How many are looking forward to KOTET?

[Aowin]

...

 

I agree that the choice-driven, cinematic storytelling is a strength BioWare definitely needs to capitalize on. It's what make BioWare games stand out (or used to until CDPR) and SWTOR is better for it. Ops can be fun if there is great boss design and mechanics. The problem is ops are incredibly difficult to make and are costly for BioWare. Ops also don't have a lot of replay value beyond those who just want to grind raid gear sets, so there is a limitation to that kind of content. It's definitely something that BioWare should still try and support as it's a feature of the game, but I understand the difficulty of continuing to develop that kind of content regularly.

 

This is Star Wars though. Wouldn't you think Lana and Theron could probably be reached via holocomm? I understand Odessen was technically hidden and a secret to all outside the Alliance, but it's not like your companions wouldn't have some connections. Heck, some of the companions have already returned and would likely have contact with your other companions who have not. Torian, for example, even talks about Mako briefly to the Bounty Hunter and where Torian left her last.

 

I'm really curious to know how the Gravestone will be handled as well. It could be a larger element than many think considering how crucial the ship is to the plot. We'll have to wait and see. Somehow, I can't see Koth just giving it back willingly and I definitely don't see him joining the Alliance again if you made him leave to start.

[Keta]

I'll will probably play it at some point just to see what they've done with the "story." But by no means can I be said to be looking forward to it. Honestly, they'll have to have major changes in delivery and themes to keep my attention.

[Schoock]

Ops also don't have a lot of replay value beyond those who just want to grind raid gear sets, so there is a limitation to that kind of content. It's definitely something that BioWare should still try and support as it's a feature of the game, but I understand the difficulty of continuing to develop that kind of content regularly.

 

Because story has lots of replay value. Like... oops, it's not even replayable. Damn.

[ZanyaCross]

Looking forward to seeing where the story goes.

[Aowin]

Because story has lots of replay value. Like... oops, it's not even replayable. Damn.

 

Well that will depend on whether or not there is more player agency in KOTET. If there is, then certainly the story will have a lot more replay value. Regardless of the story, itself, it's also just more overall content than one or two operations with at least 16 chapters (not including the bonus). BioWare may actually increase the amount of chapters with this expansion or perhaps fatten their substance.

 

Again, raids are fun and all. My point was that it's finite content that never lasts very long. You do it a few times for the fun of it. The rest of the time you are just grinding gear. Then you wait for BioWare to eventually add a NiM mode so you can get a special title or a special mount. It's okay, but for some folks there's not exactly a lot of replay value in that kind of content. I've always found the most replay value in MMOs to generally be in the PvP honestly. Open World PvP more so than arena or instanced, as those are more stringent and less dynamic.

 

The more player agency the better. Whether it's story, PvP, even raiding, that's what I'm ultimately in favor of.

[Schoock]

Well that will depend on whether or not there is more player agency in KOTET. If there is, then certainly the story will have a lot more replay value. Regardless of the story, itself, it's also just more overall content than one or two operations with at least 16 chapters (not including the bonus). BioWare may actually increase the amount of chapters with this expansion or perhaps fatten their substance.

 

Considering how story is more than ever becoming one-size-fits-all in SW:ToR, I'll be very surprised if the new expansion won't end up being like KotFE.

 

Also, just the "amount" of new content does not, in itself, matter. Once you've finished KotFE on the characters you play and like, you end up doing the same old stuff you had been doing for years. Just because story has a longer one-time playtime, it does not mean it ends up being "more" content in the long run.

 

Again, raids are fun and all. My point was that it's finite content that never lasts very long. You do it a few times for the fun of it. The rest of the time you are just grinding gear. Then you wait for BioWare to eventually add a NiM mode so you can get a special title or a special mount. It's okay, but for some folks there's not exactly a lot of replay value in that kind of content.

 

At least raids are something you can do regularly. These monthly distractions last till they're over once and that's it; you have exactly 0 new content left to do on the remaining days.

