Truth to rumors?

[EricMusco]

I wonder if you've stumbled onto a way to get gold text responses

 

Off to start a 'I heard a rumour on General Chat that 5.0 will bring Advanced Class swapping to the game.'

 

You know, we don't normally respond to rumors but in this case... OH YOU ALMOST GOT ME.

 

-eric

[ikinai]

And here I was wasting my time discussing semifreddo, gelato, soft serve or hard scoop. I heard a rumor Eric is a hard scoop kinda guy.

[JattaGin]

Well, that was an unexpected, though appreciated yellow post.

 

I personally never read or heard this rumour and it's nothing I would need either. But if it leads to a yellow post, I'm glad it became a topic.

[TUXs]

You know, we don't normally respond to rumors but in this case... OH YOU ALMOST GOT ME.

 

-eric

Well done Mr. Musco

[Vhaegrant]

You know, we don't normally respond to rumors but in this case... OH YOU ALMOST GOT ME.

 

-eric

 

Well played, that made me chuckle

[Jamtas]

You know, we don't normally respond to rumors but in this case... OH YOU ALMOST GOT ME.

 

-eric

 

There was also a rumor about you having metrics on a character named Agann that proved was one of the worst tanks in the game. Can that be confirmed?

 

If so, he may be forced to subscribe again to prove it wrong

[TheRandomno]

I heard a rumor there would be a new op coming in 5.0.

[ZanyaCross]

It has always been our design goal that when a player sees another character, they would be able to tell what Class that player was at a quick glance. Part of that is tied into the weapon that they use. Right now if you see a Republic character running with a blaster rifle, you will assume they are a Vanguard. Two pistols, Gunslinger, and so on.

 

Hope that clears up any rumors

 

-eric

 

No bowcasters for bounty hunters.

Edited September 22, 2016 by ZanyaCross

[Adric_the_Red]

Not to mention would probably screw with cutscenes pretty hard.

What, you mean like the many cutscenes for Trooper, who can't equip blaster pistols, that show the Trooper waving a pistol in someone's face?

 

I'll admit, it would be pretty ridiculous to have the Trooper waving an autocannon at someone, but I can't see it "breaking" anything for your Trooper to actually have a pistol equipped when he starts waving it around in a cutscene. If they can do this for a Trooper, they certainly can have, say, a Smuggler who has some type of rifle equipped, still be shown waving a pistol at someone in a cutscene.

 

Remember, also, that the story, and all its cutscenes, are the same for a given class, regardless of the AC you choose. So having your Sage wield a ... "Zakuul lightpike" ... in a particular cutscene instead of a single saber, shouldn't be any more "breaking" than a Shadow wielding a saberstaff in the same cutscene.

 

Hmm. So where is the existing animation for a blaster (pistol) firing the Gunnery Commando's Boltstorm? Who has that?.

Fixed that for ya.

 

And that would be the Arsenal Mercenary, using Blazing Bolts.

[Icykill_]

You know, we don't normally respond to rumors but in this case... OH YOU ALMOST GOT ME.

 

-eric

 

LoL..

[eartharioch]

I'm sure.... someone... appreciates that. Oh wait -- no one does. This is not something the playerbase has asked for.

I'm sure *some* people did, but they probably quit in early 2012 when the devs introduced Adaptive armor (after numerous complaints about class/role restrictions on armor) or a little later when dyes and non-alignment-restricted

crystal colors were introduced.

 

So why would you refuse to give players the creative freedom I know you can?

 

If it's because of stat problems (which it probably is), add weapons to the outfit designer, and allow people the freedom to change weapon type in there. People have been asking for weapons in the outfit designer, anyway. So, you could accomplish two goals in one move, OOORRR... you could maintain your stance and make no one happy.

 

It's probably *not* because of stat problems (those would be easy to overcome by not basing damage on weapon type but on AC, which is all under the hood). The reality is that is probably art issues that would cost too much $ to overcome. Even when BW had a real budget, cut scenes (notably for Tech users) don't always use the characters' actual weapons and most abilities don't even reflect the color crystal -- these things require additional animation work (i.e., money), as well as graphic card resources. But neither BW nor most of the player base likes "technical reasons" as an answer even when it is the truth.

