The new warzone

[Drudenfusz]

Could we get cross faction GSF while we're dreaming?

I would like that! More GSF is always better, sadly it seems BioWare doesnt do too much anymore about GSF.

[Crossward]

There has never been and never needs to be communication between factions. The setting is the empire and republic in open war, not peace loving governments on friendly terms chatting it up. An imperial has no business just walking into a republic base to chat it up with a republic player any more than a republic player has any business doing likewise. Guild alliances? Why would two separate factions of guilds who are supposed to be at war with one another, be consorting with each other like the best of friends? Ridiculous. It's you and yours that are the poison killing this game. You'd stomp on the very soul of what makes it what it is simply for your own personal convenience. Well, news flash, lore takes precedence over your wannabe free for all. Want to play for the other team? Hit the character creation screen and mosey on over there.

 

As far as lore is concerned now though, all of us are are in the Alliance. In-universe, the player is the Outlander/Alliance Commander and the people you play with are members of the Alliance. That's the story behind the warzone, after all.

 

As for why guilds would work together when we're at war, it's because we're all part of the Alliance now. The war against the Eternal Empire has put our conflicts on the back burner. Unlike when we united against Revan, however, Arcann refuses to fall over quite so quickly. That's why we have to train and work together--we can't rely on Saresh or Acina to get the job done.

 

Please note that I'm not facting in your personal roleplay or what you wish might happen. I completely understand if you don't like the direction the story is heading. I'm simply stating that this is where the canonical story of the game has led us. Maybe after Arcann is down we can go back to the war, but for now working together is the only way to stop the Eternal Throne.

[Aeristash]

As far as lore is concerned now though, all of us are are in the Alliance. In-universe, the player is the Outlander/Alliance Commander and the people you play with are members of the Alliance. That's the story behind the warzone, after all.

 

As for why guilds would work together when we're at war, it's because we're all part of the Alliance now. The war against the Eternal Empire has put our conflicts on the back burner. Unlike when we united against Revan, however, Arcann refuses to fall over quite so quickly. That's why we have to train and work together--we can't rely on Saresh or Acina to get the job done.

 

Please note that I'm not facting in your personal roleplay or what you wish might happen. I completely understand if you don't like the direction the story is heading. I'm simply stating that this is where the canonical story of the game has led us. Maybe after Arcann is down we can go back to the war, but for now working together is the only way to stop the Eternal Throne.

 

No, that's where the alliance is personally within the kotfe bubble. The empire and republic are still in open war with each other. You didn't know this? Might want to brush away the clouds of convenience over those eyes and take a nice long look in the codex. Nice try attempting to twist it into my personal headcanon tho.

Edited April 19, 2016 by Aeristash

[JourrnoRush]

Hey folks,

 

We have seen quite a few questions about the rate that the Odessen Proving Grounds are popping in the Warzone queue. We want to let you know that it isn’t a bug that is causing this to happen. As you know, this Warzone allows players on both Factions to be on the same team. One side effect of this is that it is far easier for this Warzone to pop than the others as it only requires 16 players, and not a specific Faction distribution of those players. This has caused you to see more of Odessen than you might expect. Even though it isn’t a bug, the team is looking into options to create a larger spread among the Warzones that pop in the future. I will pass on any further information as I have it.

 

Thanks everyone.

 

-eric

 

You should have known this was going to happen on every server except for maybe Harbinger. The populations are so small that Odessen will be the main map each time. I've had like 90% Odessen on EH.

 

You can fix this by making ALL MAPS cross faction. The warzones aren't even lore specific anymore. Stop using the "snapshot in time," when your players have been voicing cross faction for years. Just do it. You should also make arenas mixed faction. That would be another QoL you can implement.

[Pandoras_Jar]

Hey folks,

 

We have seen quite a few questions about the rate that the Odessen Proving Grounds are popping in the Warzone queue. We want to let you know that it isn’t a bug that is causing this to happen. As you know, this Warzone allows players on both Factions to be on the same team. One side effect of this is that it is far easier for this Warzone to pop than the others as it only requires 16 players, and not a specific Faction distribution of those players. This has caused you to see more of Odessen than you might expect. Even though it isn’t a bug, the team is looking into options to create a larger spread among the Warzones that pop in the future. I will pass on any further information as I have it.