 

I've always found the most replay value in MMOs to generally be in the PvP honestly. Open World PvP more so than arena or instanced, as those are more stringent and less dynamic.

 

I'm a PvPer myself; tbh PvP is about the only thing I'm doing in this game. I used to raid, but not anymore since I'm so tired of the same old ops over and again and again and again and again. I prefer instanced PvP more, but open world could use a little more love, too.

[Nebdar]

First I Strongly STRONGLY STRONGLY advise that to move the launch date out of November/December to February at best. You know why? Do you?

 

Everything that gets broken/bugged on November/December will gets fixed or added the known issues list in late January:D This thing happened in my memory in 2014 and 2015 so......Please if it is possible move the launch date to new Years February for the best customers quality experience.

 

Put it on PTS on the December if you must but don't launch new content and changes with possible issues that can be resolved in timely manner.

 

Thanks

 

EDIT: You can work at much much much better Winter/Christmas Event (Emperor Valkorion 's Annual Zakulan Winter Event, give the man an proper costume and ho ho ho no )

Edited August 26, 2016 by Nebdar

[Aowin]

...

 

I'm just hopeful there will be more player agency and more call outs towards specific classes in this arc of the story. KOTFE was great for the Jedi Knight but not so much for the other classes. BioWare needs to try and make a story that works for all the classes, not just one.

 

Well, truth be told whether it's new story, new ops, new fps, or new wzs, eventually you get tired of it and just go back to what you were doing prior to the new content. The only ops I ever really enjoyed in this game were EV and KP. Everything after that has been decent to mediocre. Raiding just has a limited appeal and doing the same gear grind over and over just gets boring after years of doing it.

 

To each his own. Raiding in this game is pretty mediocre compared to most MMOs. That's not to say BioWare shouldn't continue to support that content, but I just got bored of it years ago. It was fun getting the first republic group on my server through NiM EV and KP, but the appeal just wore off after a while. The monthly chapters may be short (which they are), but only getting one a month is likely going to have more overall longevity than a raid or two which will be completed to death after a month or two.

 

Arenas are just a boring death match and warzones get tiring because of the incompetent players who either don't play objectives or don't have PvP gear. I preferred Ilum World PvP at launch. Sure, it was a slideshow. However, having those massive 50 vs. 50 battles were still a lot of fun and I miss those epic faction wars back in the day. There's just nothing like that today and the lame FFA zone in Ilum that replaced World PvP just isn't satisfying to me.

[Aowin]

...

 

Miss the holiday momentum as well as the release of Star Wars: Rogue One? You've got to be joking. There is no way BioWare is going to miss out on the inevitable Star Wars hype that is going to build around that film. BioWare will inevitably see a boost in subscribers and interest in KOTET.

 

KOTFE had a pretty polished launch compared to more recent updates and chapter releases from BioWare. I'm fairly certain they are going to make sure the first bundle of chapters (assuming that's the direction KOTET goes) are incredibly polished before letting them loose.

 

Now if the expansion is just not ready and BioWare needs more time, then of course delay it. That being said, BioWare has likely been working on KOTET for quite a while with a large portion of its team. I'm not really too worried about the bugs. I think it's more likely Life Day would bug out again.

[LyraineAlei]

First I Strongly STRONGLY STRONGLY advise that to move the launch date out of November/December to February at best. You know why? Do you?

 

Everything that gets broken/bugged on November/December will gets fixed or added the known issues list in late January:D This thing happened in my memory in 2014 and 2015 so......Please if it is possible move the launch date to new Years February for the best customers quality experience.

 

Put it on PTS on the December if you must but don't launch new content and changes with possible issues that can be resolved in timely manner.

 

Thanks

 

*winces* I remember... And the forums exploded. and then exploded again with a nerf to a certain fun item... The meat tree was the least of anyone's problems.

