Let me get this straight...

[Raphael_diSanto]

Really, let's see what MMO players should expect from an expansion, shall we (and no, this isn't from WoW).

 

Here is one for comparison:

• Level cap increase to 60 (from 50 to accommodate a lot of new content)
  
• Three new character classes
  
• Three new zones that are each three times the size of the original in game zones (i.e, equivalent to nine zones) that are fully explorable (you know, real zones not corriders used once for a story mission)
  
• A new playable race
  
• Flying mounts
  
• 819 new quests (including 3 unique quests for EACH class)
  
• Story continuation from level 50 (not an entirely new story like SWTOR)
  
• 18 new 4-man dungeons
  
• 6 new 8-man raids (level 60)
  
• 3 new 24-man raids (level 60)
  
• Three new abilities for all classes
  
• Three new PvP modes
  
• Mini-games including a casino/carnival games, mount racing and a few others.
  

 

All told it takes a few months to play through the content of that expansion. Just FYI, the base game prior to the expansion had 1,268 quests, 29 dungeons, 6 8-man raids (level 50), 3 24-man raids (level 50) and nine zones (which are 1/3 the size of the expansion zones). In other words, the expansion was equivalent in content to almost 75% of the original game. In fact, people are still playing through the content since the expansion launched and another expansion, similar in scope and size, is launching this fall.

 

What did we get with SWTOR 5.0 "expansion" for new content:

• 9 story chapters
  
• 5 uprisings
  

All told, it is about 6-8 hours to play through the content and 90% of it is really not repeatable. People were pretty much done with this the first week it launched.

 

Finally, the price for the comparison above? $20. The price for a BW expansion is at least a month's sub so $15... look how much more you get for your money with the other.

 

It is pathetic how little content BW has given for wanting people to subscribe over the last two years. Frankly, they are taking players to the cleaners with this game compared to most MMOs on the market.

 

If that's what you want - No demand - from your MMO, why are you still here? I doubt BioWare are EVER going to release that kind of stuff in a single expansion. Adjust your expectations. Life's more fun in the long run, trust me.

Edited January 23, 2017 by Raphael_diSanto

[EricMusco]

So many forum posts I'm confused to what is actually happening. So let me get this straight.

 

1. Gear wise there really is no change coming? Just additional layers which translate into more grinding?

 

2. No new content until Dec 2017? That means no new story content.. nothing until almost a year from now?

 

3. Companions: I assume any "class story" companion that hasn't appeared isn't coming back. Ok fine (not really fine. Not happy about that.. but ok). But what about the current companions? Right now, the interaction is minimal at best. Not even close to what the class stories had. So no new scenes or options with our current RI or companions? In other words, my ship will still be empty?

 

I thought I might take a stab at adding clarity to some of your questions.

 

1 - I made a few posts on it last week, this is the main one. Here is the short version. Starting in 5.1 you can get Unassembled Pieces from Ops which you can turn in for gear. Playing PvP will give you Unassembled Components which you can turn in for an Unassembled piece to turn in for gear. Gear turn-ins require Command Tokens which are a Legacy-wide currency you get from Command Crates.

 

2 - We definitely never said that. Although it is true that we are refocusing in on group and MMO content, that doesn't mean there is no more story coming.

 

3 - Actually quite the opposite is true. Charles himself has said that his personal goal is to ensure that all original Companions come back in a meaningful way. The question is just when/how.

 

As an added note, I would recommend tuning into our stream this Thursday as we will be talking about some of these exact topics .

 

-eric

[PlasmaJohn]

3 - Actually quite the opposite is true. Charles himself has said that his personal goal is to ensure that all original Companions come back in a meaningful way. The question is just when/how.

Eric,

 

You guys have said a lot of things that have never seen the light of day. Your team's reputation is more about what you guys have abandoned than what you have accomplished. Guess what? Until there's something more than Soon™ we. don't. believe. you.

[Lionflash]

Eric,

 

You guys have said a lot of things that have never seen the light of day. Your team's reputation is more about what you guys have abandoned than what you have accomplished. Guess what? Until there's something more than Soon™ we. don't. believe. you.

 

lol, no wonder BW doesn't communicate with you people.

[Darkside]

lol, no wonder BW doesn't communicate with you people.

 

Lol, no wonder Bioware can dump all over you and get payed while doing it. The person you quoted has a very valid point, as actions speak louder than words. We have all been witness to Bioware's broken promises.

Edited January 23, 2017 by Darkside

[TUXs]

Although it is true that we are refocusing in on group and MMO content

 

-eric

THANK GOD!!! I hope it's sooner rather than later.

[Darkside]

THANK GOD!!! I hope it's sooner rather than later.

 

Careful! Thier idea of group content just may be more uprisings, and allowing you to bring a group into your story missions.

