PvP interview with Musco

[GUN_GAME]

The barrier question is a legit one. If there's any chance of getting an answer as to why it ignores key mechanics (acid, objectives on the new map), that would be great.

 

Bubble and shield probe dont absorb acid dmg after last patch

[teclado]

--snip--

~ Bowtiejones

Correct. I know that it was minor and it's probably not worth bringing up, but if you are looking for an anecdote that shows the apathy towards the pvp base, I think the missing rewards blog does the job.

[snave]

Snave,

 

Guardian/Juggernaut Guardian Leap/Intercede and normal Leap/Charge is unavailable to use in Quesh Huttball's Endzone area in-between the acid pits. This is true for both holding and not holding the huttball. I know for several other classes, their charges work (ex: operative/scoundrel).

 

If this is meant to be something that will exist as a change, it was never listed in any patch notes. This is tremendously annoying as a bug.

 

Also fun fact, you cannot Intercede/GLeap teammates in the holding spawn areas either.

 

No, I was not LoS'd.

No, I was not Netted.

No, it wasn't on CD.

 

It literally says in red, "Target is unavailable to be charged at this time."

 

I don't have a screenshot of it, I'll get to work on grabbing one, but I'll edit this and add my previous thread.

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=878940

 

Thank you.

 

This happens to operatives too and it's a bug not WAI. I've already answered this on another thread if you want to go and have a read there.

[KevinQCowart]

I think it was already mentioned but I would ask why are operative and merc healers not viable in ranked, seriously if you queue as anything but sorc people will flame you, ragequit or quit queueing. This is unacceptable.

 

Or perhaps sorcs healers are just OP since so many matches go to acid when both teams have sorc healers. Eitherway healers are woefully imbalanced.

[UglyStik]

In no particular order the main topics will be:

 

Class Balance

Matchmaking

"Better Than Cross Server"

PvP Community

 

Well...With the latest patch changes I'd ask:

 

1) Are they going to buff or make changes to op/scoundrel & commando/merc healing to content with the current burst meta?

2) Are they going to fix tanks in DPS gear pumping out as much damage as DPS specs?

3) Are they going to fix the cheeze of ranged DPS being able to sit in spawn and not get kicked from an arena? Happens on Tatooine Canyon and the new Rishi one often.

4) Did they only make a few class balancing changes because we're in the middle of a season or is this the extent of what they are going to do?

5) Are they looking at making all warzones/solo arenas cross faction?

Edited May 17, 2016 by UglyStik
Awesomeness

[Technohic]

The better than cross server thing, which I am sure was just loose lips about nothing; still could use a follow up of whether there was anything (not likely) and if not, how bout make something happen. Cross faction or even the cross server dead horse to be beaten again. I'd just like a "why not" to all the "no" we got still to this day.

 

With that and your matchmaking category; how about some matchmaking in regs?

[DarkSaberMaster]

I just want to know when are they going to tell us about the Season 7 rewards.

[TUXs]

Good luck snave. Balance is my #1 concern right now, but I doubt you'll get anything besides a worthless stock answer. I'm shocked Musco agreed to do another...but congrats and good luck sir. Edited May 17, 2016 by TUXs

[DerSchneider]

I just want to know when are they going to tell us about the Season 7 rewards.

 

Exactly, and the approximate date of season's ending.

[UglyStik]

I just want to know when are they going to tell us about the Season 7 rewards.

 

That is really the most important thing:rak_02:

[TUXs]

That is really the most important thing:rak_02:

Right?! What the hell lol

[DarkSaberMaster]

That is really the most important thing:rak_02:

 

Yeah. For me, it is. Any other questions?

[AlrikFassbauer]

The best question I would ask them, would be;

 

"How can we make sure our suggestions are heard, and what kind of data, evidence, methodology does the dev team require to consider fixes, tweaks, balancing?"

 

Good question, imho.

 

 

 

A really, really, really selfish question would be : "Do you believe Gunslingers are balanced now ? Why do you think is this class played so few overall ?"