 

Thanks everyone.

 

-eric

 

I must be one of the odd people out cause I haven't gotten it that much, but then again I've been group queuing so that's probably why..

 

But anyway, like many have already said, just make all Warzones, cross-faction. We've gotten to the point with the lore where it makes sense so might as well do it.. Although it might get confusing for new low level players.. So maybe just do it for 65 PvP? Idk...

 

Edit: All you have to do to make cross-faction queues work lore wise is to make all the Warzones training scenarios (for the Alliance) at level 65 only, just have a droid do voice over stuff to save time...

 

Also, one quick question: When will there be a fix for group queuing for Warzones issues? Is this something you guys are still investigating?

Edited April 19, 2016 by Pandoras_Jar

[Aeristash]

You should have known this was going to happen on every server except for maybe Harbinger. The populations are so small that Odessen will be the main map each time. I've had like 90% Odessen on EH.

 

You can fix this by making ALL MAPS cross faction. The warzones aren't even lore specific anymore. Stop using the "snapshot in time," when your players have been voicing cross faction for years. Just do it. You should also make arenas mixed faction. That would be another QoL you can implement.

 

Funny. last time I checked, Marr was still ordering imperials to bomb destroyers and intelligence was still commanding us to hold positions against the republic opposition.

Edited April 19, 2016 by Aeristash

[DarthOvertone]

No, that's where the alliance is personally within the kotfe bubble. The empire and republic are still in open war with each other. You didn't know this? Might want to brush away the clouds of convenience over those eyes and take a nice long look in the codex. Nice try attempting to twist it into my personal headcanon tho.

 

But he's right. The codex is pre-KotFE. The lore argument is a moot point at this stage given KotFE. There is no longer an open war between the Empire and Republic. There has never been a better time for X-Faction and it fits into the current lore perfectly. Bring it on.

 

Funny. last time I checked, Marr was still ordering imperials to bomb destroyers and intelligence was still commanding us to hold positions against the republic opposition.

 

You know that Darth Marr is dead right? lol

[Volthammer]

Hey folks,

 

We have seen quite a few questions about the rate that the Odessen Proving Grounds are popping in the Warzone queue. We want to let you know that it isn’t a bug that is causing this to happen. As you know, this Warzone allows players on both Factions to be on the same team. One side effect of this is that it is far easier for this Warzone to pop than the others as it only requires 16 players, and not a specific Faction distribution of those players. This has caused you to see more of Odessen than you might expect. Even though it isn’t a bug, the team is looking into options to create a larger spread among the Warzones that pop in the future. I will pass on any further information as I have it.

 

Thanks everyone.

 

-eric

 

Eric! I could give you a huge manbear hug (purely platonic, of course) for this reply! Thank you, sir!

[DarthEnrique]

Here's a fix to the problem, do what I did, stop PvPing, lol!

[Aeristash]

But he's right. The codex is pre-KotFE. The lore argument is a moot point at this stage given KotFE. There is no longer an open war between the Empire and Republic. There has never been a better time for X-Faction and it fits into the current lore perfectly. Bring it on.

 

No he's wrong. As of our latest chapter, The empire and republic are enslaved to Zakuul, whilst still at each other. The alliance is merely an assortment of individuals that want to take down the empire, not the entirety of the governments that back them. ._. I can't be the only one not speed running these chapters.

 

 

 

You know that Darth Marr is dead right? lol

 

Aware of that and that that particular instance only applies to those post-sor. Hopefull you're aware that there is still a pre-kotfe universe in effect, as well as those who have yet to expierence the post-kotfe. Not like it's universal.

 

Edit: And here we see just how pre-kotfe the codex actually is. Source.

Edited April 19, 2016 by Aeristash

[ped_i]

Hey folks,

 

We have seen quite a few questions about the rate that the Odessen Proving Grounds are popping in the Warzone queue. We want to let you know that it isn’t a bug that is causing this to happen. As you know, this Warzone allows players on both Factions to be on the same team. One side effect of this is that it is far easier for this Warzone to pop than the others as it only requires 16 players, and not a specific Faction distribution of those players. This has caused you to see more of Odessen than you might expect. Even though it isn’t a bug, the team is looking into options to create a larger spread among the Warzones that pop in the future. I will pass on any further information as I have it.

