KOTET Livestream - 11/23

[Dormei]

What's happening with conquest rewards + achievements on patch day ? Will they be granted after maintenance ?

[DanNV]

I am glad you decided to talk about the RNG armoring, but I don't buy it. Sorry. You're looking at 300-450 hours of play time to get to top rank. That's a ridiculous amount of time and a stupid level to try to get to in order to get upper end endgame gear, and still have ti be RNG based. The rest of the expansion doens't look bad, but the entire command xp system and the RNG gear looks like a total cluster. I don't get why you don't get that and why you ignore all the the negative feedback you've already gotten, not to mention that you have tried RNG before and it failed terribly. Why do it again? I would have thought you would have learned after having no new endgame and now having to promise more of it in order to jsut keep people in the game. (If you don't remember, you had almost no endgame at launch and lost huge numbers of subs as soon as thy got to endgame and figured out you didn't have much.

[sturge]

Eric, I can give you an advice that would make your life easier. There's a magical thing called Calendar. If you ask nicely some close person you may find it under a Christmas tree and I would recommend the weekly version. It's a magical item that gives you + 30 to day awareness, + 12 to month awareness and + 365 to year awareness All you have to do is to place it on some nice place you can see and turn a page every Monday.

 

Couldn't resist, man

 

Good idea lol

Edited November 24, 2016 by sturge

[Jerba]

I am glad you decided to talk about the RNG armoring, but I don't buy it. Sorry. You're looking at 300-450 hours of play time to get to top rank. That's a ridiculous amount of time and a stupid level to try to get to in order to get upper end endgame gear, and still have ti be RNG based. The rest of the expansion doens't look bad, but the entire command xp system and the RNG gear looks like a total cluster. I don't get why you don't get that and why you ignore all the the negative feedback you've already gotten, not to mention that you have tried RNG before and it failed terribly. Why do it again? I would have thought you would have learned after having no new endgame and now having to promise more of it in order to jsut keep people in the game. (If you don't remember, you had almost no endgame at launch and lost huge numbers of subs as soon as thy got to endgame and figured out you didn't have much.

If we take for a given that the devs don't have the resources to produce new endgame content, then a long gear grind is the best solution out of all solutions in my opinion. Low RNG is certainly not a good solution but it is better than giving everyone max gear after a few weeks. That will only cause players to get bored and quit the game faster.

 

The one concern I will accept is that this system is bad for PvP. Depending on how effective the bolster is, we will see how far gear matters. For PvE, I think it is fine provided that by early January, progression groups will have enough gear to once again run HM/NiM, and then spend the remaining months min-/maxing the remaining gear. Seriously, if you really are so unlucky that you will not get the last armoring but all the other pieces are BiS, you will be fine. Keep in mind that setbonuses are the same as in 224 gear, that you'll drown in mods and enhancements, and that left-side pieces and augments can be crafted. Then, the one or two low rating armorings make up only a small part of the stats.

 

Whether the grind is RNG or not, it comes down to the fact that for 5.0, gear acquisition will take longer than during 4.0, but it's on a similar level as during previous expansions. It is normal that players are disappointed when something is nerfed and will complain about it, but if there is a valid reason for the nerf, I can support the nerf. And as the devs explained, there is a good reason for it, it's better for the health of the game. Once we get new group content in 2017, I'm sure the remaining players will stop complaining about RNG.

Edited November 24, 2016 by Jerba

[MeNaCe-NZ]

. For PvE, I think it is fine provided that by early January, progression groups will have enough gear to once again run HM/NiM, and then spend the remaining months min-/maxing the remaining gear.

 

You think it's fine or have decided since it's not changing it's as fine as it is going to get because you wouldn't leave this game either way?

 

It's most definitely not fine. If I weren't unsubbing myself after doing story ( well already have unsubbed but it expires then ) I would have far less players in my guild to raid with as many are leaving also and likewise based on feedback shown far less to pug with than now.

 

Even if I personally thought it was the greatest thing for raiding ever ( I would have to be committed of course if I truly thought that ) if becomes a massive hindrance to my play solely by the volume of people it is removing for me to play the game with.

 

There is nothing fine about this what so ever for anyone. Even casuals could have gotten better gear quicker but by spending crystals previously.

