Producer Livestream 12/15

[EricMusco]

Hey folks,

 

The stream dream team is back together for our last Producer Stream in December! Tune in tomorrow, Thursday 12/15 at 2pm Pacific at the usual place. Here is the info:

 

Thursday, 12/15

2PM Pacific

http://www.twitch.tv/swtor

 

 

Thanks everyone, we will see you there.

 

-eric

[Tsetso]

Let's hope it's better than the last one.

[Eshvara]

Glad you're back Musco, you always came through for me by answering questions about Arcann.

 

[TUXs]

I can't wait!!! I may actually scream when I see the stream dream team on screen while eating my ice cream. Edited December 14, 2016 by TUXs

[tummiswtor]

Bingo! Edited December 14, 2016 by tummiswtor

[MeNaCe-NZ]

The stream dream team

 

I don't think "dream team" means what you think it means unless you are referring to having your heads in the clouds.

[Alec_Fortescue]

Please release Jedi survivalist tomorrow <3

[DanNV]

Eric, we'll take you, but the best news we could get is that the other two have taken positions elsewhere and you are introducing new devs who will be replacing the disaster that is GC.

[teclado]

Give us a less grindy and no gambling pack system and I will be happy. Understand that the removal of pvp gear did not help the gearing process, but actually made it longer and more complex for those of us who do operations AND pvp. Even for a dps, we still need two gear sets. Tanks are royally hosed. If you don't understand why, ask me and I will be happy to give you a run-down. Thanks!

[Kirtastropohe]

Welcome back, Eric. I implore the stream team to understand the critical importance of tomorrow's stream. I want this game to succeed, and I appreciate the hard work of everyone involved with it. That being said, people are incredibly frustrated right now. You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and for whatever reasons we're not privy too, the decision was made to go with loot system despite the very valid criticisms against it leveled in test. The bad taste of 5.0 launch was made worse by what was said (and not said) in the stream last week, along with the actions taken and not taken since launch.

 

Tomorrow needs to be an absolute home run. We need a serious understanding from you guys that, for all the good intentions, you acknowledge you screwed up with this loot/gearing system. We don't want any more spin. You need to admit the change of philosophy was flawed and present a clear, detailed plan to fix things. No vague "we're working on it" or "we'll let you know later". We want to know that major concerns will be addressed and fixed in January. In short...

 

How will you make the game feel more rewarding and not like we just twilight zoned into a grindfest horror movie? I like the fact that all activities give a common pool of reward, but WE need the control over what we get with it. I don't want to open a crap crate and feel I just wasted an hour or more in playing. If we get crap in a crate, we need to get much more CXP for disintegrating.

How will you ensure people have a guaranteed path to set bonus gear? Similar to above, it's disgusting to go through crate after crate and not have anything worth holding onto.

How will you reorganize the system so that alts are viable again? Perhaps all CXP points gained by our toons should tie into a legacy account balance where we can use it for whatever toon we want.

You say you're listening to the players now. Why weren't we listened to prior to 5.0 launch? Every argument made against RNG was made during test phases. Going fullsteam ahead with a plan that was riddled with issues and terribly unpopular flies in the face of common sense and is just baffling.

What are your plans to make activities, especially operations, feel like they're worth doing anymore? You crippled the drive of anyone to do an operation, and that was before the champion stealth nerf. I ran an operation last week and I'm not a crafter. Getting recipes did nothing for me. There isn't enough CXP, credits, or other item rewards to make me ever want to do one again. The only thing that keeps me going is running them with friends, but it feels like a huge waste of my time as far as game rewards and progress goes.

What is your philosophy for the game going forward? Business decisions being made are not looking good to us. What is the rationale and endgame?

 

While I respect all the Devs, the bottom line is you need to regain our trust. It's shattered, and some of the reactionary things happening (mob CXP nerfs, for example) just make people more angry. Each day, I'm sure people cancel subs or at least give serious thought to leaving the game. That can't be good, and there's no way you'll ever get everyone back. You need to stop the bleeding and prove that you are capable of pushing this game to the next level of success rather than streamrolling it into destruction.