 

Thanks everyone.

 

-eric

 

Oh this sounds like a population issue, i have a suggestion... CROSS SERVER. Free tip for you musco, enjoy.

[JourrnoRush]

Funny. last time I checked, Marr was still ordering imperials to bomb destroyers and intelligence was still commanding us to hold positions against the republic opposition.

 

 

Funny, last time I checked Marr is dead and KotFE is about working together imps and pubs. There is still pub vs imp out there, but our characters are not involved in that anymore lore wise. Don't roll your eyes when you don't even know what is going on.

 

Maybe 1-64 make it opposing factions and then 65 cross faction? Though, I think they should just do cross faction anyways. Except for the occasional match, most servers are dominated by one faction.

[Crossward]

No he's wrong. As of our latest chapter, The empire and republic are enslaved to Zakuul, whilst still at each other. The alliance is merely an assortment of individuals that want to take down the empire, not the entirety of the governments that back them. ._. I can't be the only one not speed running these chapters.

 

 

I'm fully aware that the Empire and Republic are still at war! That's why I mentioned that Acina and Saresh aren't able to get the job done.

 

However, from a story perspective, we haven't actually returned *to* the Empire or Republic yet. You hear as much in Chapter 4, where Lana tells you that the Empire and Republic's resources aren't what we need right now. They may be at war, but the Alliance Commander/Outlander is focused on the Alliance, which includes members of both factions. As things currently stand, we went from Marr's Ship to Zakuul to Asylum, back to Zakuul, back to Asylum, then to Odessen, where we've stayed the entire time except for making side trips for Alliance Alerts and the monthly chapters. Note that even in cases where we run into members of the enemy faction on those planets, our alert contacts explain it away by saying "there are still holdouts who didn't get the memo" or similar lines (that's K'kruhl's line on Belsavis, for example).

 

Now granted there's going to be gameplay and story segregaton. You mentioned how Marr gives you instructions, and I imagine low level characters get sent to Rishi or Odessen too. Obviously that level 10 Jedi isn't *really* going to Rishi in-canon, as during the SoR intro cutscene most classes aren't even aware Rishi exists. There's no easy way around that, as far as I can tell.

 

TLDR. But the point is, in-canon although the Republic and Empire may still be in all out war, the Outlander isn't part of it. As the Alliance Commander,the Outlander has (willingly or begrudgingly) chosen to work with people of both factions for the greater good. As long as that's where we are and where we're heading, I see no reason not to allow cross-faction communication and other WZs to go Cross Faction.

[VedaRa]

No he's wrong. As of our latest chapter, The empire and republic are enslaved to Zakuul, whilst still at each other. The alliance is merely an assortment of individuals that want to take down the empire, not the entirety of the governments that back them. ._. I can't be the only one not speed running these chapters.

 

 

 

 

 

Aware of that and that that particular instance only applies to those post-sor. Hopefull you're aware that there is still a pre-kotfe universe in effect, as well as those who have yet to expierence the post-kotfe. Not like it's universal.

 

Edit: And here we see just how pre-kotfe the codex actually is. Source.

 

Wow; you are going to try and use the lore argument , but say that only Pre-Kotfe is in universe lore. Maybe in your head canon but in universe the lore stands at Ch. 12.

Edited April 19, 2016 by VedaRa

[Aeristash]

Funny, last time I checked Marr is dead and KotFE is about working together imps and pubs. There is still pub vs imp out there, but our characters are not involved in that anymore lore wise. Don't roll your eyes when you don't even know what is going on.

 

Maybe 1-64 make it opposing factions and then 65 cross faction? Though, I think they should just do cross faction anyways. Except for the occasional match, most servers are dominated by one faction.

 

Making new war zones seems the best option. Modifying the existing ones for the convenience of veteran players is a terrible idea, when there are many who have yet to experience them and their lore perspective.

[Aeristash]

Wow; you are going to try and use the lore argument , but say that only Pre-Kotfe is in universe lore. Maybe in your head canon but in universe the lore stands at Ch. 12.