 

Whether the grind is RNG or not, it comes down to the fact that for 5.0, gear acquisition will take longer than during 4.0, but it's on a similar level as during previous expansions. It is normal that players are disappointed when something is nerfed and will complain about it, but if there is a valid reason for the nerf, I can support the nerf. And as the devs explained, there is a good reason for it, it's better for the health of the game. Once we get new group content in 2017, I'm sure the remaining players will stop complaining about RNG.

 

Oops didn't read that part at first. Seems you've been drinking the Kool-Aid since you aren't at all justifying how it's better for the health of the game or even close to being in line with pre 4.0

Edited November 24, 2016 by MeNaCe-NZ

[XhrisShan]

Are CM Dyes gonna be in Collections in 5.0?

 

What will happen to existing endgame crafting materials (stabilizers/catalysts/matrices)? Will they remain relevant? Will there be new (i.e. replacement) endgame crafting mats? WIll the current ones be converted into credits?

 

Also, about advanced classes - will we be required to select them at level 1, or simply "strongly encouraged" e.g. annoying glowing Discipline icon until you take care of it? Because there is a big difference and I'd like to know, even if only for RP/cutscene animation reasons.

For instance, I know that an animation in the final Trooper mission on Ord Mantell imitates loading an assault rifle, that still plays when the player has an assault cannon equipped so it looks like they're grabbing thin air,

 

[Technohic]

So their plan for everything is to just do it, and they can adjust later. Yeah. Not buying it. Not buying 300 hours to even get to end game gear either.

[Jerba]

You think it's fine or have decided since it's not changing it's as fine as it is going to get because you wouldn't leave this game either way?

 

It's most definitely not fine. If I weren't unsubbing myself after doing story ( well already have unsubbed but it expires then ) I would have far less players in my guild to raid with as many are leaving also and likewise based on feedback shown far less to pug with than now.

 

Even if I personally thought it was the greatest thing for raiding ever ( I would have to be committed of course if I truly thought that ) if becomes a massive hindrance to my play solely by the volume of people it is removing for me to play the game with.

 

There is nothing fine about this what so ever for anyone. Even casuals could have gotten better gear quicker but by spending crystals previously.

 

 

 

Oops didn't read that part at first. Seems you've been drinking the Kool-Aid since you aren't at all justifying how it's better for the health of the game or even close to being in line with pre 4.0

If I go back to Oricon times, the average HM raider did not yet have dozens of alts, and those with legacy gear were the exception. There were only two operations to get gear from, and so if you were in a good guild, you could kill 10 bosses each week and very likely got 1 new gear piece per week. So after 14 weeks, you were best-in-slot, barring bosses like Nefra that had a chance to either drop bracers or implants, which drew out the time even further. (don't remember the exact loot).

Using DanNV's numbers, 300-450 hours comes down to 21-32 hours per week for a 14-week-long gear acquisition. That is doable for most endgame players even with real life obligations. And no, you don't have to spend 100% of your time running operations, outside of the main raid you can still run flashpoints and dailies like you did during Oricon times, and earn CXP.

 

All of this is from my personal experience of course, on other servers it may have been different. But I think my description is pretty accurate for the average raider back then. Yes, the top progression guilds had legacy gear but they have already quit this game, the average raiders from back then I still see playing and they told me they intend to stay with 5.0.

 

So how exactly is 5.0 so much worse than before? I just don't see your point, and I think it is way too early to already discredit the GC system before we've had time to play it. The devs have indicated they are willing to tune the numbers and provide catch-ups for alts, together with craftable left-side pieces I think we'll be more than fine.

Edited November 24, 2016 by Jerba

[prncssinblutx]

Will there be any new alliance alerts with this expansion?

[Jerba]

Are CM Dyes gonna be in Collections in 5.0?

 

What will happen to existing endgame crafting materials (stabilizers/catalysts/matrices)? Will they remain relevant? Will there be new (i.e. replacement) endgame crafting mats? WIll the current ones be converted into credits?

 

Also, about advanced classes - will we be required to select them at level 1, or simply "strongly encouraged" e.g. annoying glowing Discipline icon until you take care of it? Because there is a big difference and I'd like to know, even if only for RP/cutscene animation reasons.