 

Pepperidge Farms also remembers.

 

I also agree, anything released should be released in January at earliest.

[Nebdar]

KOTFE had a pretty polished launch compared to more recent updates and chapter releases from BioWare. I'm fairly certain they are going to make sure the first bundle of chapters (assuming that's the direction KOTET goes) are incredibly polished before letting them loose.

 

I really want sentence to be true but the Murphy's Law is undeniable 'Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong'

 

WE Can make an bet if the launch in this year without major bugs i will use your referral link if otherwise or launch in 2017 bug or no bugs you will use mine. DEAL

[Aowin]

I really want sentence to be true but the Murphy's Law is undeniable 'Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong'

 

WE Can make an bet if the launch in this year without major bugs i will use your referral link if otherwise or launch in 2017 bug or no bugs you will use mine. DEAL

 

I suppose that's fair. Define "major bugs." To me, that means you cannot actually complete content due to some unintentional bug that is preventing progression.

[LyraineAlei]

I suppose that's fair. Define "major bugs." To me, that means you cannot actually complete content due to some unintentional bug that is preventing progression.

 

As a third party just being amused by this bet, might I suggest bugs on the scale of SoR?

 

Mission-related items (even for side quests) not spawning properly, fights that require special workarounds but not all fight instances are bugged as to require them, issues with Operations or other content that can be exploited with whatever those were (Ravagers), or whatever was wrong with ToS (there was something I don't remember what it was).

 

And maybe for bonus points, toss on a Firebrand's Bug where the mission could not be finished for seemingly no reason (I had an agent who had it bugged, she romanced no one in her base game, and at the time the bug was supposedly tied to Agent's romancing one character or another).

[Nebdar]

Pretty much what happened in 2015 December

 

Event/Conquest/GTN on December not working properly.

Yeah bugs that don't allow completing content new and old ( but we can both tell that most possible reason for old content bug is this new expansion)

Any new feature/QoL improvement they implement not working properly.

 

So Generally and subjectively speaking any state that the BAD will outweigh the good stuff brought with expansion.

 

Almost feel that this bet is WIN/Win situation for me

Edited August 26, 2016 by Nebdar

[Aowin]

As a third party just being amused by this bet, might I suggest bugs on the scale of SoR?

 

Mission-related items (even for side quests) not spawning properly, fights that require special workarounds but not all fight instances are bugged as to require them, issues with Operations or other content that can be exploited with whatever those were (Ravagers), or whatever was wrong with ToS (there was something I don't remember what it was).

 

And maybe for bonus points, toss on a Firebrand's Bug where the mission could not be finished for seemingly no reason (I had an agent who had it bugged, she romanced no one in her base game, and at the time the bug was supposedly tied to Agent's romancing one character or another).

 

Considering how disproportionately this seems to be stacked against me, I think it's only fair that you also use my referral link should I prevail. To my knowledge, KOTFE didn't have any major issues when it first released. Again, part of the issue is how "major bugs" are defined. There's always going to be bugs, but to what degree really is the question. I don't think there will be anything game breaking. That doesn't mean the game will be smooth and clean either.

[Aowin]

Pretty much what happened in 2015 December

 

Event/Conquest/GTN on December not working properly.

Yeah bugs that don't allow completing content new and old ( but we can both tell that most possible reason for old content bug is this new expansion)

Any new feature/QoL improvement they implement not working properly.

 

So Generally and subjectively speaking any state that the BAD will outweigh the good stuff brought with expansion.

 

Almost feel that this bet is WIN/Win situation for me

 

It's worth noting the "Event/Conquest/GTN on December not working properly" had nothing to do with KOTFE. The event broke because BioWare was trying to run two events simultaneously, if you recall. So that instance actually wouldn't count. I am referring specifically to the release of KOTET. Anything that comes afterwards that isn't actually connected to the expansion would not count.

[wangxiuming]

Count me as someone looking forward to seeing what happens next.