Or, even better : "How do you believe does the Gunslinger class fare in the new meta of high mobility ?"

Edited May 17, 2016 by AlrikFassbauer

[revcrisis]

Hey Snave, this sounds awesome. In no particular order:

 

 

• More frequent class balance changes. Balancing once every 4 months is quite disheartening for die-hard PVPers. It's quite apparent people love testing new metas, new balance changes, new possibly OP classes, new healing comps. Frequent class balance brings these changes and keeps the community engaged in PVP. There will always be "OP" classes and comps but with frequent class balance this will be evened out.
  
• Bringing back class representatives and community interaction with combat designers. I miss the combat designers posting their balance thoughts.
  
• Tweaks to utilities throughout the course of an expansion
  

Edited May 17, 2016 by revcrisis

[Greezt]

Bubble and shield probe dont absorb acid dmg after last patch

 

Bastion still does though, no?

Edited May 17, 2016 by Greezt

[Lhancelot]

"How can we make sure our suggestions are heard, and what kind of data, evidence, methodology does the dev team require to consider fixes, tweaks, balancing?"

I hate giving credit to you Kwe, but this is a great question. We all are thinking balance, balance, balance, cross server, cross faction, matchmaking, but forget to ask.... What exactly are "metrics"?

 

Exactly what data do the devs analyze that is termed as "metrics"?

 

When they say things like, "we can't raise the healing outputs for merc or ops healers" but then ignore the fact that the healing outputs are not what need addressed, it's obvious they are only looking at output of numbers and that's not going to paint a correct picture of a specific class's power!

 

Healing output should be similar between the specs in the end, but you also have to include when in PVP these outputs are drastically changed depending on defensives of the healing class!

 

Devs have got to be aware of the fact that output numbers are not the only "metric" to consider when balancing classes, particularly in PVP.

[foxmob]

When they say things like, "we can't raise the healing outputs for merc or ops healers" but then ignore the fact that the healing outputs are not what need addressed, it's obvious they are only looking at output of numbers and that's not going to paint a correct picture of a specific class's power!

 

I guarantee you their answer is going to be that's not what they meant and that when they used the term "healing output," they were referring to something closer to "effective healing." I'm completely on board with your point here. don't take this as me arguing with you. but devs have been questioned on this type of thing before, and their replies are always along the lines of "grammar technicality issue. we actually do all of these things and consider everything. trust us. we see more than you. you are ignorant."

 

there's some validity to both sides. on our side, I think the issue is more along the lines of being kept in the dark. and when an explanation does come, it's just "we think it's fine" or "we think it needed adjustment." definitely a one-way "dialogue"

Edited May 17, 2016 by foxmob

[Lhancelot]

I guarantee you their answer is going to be that's not what they meant and that when they used the term "healing output," they were referring to something closer to "effective healing." I'm completely on board with your point here. don't take this as me arguing with you. but devs have been questioned on this type of thing before, and their replies are always along the lines of "grammar technicality issue. we actually do all of these things and consider everything. trust us. we see more than you. you are ignorant."

 

there's some validity to both sides. on our side, I think the issue is more along the lines of being kept in the dark. and when an explanation does come, it's just "we think it's fine" or "we think it needed adjustment." definitely a one-way "dialogue"

 

If they use that angle, you are right it's really a one-way convo.

 

But the fact is, they do have the numbers of what classes participate in ranked matches, and I bet when they view merc heals they are probably pretty low on the totem pole regarding participation and placement of rating.

 

If their effective healing is on par with the other two specs then it sure seems odd that you never see a merc healer in solo ranked, ever... And, they are even rare in regs where all classes can perform well.

 

Seems like a strange anomaly that merc healers are "fine" yet no one plays them now, except the diehard merc healers who suffer from chronic masochism.

[DrewFromPhilly]

If they use that angle, you are right it's really a one-way convo.

 

But the fact is, they do have the numbers of what classes participate in ranked matches, and I bet when they view merc heals they are probably pretty low on the totem pole regarding participation and placement of rating.

