Uprising Crimson Fang - First Look (Video)

[KidLee]

Let's take a look at Crimson Fang. One of the new Uprisings that will be put into the game as part of game update 5.0 Knights of the Eternal Throne

 

Uprising - Crimson Fang - Story Mode

 

Uprising - Crimson Fang - Veteran Mode

 

This footage was record on an early version of KOTET on the Closed Testing Server. The video lag is not indicative of the final product and will not be present when the expansion launches.

 

I am a member of the Bioware Influencer Program.

 

Thanks all

Edited November 22, 2016 by KidLee

[curulz]

Came from a closed test server? Good things will come from this

[KidLee]

Came from a closed test server? Good things will come from this

 

These videos have been approved by Bioware. I am a member of the Bioware Influencer Program.

Edited November 22, 2016 by KidLee

[Tsetso]

this was painful to watch. if they don't fix the fps before launch, this would be unplayable.

[curulz]

This video has been approved by Bioware. I am a member of the Bioware Influencer Program.

 

Ah ok, wasn't aware they would approve things from test server being aired

[Nebdar]

The gear? Did you have the BiS gear again?

[KidLee]

The gear? Did you have the BiS gear again?

 

Max level for the new expansion. We had little time to record this. I wish we could have done it with basic gear to show the difference.

[Jerba]

Thanks for that! I don't like the whole influencer program but I enjoyed watching someone who knows how to play his class.

 

If my math is correct you got 819 CXP from Crimson Fang SM, which is much more than what you get from Firefrost SM (it gave 466 CXP). Strangely enough, the bonus quest only gave you 10 credits but no loot and no CXP. So is there a point in doing the bonus at all? (aside from achievements)

I have yet to watch the VM playthrough and check how much CXP it gives.

Edited November 22, 2016 by Jerba

[Jedi_riches]

Can anyone tell me if Uprisings are tied into story as i dont want to watch a video if it tells me anything about the KotET story.

[Tsetso]

Can anyone tell me if Uprisings are tied into story as i dont want to watch a video if it tells me anything about the KotET story.

 

Not really. They are basically story free flashpoints. More like skirmishes in NWO. Waves of adds and a boss or 2 at the end.

[cashtwomuchos]

Although i respect the post, i hate getting half of the required information. Questions i have immediately are:

 

- What has changed since this "early PTS version"?

- What gear rating is your gear specifically?

- You gain about half of your GC level after completing Veteran Mode, so what rank are you at that point?

- Was all of this before or after the level cap raise to 300?

- Is the half level gained representative for the final product, released next week?

- How much CXP did the token give you?

- What did the box drop in loot?

Edited November 22, 2016 by cashtwomuchos

[KidLee]

Although i respect the post, i hate getting half of the required information. Questions i have immediately are:

 

- What has changed since this "early PTS version"?

- What gear rating is your gear specifically?

- You gain about half of your GC level after completing Veteran Mode, so what rank are you at that point?

- Was all of this before or after the level cap raise to 300?

- Is the half level gained representative for the final product, released next week?

- How much CXP did the token give you?

- What did the box drop in loot?

 

Trust me when I say I wish I could tell you everything and do videos on whatever subject I like. Maybe in the future...

[KidLee]

Thanks for that! I don't like the whole influencer program but I enjoyed watching someone who knows how to play his class.

 

If my math is correct you got 819 CXP from Crimson Fang SM, which is much more than what you get from Firefrost SM (it gave 466 CXP). Strangely enough, the bonus quest only gave you 10 credits but no loot and no CXP. So is there a point in doing the bonus at all? (aside from achievements)

I have yet to watch the VM playthrough and check how much CXP it gives.

 

I would love to hear why you don't like the influencer program. Is there a question I can answer?

[Jerba]

I would love to hear why you don't like the influencer program. Is there a question I can answer?

I just find it unfair that certain players get early access to content and others don't. There's this whole intransparency where we don't know what happens behind the scenes. And I'm irritated because players who got invited to the PTS have to sign an NDA but then there are influencers who can talk about it freely.

 

What I hate most is how every influencer is praising the game even though to me, all signs point into the opposite direction. It's like BioWare requires them to be positive if they want to be an influencer, but I'd rather hear honest opinions.

 

I find it very hard to be positive about the game at the moment. The devs promised to focus on group content but they do everything they can to drive the group players away from the game. For example, there is zero official communication on these forums even though there are plenty of questions that I'd like to have answered, specially around repair costs, pay-to-win and crafting. My final hope is that tomorrow's livestream will answer those questions but I don't expect it.