 

Well then. I suggest you visit dromund kaas and let them know that intelligence is dismantled, the dark council is dead and they can stop worshiping the emperor. Oh wait, that never occurred outside the kotfe bubble... Suppose we'll have to chalk it up to your head canon when you leave that sea of denial then, yes? lol, can't believe you even attempted to dispute that.

[Aeristash]

I'm fully aware that the Empire and Republic are still at war! That's why I mentioned that Acina and Saresh aren't able to get the job done.

 

However, from a story perspective, we haven't actually returned *to* the Empire or Republic yet. You hear as much in Chapter 4, where Lana tells you that the Empire and Republic's resources aren't what we need right now. They may be at war, but the Alliance Commander/Outlander is focused on the Alliance, which includes members of both factions. As things currently stand, we went from Marr's Ship to Zakuul to Asylum, back to Zakuul, back to Asylum, then to Odessen, where we've stayed the entire time except for making side trips for Alliance Alerts and the monthly chapters. Note that even in cases where we run into members of the enemy faction on those planets, our alert contacts explain it away by saying "there are still holdouts who didn't get the memo" or similar lines (that's K'kruhl's line on Belsavis, for example).

 

Now granted there's going to be gameplay and story segregaton. You mentioned how Marr gives you instructions, and I imagine low level characters get sent to Rishi or Odessen too. Obviously that level 10 Jedi isn't *really* going to Rishi in-canon, as during the SoR intro cutscene most classes aren't even aware Rishi exists. There's no easy way around that, as far as I can tell.

 

TLDR. But the point is, in-canon although the Republic and Empire may still be in all out war, the Outlander isn't part of it. As the Alliance Commander,the Outlander has (willingly or begrudgingly) chosen to work with people of both factions for the greater good. As long as that's where we are and where we're heading, I see no reason not to allow cross-faction communication and other WZs to go Cross Faction.

 

I wouldn't mind new wz, fp and ops being built with cross faction in mind due to the kotfe lore, but I don't believe that the old wz that were built in the midst of the empire v republic war should be modified to accommodate that lore as a convenient quick fix. As far as cross faction alliances go, try talking to an opposite faction vendor on odessan, only to be told that they are hostile towards you. That's because this alliance is one of convenience and the old prejudices are still there. It doesn't mean we can't fight with the enemy towards the primary goal, but at the same time it also doesn't mean we all need to kick back some jumma juice and conqueror planets together like the best of friends. And as you said yourself, if the war should end and we're back to the same level of open hostilities, the alliances won't make sense. So why create a system, only to dispose of it later? But then I'm sure we both know that nobody is going to want to give it up once it gets started, so might as well not even skim that pool imo.

[Crossward]

I wouldn't mind new wz, fp and ops being built with cross faction in mind due to the kotfe lore, but I don't believe that the old wz that were built in the midst of the empire v republic war should be modified to accommodate that lore as a convenient quick fix. As far as cross faction alliances go, try talking to an opposite faction vendor on odessan, only to be told that they are hostile towards you. That's because this alliance is one of convenience and the old prejudices are still there. It doesn't mean we can't fight with the enemy towards the primary goal, but at the same time it also doesn't mean we all need to kick back some jumma juice and conqueror planets together like the best of friends. And as you said yourself, if the war should end and we're back to the same level of open hostilities, the alliances won't make sense. So why create a system, only to dispose of it later? But then I'm sure we both know that nobody is going to want to give it up once it gets started, so might as well not even skim that pool imo.

 

I have a feeling that the idea of both factions working together won't ever end during the lifetime of the game. Not only does it allow the developers to focus on one story, but it also allows for cross-faction WZs, potentially cross-faction GF ops (if we ever get new ones), and re-using assets for a hub. Plus it avoids the *****ly issue of our opposite-faction companions leaving us en masse. That's just speculation though. I could be way off base on that.

 

I like the idea of pre-65 WZs being faction exclusive and 65+ being cross faction. I agree with you that newbies should experience the story behind them first. You wouldn't even need new voicework for cross-faction stuff. I youtubed a Voidstar match that was Imp vs. Imp and it had a protocol droid talking about it being a war game instead of Darth Marr narrating it. Just edit out one line and it all flows together perfectly. Lore is intact for newbies, no need to get Lana to do more voicework, and as a bonus it removes 65 players from going back in time.