[Anzel]

But will it be "exciting" ?????

[DarthSpuds]

But will it be "exciting" ?????

 

Only if we get random streaming (well we normally do) and if they randomise which Bioware employees are present (who knows, they may find some who actually know what they are doing).

 

All The Best

[ScottishDrunk]

cant wait for you tell us how much you are listening whilst ignoring us in the same sentence

 

14 days today my sub runs out...

[BlueSorcerer]

cant wait for you tell us how much you are listening whilst ignoring us in the same sentence

 

14 days today my sub runs out...

 

Happy SWTOR5!

[AscendingSky]

I am fully expecting them to announce the EXCITING Chance Cube, that will now be a drop you can get from Command crates, so you can have an RNG box inside your RNG box, to make the game even more EXCITING in Ben "I Don't Know What My Customers Want" Irving's opinion. Edited December 15, 2016 by AscendingSky

[RiVaN_]

Only if we get random streaming (well we normally do) and if they randomise which Bioware employees are present (who knows, they may find some who actually know what they are doing).

 

All The Best

 

I like this idea.

 

It can be like opening a Command Crate, every couple of minutes an RNG number selects which BW employee will be talking to us. It could be Joe teh night janitor or Ben Irving! The RNG actually favors Joe, so expect to see him most often, but hey every time he answers with "I don't know" or sits there silently we can disintegrate that answer for a chance to get Ben back sooner...

[Caely]

Lets try to give the developers a bit of space, even if you're not keen on the new system. I know tomorrow there will talk about changes to the command crate RNG. Although I happen to LOVE opening boxes, I understand how bad box karma can ruin a gear lover's day. What worries me is that the developers will be afraid to try new things. Even before the expansion was released people were threatening to unsub... sigh, really? Give these guys a break. They've tried to put a system that is very focused, honestly if gear was too easily achieved, people would still complain. I'm hoping the whole CXP thing allows people who have not been able to progress in the game because of gear and opportunity are able to do so. With any luck this is catch-up and perhaps precursor for new OPs in 2017.

 

I'm hopeful,

C

 

PS So I absolutely love that schematics are legacy bound. I really don't want to try and play ALL my crafters just to get a special schematic. Thank you!

[Exocor]

Stream dream team? It's more of a nightmare...

[DarthSpuds]

Lets try to give the developers a bit of space, even if you're not keen on the new system. I know tomorrow there will talk about changes to the command crate RNG. Although I happen to LOVE opening boxes, I understand how bad box karma can ruin a gear lover's day. What worries me is that the developers will be afraid to try new things.

 

Command Crates aren't new.

They were in the game at launch and the RNG gear issue was so bad Bioware had to spend the the first year fixing things, and they eventually opted for a Token System because the inherent flaws with RNG were so bad that could not be overcome.

 

So yes we should give them some space - but not to repeat mistakes they already made.

 

 

All The Best

[AscendingSky]

Command Crates aren't new.

They were in the game at launch and the RNG gear issue was so bad Bioware had to spend the the first year fixing things, and they eventually opted for a Token System because the inherent flaws with RNG were so bad that could not be overcome.

 

So yes we should give them some space - but not to repeat mistakes they already made.

 

Pretty much this. And this system is even WORSE in some ways than the one in 1.0 PvE and PvP. They should have known better. So of course we're not going to be as patient and giving them 'space' when they decide to repeat the same mistake but even more so than the last time. I gave them that patience and 'space' during 1.0, they used up that goodwill.

[DarthFletcher]

Welcome back, Eric. I implore the stream team to understand the critical importance of tomorrow's stream. I want this game to succeed, and I appreciate the hard work of everyone involved with it. That being said, people are incredibly frustrated right now. You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and for whatever reasons we're not privy too, the decision was made to go with loot system despite the very valid criticisms against it leveled in test. The bad taste of 5.0 launch was made worse by what was said (and not said) in the stream last week, along with the actions taken and not taken since launch.