[scardera]

lol they dont show the crates opening...not good

[KidLee]

lol they dont show the crates opening...not good

 

I truly believe Bioware showed a bad example on that live stream. I don't think it's going to be an issue when the expansion goes live.

[KidLee]

I just find it unfair that certain players get early access to content and others don't. There's this whole intransparency where we don't know what happens behind the scenes. And I'm irritated because players who got invited to the PTS have to sign an NDA but then there are influencers who can talk about it freely.

 

What I hate most is how every influencer is praising the game even though to me, all signs point into the opposite direction. It's like BioWare requires them to be positive if they want to be an influencer, but I'd rather hear honest opinions.

 

I find it very hard to be positive about the game at the moment. The devs promised to focus on group content but they do everything they can to drive the group players away from the game. For example, there is zero official communication on these forums even though there are plenty of questions that I'd like to have answered, specially around repair costs, pay-to-win and crafting. My final hope is that tomorrow's livestream will answer those questions but I don't expect it.

 

You have some very good points.

 

I have to say some of what you are saying is not correct from where I stand. Saying: "every influencer is praising the game". I don't think I am. I don't think Swtor Central is. There are elements of the game that are good and there are elements that need some work. I have been very open in saying that i'm not a fan of the RNG system for end game gear. It's true that we play the game and do coverage on it because we like it. I like to think my stance overall is pretty neutral. Bioware does not require us to be positive, nor are we being paid off. If we were we would have to disclose it on every video or podcast according to FTC guidelines.

 

Let's talk about the test server and getting feedback. When it come to small stuff, small changes, new features, new content. Your right it should be on the PTS for open testing but when dealing with story content and major changes. There is a large group of the player base who don't want to be spoiled. The more people you add into testing that stuff the worse it's going to get. Bioware, Blizzard, and other major mmo companies do it this way because there isn't a better way to do it. When doing these closed test Bioware brings in both experts and random people from the community to test these things. You didn't get selected this time.

 

They want feedback. That's one of our jobs in the influencer program. Not only to give our opinion but to also tell Bioware what our communty is saying. I have to do a monthly report! Things are only going to get better down the road. They have a new plan in place. They want to get more feeback then ever before. I feel like things are moving in the right direction. Let's give it some time and see how things go.

 

A few quotes I would like to address:

 

"influencers who can talk about it freely" - That's not correct. Everyone had to sign the NDA.

"The devs promised to focus on group content " - For 2017, not this year. I do agree they have pushed some people away.

"there is zero official communication on these forums" - They do need to step up their game. That being said they have been doing a lot more streaming.

"I find it very hard to be positive about the game at the moment." - If you had the power what would you change?

 

Thanks

[Jerba]

"I find it very hard to be positive about the game at the moment." - If you had the power what would you change?

Ah okay, fair points. The part about the monthly report sounds great, hopefully that will improve the communication.

 

More communication. When I look at the forums 2 years ago, they answered much more questions, even those that are so super specific that only a fraction of the playerbase is interested in them. But those make me feel better about the game because I know the devs have good reasons for why they do something.

Like I can live with RNG gearing but I would have liked it if the devs were more open about it. E.g. saying that 4.0 gearing was too fast, and that legacy gear/having alts would get around the time gates (like weekly Ops lockouts), so they had to introduce a character-based loot system. Eventually, I can draw the conclusions myself but it would be better to get this answered by the devs.

But we got zero information by the devs on the future of GC. Like what is supposed to happen for 6.0? Will everyone be reset to rank 1? Will you increase the max rank? Have you planned any catch-up mechanics a few months down the road so players stuck at a low rank can get CXP faster? I'd expect the devs to have thought about these questions but because of their silence, I have my doubts.

Now, Musco always writes "Post in this thread if you have any questions" but then he never gets back to answering those questions. Or he writes "Let me get the answer to that" and he never does. Most recent example would be my question regarding nightmare crystals, which interests a number of raiding guilds, and he never fulfilled his promise of getting the question answered. I also sent him a few PMs reminding him but he ignored those.

Then there is the issue of the unassembled items. For every previous expanion, we got a post explaining how they'll be converted but not this time. We are left in the dark.

 

More focus on group gameplay. They are saying they want to add group content to increase player retention but they also need to take group players into account for other decisions, because content alone won't save this game.