 

As far as hostilities go, it's a mix. The vendors won't sell us stuff because they're hostile (those jerks), but the Star Fortress guy is opposite faction. The Imp guy even mentions how he has more respect for the Outlander than anyone else. Likewise, Admiral Aygo resigns from the Republic to support you. That sort of behavior makes me think this is going to be the status quo going forward.

[Aeristash]

I have a feeling that the idea of both factions working together won't ever end during the lifetime of the game. Not only does it allow the developers to focus on one story, but it also allows for cross-faction WZs, potentially cross-faction GF ops (if we ever get new ones), and re-using assets for a hub. Plus it avoids the *****ly issue of our opposite-faction companions leaving us en masse. That's just speculation though. I could be way off base on that.

 

I like the idea of pre-65 WZs being faction exclusive and 65+ being cross faction. I agree with you that newbies should experience the story behind them first. You wouldn't even need new voicework for cross-faction stuff. I youtubed a Voidstar match that was Imp vs. Imp and it had a protocol droid talking about it being a war game instead of Darth Marr narrating it. Just edit out one line and it all flows together perfectly. Lore is intact for newbies, no need to get Lana to do more voicework, and as a bonus it removes 65 players from going back in time.

 

As far as hostilities go, it's a mix. The vendors won't sell us stuff because they're hostile (those jerks), but the Star Fortress guy is opposite faction. The Imp guy even mentions how he has more respect for the Outlander than anyone else. Likewise, Admiral Aygo resigns from the Republic to support you. That sort of behavior makes me think this is going to be the status quo going forward.

 

Arguing with logic like this only amounts to spinning wheels. I concede. great points.

[Shirvington]

Thanks for the communication, Eric.

 

Good to know that it's not a bug, and I am not surprised. It makes sense that Odessen would pop more often, considering it is cross faction. Also, I notice that a bunch of people leave at the beginning of every Odessen game that I have played, to the point where the 30 second WZ auto-shutdown sequence begins. Every single Odessen game I have been in, this happens. I think that there are a bunch of people who are at the point where they are immediately leaving when they see Odessen, which means that there are quite a few players who get back-filled into that map, meaning that the ones who are willing to stay end up playing Odessen much more often.

 

This behavior (with the 30 second wz abort) was happening on the first day, before people started leaving. There is some aspect to this wz that causes it to do this.

[Renata_Roselli]

This warzone is terrible.

[xkcurtisx]

Hey folks,

 

We have seen quite a few questions about the rate that the Odessen Proving Grounds are popping in the Warzone queue. We want to let you know that it isn’t a bug that is causing this to happen. As you know, this Warzone allows players on both Factions to be on the same team. One side effect of this is that it is far easier for this Warzone to pop than the others as it only requires 16 players, and not a specific Faction distribution of those players. This has caused you to see more of Odessen than you might expect. Even though it isn’t a bug, the team is looking into options to create a larger spread among the Warzones that pop in the future. I will pass on any further information as I have it.

 

Thanks everyone.

 

-eric

 

just make all warzones crossfaction already....

[limenutpen]

X-faction is a no for the old WZs. Can work in some see both Huttball maps, and all Arenas as in original you do this for the credits and nothing else. There is no faction base behind the story of these. But CW, AH, NC, VS are

 

What you should do is divide reduce the pop chance of OPG to seven including Arenas. That means that the other five WZs run seven que runs before Odessen map starts to fill up. Or something along those lines.

 

I wonder sometimes how BW could not have visioned this problem on there own, as even I could have seen it coming.

Really!

 

Also I think it came the time to make another daily for Arena and different pop que for them, in replacement of the small two game daily may be an Arena daily.

Edited April 19, 2016 by limenutpen

[AlrikFassbauer]

One side effect of this is that it is far easier for this Warzone to pop than the others as it only requires 16 players, and not a specific Faction distribution of those players.

 

-eric

 

I'm not at all surprised.

 

This is the pure result of player-driven faction inbalance.

 

Thank you, players.

[tummiswtor]

This wz is bad? You joking? I love this mix! Why?

BECOUSE 80% OF WZ REPUBLIC LOSE!