Edited January 23, 2017 by Darkside

[TUXs]

Careful! Thier idea of group content just may be more uprisings, and allowing you to bring a group into your story missions.

It was the use of the phrase "MMO content" that I liked mostly. That clarifies, for me, that even Bioware doesn't consider story to be "MMO content".

[Wayshuba]

If that's what you want - No demand - from your MMO, why are you still here? I doubt BioWare are EVER going to release that kind of stuff in a single expansion. Adjust your expectations. Life's more fun in the long run, trust me.

 

I won't be in another 21 days. And, you can't set your expectations any lower than this game. When over two years ago you were told you would never go another year with an Operation...

 

Forgive me if I somehow don't believe a thing being said from the team in charge of this title.

[Kaedusz]

I3 - Actually quite the opposite is true. Charles himself has said that his personal goal is to ensure that all original Companions come back in a meaningful way. The question is just when/how.

 

-eric

 

Thanks for that info. My Warrior was just about to romance Vette, but if Jaesa is coming back, i will pick her as always.

Edited January 23, 2017 by Kaedusz

[DarthDymond]

I won't be in another 21 days. And, you can't set your expectations any lower than this game. When over two years ago you were told you would never go another year with an Operation...

 

Forgive me if I somehow don't believe a thing being said from the team in charge of this title.

If you've completely written the game/devs off, though, then why bother posting? It's one thing to give feedback if you believe it might make a positive impact - I wholeheartedly support people doing that - but if you honestly think that it's a lost cause, then I don't get what the point is.

 

Again this isn't a "love it or leave it" or "how dare you say anything bad about this game" issue. I think negative, constructive feedback is important if you're trying to influence a positive change. But once you've decided that the game in general is junk or that there's no point in listening to what the devs have to say... well, again, why come to their forums at that point?

[Wayshuba]

If you've completely written the game/devs off, though, then why bother posting? It's one thing to give feedback if you believe it might make a positive impact - I wholeheartedly support people doing that - but if you honestly think that it's a lost cause, then I don't get what the point is.

 

Again this isn't a "love it or leave it" or "how dare you say anything bad about this game" issue. I think negative, constructive feedback is important if you're trying to influence a positive change. But once you've decided that the game in general is junk or that there's no point in listening to what the devs have to say... well, again, why come to their forums at that point?

 

You have a good point. I did originally leave the feedback but, like so many others, it is completely ignored by BioWare. So, I guess I kept posting in hopes they would wake up.

 

But you are right, at this point they are not going to. The only thing that will wake them up is a massive drop in subs.

 

So, thanks for that. Outta here.....

[ExarSun]

Good question...if you are leaving, just get lost and don't make hundred posts about it. Constructive ideas and criticism are welcome, but people who are saying they are leaving/unsubbing in every post are laughable!

[Costello]

 

3 - Actually quite the opposite is true. Charles himself has said that his personal goal is to ensure that all original Companions come back in a meaningful way. The question is just when/how.

 

As an added note, I would recommend tuning into our stream this Thursday as we will be talking about some of these exact topics .

 

-eric

 

I hate to put you on the spot, but are all companions planned to return at some point or are there some that for whatever reason never going to happen. We have all heard the rumors that one Voice Actor said they wouldn't come back, not impossible to replace. However with Master Ranos telliing the SW that DS Jaesa was insane and any relationship was probably over it hinted that she would not be coming back. Was this a misreading of the information?

 

On a completely different point, have you thought about making tactical uprisings 3 people + a companion or 2 and 2. A lot of times if its 4 dps people will decline and those that don't decline often find it very difficult or impossible to complete. Setting it up to encourage the use of companions would speed the pops, decrease the number of people declining and make it easier for dps to get a run through no always waiting on a healer to be free.

[gabigool]

You guys have said a lot of things that have never seen the light of day. Your team's reputation is more about what you guys have abandoned than what you have accomplished. Guess what? Until there's something more than Soon™ we. don't. believe. you.

 

Well put.

[cashtwomuchos]

You know, after Eric's post i still have hope, but i also keep thinking about what the Lord of the Rings Online community manager said. Before Eric's post i thought: hey there might actually be really good group content coming up (and yes i love raids). After Eric's post it has dumbed down to "i hope so".

 

The community manager from LOTRO stated that for a dev team it requires focussed attention in order to create raids. It doesn't necessary need to take a long time (several months instead of a year), but it requires focussed attention while doing nothing else. Now that Eric said: "there will also be story" i think, mweh, dumbed down, yep.

 

So, based on the LOTRO community manager's info (which ofcourse was meant for his own game) the BW dev team will completely focus on group content or BW must be hiring new devs so they can focus on group content AND create story at the same time. "I hope so"

 

@Eric: thursday will be really really really really important for quite some players and especially for myself. Make or break the game, it's up to you guys. Good luck.

