Aeristash Posted October 12, 2016 Share Posted October 12, 2016 I was complaining about how it took me a whole day to get through one planet and half another and a guild mate told me that post 4.0 exploration missions were just there for people who wanted some extra xp & credits but would never have anything to do with the future story. Is that true? I had wondered why they were hidden by default, but if they have no overall effect on the story I can just put them on the back burner. As it stands now, it takes me a whole day of non stop playing just to get through a planet and a half, counting the bonus series. Which as one can imagine, really grinds story progression down a notch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casirabit Posted October 12, 2016 Share Posted October 12, 2016 This has always been the case. The extra missions were there just for you to experience another part of the game. Some planetary missions can be interesting but they don't tie into your class story. It is a different story for them, sometimes they can reflect your story to a small point but not normally. The exploration missions are just there to give extra xp. If you have never done them then they can be interesting but for most of us that have been here since launch they something we win up skipping now due to the fact I can do heroics and my class missions and get xp with no trouble and even throw in a couple of flashpoints solo. I am level 49 and on Balmorra so I am a few levels overleveled for the planet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aeristash Posted October 12, 2016 Author Share Posted October 12, 2016 This has always been the case. The extra missions were there just for you to experience another part of the game. Some planetary missions can be interesting but they don't tie into your class story. It is a different story for them, sometimes they can reflect your story to a small point but not normally. The exploration missions are just there to give extra xp. If you have never done them then they can be interesting but for most of us that have been here since launch they something we win up skipping now due to the fact I can do heroics and my class missions and get xp with no trouble and even throw in a couple of flashpoints solo. I am level 49 and on Balmorra so I am a few levels overleveled for the planet. Eeeeeeek! Thanks for the reply! Now I should be able to enjoy the story & romance content at a healthy pace without the extremely long intervals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mubrak Posted October 12, 2016 Share Posted October 12, 2016 Define "The Story" The story of the characters I care about includes those sidequests, many of them have dialogue choices that allow for a bit of playing out your characters... well... character. The story of the class is just the purple quest that had you go to the planet in the first place. The planetary story has nothing to do with it, but runs parallel. With the current 2x XP you should be fine to skip planetary stories and just rush trough the class story. And since 4.0 BW even allows you to skip the planetary story on planets like Nar Shaddaa or Corellia where you can't walk to the next area and taxi-stations originally weren't available until the planetary story told you to go there. The story of KotFE/KotET doesn't really care about anything you did before, hence instant level 60 chars are an option. Why did they hide side quests in 4.0? Because people apparently are in a hurry to get to endgame and complain that the game has no content. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aeristash Posted October 12, 2016 Author Share Posted October 12, 2016 (edited) Define "The Story" The story of the characters I care about includes those sidequests, many of them have dialogue choices that allow for a bit of playing out your characters... well... character. The story of the class is just the purple quest that had you go to the planet in the first place. The planetary story has nothing to do with it, but runs parallel. With the current 2x XP you should be fine to skip planetary stories and just rush trough the class story. And since 4.0 BW even allows you to skip the planetary story on planets like Nar Shaddaa or Corellia where you can't walk to the next area and taxi-stations originally weren't available until the planetary story told you to go there. The story of KotFE/KotET doesn't really care about anything you did before, hence instant level 60 chars are an option. Why did they hide side quests in 4.0? Because people apparently are in a hurry to get to endgame and complain that the game has no content. Content that gets a nod or has a chance of getting a nod outside its 10 minute quest. Hence anything not marked 'exploration'. I like the side quest too but I'd rather not get bogged down with irrelevance in the grand scheme of the greater story if possible when I could come back and do them anytime I want later. The only reason I was doing all those side quest over & over again on each new toon was because I know once one starts Kotfe, all the previous content they didn't finish is auto completed with default flags. Now that I know those missions have zero flags, there's no need in trudging through optional filler. Also that business about the story not mattering for insta level 60s is a bit disingenuous. It's not that it doesn't matter, their flags are simply auto set for them. Edited October 13, 2016 by Aeristash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nefla Posted October 12, 2016 Share Posted October 12, 2016 Most of the sidequests don't get mentioned as a part of the main story but I think that's pretty normal for any RPG. A few do get mentioned in the main story and other sidequests however. For example, if you do the colicoid missions on Balmorra (Balmorra bonus series but I forget if it's Republic or Empire) then the NPCs that need help with Killiks on Alderaan mention it. Another example is if you go to Darth Severin on Voss (Empire Voss planetary mission) before you go to your main quest contact on Voss as a BH, they will freak out because you're late and you can say something along the lines of "I went to see Darth Serevin first, Sith get to cut in line." There are a few little bits here and there like that but I'd mainly do the quests because you like the storyline (the planetary questlines are almost always very interesting IMO) and want to develop your character more through roleplaying and/or because you want the exp and rewards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damask_Rose Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 (edited) I highly recommend doing the exploration quests at least once. They flesh out the politics and cultures of the planets you are visiting. Edited October 13, 2016 by Damask_Rose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SerraShar Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 Just hang in there when you get to Hoth . Planet Story is sooo boooring... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAWUSS Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 The Empire's Belsavis Planetary Arc comes into play later on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cool-dude Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 I think the Republics side-quests dealing with Governor Saresh has some significance to the main story. It is the players actions that enable her to ultimately rise to power, and she is mentioned a few times in KOTFE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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