 

Tomorrow needs to be an absolute home run. We need a serious understanding from you guys that, for all the good intentions, you acknowledge you screwed up with this loot/gearing system. We don't want any more spin. You need to admit the change of philosophy was flawed and present a clear, detailed plan to fix things. No vague "we're working on it" or "we'll let you know later". We want to know that major concerns will be addressed and fixed in January. In short...

 

How will you make the game feel more rewarding and not like we just twilight zoned into a grindfest horror movie? I like the fact that all activities give a common pool of reward, but WE need the control over what we get with it. I don't want to open a crap crate and feel I just wasted an hour or more in playing. If we get crap in a crate, we need to get much more CXP for disintegrating.

How will you ensure people have a guaranteed path to set bonus gear? Similar to above, it's disgusting to go through crate after crate and not have anything worth holding onto.

How will you reorganize the system so that alts are viable again? Perhaps all CXP points gained by our toons should tie into a legacy account balance where we can use it for whatever toon we want.

You say you're listening to the players now. Why weren't we listened to prior to 5.0 launch? Every argument made against RNG was made during test phases. Going fullsteam ahead with a plan that was riddled with issues and terribly unpopular flies in the face of common sense and is just baffling.

What are your plans to make activities, especially operations, feel like they're worth doing anymore? You crippled the drive of anyone to do an operation, and that was before the champion stealth nerf. I ran an operation last week and I'm not a crafter. Getting recipes did nothing for me. There isn't enough CXP, credits, or other item rewards to make me ever want to do one again. The only thing that keeps me going is running them with friends, but it feels like a huge waste of my time as far as game rewards and progress goes.

What is your philosophy for the game going forward? Business decisions being made are not looking good to us. What is the rationale and endgame?

 

While I respect all the Devs, the bottom line is you need to regain our trust. It's shattered, and some of the reactionary things happening (mob CXP nerfs, for example) just make people more angry. Each day, I'm sure people cancel subs or at least give serious thought to leaving the game. That can't be good, and there's no way you'll ever get everyone back. You need to stop the bleeding and prove that you are capable of pushing this game to the next level of success rather than streamrolling it into destruction.

 

You know all this makes alot of sense, which means the numpties come tonights stream will bypass all this, mock the bingo card again, smirk and tell us the game is working as intended. They will never admit they were wrong, they will never admit they value little any and all constructive feedback and you will just get "we have exciting things lined up" code for more uprinings and little else to do.

 

Says a lot when you can earn more cxp throwing damn snowballs at people than actually doing any quests.... again logic

[gabigool]

Welcome back, Eric. I implore the stream team to understand the critical importance of tomorrow's stream. I want this game to succeed, and I appreciate the hard work of everyone involved with it. That being said, people are incredibly frustrated right now. You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and for whatever reasons we're not privy too, the decision was made to go with loot system despite the very valid criticisms against it leveled in test. The bad taste of 5.0 launch was made worse by what was said (and not said) in the stream last week, along with the actions taken and not taken since launch.

 

Tomorrow needs to be an absolute home run. We need a serious understanding from you guys that, for all the good intentions, you acknowledge you screwed up with this loot/gearing system. We don't want any more spin. You need to admit the change of philosophy was flawed and present a clear, detailed plan to fix things. No vague "we're working on it" or "we'll let you know later". We want to know that major concerns will be addressed and fixed in January. In short...

 

How will you make the game feel more rewarding and not like we just twilight zoned into a grindfest horror movie? I like the fact that all activities give a common pool of reward, but WE need the control over what we get with it. I don't want to open a crap crate and feel I just wasted an hour or more in playing. If we get crap in a crate, we need to get much more CXP for disintegrating.

How will you ensure people have a guaranteed path to set bonus gear? Similar to above, it's disgusting to go through crate after crate and not have anything worth holding onto.

How will you reorganize the system so that alts are viable again? Perhaps all CXP points gained by our toons should tie into a legacy account balance where we can use it for whatever toon we want.

You say you're listening to the players now. Why weren't we listened to prior to 5.0 launch? Every argument made against RNG was made during test phases. Going fullsteam ahead with a plan that was riddled with issues and terribly unpopular flies in the face of common sense and is just baffling.

