GuyverIII Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 (edited) Dear Developers, My intention with this post is to feedback and suggestions as requested on your most recent livestream. I will cover various aspects/changes to the game which include Companions, Player vs Player, Quests etc. Before I begin I would like to bring to your attention that I have been playing SWTOR since launch and have always enjoyed every single aspect the game as had to offer equally, this includes crafting, questing, pvp, strongholds, environmental detail, character design, and so on. I have been playing MMOs and have played the majority of all MMOs over the past decade and I frequently revisit all of them to observe the changes they have gone through and how they play throughout the years, However; what SWTOR has always had to offer over all others (besides storyline and voice content) is that the game mechanics and key features with which the game launched with had always been the same and never changed. First I would like to start off with Companions. One of the key and most unique aspects of SWTOR is companions. Pre 4.0 you were able to gear them out just like you would your own character, and each had a specific role to fill, which also added to the companions unique nature and gameplay. Post 4.0 I believe this is all gone. Because of the recent changes all companions now are generic and fill the same role, yes you could switch the roles they fill but it no longer makes them unique and fun, the removal of being able to gear them specifically also makes them stale and boring. I am certain many others in the community will agree with this point of you, and before some think I am trying to argue or start trouble, I am not. These changes of making the companions more generic and removing their gear customization, to me were unnecessary and I will say why. When you play through the story with your character and come across your various companions, each one filled a specific role, this brought about excitement for most. Each companions filled a niche which was put there so that when you couldn't come across a group, or play with a friend, your companion filled that spot. Now it would be easy to say well now all of your companions can do that! yes, that is true but none of them now are unique, which makes the game less unique, which now doesn't give any point into having so many of them. Once you get your companion on a starter planet, since they can fill all of the roles now then what is the point of looking forward or having the rest? Also in regards to gearing, I'm not sure about others but as for me when I got to craft armor for each companion or gear each one out separately, that was time I enjoyed spending when I'm not raiding, or doing a warzone. It was something unique no other game offered and something ELSE the game offered. I know some think of this as tedious or unnecessary, but if that's the case no one was ever forced into doing so. I am also aware that there is an issue of how overpowered companions were and that's the reason for the nerf, however they are more overpowered now than before. Before you actually had to go through the effort of getting the appropriate gear in order for them to reach that level of effectiveness in the first place, so to me that was working as intended. In conclusion two of the key features which SWTOR that made it unique were removed and based on the e community response, I would from a business and marketing perspective revert these changes, because if something isn't broken why fix it? and also if your product has a unique and key feature over your completions (other MMOs) why would you remove your edge? The second Topic I would like to address is the removal of gear and items from quests that were apart of the classic game (pre 4.0) and have been around since the beginning. Quest items which people still repeated and went through the effort to do exactly because of those items are now gone. If you know the trend of MMOs once old content is replaced by newer content, players seldom revisit it, that is were SWTOR stood apart from the rest. Content you had covered at level 15 would still be content for you to possibly redo at 50 (heroic quests to be specific) either for the gear it offered or the weapon. This key feature which offered so many customization options and rewards is now also gone, and again with no logical reason, from a game or business perspective. In a previous livestream you the developers even stood proud and announced that one of the things yo pride yourselves on is never the removal of any old content, because you were in touch your player base and never wanted to remove things we as your customers and players love. That is why the removal of these quest items and rewards is so counter intuitive. The next topic ties into the previous paragraph but it is in regards to the removal of all of the fleet vendors and their gear. I do not want to go on repeating myself, but why remove content which has been around and a core part of the game that made it unique and enjoyable, which as a player and customer was satisfactory and offered many avenues of customization and individual playstyle? all of these items in those vendors which players used and found very helpful to level with are gone. I for one can remember always visiting each vendor on a character whether it be to complete a look, have my character look a certain way for a story or quest, or even just to gear out my companions. In conclusion, All of these features are vey important and I recognize that the decisions in the larger scale isn't mine as to how the game works. However; as a paying customer and loyal player for the past 4 years, I wanted to voice my concern. I really do enjoy this game and I have always appreciated the fact that I never had to lose the content and things I love about it when I took a break and came back or even just started a new character. I am aware that a lot of companies also copy and take ideas from each other in regards to games like this, however SWTOR has always done a good job of being unique and standing out and only taking what it needed. Solutions, Revert the changes that never needed to take place and continue with adding content but keeping what has always been apart of this game APART of the game. It will also show that you truly listen to your customers and people you want to keep playing. The point I am trying to make stand by your words, do not continue this trend of removing content or changing things that do not need to be changed. Stay unique and stick to your own plan and vision, learning from an outside source and taking ideas is always good, but being unique and standing out is where you'll find success and growth. Sincerely, Taurros Markeel Prophecy of the Five Server P.S. Please keep responses to this post civil. I do not post on the forums frequently, but would love to listen and get more feedback and additional opinions. Please no Trolling or unneeded vulgar comments, you'll only do discredit to the community Edited February 18, 2016 by GuyverIII Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theUndead Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 I skimmed through your post and it was quite informative. However, most people will not read a post of that length. I suggest a TL:DR at the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveTheCynic Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 OP: You give a false impression of the changes to companions, one which isn't justifiable to anyone who has spent even a few minutes on Fleet. You make it sound as if: * No companion can be customised in appearance in any way. * It was strictly optional to adjust your companions' gear before 4.0 came out. All pre-4.0 companions (aside from droids and weirdos) are still fully (or mostly) customisable in appearance - if you can find a tutu, you can dress Lord Scourge or Skadge or Quinn in it. No, it doesn't affect the companion's stats, but... It was strictly necessary to (eventually) update the gear of any companion you used regularly. If not, you could be 100% sure that they would eventually serve no purpose other than distracting foes for the two seconds it took to squish them like the bug they were. Mako, for example, started with level sub-10 gear, so by the time you reached, say, Voss, her original gear would leave her the epitome of squishy, and would leave her healing next to useless against the damage inflicted by the foes. And yes, you should have written a "tl;dr", that is, an Executive Summary. And the correct place for that is at the beginning, not the end, of the post, so that I can look at the top and quickly get an idea of what you are going to discuss. It should not exceed one medium-sized paragraph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuyverIII Posted February 18, 2016 Author Share Posted February 18, 2016 Thank you both for your feedback. As I said I do not post on the forums regularly, and this was my first attempt at a constructive review type post. I will look over my post again and edit it accordingly to make it more reader friendly. Best Regards, Taurros Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts