Is this lack of communication normal?

[StarwarsHunterxx]

This is to be honest, completely understandable. It's a new Expansion so you guys don't want to give out to much information till you're ready. All I know is I can't wait for more info! I get this feeling the games going to be epic!

[TX_Angel]

Even if you can't talk about future content, can you talk about old content such as explain why we spend SOR resurrecting the Sith Emperor, ZIOST learning his a world devouring super ghost, only to then find his a loving benevolent family man and hadn't been slain and wasn't a world devouring super ghost. Its been 16 chapters and we still have no idea what the hell all that was about.

 

Of course not, because Bioware's "storytelling" isn't actually that good, it is amateurish at best... It always has been, but the games have often been fun...

 

KOTOR was a fun game to play, but the story was always very fan fiction amateurish, but it didn't matter back then... KOTOR II's story was terrible...

 

The whole leap from Ziost to KotFE shows just how disconnected the whole thing is, and they just change directions on a whim.

 

If you're playing this game for epic story, you're bound to be disappointed when the curtain is pulled back...

[TUXs]

Hey folks,

 

I thought this thread was a good opportunity to talk about the communication as of late. Although I may not post every day, I am definitely here, reading the forums. I know that there is frustration right now because you are all eager to learn more about what is coming in Knights of the Eternal Throne. We just aren't ready to talk about Eternal Throne yet, and so I can't answer your questions at this time.

 

But, I do want to make sure you know when we will begin really talking about Eternal Throne. That date is October 7th. The day/night of our New York Comic-con Cantina is when you can expect details about Eternal Throne. Once we have crossed the 7th (and through launch), I will be able to address questions in the forum more directly, we will be posting developer blogs related to the expansion, and more.

 

I know this post is an announcement of an announcement but were almost there, only a few more weeks.

 

Thanks everyone.

 

-eric

I assume that at that time, we'll learn nothing more than what has already leaked right? Meaning we're waiting for you guys to tell us...nothing...right?

 

Eric, you guys needed to beat the dataminers...you didn't. You can't pretend (again) that the information isn't out there...it IS. I know you guys planned a launch date with the cantina event, but that plan has been blown. Your game is suffering by your studios continued silence on EVERYTHING...hell, look at Dev Tracker Eric...what is there for anyone to hold onto?! If you were on the fence, would you stay here?

[Tsetso]

And the tonedeafness continues LOL!

 

Their silence is deafening

[EricMusco]

Can you let us know if the story team read the posts in the story and lore section and are aware of the massive number of plot holes, inconsistencies and in short bland, dull and banal story that was Kotfe?

 

Do the game play team read the forums and see that 20 mins of cut scenes followed by 10 mins of sky troopers falling from the sky an exciting chapter it is not?

 

While you can't talk about is the operations person planning just to rescale all ops to level 70 and call it a day, with no new operations? If so is there going to be an alternate method to get the new tier of gear without having to regrind the same operations again?

 

*snip*

 

We talked a little bit about some of this on the last Producer Livestream, but I can address most of those:

• Keep in mind that Eternal Throne is a continuation of the story in KOTFE. There are things that are not yet wrapped up or completed, and that is intentional. You aren't through the whole story yet...
  
• The feedback of "killin' skytroopers" has definitely been passed on to the team, they are aware
  
• Your last question I cannot answer since you are asking about content/gearing in Eternal Throne. More coming on that later.
  

-eric

Edited September 14, 2016 by EricMusco

[DarthWoad]

[*]The feedback of "killin' skytroopers" has definitely been passed on to the team, they are aware

 

 

Oh god, are you saying I can finally ENJOY the story content??

[wilseifert]

Eric,

 

You do not get it. We already know what KotET is about... it is a continuation of KotFE. What I want to know (I can't speak for others). What are you doing to bring the MMO back to the game? If you do not want this to be an MMO, then announce it to the world that you are now going to a single player RPG. Are you going to bring challenge back to the game that encourages groups of people? Are you going to bring challenge back to the game period? I have seen this game so dummified since 3.0/4.0 rolled out. It used to be a challenge like playing chess, now it is like forever playing Candy Land. Level 65 before finishing Alderaan. No need to gear up past the Blue 200 gear unless you are actually doing HM ops or Blood Hunt/Battle of Rishi. These are a few examples. Quit stringing us along and Communicate with us where you vision the game in a year. Becasue right now my vision of this game in a year is that the servers are going to be shut down. Eric/BioWare... Prove me wrong.

[CaptRogue]

EDIT: Eric, if you see this, it's not all about KOTET. I never said anything about KOTET, you brought that up. Not everyone is excited for it. It's about general day to day communication and addressing other player concerns which I personally would like to see more of.

 

Guess Eric didn't see that part, DarthWoad, since his whole post was about stupid KOTET. *smh* How sad.

[CaptRogue]

And yet you somehow found a way...

 

You do realize that the discussion is about the content of said post. Do try and keep up...

 

Don't even try Azudelphi. He doesn't try to reason or understand, he just throws insults & name calling. Real sad, but shows his maturity.

[EricMusco]

*snip*

 

There is so much more that I am so much more eager to learn more about than KotET. How about someone addressing five years worth of questions about guild management improvements? How about five years worth of questions about PvP balance issues? How about five years worth of concerns on the illusory nature of player choice in in SWTOR? How about five years worth of concerns about slow-to-non-existent developer feedback? That's just to name a few of the things people are actually "eager to learn more about."

 

*snip*

 

Those are all topics I feel like we have talked about quite a bit, but I think those tend to be conversations that happen around Cantinas. They may not be as prominent on the forums:

• Guild Management is something that we are always looking to improve. Guild quality of life is important and although I have nothing specific to announce, this is always a place we are looking for opportunities.
  
• PvP balance, really any balance, is an on-going thing. We are always looking at the current state of the game and what needs to change. We have an expansion coming and if you look at previous expansions as an example, they typically come with changes...
  
• Player choice is an interesting topic. KOTFE in many ways had more impact for your choices than our previous stories. One of the pieces of feedback we saw is that sometimes you may make a choice, but not see the consequences until much later on (Koth!). This can definitely lessen the feeling that those choices had impact, since the choice and impact of that choice were far apart.
  
• Developer feedback is something that waxes and wanes a bit. Where we have opportunity to seek out feedback and for players to engage with developers, we try to take it. Previous conversations around class changes are the best examples. I know it isn't on-going, but we try to capitalize on those opportunities as we can.
  

 

Oh god, are you saying I can finally ENJOY the story content??

 

After killing 30 skytroopers, yes

 

-eric

[gabigool]

Your last question I cannot answer since you are asking about content/gearing in Eternal Throne. More coming on that later.

 

-eric

 

As depressing as it was to learn at the time, at least George Smith had the courtesy to let people/teams/guilds know where they stood. I never thought I would look back on that day wistfully....

[Saregon]

Those are all topics I feel like we have talked about quite a bit, but I think those tend to be conversations that happen around Cantinas. They may not be as prominent on the forums:

 

If the forums are a minority of players, then cantinas are a superminority. You need to communicate more HERE, the official game site that's horrifically out of date (just take a look at what's show under some of those links in the top menus) LOL! And not to mention the Dev Tracker...err, I mean Maintenance Tracker...hilarious.

Edited September 14, 2016 by Saregon

[Guest FallenArcane]

Those are all topics I feel like we have talked about quite a bit, but I think those tend to be conversations that happen around Cantinas. They may not be as prominent on the forums:

 

If these are conversations that happen at Cantinas why aren't players who are unable to attend updated on these subjects too? If players go to the Cantinas with these questions, there will also be people who don't go to the Cantinas that will also have these questions.

[Torvai]

Really thanks for your time Eric. We all know you're just the messenger and wish you no harm.

 

Now if you'd just be visible on these forums this would help quite alot. I'm not saying you have to participate in every other thread, but just show us the community team is actually with us. Be visible. Post more often. Even if it's just smalltalk.

 

And regarding this bit here:

 

[*]PvP balance, really any balance, is an on-going thing. We are always looking at the current state of the game and what needs to change. We have an expansion coming and if you look at previous expansions as an example, they typically come with changes...

