Upcoming KOTET / SWTOR 5.0

[TheAncientPast]

Up to know i'm wondering where this game is going to.

 

In autumn KOTET will hit the ground ... obviously patch 5.0 which will bring GRAND new things and GRAND new story and GRAND new cartell packages for your hard earned salary or pocket money.

 

Again I see this hyped into the sky under grinning applause by the regular fan boy. Again much less (in quantity and quality) will be delivered.

 

But where does this game goes in the end? After five years into it still so many bugs are in the game. Starting with codex entries that are still missing, or have not been activated on chars, or have not been activated retroactively after again been implemented into the game, going over to quest problems (@ Musco & devs: see my pissed off bug report in the bug report section) and much more.

 

A)

When will these core thing been corrected. Pre-Release of the game a lot of advertising was done about the codex and how great this will be. Comparisons where made with other bioware codex systems like in DA:O or ME. But the codex system in SWToR has become a absolutely disgusting thing.

 

Either remove the codex system completely, or implement all the missing codex entries, or give as a legacy codex but FIX THIS before bringing out new content or some useless cartel packages.

 

B)

When 4.0 hit the ground only 1 good new game mechanic was there: companions didn't needed to be geared anymore. This was actually good, because it has become a pain in the *** over the years equipping companions.

 

Everything else in 4.0 was crap. Multiclassing companions being heal tank and dd is nonsense and took away the need for having more than one companion at all.

 

MAKE COMPANIONS UNIQUE EITHER BEEING TANK OR DD OR HEAL!

 

Give us reasons for needing more than just one companions. Needing a healer companion, needing a tank companion, needing a damage dealing companion.

 

C)

The removal of the companions on the player ship after starting KOTFE and NOT getting them back on the ship after getting them back in the story has given us an empty ghost ship and I do not want to know how many gamers are pissed of by this.

Maybe the character ship is not anymore required for the KOTFE story, but RP's like myself actually USE the ship to go to planets, to do quests (H2) there, and I liked it having the ship populated by my characters crew.

I only looked into KOTFEE with 1 char, to chapter IX for getting access to the alliance base, but thats all. One saturday afternoon, running in 4+ hours through the first nine chapters, and thats it. Never ever again set food into the KOTFEE story at all.

 

GIVE US BACK OUR SHIPS CREW!

 

D)

What 5.0 will obviously give: level-up to level 70. This is absolutely non-sense. Why? Because of level-synch.

Even with level 70 my stats will be the same as with level 60 or 65 or 70 on any planet below rishi/yavin.

 

Those power-up of 5 levels will have absolutely no effect for e. g. running H2 on Balmorra or Alderaan or any other planet.

Even worse, getting 5 new levels should make my character stronger for the existing endgame content, flashpoints or operations. But because of this crap level-synch every single mob, every single boss, will level up to 70. So I will again be on par with them but not anything stronger.

 

Before that crappy 4.0 every now installment of the game, getting 2.0 / level-up 55 or 3.0 /level-up 65 made your character stronger for the already existing flashpoints and operations.

Getting through Denova/Explosive Conflict at 1.0 was a damn hard thing. Doing Denova at Level 55 was good in SM and challenging in HC ... but it was do-able. The real challenge was NiM and I quite this because it was not worth the amount of time I would have needed to spend to clear it.

 

Then with 3.0 and level-up 60 I could run Denova NiM and complete this operation for the first time. Even could do the time run that was impossible for me before. And this was a great fun, a great experience. I LIKED IT.

 

Finally it was playable for an 41er who has other responsibility in his life than only sitting in front of a video game.

And this is what a level up should be ... a feelable rise in power on par with new content and becoming stronger for existing/older content.

 

Look ... I'm not a progress raider, I just want to play. I want to relax with this game after a hard working day at the company. I am not a bored student or pupil with no real challenges in life, supported my mummies and daddies money and looking for life challenges in a video game.

And i just want to see operations in HC or NiM WITHOUT running them for weeks on equal level. I just want the seem them via a relaxing run 5 to 10 levels stronger than the bosses there.

 

So change this system. Go back before level-synch. And because you may think it's not ok running a NiM operation 10 levels stronger and getting up-to-date endgame gear : remove endgame gear from the old operations.