[leehambly]

You know, after Eric's post i still have hope, but i also keep thinking about what the Lord of the Rings Online community manager said. Before Eric's post i thought: hey there might actually be really good group content coming up (and yes i love raids). After Eric's post it has dumbed down to "i hope so".

 

The community manager from LOTRO stated that for a dev team it requires focussed attention in order to create raids. It doesn't necessary need to take a long time (several months instead of a year), but it requires focussed attention while doing nothing else. Now that Eric said: "there will also be story" i think, mweh, dumbed down, yep.

 

So, based on the LOTRO community manager's info (which ofcourse was meant for his own game) the BW dev team will completely focus on group content or BW must be hiring new devs so they can focus on group content AND create story at the same time. "I hope so"

 

@Eric: thursday will be really really really really important for quite some players and especially for myself. Make or break the game, it's up to you guys. Good luck.

 

Story and ops aren't mutually exclusive... Oricon for example. One thing we know for sure, any Ops we might get wont just be dumped down without any lead in.

Edited January 23, 2017 by leehambly

[PlasmaJohn]

Story and ops aren't mutually exclusive... Oricon for example. One thing we know for sure, any Ops we might get wont just be dumped down without any lead in.

Yes you need story for an Ops but it's ancillary. Raids are all about the mechanics. Oricon demonstrated that gating story behind raids is bad. KotFE demonstrated that gating repeatable content (EC and SF) behind story is bad. Neither should gate the other.

 

The minimal story needed for an ops should be thematically related to whatever the current story theme is but shouldn't gate anything. The Shadow of Revan expansion sorta got this right. Ziost (the world boss and boss-in-a-box) not so much although that can be worked around.

[EricMusco]

Eric,

 

You guys have said a lot of things that have never seen the light of day. Your team's reputation is more about what you guys have abandoned than what you have accomplished. Guess what? Until there's something more than Soon™ we. don't. believe. you.

 

I understand the sentiment, that is why my aim is to specific as possible (no soon™). We would like to do more story and it is our goal to bring old Companions back whenever possible. We will be talking about these very things on Thursday's stream (along with the other previously mentioned topics).

 

I hate to put you on the spot, but are all companions planned to return at some point or are there some that for whatever reason never going to happen. We have all heard the rumors that one Voice Actor said they wouldn't come back, not impossible to replace. However with Master Ranos telliing the SW that DS Jaesa was insane and any relationship was probably over it hinted that she would not be coming back. Was this a misreading of the information?

 

It is a great question, but one that I don't have any specific answers to share. I can only reiterate our goal is to bring back Companions in a meaningful way. Where, when, how, and if we hit that goal is something we will share specifics on as we have them.

 

-eric

[PlasmaJohn]

I understand the sentiment, that is why my aim is to specific as possible (no soon™). We would like to do more story and it is our goal to bring old Companions back whenever possible. We will be talking about these very things on Thursday's stream (along with the other previously mentioned topics).

Believe it or not I'm rooting for you guys. Crossing my fingers.

[grania]

our goal is to bring back Companions in a meaningful way.

 

/throws money at

 

I have no shame, so what

[Jerba]

I understand the sentiment, that is why my aim is to specific as possible (no soon™). We would like to do more story and it is our goal to bring old Companions back whenever possible. We will be talking about these very things on Thursday's stream (along with the other previously mentioned topics).

You committed to focusing on group content this year. This means there will be no new story chapters or companions until 6.0 (the end of the year) because summer is filled with patches for group content. Any story from now on is only delivered in bundles, which means it can only be released on its own, not along with group content.

On Thursday, I expect a listing of the group content you are developing, along with dates when it will be released. Anything else, and all the statements from November/December were lies and we once again know not to trust anything you say.

Edited January 23, 2017 by Jerba

[TUXs]

Believe it or not I'm rooting for you guys. Crossing my fingers.

So am I. They need new management though.

[EricMusco]

You committed to focusing on group content this year. This means there will be no new story chapters or companions until 6.0 (the end of the year) because summer is filled with patches for group content. Any story from now is only delivered in bundles, which means it can only be released on its own, not along with group content.

On Thursday, I expect a listing of the group content you are developing, along with dates when it will be released. Anything else, and all the statements from November/December were lies and we once again know not to trust anything you say.

 

Just to set some expectations... We do have a renewed focus on MMO and group content but this in no way means that we will only deliver that content and nothing else. Different content is not mutually exclusive, in fact it is often in support of each other (Oricon/Dreadmasters, as an example).

 

We are still BioWare, story and companions will remain a cornerstone of SWTOR.

 

-eric

[Death-Hammer]

We are still BioWare, story and companions will remain a cornerstone of SWTOR.

 

-eric

 

Is there going to be any acknowledgement about the uproar all weekend over Friday's post and our concerns?

Edited January 23, 2017 by Death-Hammer
Clarity