[Nebdar]

Considering how disproportionately this seems to be stacked against me, I think it's only fair that you also use my referral link should I prevail. To my knowledge, KOTFE didn't have any major issues when it first released. Again, part of the issue is how "major bugs" are defined. There's always going to be bugs, but to what degree really is the question. I don't think there will be anything game breaking. That doesn't mean the game will be smooth and clean either.

 

I promise that i would be as fair and balanced in my opinions as much as possible.

 

P.S.

I will consider the 2015 companion Buff/Nerf/Buff as something gone wrong for example

[Aowin]

I promise that i would be as fair and balanced in my opinions as much as possible.

 

P.S.

I will consider the 2015 companion Buff/Nerf/Buff as something gone wrong for example

 

See. That's not going to work lol.

 

Companions being overpowered was not "game breaking" or a "major bug." It was merely a balancing issue that was rectified due to companions over-performing. A lot of players actually LOVED how powerful companions were. Only the vocal minority ultimately complained about it. I digress. That's NOT a major bug.

[Nebdar]

It's worth noting the "Event/Conquest/GTN on December not working properly" had nothing to do with KOTFE. The event broke because BioWare was trying to run two events simultaneously, if you recall. So that instance actually wouldn't count. I am referring specifically to the release of KOTET. Anything that comes afterwards that isn't actually connected to the expansion would not count.

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/devtracker.php?page=23

 

hmm that's up to debate an anniversary give away wouldn't count as event.... so the first one should work. but it didn't.

[LyraineAlei]

Considering how disproportionately this seems to be stacked against me, I think it's only fair that you also use my referral link should I prevail. To my knowledge, KOTFE didn't have any major issues when it first released. Again, part of the issue is how "major bugs" are defined. There's always going to be bugs, but to what degree really is the question. I don't think there will be anything game breaking. That doesn't mean the game will be smooth and clean either.

 

Alas, I had already used a referral code, and have not dropped my subscription since. Sorry. I was just using SoR as an example of rushed to release content with bugs. And I have no current intentions of dropping my subscription for three months yet. I could try to throw in a short story following any writing prompt of your choice?

 

I believe there was an argument that KotET has been worked on for quite some time now, and is likely to not have many game breaking bugs because it wouldn't be rushed, like SoR was.... I am willing to argue that due to how SoR's launch is remembered, BW is less likely to release content with that many bugs on live, or even not (seemingly) respond to that many bugs for most of a month (at least).

 

Although I do believe I remember a problem with KotFE messing with Romance Flags (companion mails not arriving, for example), but that wasn't game-breaking. Just a little immersion breaking.

[Aowin]

...

 

Fair enough. It's just imperative to actually have the parameters of what a "major bug" is, as the other poster is using examples that are clearly not bugs or not related to KOTFE.

 

I do believe KOTET won't have any game breaking bugs. I didn't have the companion mail issue, myself. As you suggested, that wouldn't count as a "major bug" in my eyes anyways. The only type of bug that would be acceptable would prevent me from progressing in the content somehow. It would have to be a pretty obvious oversight on BioWare's part. I think that kind of mistake is more likely to happen on a frequent update, but it's doubtful with the launch of a major expansion (at least based on KOTFE).

[jimmorrisson]

The only thing I am looking forward to is either server mergers or cross-server queuing

[Aowin]

The only thing I am looking forward to is either server mergers or cross-server queuing

 

Well cross-server queues are never going to happen. It was promised at launch by BioWare (as well as many other things like dual spec) and it has never happened. I suppose another server merge could happen, but with the expansion coming soon BioWare will expect an influx of players. I don't find that particularly likely either. The PvP servers are still likely dead though.

[KyaniteD]

The only thing I'm actually, actively 'looking forward to' is getting Risha back. The rest can happen without me. The prospect of a pre-determined, enforced destiny as something that fits none of my characters has me more dreading the next season than actually looking forward to it.