 

I.e., I'd really like BW to support "adaptive" weaponry, but it's probably not technically feasible (at current budget or for all computers), and Eric's answer smells like Bantha Poodoo.

[kirorx]

We can't have weapon variety in PvE content because it would confuse PvP players too much.

We can't have exotic Star Wars species in PvP because no one wants to listen to them speak in cut scenes.

 

It's like every choice made was hampered by the other aspects of the game

 

I'd like to see a bit more freedom of weapon choice in the game, but not as much as I'd like to see Trandoshan, Wookiee, Rodian, Ithorian species (and others) opened up for players... even if it is only in a PvP aspect.

 

I would love to have sullustan Jedi and I loved the voice even if its not in basic, I love every cut scene with the sullustan on coruscant during the smuggler storyline. That little fella, with a double bladed saber....epic bro

 

 

That thing about cut scenes is such Bologna, even in group content my character gets what, a 25% chance to speak in 1 of the 4 three cut scenes with speaking parts.

Edited September 23, 2016 by kirorx

[merovejec]

You know, we don't normally respond to rumors but in this case... OH YOU ALMOST GOT ME.

 

-eric

 

Hehe, youre on a roll there Eric

[idnewton]

We can't have weapon variety in PvE content because it would confuse PvP players too much.

We can't have exotic Star Wars species in PvP because no one wants to listen to them speak in cut scenes.

 

It's like every choice made was hampered by the other aspects of the game

 

Sigh, yep... welcome to game design. It's tough.

Edited September 23, 2016 by idnewton

[idnewton]

Thank you everyone for your responses. I'm glad the issue was quickly resolved in that Eric, having let us know where the developers stand, took the time to put the rumor straight. Although I disagree with it, in fact I think it'd be ten shades of awesome to bring some change to the game in a fun and different way, but it's fine. The world continues to turn and I'll continue to play. Thanks again everyone..

 

Well, yeah, this isn't about Eric. He did his job very well -- the community had a question, and he brought us the answer clearly. Any references I make to "you" in regards to his post are directed at the powers that be, who are in charge of making these decisions. But no, he did his job very well.

[idnewton]

But neither BW nor most of the player base likes "technical reasons" as an answer even when it is the truth.

I don't like "technical reasons" because they often don't make any sense, and in at least one case have been proven to be a lie. I like real technical reasons -- logical, to the point. For example, the Black Hole area was very laggy a long time ago, and they were like "yeah, there's a memory leak there -- we're patching it soon" and that was that. Even in cases like the Stronghold limit being 4, I completely understand why that might be necessary. Maybe there's not enough space to realistically store that much more data, or maybe they were just being cautious because they've had trouble predicting how much the community will use a feature in the past, etc.

 

It's the inexcusable lies that I can't stand, like when they were asked to make Gray Helix Components legacy-bound, and they said it was a technical limitation to make legacy-bound stackable items. People were like, yeah, okay, that's fair... until someone pointed out that Cartel Market Certificates were already legacy-bound and stackable. Their response? "Those are an exception". Like, really?! You are truly so arrogant that you think NO ONE in this entire community is going to know what a bunch of garbage that is, to claim that there are 'exceptions' to technical limitations, which conveniently have to do with the real-money aspect of the game? Not surprisingly, that currency and others were soon made legacy-bound.

[idnewton]

That thing about cut scenes is such Bologna, even in group content my character gets what, a 25% chance to speak in 1 of the 4 three cut scenes with speaking parts.

It... I hate to say this... but it really isn't bologna. Kotor had that issue, both in the main game (Wookiees, but primarily Selkath (also twi'leks eventually)) and in some mods (with aliens speaking dialog). You'll just get so used to hearing one of the three recycled alien lines they say. Maybe they'd record a few more, but eventually you'll have heard everything 50 times, whereas with the classes speaking Basic, there's only a few phrases each class has, and most of the time they kinda make sense to repeat (people in the real world often have a saying or two they like to use).