No, dyes will never be in collections; the devs have stated in the past that putting them in collections would severely reduce the demand for dyes. That's why they are not in collections and why they are destroyed when you pull them out of an armor. I don't think anything has changed since when they first made that statement.

 

Musco already clarified that the 4.0 mats will remain in-game and you will be able to use them for the 4.0 schematics (like level 65 mods). So the mats will not be converted, they will stay semi-relevant but there will be new materials for level 70 gear.

 

Yes, on the livestream they stated you will be required to select an advanced class with level 1. So if you want to have base classes for RP, better create those characters before Tuesday!

 

Will there be any new alliance alerts with this expansion?

No, Charles has said that there will be no new returning companions with 5.0. Alliance alerts proved to be a failure because of the lack of voice-over, and the companion recruitment chapters 10-14 were disliked by the players because they distracted from the overall story.

So the devs do want to bring back the companions but in a better way than during KotFE. For 6.0, I'd expect that any returning companions will be deeply connected into the story, like the main characters (Lana, Theron, Koth, T7), and they won't just be side-missions. Charles has stressed how important it is for him to have the companions returning, so you just need to be patient.

Edited November 24, 2016 by Jerba

[transfair]

What happens to unused Gear tokens?

[MeNaCe-NZ]

If I go back to Oricon times, the average HM raider did not yet have dozens of alts, and those with legacy gear were the exception.

 

GSF dropped and gave anyone subbed legacy gear. Problem them became mainhand / offhand. That was 18 months before 4.0 dropped also.

Not to mention any serious raider would have their legacy sets before this from reputation vendors anyway.

 

I think trying to implying it was soo much harder pre 4.0 due to no legacy gear is a bit of stretch especially when it's HM or in the case of the time the top difficulty mode you are talking about.

 

There were only two operations to get gear from, and so if you were in a good guild, you could kill 10 bosses each week and very likely got 1 new gear piece per week.

So after 14 weeks, you were best-in-slot, barring bosses like Nefra that had a chance to either drop bracers or implants, which drew out the time even further. (don't remember the exact loot).

Using DanNV's numbers, 300-450 hours comes down to 21-32 hours per week for a 14-week-long gear acquisition. That is doable for most endgame players even with real life obligations. And no, you don't have to spend 100% of your time running operations, outside of the main raid you can still run flashpoints and dailies like you did during Oricon times, and earn CXP.

 

So how exactly is 5.0 so much worse than before? I just don't see your point, and I think it is way too early to already discredit the GC system before we've had time to play it. The devs have indicated they are willing to tune the numbers and provide catch-ups for alts, together with craftable left-side pieces I think we'll be more than fine

 

You are talking the absolute top end gear here so comparing HM then is basically comparing it to NiM now.

 

Back then I could start earning gear to do HM DF/DP straight away and start progressing through that content and getting the better gear drops.

 

Now? I have to do some other stupid **** I don't want to do to build my levels to a sufficient level to start getting the gear dropping I need to do HM. It would be pointless to do HM ( except EV/KP but even those might prove too difficult for the reward given compared to other activities - done them so much to death they've lsot their fun factor and were a good stepping stone to get the gear to do the more fun HM content ) straight away and go through all the wipes and enrages and time just to gain levels and thus gear I can't use to make my next run any better.

 

That's the thing with the old system an organised guilds. You were a team and a group and each run you got through made your team that much stronger for the following run. Now? Pfft all go off and run some heroics for a few months and come back and try again later when you all hopefully have the gear.

 

So you wanted to now how 5.0 isn't better and I think I've outlined that quite fairly.

 

What I want to know, especially from a confessed NiM raider, is how you think it's any better than pre 4.0 ?

You actually have to get to tier 3 ( assuming 3 tiers ) before you even qualify for getting BiS RNG drops so all that time up until then you are not getting any gear that is designed for the content you want to achieve where as in Oricon we would be straight away.

 

2.4 HM DP boss complete - "Yes I got the BiS SB piece I needed" , 5.0 HM DP boss complete "Err yes I'm now rank 10, only 290 ranks to go!"

[TrixxieTriss]

I was unable to watch the stream due to time zones. Is there a recorded link somewhere that I can watch it. ie, YouTube or something?

[Technohic]

I was unable to watch the stream due to time zones. Is there a recorded link somewhere that I can watch it. ie, YouTube or something?