 

Maybe you can give this to whoever is in charge of this: With 4.0 there were a lot of changes and nerfs that weren't even mentioned in the Patchnotes. Could you try to make sure that this doesn't happen again this time?

Reading your class has been nerfed is frustrating. But NOT reading it(because it isn't mentioned) when it has been nerfed is at least twice as frustrating. So please consider complete patchnotes this time around

[TUXs]

• PvP balance, really any balance, is an on-going thing. We are always looking at the current state of the game and what needs to change. We have an expansion coming and if you look at previous expansions as an example, they typically come with changes...
  

-eric

On going? Eric, the last attempt was a flipping YEAR ago...that's not "on going", that's ignored.

[EricMusco]

EDIT: Eric, if you see this, it's not all about KOTET. I never said anything about KOTET, you brought that up. Not everyone is excited for it. It's about general day to day communication and addressing other player concerns which I personally would like to see more of.

 

I know it isn't. The expansion, the future (especially group/MMO content), etc has been a prominent topic on the forums this week . A general thread about communication seemed like a good place to explain the reasoning around that silence.

 

I didn't mean to be a rule breaker and hi-jack your thread!

 

-eric

[Chiltonium]

Hey folks,

 

I thought this thread was a good opportunity to talk about the communication as of late. Although I may not post every day, I am definitely here, reading the forums. I know that there is frustration right now because you are all eager to learn more about what is coming in Knights of the Eternal Throne. We just aren't ready to talk about Eternal Throne yet, and so I can't answer your questions at this time.

 

But, I do want to make sure you know when we will begin really talking about Eternal Throne. That date is October 7th. The day/night of our New York Comic-con Cantina is when you can expect details about Eternal Throne. Once we have crossed the 7th (and through launch), I will be able to address questions in the forum more directly, we will be posting developer blogs related to the expansion, and more.

 

I know this post is an announcement of an announcement but were almost there, only a few more weeks.

 

Thanks everyone.

 

-eric

 

Eric, that's not even remotely the problem. I mean, it's part of it. Communication doesnt have to just exist about expansions. Other MMO companies like Daybreak, Funcom, Blizzard, etc actively communicate with their clients and fans. Social MEdia, forums, what have you. They shoot the ****, they discuss things they like and dont like, they ask opinions on things. We, as fans, just want to know you're actually there and care about us and our opinions.

 

It's a well known fact that most of us don't even know what we need, just what we want at the moment, but sometimes discussing stuff leads to thoughts one or the other didn't have. You guys are just plain silent. ON EVERYTHING.

[unibim]

Eric, if you are still in this thread, could you tell something about servers, merges, populations...

This has nothing to do with kotet, y u cant answer?

 

Oh and thanks for ninjaing in thread to answer some questions.

Edited September 14, 2016 by unibim

[BenKatarn]

Player choice is an interesting topic. KOTFE in many ways had more impact for your choices than our previous stories. One of the pieces of feedback we saw is that sometimes you may make a choice, but not see the consequences until much later on (Koth!). This can definitely lessen the feeling that those choices had impact, since the choice and impact of that choice were far apart.

 

I would absolutely disagree with this. KOTFE has no really meaningful choices whatsoever. Besides the mentioned Koth thing, no choice in KOTFE has any real meaning or consequence. And personally, I do not believe that whatever KOTET will present us with regarding what Koth did in Chapter 16 will have a satisfying resolution. Otherwise people who stuck to dark side choices in KOTFE would have a major disadvantage in KOTET, and the game has proven it will do anything to keep the player base leveled. Consequences do not exist in SWTOR. That much was clear from the moment that beta testers complained they had killed their healer companion in the Sith Warrior story and developers responded by disabling the ability for capital punishment as to not generate unbalance for players who could not live with the consequences of their own actions.

[TUXs]

Eric...

 

Before this gets buried in this thread, I want to say THANK YOU for posting today. Despite what it may seem like, we're really not all jumping on you, we're just excited to have you posting interactively.