[Clarian]

Bounty Hunters...specifically, Powertechs....being able to use rifles, would be awesome.

[therecanonlybeon]

Bounty Hunters...specifically, Powertechs....being able to use rifles, would be awesome.

 

yes! YES! they look so funny in that full - living tank armor, and little pistol in their hand.

 

its like rich handsome guy walking out of new ferrari or whatever, but he has vortex in his pants

Edited September 23, 2016 by therecanonlybeon

[IanArgent]

"Technical reasons" is plausible.

 

Order of operations. They decide for game-design reasons that weapon types are unique per-class, and then technical decisions are made around that game design reason. The original choice was an aesthetic one, but subsequent choices were made to lock that in at a technical level.

 

The "technical reason" in this case is almost certainly it'll lead to graphics glitches. There's already issues with weapons being displayed properly - my Vanguard, half the time, won't even draw a weapon in a fight, so most projectiles originate from their shoulder, and the ion cannon shoots out behind. Or all the times weapons don't get properly stowed after comment.

[Vhaegrant]

Bounty Hunters...specifically, Powertechs....being able to use rifles, would be awesome.

Not sure why, after all they only really have one ability that uses the main hand weapon and that's the basic attack, everything else is rockets, flamethrowers, grenades, knives, grapples, shoulder cannon, carbonite spray.

Unless you mean they share all the ability animations the Vanguard uses.

 

yes! YES! they look so funny in that full - living tank armor, and little pistol in their hand.

 

its like rich handsome guy walking out of new ferrari or whatever, but he has vortex in his pants

You dress your Powertechs in heavy armour

Most I see are running around semi-naked... um, personal shield generators ftw

Of course I would never, ever dress a Powertech in anything less than three layers of rigid armour *runs off to change out of covert set*

[PlasmaJohn]

I know. I have to applaud him for that. I may not like everything he may say, but I do appreciate that he's talking.

He's done communication blitzes in the past usually when the complaints about lack of communications gets to a fevered pitch. They operate in a very reactionary manner when they should be far, far more proactive. They operate like the Bungee Boss from that Dilbert strip. Once they feel they've sprinkled enough "communctions" on the forum, whoooooosh they're gone.

 

"They only say something when they have something to say" is a horrible way for a Community Management team to operate. They should never have nothing to talk about. Yes that's going to include some fluff but they do need to discuss a few pieces of substance periodically.

 

I will commend Eric (and whoever greenlit the release) for giving a straight answer here. Of course that's one "attaboy" in a sea of "oh****'s".

[eartharioch]

I don't like "technical reasons" because they often don't make any sense...

 

It's the inexcusable lies that I can't stand...

 

I don't disagree with you in principle, I just think that in *this* case "technical reasons" (that would cost $ to overcome) is *much* more likely than the answer BW gave. Given that weapons don't have to be out until a player is attacking and that armor is more visible from a distance, from a game design pov it makes more sense to have allowed players to change weapons instead of armor.

 

Using "design reasons" to cover up "technical reasons" is just as bad as the reverse.

 

FFS, Concealment Operatives have been drawing an invisible blaster rifle for almost two years now. Getting weapon animations done right is clearly above the current team's pay grade.

[eartharioch]

You dress your Powertechs in heavy armour

Most I see are running around semi-naked... um, personal shield generators ftw

Of course I would never, ever dress a Powertech in anything less than three layers of rigid armour *runs off to change out of covert set*

 

Pro-tip: Relying on personal shield generators instead of heavy, movement-restricting armor lets PTs "breathe" better, reducing heat build-up.

[WheresMyWhisky]

I heard sorcs and sages were getting some Labradors to lie at their feet and keep their tootsies warm while they heal.

 

Also there will be 5 new operations with sm and hm released immediately and Nim 4 months after the expansion launches.

 

Oh and my Labrador will mitigate all melee dmg to sorcs / sages in pvp cause you know they need more help with survivability

 

More likely no new ops and a cancelled sub but we can dream, and I would genuinely like a wee Labrador for my healer