 

Follow the lead link in the OP. You can find past recordings in there as well

 

https://www.twitch.tv/swtor

Edited November 24, 2016 by Technohic

[Jerba]

GSF dropped and gave anyone subbed legacy gear. Problem them became mainhand / offhand. That was 18 months before 4.0 dropped also.

Not to mention any serious raider would have their legacy sets before this from reputation vendors anyway.

 

I think trying to implying it was soo much harder pre 4.0 due to no legacy gear is a bit of stretch especially when it's HM or in the case of the time the top difficulty mode you are talking about.

 

What I want to know, especially from a confessed NiM raider, is how you think it's any better than pre 4.0 ?

You actually have to get to tier 3 ( assuming 3 tiers ) before you even qualify for getting BiS RNG drops so all that time up until then you are not getting any gear that is designed for the content you want to achieve where as in Oricon we would be straight away.

 

2.4 HM DP boss complete - "Yes I got the BiS SB piece I needed" , 5.0 HM DP boss complete "Err yes I'm now rank 10, only 290 ranks to go!"

Like I mentioned, I was talking about the HM raiders who were able to clear HM DF/DP but who may not have cleared TFB/S&V NiM. This was all before GSF, Double XP and the Outfit Designer which increased the number of alts and had more players use legacy gear. Without Outfit Designer, you could easily recognize who wore legacy gear, and the players I was running DF/DP HM with at the time did definitely not have legacy gear.

 

I never said that GC is better than pre-4.0. I think it is worse than pre-4.0 but only because there is no new content. If there was a new operation to get gear from, we would all be happy. To me, gear-based progression died with the Coratanni exploit in 3.0 and I don't think we will ever get gear-based progression again in SWTOR. So I have already accepted a long time ago that gear can be gotten from easy activities and I don't mind GC.

 

I do think GC is better than 4.0. EV/KP Priority Ops were a problem because most players would only run operations in 2 out of 9 weeks, but to me the biggest problem was that you could use 10+ alts to farm gear in EV while it was highlighted and then send it to your main.

At the time, I was wishing that the devs removed legacy gear, because getting gear this fast is harming the game. When players can get BiS gear in less than a month, and there is no new endgame content to keep them busy, they get bored. Initially, my group continued because there were some bosses we hadn't killed before like Revan HM but now that we killed those, it is difficult to be motivated to continue farming the same bosses over and over again, and I am still not sure if I can motivate everyone to stick around.

But I believe improving and min-maxing your gear is fun. Like I mentioned, I am pretty confident we will be able to kill some HM bosses in the first week of 5.0, that we can clear all of HM (except maybe Revan/M&B) and the easier NiM bosses by January, and then work on the harder NiM bosses in February and beyond. So if we can continue optimizing the gear while running what we'd have run anyway, that's a plus.

 

The first week of 5.0, you start off with 224 and can immediately put in the new augments. Then, you will start earning green/blue mods/enhancements that are better than the 224 mods. From time to time, you will get purple armorings/mods/enhancements. In the rare chance that you get a duplicate armoring, you can still put the mods/enhancements into other pieces. Should you be unlucky and not get BiS earpieces/implants/relics, you can craft those at near BiS level. The only thing that will take long is min-maxing the crit/alacrity, and getting the last setbonus piece. But I am confident that you don't need BiS gear for NiM and can kill every boss even with one lower armoring.

Edited November 24, 2016 by Jerba

[GetPloughed]

I heard mention of the new Jedi from DvL in the stream today. Just so I understand it correctly, the dark vs light competition to decide between the Jedi and the SIth is finished, but if I finish off the second to last tier this weekend I will still get the companion when she is launched?

[eartharioch]

I heard mention of the new Jedi from DvL in the stream today. Just so I understand it correctly, the dark vs light competition to decide between the Jedi and the SIth is finished, but if I finish off the second to last tier this weekend I will still get the companion when she is launched?

 

Yes; DvL rewards are obtainable until the servers go down for the patch on the 29th, but DS/LS choices are no longer being tracked -- the LS won

[And the companion and certain other rewards will be released on the official schedule, a few days later]

[syfyman]

Hey folks,

 

Today will be our last Knights of the Eternal Throne livestream before launch! This week's stream is going to be a wrap-up of all things KOTET, including answering any remaining questions you might have. We have a few special extras planned as well, so be sure to tune in.