 

E)

This whole level-synch was also proposed as a brand new experience ... go on old planets and help low level friends there. Honestly this is a joke. I could run around on chapter 1 planets naked, only having a MH and OH equipped and slaughtering everything there without even giving a sweat.

So even this aspect of level-synch is just a silly and overhyped joke.

 

F)

Then the next point ... what obviously will happen in 5.0: you guys will lower the stats again, meaning the curse on which attributes raise our % values.

Example:

Gear that may give a DD at the moment 35% Crit, 70% surge, 10% Alacrity will have its values lowered, resulting in maybe only 28% Crit, 63% surge, 8 % Alacrity ... the same gear I spend much time to get to this stats.

 

What non-sense is this? The time I spend in operations was to aquire gear for the stats I'm having now. Reducing the value of the gear, the value of the stats, lowering them, would mean that all the time I spend was for nothing and a waste of time.

Now honestly do you really think I'm going to play a game any longer that is a waste of time?

 

 

So please take this to your heart and act. Correct these issues. So much time spend in usless crap like this "Oh grand new cartell package opening experience" - something no one wants or needs. But the real issues of the game , when are they take care?

[Warrgames]

They aren't releasing any information till Oct. So 5.0 wont hit to Dec which isn't fall.

[Aowin]

They aren't releasing any information till Oct. So 5.0 wont hit to Dec which isn't fall.

 

That's a baseless assertion with no evidence. Yes, we know the major reveal of KotET will be at New York Comic Con (Oct. 6-9). We cannot assume that "5.0 wont hit to Dec which isn't fall," however. BioWare has stated time and time again that KotET is coming in the fall, which means it's likely coming at the end of October.

[azudelphi]

That's a baseless assertion with no evidence. Yes, we know the major reveal of KotET will be at New York Comic Con (Oct. 6-9). We cannot assume that "5.0 wont hit to Dec which isn't fall," however. BioWare has stated time and time again that KotET is coming in the fall, which means it's likely coming at the end of October.

Fall, astronomically speaking, ends on Dec 20th.

Dec 20th is when SWTOR went live in 2011.

Dec 15th was early access for SWTOR in 2011.

Dec 20th is a Tuesday, a traditional patch day.

 

I am not a gambling man, but if I were, KOTET goes live Dec 20th.

 

 

Add for op, some nuggets of okay changes or concerns among a wall of otherwise mediocre to unimplementable changes.

Edited August 12, 2016 by azudelphi

[rklontz]

Fall, astronomically speaking, ends on Dec 20th.

Dec 20th is when SWTOR went live in 2011.

Dec 15th was early access for SWTOR in 2011.

Dec 20th is a Tuesday, a traditional patch day.

 

I am not a gambling man, but if I were, KOTET goes live Dec 20th.

 

Which is still technically fall

[azudelphi]

Which is still technically fall

That's what I am saying

[Warrgames]

That's a baseless assertion with no evidence. Yes, we know the major reveal of KotET will be at New York Comic Con (Oct. 6-9). We cannot assume that "5.0 wont hit to Dec which isn't fall," however. BioWare has stated time and time again that KotET is coming in the fall, which means it's likely coming at the end of October.

 

No evidence? When has this Dev team EVER released details about expansion or content coming and within less than a month of the releasing information that it goes lives. NEVER

They tease they are working something for months in advance.

They release small bit of information a couple screen shots.

The next month after that they release information.

1-2 months later content is released. They are going to use being of Dec is still technical fall.

 

Evidence is the way dev work.

Edited August 12, 2016 by Warrgames

[JediQuaker]

Up to know i'm wondering where this game is going to.

English translation: "Up to now, I'm wondering where this game is going" - which still doesn't exactly make sense.

 

A: OMG! There's hype?! Just like when people line up overnight for the latest iPhone? Or anxiously await a new Ghostbusters reboot? Say it ain't so.

 

B: Even though the companions can "do" all of the roles, some are still better than others at particular roles.

 

C: I actually sort of agree with this one. But hopefully, after this Zakhuul stuff is finished, we will no longer need the Odessen base and at least some companions will go back to the ship. It could get kinda crowded if you've done a lot of Alliance alerts and all your comps go to the ship.