 

If their effective healing is on par with the other two specs then it sure seems odd that you never see a merc healer in solo ranked, ever... And, they are even rare in regs where all classes can perform well.

 

Seems like a strange anomaly that merc healers are "fine" yet no one plays them now, except the diehard merc healers who suffer from chronic masochism.

 

Didn't they blame our perception and understanding of the game/mechanics once before already, though?

There aren't many merc heals in ranked because the playerbase has justifiably decided they're not viable in ranked, but their metrics somehow indicate that is not the case and the class is fine = another player perception problem that doesn't justify any action, because that would oppose their metrics.

 

It wouldn't surprise me if that question was brought up with the pvp 'team' and the response that came back was "are you using rocket out to escape and make them pay?" or some other asinine and oblivious response.

[Lord_Unterhemd]

One of the bigger questions that I'd ask him would be if they think that the games performance - as it is at the moment - is good, or how they justify that people with high-end computers have heavier impacts on performance (ie. unstable FPS) than people with older computers have.

 

Because everytime I am in a warzone and everybody starts to hit skills, my FPS are dropping from 90 to 12-18. And I know that this isn't only a problem that only I have, because many other people have the same issues.

 

So it would be nice if you could ask him about this.

Edited May 17, 2016 by Lord_Unterhemd

[Lhancelot]

One of the bigger questions that I'd ask him would be if they think that the Performance of the game as it is atm is good, or how they justify that people with high-end computers have heavier impact on Performance (ie. unstable FPS) than old computers.

 

Because everytime I am in a warzone and everybody starts to hit skills, my FPS drop from 90 to 12-18. And I know that this isn't only my problem, because many other people have the same issues.

 

So it would be nice if you could ask him about the performance issues some people have.

 

My computer is over 5 years old and I often considered getting a new one. Wonder if I get a new one and tried swtor, how it would play. Right now, mine still manages it well and i run it on high settings.

[Lord_Unterhemd]

I got a new one last year and I pretty much can play every game that came out since last year at high to ultra high settings with 60+ fps.

 

Only in swtor I get drops from 100+ on the fleet, to 15 in warzones. And sometimes on the fleet, depending on how many people are standing next to me, I already drop to 70 or lower. And it's just frustrating because I always get the feeling that with each new patch, the performance is going to get worse.

[AlrikFassbauer]

Seems like a strange anomaly that merc healers are "fine" yet no one plays them now, except the diehard merc healers who suffer from chronic masochism.

 

Well, Gunslingers have a somewhat similar problem. They appear to be "fine", yet no-one plays them ...

 

Didn't they blame our perception and understanding of the game/mechanics once before already, though?

There aren't many merc heals in ranked because the playerbase has justifiably decided they're not viable in ranked, but their metrics somehow indicate that is not the case and the class is fine = another player perception problem that doesn't justify any action, because that would oppose their metrics.

 

It wouldn't surprise me if that question was brought up with the pvp 'team' and the response that came back was "are you using rocket out to escape and make them pay?" or some other asinine and oblivious response.

 

Bitter, but true.

Edited May 17, 2016 by AlrikFassbauer

[Lhancelot]

Well, Gunslingers have a somewhat similar problem. They appear to be "fine", yet no-one plays them ...

 

Well. Granted slingers are awful in solo ranked generally speaking. In regs and group ranked slingers can perform very well. I seen them play well in regs, and from what group ranked players say, they do fine in group ranked.

 

Merc healers suck everywhere. The only chance they might do well is if they are in regs and the opposite team are full of morons who don't focus the merc healer dead, or the merc healer is some master elite player with a master elite team in group ranked.

 

Comparing the merc healer to slingers, the slinger probably comes out ahead in most situations. I aint saying the slinger couldn't use some QOL changes, but I'd say the merc healer is in more need of them right now.

[GUN_GAME]

Bastion still does though, no?

Bastion doesnt absorb acid dmg.