 

Here are the details:

When: Today, Wednesday 11/23

When: 4PM CST / 2PM PST

Where: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor

 

Thanks everyone, we'll see you there.

 

-eric

 

I do have one question, I run a guild and I am sub player since the end of the beta testing and love all your work, but most of the people in my guild are either an F2P or a Preferred player and I understand that for them to play the new story in the level 70, they have to sub too, but the question is , we have classes changes coming which all sub players will be getting, will F2P and preferred players be able to get the new classes powers as well and all the new features such as crafting for F2P and Preferred

[TrixxieTriss]

Follow the lead link in the OP. You can find past recordings in there as well

 

https://www.twitch.tv/swtor

 

Doesn't work on the iPad. Twitch is weird on it unless it's actually live.

 

Does anyone have an alternative to twitch to rewatch the stream?

 

EDIT : never mind, I did an app update that fixed it. But it's such a pain to find it when the link doesn't take you to the right one.

Edited November 24, 2016 by TrixxieTriss

[MeNaCe-NZ]

But I believe improving and min-maxing your gear is fun. Like I mentioned, I am pretty confident we will be able to kill some HM bosses in the first week of 5.0, that we can clear all of HM (except maybe Revan/M&B) and the easier NiM bosses by January, and then work on the harder NiM bosses in February and beyond. So if we can continue optimizing the gear while running what we'd have run anyway, that's a plus.

 

The first week of 5.0, you start off with 224 and can immediately put in the new augments. Then, you will start earning green/blue mods/enhancements that are better than the 224 mods. From time to time, you will get purple armorings/mods/enhancements. In the rare chance that you get a duplicate armoring, you can still put the mods/enhancements into other pieces. Should you be unlucky and not get BiS earpieces/implants/relics, you can craft those at near BiS level. The only thing that will take long is min-maxing the crit/alacrity, and getting the last setbonus piece. But I am confident that you don't need BiS gear for NiM and can kill every boss even with one lower armoring.

 

All of this progression relies on you and your group beating bosses though if all you like to do is raid ( that's me in a nut shell and story which won't give me CXP as I ideally won't be 70 by then if I jump straight in )and I also do GTN stuffs ).

Do you really think that just by running operations I am going to get gear in a better or even similar speed or fashion to pre 4.0?

 

That's the crux of it for me. I don't want to do the other ****, I did it for DvL and I couldn't even bring myself to finish that. I am not doing it again.

 

The CXP rewards of HM relies on you actually beating bosses - so did drops in the old system but the gear you could get on day 1 from the old system was a massive improvement on what you can get in 5.0.

 

The funny thing here is I'm not even taking into consideration the RNG - this is purely to get to a tier where I start getting gear designed to help me beat the content I want to do.

 

The old system was fine. They could have nerfed the drops on EV/KP to a tier below if that was such an issue. Yes outrage but not as much as removing drops altogether. They could have added their innovation ... buy why at the expense of an entire type of player?

[GetPloughed]

Yes; DvL rewards are obtainable until the servers go down for the patch on the 29th, but DS/LS choices are no longer being tracked -- the LS won

[And the companion and certain other rewards will be released on the official schedule, a few days later]

 

Thanks for the confirmation.

[TrixxieTriss]

You mentioned that CXP would be rewarded for all pvp besides ranked. Does that mean that you will earn CXP for killing players in regs or just completing a reg WZ.

There is also some confusion in the community that you will only get CXP from reg pvp dailies and not the actual WZs.

Can you please clear this up.

[Turshek]

What will happen in PvP when a team of fresh lvl 70 will fight a team of Command Rank 300 people in their legendary armor ?

[Technohic]

What will happen in PvP when a team of fresh lvl 70 will fight a team of Command Rank 300 people in their legendary armor ?

 

This is where we hope that they get bolster right. Should be a little easier without expertise in the way but also; will be harder to tell if you are getting full bolster as we used to look at out total expertise as an indicator.

 

I would also like to know what will become of gear with expertise on it now? I don't expect an answer as I am betting it is another "Why spoil it. You'll have access in 5 days" kind of thing

[kvandertulip]

Are CXP boosters acquired exclusively from the Cartel Market or can they be acquired in game?