic-from-eas-financial-reports/

 

 

So in short they are telling BW "you have not been makin the money you should... you havethe most anticipated movie in decades coming out to support your game...you better make good"

 

Next when it comes to this expac you have to know something about actual costs to produce content. Now, with the exception of the Star Fortress. That means a lot less money. Don't take my word for it though....

 

 

First lets see what Ohlen had to say about the costs of this game..

 

Some journalists and fans attributed much of the upfront cost of TOR to its scripting and voice acting. Ohlen explained that this belief is erroneous: "[Voice acting] was a known entity, and cost was quite low in comparison to the cost of the rest of the project.

 

So the lion's share of the expac is the "low cost" part of their development. Lets look even further

Reddit

Twitter

 

Much of his team also went with him

 

and....

 

linkedin

 

 

So we have staff moved off the SWTOR project, at least one big name leaving entirely and the expac being largely composed of recycled content and the lowest cost bit of their game.

 

Why the lack of marketing? Because the game since launch has not made them money. They are not going to simply axe the game, but they are definitely in a "what have you done for us lately mode". BW can't spend money on marketing that EA does not give them in the budget. It is pretty clear that EA is relying A LOT on the fact the new movie is coming out to have people simply google "Star Wars video games" as their advertising.

 

And 1 million dollars for a trailer? Okay lets say it cost that much. To launch this game, according to Forbes, they spent 100 Million in marketing so 1 million on a trailer, that is not showing up on television (unlike the original game) is pretty much nothing. basically "make trailer" put links on web sits and the trailer on our web site for cheap distribution." But again BW can spend what EA gives them. The manager can be nervous as heck about his job wishing they gave him more money so he could do more advertising BUT all the wishes in the world don't make the money appear. The mere fact that marketing has been sparse is actually a good indicator of the budget constraints as well.

 

NEXT add in the fact that BW axed their in house Customer Service and bug report system for SWTOR and it is being handled by EA (that outsources a decent amount over seas) and again you see a budget crunch.

 

Now it sucks and BW has done their best to hide these facts no doubt BUT it is what it is.

Edited December 16, 2015 by Ghisallo

[Ghisallo]

Also i was just thinking about this and then it struck me. Holy crap. When Bioware announced that EA took over customer service on forums and pretty much all bug reports here, it does mean that BW:A is on very tight budget now. Explain also the amount of bugs recently and time it takes to fix.

Its schocking how all seem clear now and why they also delay any news about new group content plans if any.

Can this really be that they are planning to finish story lines and then its the end of this game as we know. Next step would be to announce going totally ftp without content updates? Wow it can truly be that. Because exact same thing happened few other MMO's i played when i started to think about it - then boom some many months later was announcement and it happened.

 

 

 

http://swtoreconomics.com/2015/12/10/an-analysis-of-star-wars-the-old-republic-from-eas-financial-reports/

 

I wouldn't see a complete f2p transition BUT I could see this.

 

They will see just how many people they have who want group/traditional MMORPG content, and how much money they made (to justify a bigger budget) about half way through this expac cycle. If they somehow have enough then they will keep things they way they are.

 

If they don't have enough, and decide the mostly story/recycled content with a token new instance due to this, they will HAVE to change the financial model, likely watering down the subscriber benefits. I may be completely wrong but I just don't see how a subscription model so biased towards accessing group content with out gates, can survive in a game without a substantial amount of new group content.

 

They will still want some subscription revenue of course but it simply won't be as sustainable as it has been, if it was at all tbh. I think the bad engine/bad launch of this game basically put them in a hole they were never going to completely drag themselves out of sadly. I liked this game a lot and hoped for things to continue but the more I look at those earnings calls the more I see something of the sort we see now was inevitable. They did try though and for that I give them credit.

Edited December 16, 2015 by Ghisallo

[Dodus]

I'm really not the hater, playing this game from the very beginnning (pre-sub)

Also, pls don't consider me a whiner, but the very realistic point of view is that (with all the sadness) Eric's statement brings the PvE endgame content to the twighlight zone...

Just to point out (I know it means nothing to EA, or whoever else really driving this game), our whole guild (over 100 ppl) decided to put the game to "carbonite" and transfer the activities to somewhere else.

 

thx for great 3 years - all the best to you all

[DarkNecroCrusher]

Hey Eric,

 

First and foremost i'm really excited about the announcements. You guys are doing a great job! Please pass on my thanks to Ben.

 

I private messaged you a few weeks ago about this but wanted to put it here incase it got lost in the sea of emails i'm sure you receive. You can find the full discussion here (http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=852931) but to give you a quick overview it was found, through pure coincidence, that the uptime on the Marauders Execute proc in Carnage and the Sentinels Hand of Justice proc in Combat are not the same. Through some number crunching it seems it's a 3 second difference favoring the Marauders Execute.

 

There are quite a few Sentinel and Marauder players who are looking for an answer or explanation as you'll find in the thread. Any response from the Combat Team or appropriate department, even just an acknowledgement that the matter is being looked into, would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!

 

 

BW has to read this ! Mirrored classes game, please fix it, it's a 2 minutes time work to be done.

[Misspentdolla]

Wait one min.... whatever happened to and I quote you directly Mr. Musco, "we will NEVER go 14 months with out a new raid instance again." directly quoted from the 3.0 live streams. So really... And you wonder why your word means jack nothing with your players.

 

 

It's fine. It means that there will never be a period of raid drought lasting 14 months. It may be 27, 50, or even 99. But never again 14.

Never again.