What are your plans to make activities, especially operations, feel like they're worth doing anymore? You crippled the drive of anyone to do an operation, and that was before the champion stealth nerf. I ran an operation last week and I'm not a crafter. Getting recipes did nothing for me. There isn't enough CXP, credits, or other item rewards to make me ever want to do one again. The only thing that keeps me going is running them with friends, but it feels like a huge waste of my time as far as game rewards and progress goes.

What is your philosophy for the game going forward? Business decisions being made are not looking good to us. What is the rationale and endgame?

 

While I respect all the Devs, the bottom line is you need to regain our trust. It's shattered, and some of the reactionary things happening (mob CXP nerfs, for example) just make people more angry. Each day, I'm sure people cancel subs or at least give serious thought to leaving the game. That can't be good, and there's no way you'll ever get everyone back. You need to stop the bleeding and prove that you are capable of pushing this game to the next level of success rather than streamrolling it into destruction.

 

I agree with the above poster that this is a fantastic post and as such, the major themes will be ignored on the stream,

 

Sadly, reality is GC is just a cash grab. Their philosophy is to take more of our money. The solutions we see today will be PTW. Legacy unlocks, etc.

 

The sad thing is this system is proving to be an abject disaster and has already cost them subs and will cost them many, many more. If there even is a 6.0 the system will certainly change back to something less ridiculous. As much as it would bruise their ego, the single best thing the could do for both retention and community respect would be to announce they are completely trashing it or including enough workarounds that it can essentially be 100% ignored.

 

Raiders are ignoring it now except for people that didn't have old set bonuses. It's garbage and it needs to go. Frankly, even new content couldn't save this system.

[Sargrith]

Command Crates aren't new.

They were in the game at launch and the RNG gear issue was so bad Bioware had to spend the the first year fixing things, and they eventually opted for a Token System because the inherent flaws with RNG were so bad that could not be overcome.

 

So yes we should give them some space - but not to repeat mistakes they already made.

 

 

All The Best

 

I don't agree that they deserve any space. They were arrogant when warned this would not be a system that will be enjoyable, fun, fair, or acceptable. They claimed to be listening while their actions told you they weren't. Don't lie to me, please no more we listened unless you back it with real proof. Not we're buffing content you aren't playing because we just made it and think its awesome, really its great....why wont you play it?

 

The problem has become people aren't playing the game any more. Because your broken system looms over everything that people are doing. It saps the will to play the game and pushed you into playing the system. Want to run ops on higher levels, well you need to beat the system first to do that. So that is what people are out doing. AFK'ing in PvP, farming KP, Farming EC HM, grinding content. You can't get an op run anymore, it all farming and grinding.

 

The challenge isn't the game its the system. You aren't doing the story, playing an op, running a uprising, you are beating the system. As long as the system remains the roadblock to once again playing the game we have a problem. At this point tweak the system all you like, change it, improve it. Doesn't matter any more. The system is now the game, as long as it remains it will be the challenge. Remove the roadblock, remove this broken system in it's entirety. That is the only way forward. As long as the play base sees the system they hate in any form it will be the challenge. Remove it and you can get the players playing again. Go back to tokens, accept the failure to listen before launch brought you to this point and move on.

 

I do think admitting to failing to listen would be a good step, all this we listen stuff sounds so empty when they dont back it with actions that are real and what is being asked for. I also think because of the mess they created they need to deal with people who have ground out command ranks and got nothing to show for it. Best way, just give away 230 gear and sets, everyone at level 70 just get it. Its the base level gear for raids, PvP anyway so why not just hand it out and say sorry we didn't listen we will try harder. It wont change your ability to run higher content, nor will it effect running the sm mode content, since its where your bolstered to anyway.

[Myhkel]

Oops...was totally not thinking.....redacted Edited December 15, 2016 by Myhkel

[Tsetso]

<snip>

 

Yay, a new exploit I'd advise you to delete it before the mods do it.