 

D: Nonsense or not, a lot of people seem to assume that it's not a real expansion unless max level goes up. In the long run, it doesn't make much difference, but I'm sure there'd be more whining if there was no level increase, than if it stayed the same.

 

E: Maybe level sync doesn't work as you imagined, but does it really matter that much? For me, it doesn't really affect my personal gaming experience. I haven't seen anyone voicing an actual meaningful complaint about it, just vague "I don't like it" posts.

 

F: Even if they do lower the stats, that doesn't mean that the time you took to increase your stats is "wasted". You still needed to put in the time to get those stats for your current gameplay. Of course, you could wait until they announce that there will be no more expansions to SWTOR to level up your stats, so no time will be "wasted", but what would you do meanwhile?

[brad-evans]

Everything else in 4.0 was crap. Multiclassing companions being heal tank and dd is nonsense and took away the need for having more than one companion at all.

 

MAKE COMPANIONS UNIQUE EITHER BEEING TANK OR DD OR HEAL!

 

Give us reasons for needing more than just one companions. Needing a healer companion, needing a tank companion, needing a damage dealing companion.

 

No, it took away the need to be stuck with a companion you didn't want because of their role, while the one you did want to take was useless and left behind. It was a barrier to getting full use out of your companions so they changed it. And for the better. Now people can take the comp they like the best or fits their PC's personality the best without screwing themselves over.

 

The removal of the companions on the player ship after starting KOTFE and NOT getting them back on the ship after getting them back in the story has given us an empty ghost ship and I do not want to know how many gamers are pissed of by this.

Maybe the character ship is not anymore required for the KOTFE story, but RP's like myself actually USE the ship to go to planets, to do quests (H2) there, and I liked it having the ship populated by my characters crew.

 

After the end of your class story, NPCs are little more than furniture on your ship. If we could interact with them in any real way I would agree with you. I'd actually like it if, after playing KotFE, you could get your 5 highest influence comps to go on your ship, not just the old crew. IF there was a point to having them there.

 

I just want to play. I want to relax with this game after a hard working day at the company.

 

You gripe about level sync but then say this. If you really "just want to play" then level sync should not hinder you in any way. I barely even notice it, I certainly don't feel any weaker than I should or held back in any way.

 

Seems like a lot of pointless complaining.

[Costello]

On the one hand I see the level increase to 70 as inevitable. On the other unless it comes in with a lot of end game content I'm not sure there is any point.

 

We saw the ops and flashpoints releveled for 65, fair play that is done. I just don't think they could relevel them for 70 and expect people to play them to regrind gear that isn't necessary for the new chapters cause any boss fight will be about hiding behind a shield over a dps check.

 

I think you have to have an expansion to raise the level you can't just do it when you release a couple of 30 minute single player chapters.

[Haruen]

That's a baseless assertion with no evidence. Yes, we know the major reveal of KotET will be at New York Comic Con (Oct. 6-9). We cannot assume that "5.0 wont hit to Dec which isn't fall," however. BioWare has stated time and time again that KotET is coming in the fall, which means it's likely coming at the end of October.

 

Winter is actually Jan - March, so yeah, it will hit the same time KOTFE did.

[Costello]

Winter is actually Jan - March, so yeah, it will hit the same time KOTFE did.

 

They have hinted there will be pre-launch subscriber rewards much like in Kofte i.e. subscribe for 3 months and get a companion that never has any dialogue options after recruitment and set appearance. Now if they want to make the most of this I can't see the launch till late December, if your only going to announce in October and released in November it would only give one month of pre-launch subscription to get the alternative companion from the LvD event as your reward.

[Kingsbount]

Then the next point ... what obviously will happen in 5.0: you guys will lower the stats again, meaning the curse on which attributes raise our % values.

Example:

Gear that may give a DD at the moment 35% Crit, 70% surge, 10% Alacrity will have its values lowered, resulting in maybe only 28% Crit, 63% surge, 8 % Alacrity ... the same gear I spend much time to get to this stats.