[Costello]

We talked a little bit about some of this on the last Producer Livestream, but I can address most of those:

• Keep in mind that Eternal Throne is a continuation of the story in KOTFE. There are things that are not yet wrapped up or completed, and that is intentional. You aren't through the whole story yet...
  
• The feedback of "killin' skytroopers" has definitely been passed on to the team, they are aware
  
• Your last question I cannot answer since you are asking about content/gearing in Eternal Throne. More coming on that later.
  

-eric

 

I thank you for the response.

 

I don't think I made myself clear in relation to the story, it isn't just that it ended badly (without spoilers lets just say I'm a lightside sith warrior and got the best possible ending) but 16 chapters and so very very little was advanced in the story. In brief, dictated to by someone, betrayed by someone, dictated to by someone, fail at something, betrayed by someone and where this isn't the case, filler chapters that don't seem to have any knock on effect.

 

There are good points to the story, there are bad points, there are sadly too many points that make little sense (and really should have been answered in the first season) and there are points that its right to take through to season 2. Happy to discuss these but in an effort to keep it short, 16 chapters 10 or so months and the biggest thing to be said for the story is it no longer feels much like star wars and the all the events could probably be covered in the next opening text. If this was a TV show you could be told you can watch the first and last episode and be fully caught up for season 2. Which is not a good thing, I love stand alone episodes but in Kofte they never had any conclusion either often finished with a 20 second cut scene back at base.

[Nebdar]

Will there be MONTHLY Producers Live Stream in September? Or any other live stream in September?

[Chiltonium]

Will there be MONTHLY Producers Live Stream in September? Or any other live stream in September?

 

I asked him that on twitter a week or so ago. Ignored me

[DarthDymond]

On going? Eric, the last attempt was a flipping YEAR ago...that's not "on going", that's ignored.

The last huge, sweeping changes were back in 4.0, but balance adjustments to the classes certainly have been ongoing since then, including in Updates 4.0.3, 4.2, and 4.5.

 

I wouldn't want 4.0-scale revisions to the classes rolling out frequently; significantly reworking the classes even once a year seems more disruptive than beneficial.

[Costello]

[*]Player choice is an interesting topic. KOTFE in many ways had more impact for your choices than our previous stories. One of the pieces of feedback we saw is that sometimes you may make a choice, but not see the consequences until much later on (Koth!). This can definitely lessen the feeling that those choices had impact, since the choice and impact of that choice were far apart.

 

 

Please stop using this One choice as the proof that choice exists.

 

Really appreciate all the responses, but please make the story team aware, One choice is not choices that matter.

 

It has even been argued elsewhere that this wasn't your choice. When you made the choice that effect Koth in a later chapter you had no idea he would react the way he did. The choice you made had no effect, while a Lightside sith I do play it all through on my darkside smuggler and the rest of the content (aside form cut scene) was identical. My choice had no effect, Koths choice had the big effect,

 

But okay, lets say that is a choice that mattered, it was pretty much the only one and even that had no effect on anything, because either way chapter 16 ends you are in the exact same place. There were a couple of cut scenes so ok lets say that had an effect and maybe some dialogue choices with Valkorian and with your strike team also had an effect. But nothing big,

 

No matter what choices you make with Valkorian chapter 12 seems to play out the same, kill a member of your strike team thats ok cause they were going to be a spare wheel on the base anyway.

 

But whats perhaps more annoying is that should things happen to your commander he just goes meh and continues on ignoring them. X, Y or Z has betrayed you and escaped shall we go after them meh, we have forces here and here and here should we signal them to attack while Arcann is attacking us, Meh. You saved Imperial, Republic, Zakuul VIPs shall we contact them Meh. Lana the most awful judge of character (ex head of intelligence no less) should she be demoted (sith style or republic) so she can't keep inviting traitors into our inner circle, Meh.

 

Sometimes its amazing that the choices in the dialogue wheel are 1: Meh. 2: Meh, 3: Meh with the dialogue for all of them being what ever you say Lana/Theron/random person who is telling me what to do.

Edited September 14, 2016 by Costello