For example, the 16-man operations bug has now been in-game for many, many months. Players can exploit boss encounters by rezzing in-fight. And there's the bug where you land in different instances of the operation, which caused major drama in my guild when I had to cancel a 16-man raid because of it. And when I asked Tait about it in London, he said: "Oh yeah, don't count on that bug getting fixed anytime soon." ???

Seriously, how do the devs think they can keep group players with that attitude? The new Galactic Command system is anything but group friendly. A simple improvement would be more chat messages. Like when someone levels up his command rank, show it in chat. When he opens that Command Crate and gets this legendary item we all want, put it in chat so the raid can congratulate him! But no - there's nothing. All the older game systems (level increase, achievements, loot) put things in chat for everyone to see, but the newer systems no longer do it. This already started with the new Pack Viewer. Clearly, the devs no longer put effort into encouraging group gameplay.

From the livestreams, we know that repair costs are going to be quadrupled. While good at stopping the inflation, this will have horrible repercussions for PvE, and make it even more hostile for new players than it already has been ever since KotFE. Did someone wipe the group? Better kick him to save repair costs instead of trying to teach him. There's a boss you haven't killed? Oh too bad, now you have to spend millions of credits on progression and you need to cancel raids and farm credits instead.

I also don't see how any new group content can last long. Players were running Dread Fortress/Dread Palace for weeks because they needed gear. Now if the devs perform a miracle and add an operation, why should we run it more than once? As soon as we got all achievements and cosmetic, it becomes just another operation.

 

The Ootinicast interview from last Sunday showed me that once again, the devs are not even remotely aware of this, they think the game is doing great, they think all the players from Rogue One will fill up the servers and keep playing for a long time. But I beg to differ, I am pretty sure it will be just like during KotFE, the story players will be gone after 1 month and the veteran players have little reason to stay around long either when the devs ignore their concerns.

Edited November 23, 2016 by Jerba

[Ralei]

I truly believe Bioware showed a bad example on that live stream. I don't think it's going to be an issue when the expansion goes live.

 

9/10 posts on the forums have been rants about rng gear and Bioware shows them opening crates with only greens? That is some master level trolling

[TUXs]

I truly believe Bioware showed a bad example on that live stream. I don't think it's going to be an issue when the expansion goes live.

Yet you were even in a full set of top tier gear while testing? How long did it take you (legitimately) to get a full 6-piece set? RNG gearing is the #1 and ONLY issue I have with 5.0...it screws over everyone.

[Morrolan]

I truly believe Bioware showed a bad example on that live stream. I don't think it's going to be an issue when the expansion goes live.

 

300 GC levels, character bound, seemingly each crate has a chance to drop ~4 levels of gear not just the purple set bonus gear for the GC tier you are at, coupled with probably chance of getting relics, earpieces and implants you don't want, restrictions on what earns cxp.............

 

Taking all this at face value it leads to a grind of hundreds of hours to get all set bonus gear on each character let alone top level set bonus gear. If this is not correct then BW have done a horrible job of showing how GC will work and giving us details about it. For people who primarily pvp or do progression raiding it appears horrible.

[Tsillah]

I would love to hear why you don't like the influencer program. Is there a question I can answer?

 

Can't speak for him, but I'd like to answer this for myself.

 

We really just started hearing about the influencer program very recently. Pretty much after 5.0 was presumably ready so it feels like your ability to actually influence anything is rather at a stage where it's too late.

If the influencer program started much earlier then again it is piss poor communication from BWA, which is very tiresome to say the least. Either way, it's not encouraging for me as a player.

 

Aside from that it's hard to say what the criteria are for this program. To put it bluntly, how can I as a player be reassured that the people in the program aren't just a bunch of sycophants? Those podcast guys on the livestream for example where not exactly as critical or direct as they are on their podcast but they do have a media representation.

So it seems to me they chose people with a media following and/or white knights. That may not be true but I just very much doubt that there really is much critical thinking going on.

 

Perhaps if there had been a better build up and more communication about this, with the introduction of various people in this program who could then show their connection to the game, might have helped.

 

Now I suddenly see you post here out of the blue that you are a member of this illustrious group of people. Sorry, but I think it's pretty damn poor how this is being handled and I don't feel represented by you guys in any way because I have no idea who the frak you guys all are.

[ElZaguero]

"there is zero official communication on these forums" - They do need to step up their game. That being said they have been doing a lot more streaming.

 

You have got to be kidding. Those streams are 90% worthless as anything but marketing. And they are certainly no substitute for having specific questions answered. Not to mention hey are long and boring, rambling, disorganised, and generally very hard to sit through. Streaming is horse manure.