 

What non-sense is this? The time I spend in operations was to aquire gear for the stats I'm having now. Reducing the value of the gear, the value of the stats, lowering them, would mean that all the time I spend was for nothing and a waste of time.

Now honestly do you really think I'm going to play a game any longer that is a waste of time?

 

Actually i can agree on this.

Getting MOAR stronger with 70 level but still forced to gear up just to.... become equal to your lvl 65 pre-5.0 character @_@

This just making no sense...

[The-Kaitou-Kid]

B)

When 4.0 hit the ground only 1 good new game mechanic was there: companions didn't needed to be geared anymore. This was actually good, because it has become a pain in the *** over the years equipping companions.

 

Everything else in 4.0 was crap. Multiclassing companions being heal tank and dd is nonsense and took away the need for having more than one companion at all.

 

MAKE COMPANIONS UNIQUE EITHER BEEING TANK OR DD OR HEAL!

 

Give us reasons for needing more than just one companions. Needing a healer companion, needing a tank companion, needing a damage dealing companion.

 

No thank you.

 

Being able to use the companions I like, not just the ones that I need for a specific role, is a great addition to the game in my opinion and I'd hate to see them remove it. I could only ever take Kira with my main (a Sentinel) when I was doing content I vastly overleveled, any other time I was pretty much forced into taking Doc.

 

If you like being forced into using specific companions for specific roles, go through and change them all back to their default roles and have a blast. But don't force the rest of us to lose the usefulness of companions we like having around because you need a "reason" to "need" more than one companion.

[MACharlieV]

They have hinted there will be pre-launch subscriber rewards much like in Kofte i.e. subscribe for 3 months and get a companion that never has any dialogue options after recruitment and set appearance. Now if they want to make the most of this I can't see the launch till late December, if your only going to announce in October and released in November it would only give one month of pre-launch subscription to get the alternative companion from the LvD event as your reward.

While the subscriber rewards might throw this off but Bioware (recent years anyway) likes to announce DLCs (I'm speaking as a player from DAI, ME...) two weeks advanced before release.

[americanaussie]

I can honestly say that I am not annoyed with not having companions back to my ship. However, it would be nice to take your current companion on there.

[ErraiSenkar]

With the time frame that BW is talking about so far... "I have a bad feeling about this."

Anyone else remember last December? Two wrecked events, the HK love fest, the fiasco with nerf/counter nerf of companions?

 

And then BW Austin went on vacation for 3 weeks plus with basically no action until the early January fixes.

They did the same they year before with the SOR drop with all of its initial problems also.

 

I for one really hope that someone in Austin is thinking and remembering and planning for this.

[Sportiva]

Raising the level cap to 70 & introducing new BiS gear without introducing new Ops would be a huge mistake. Those raiders who haven't left the game definitely would at that point.

[divinecynic]

Raising the level cap to 70 & introducing new BiS gear without introducing new Ops would be a huge mistake. Those raiders who haven't left the game definitely would at that point.

 

Ok here is my prediction for 5.0

 

1) KotFE style story chapters are here to stay. It works to keep folks subbed month to month.

2) I expect 1-2 new flashpoints. I am basing this on SoR. KotFE gave them time to get them done. Likely these will have solo and tactical to start with a hard mode coming.

3) I expect 1-2 new ops. Again based on SoR and again KotFE gave them breathing room to finish them. I only expect SM and HM. I think the days of NM are done.

4) No new pvp maps and nothing for GSF.

5) Stat-wise, 70 will have new tiers of gear. Common Data Crystal level with be just over 224, maybe 230 or so and go up from there. Op gear will be BIS and top tier Op will stay 5-20 pts over Radiant/Crafted.

6) The increase level cap will have it's adjustment and we'll likely see a small boost at mast level with either a new ability or an ability replacer/morph. Utility points may get a boost or be adjusted to spread out again.

 

Now my crazy hopes

 

1) Two new hero style classes like WoW did. They would start at say 60. I'm hoping for Zakuul Knight and Scion.

2) A new Stronghold or two. I am hoping for Alderaan, Hoth, or Manaan.

3) The option to turn our player ship into something closer to a stronghold. Think something like a guild ship but for single players.

4) Tactical ops. I am think something like HM flashpoint difficulty. 4 man groups are just easier to pull off then 8 or 16 man ones. Keep top tier loot behind the full Op gate, but having some way to access the content with a smaller group is a good option.

5) Classed focused story. I know it is likely gone but at least some side missions.

[Nothing_Shines]

Ahahahahaha! And then you woke up and realized you were dreaming. Look forward to a rerun of KOTFE and ONE "group" content activity towards the end of the run equivalent to Eternal Championship, though probably just a variant of the Star Fortresses.

 

Zero new operations.

 

Zero GSF update.

 

One PVP map. Maybe.

 

Never ending CM updates.

 

Minimal to no bug fixes.

 

Possible 5 level increase where we lose a key ability and have to reaquire it at 70, because BW likes to take things away and make you work for them again and again.

 

As for story, Arcann will get a government enforced redemption. The Outlander will be forced to team up with him to stop Vaylin, who will kill Senya. Both Vaylin and SCORPIO will be defeated by end of the season (though unlikely they will actually die) and then Valkorian will finally step up and do something to reveal he had a master plan all along at the season 2 cliffhanger, setting him up as the Big Bad for Season 3.

 

Oh, and Koth will do something super important at a key juncture with the Gravestone, whether he stole the ship or not.

 

And the Outlander will continue to be a supporting character in Bioware's Legends fanfic, portrayed as an incompetant leader, failure as a strategist, and cutscene punching bag.

Edited August 13, 2016 by Nothing_Shines

[Tsetso]

Ahahahahaha! And then you woke up and realized you were dreaming. Look forward to a rerun of KOTFE and ONE "group" content activity towards the end of the run equivalent to Eternal Championship, though probably just a variant of the Star Fortresses.

 

Zero new operations.

 

Zero GSF update.

 

One PVP map. Maybe.

 

Never ending CM updates.

 

Minimal to no bug fixes.

 

Possible 5 level increase where we lose a key ability and have to reaquire it at 70, because BW likes to take things away and make you work for them again and again.

 

That's not fair. There was a lot of group content in KotFE - haven't you seen the groups of people on fleet opening CM packs

[Keta]

With the time frame that BW is talking about so far... "I have a bad feeling about this."

Anyone else remember last December? Two wrecked events, the HK love fest, the fiasco with nerf/counter nerf of companions?

 

And then BW Austin went on vacation for 3 weeks plus with basically no action until the early January fixes.

They did the same they year before with the SOR drop with all of its initial problems also.

 

I for one really hope that someone in Austin is thinking and remembering and planning for this.

 

Sad but true. Nothing of significance happens in the United States business wise between Thanksgiving and New years.

[Wolfgangpiffath]

As long as they are getting money (no matter how) they will not care. Simple.

[ImmortalLowlife]

Ok here is my prediction for 5.0

 

1) KotFE style story chapters are here to stay. It works to keep folks subbed month to month.

2) I expect 1-2 new flashpoints. I am basing this on SoR. KotFE gave them time to get them done. Likely these will have solo and tactical to start with a hard mode coming.

3) I expect 1-2 new ops. Again based on SoR and again KotFE gave them breathing room to finish them. I only expect SM and HM. I think the days of NM are done.

4) No new pvp maps and nothing for GSF.

5) Stat-wise, 70 will have new tiers of gear. Common Data Crystal level with be just over 224, maybe 230 or so and go up from there. Op gear will be BIS and top tier Op will stay 5-20 pts over Radiant/Crafted.

6) The increase level cap will have it's adjustment and we'll likely see a small boost at mast level with either a new ability or an ability replacer/morph. Utility points may get a boost or be adjusted to spread out again...

 

Only thing I disagree with is #4. While I agree that GSF is dead and gone, I fully expect them to announce new PvP maps.

 

 

Sad but true. Nothing of significance happens in the United States business wise between Thanksgiving and New years.

 

Sure it does.... It's called "Black Friday" The one day out of the year where people will injure or kill each other in order to save $20 on crap they didn't actually need in the first place. lol

[Caulderone]

Sure it does.... It's called "Black Friday" The one day out of the year where people will injure or kill each other in order to save $20 on crap they didn't actually need in the first place. lol

 

I lol'd. So true.