January 26th Livestream Wrap-up

[Lecto]

 

So, more Solo love please.

 

Roff,

"Story, story, story" is killing the game, why do you think they are changing focus all the sudden again? The old PvP servers have been dead for a while now, but even the decent PvE servers (Harb aside) are starting to suffer & show signs of decay. All the community Podcasts are talking about it. You solo players had you chance & weren't profitable. I do have a bit of constructive advice for you though.

 

One, go buy an actual single player story oriented game that will do an infinitely better job of telling a story. You know the new Mass Effect is coming out soon right? Two, just unsub now & come back around September & sub till the new expansion drops -- unsub again. Honestly, if you're not here for the MMO content there is no reason to be here full-time when you can just sub for a couple of months & play everything for a fraction of the price -- my opinion.

PS: I say this because it's what I'm thinking about doing. I could go put my hard-earned money into another MMO that will deliver content in a respectable manner & provide actual server maintenance. This game does neither......

 

PSS: Long-time player.....been here since beta.....subed since beta......used to be a white-knight.........

 

Good luck,

~Lecto-Sama

[MeNaCe-NZ]

I did pop this in during the live stream wrap up but.. it kinda slid on by..

 

Gent's what about the SOLO players which likely make up more then 50% of your player base..?

 

Judging that this is an MMO and the massive reduction in player numbers over the course of 4.0 ( as illustrated by torstatus and the sub reddit stats ) I think your 50% statement is way off base.

 

Anyway you are getting solo content with 5.2

Some context on what you already have as a solo player ...

8 seperate class stories ( 16 advanced classes ) giving 100's of hours of unique, solo play through.

Solo mode flashpoints.

Seeker Droid / Macrobinoculars.

24 chapters of solo story after the class story.

SoR storyline and solo operation boss.

Makeb expansion storylines

 

I'm sure the list goes on but point is there is more than enough solo content in this game and a lot of it new and more of it coming. I can't take anyone seriously who acts like solo players are being somehow neglected.

 

If you've done ALL that solo content in the game honestly it's probably time to take a break and play something else because that's an absolute **** ton of content to get through and to expect just more and more on top ( to the detriment of people who ALSO enjoy group content ) is unrealistic.

[AscendingSky]

I did pop this in during the live stream wrap up but.. it kinda slid on by..

 

Gent's what about the SOLO players which likely make up more then 50% of your player base..?

 

<snip>

 

So, more Solo love please.

 

Are you kidding me? The last two expansions have entirely catered to solo players, to the detriment of everyone else and the game as a whole. That's two years of nothing but solo content being pushed out while subscriber numbers dwindled by the month. Solo players do not need any more love at the moment. Actual MMORPG content is what needs love right now!

 

If you want more solo content, go buy a single player RPG, as suggested above.

Edited January 28, 2017 by AscendingSky

[JennyFlynn]

- That is a bit of a complicated question so let me work on it. We will get the answer out before 5.2 so you are informed for the choice!

- The choices you make in 5.2 will not impact Companions that you already have.

- Yes, Warriors and Troopers will be able to continue their romance with these Companions. However, note that it is possible that some of your past decisions could come back to impact your relationship…

 

-eric

 

Much appreciated response Eric, on all fronts! Looking forward to getting more defined answers on future returning companions beyond Elara and Quinn. Hopefully each of them will be looked at objectively and what fits their personality/back-story, thank you!

 

 

 

I do have an alternative suggestion and maybe you can pass it along; Rather than make future returning companions 'off limits' based on the 5.2 choice, have them express resentment/disdain instead and allow us to win them over, earn their loyalty once more. Choices Matter is a nice concept but not when it automatically makes future companions unavailable without even giving us a chance, without us knowing before hand who exactly will be affected and who won't. It feels too harsh (especially with LIs, especially given how long we've been waiting already) so perhaps leave 'kill/reject' as a choice, upset companions as a consequence but without us losing them and never even getting a chance to 'make it right' so to speak.

Edited January 29, 2017 by JennyFlynn

[Saito_Hiraga]

Hey folks,

 

Keep the questions coming! I am taking them to the team to get answers. Just letting you know they aren't falling into a vacuum, answers are coming.

 

-eric

 

Why the hell did you removed the option to customize Shae Vizla? It sucks as heck. People's being looking for customizable KOTFE companions and now that you are releasing some cool new companions that we can customize you just decide to remove the option from them? ***?!

[Nyla]

I have big doubts BW will manage to give us somewhat equal and interesting choices about Quinn/Elara and which side we choose.

There are many things involved here, which class you play, your alignment, your feelings if any about Quinn/Elara, your PoV on the Empire/Republic, what happend in KotET, what the Empire/Republic do on Iokath...

 

I'm afraid of having too few possibilities without enough fine tuning to handle properly the situation.

[Wayshuba]

Gent's what about the SOLO players which likely make up more then 50% of your player base..?

 

I'd be willing to bet solo players make up about 10% of a customer base.

 

Two point of inflection:

 

1.) At last year's FF fanfest, they mentioned that 89% of players group regularly for play and 11% solo-play and/or group infrequently.

 

2.) At SWTOR launch their were 2 million subs. By the following summer, 6 months later, there were 200,000. 10% of the original base (this number grew to 400k with the move to F2P). So 10% of the peeps remained, the rest leaving over the lack of end game group content and the sheer volume of silliness (tanks getting healing gear drops in raids).

[Talon_strikes]

Gent's what about the SOLO players which likely make up more then 50% of your player base..?

And I'm the Queen of England!

[casirabit]

Actually I think most players play a variety of activities. I doubt you would classify them as "solo" "group" etc because most will play what they think is fun but don't fit into a specific slot some people want to label them in.

 

I like doing solo things, story, etc, but I also will group up with my boyfriend or my guild and do things as well. I have done operations, flashpoints and even some pvp but what I rarely do is group pickups as too many time you can people who will be rude and hateful. The gear not really a problem as most of the time we will work with those people. The ones that are the problem is the ones that don't want to listen and then become hateful when you explain something. Since my time is limited when I play I am not going to subject myself to group with those type of people.

 

A lot of players are like me they do a variety of things so for the most part they don't fit in the labels people want to label them as and frankly labels don't help figure out who plays what or does what as when you do label them you miss others like myself who don't fit in your labels.

[badahriman]

Is there something wrong with ranked CXP earnings? Got 630 CXP, on a win, with warzone bonus, light side winning and CXP bonus. Is this intented? Because I'm done with ranked if it is!

P.S. Got less than 200 CXP on a loss. Whats the point in doing it anymore?

[Yermog]

As it's 5.2 it's still part of 5, which is KOTET. This is simply an addition to KOTET not a new expansion. A new expansion would be called 6.0

So is this like a new chapter in the expansion? Are we going to have to wait another month(s) after 5.2 to get another story update?

[Costello]

Lets be realistic the majority of players are going to be solo players.

 

The last 25 chapters have been solo content, the alerts solo content, even the Star Fortress could easily be done solo. If you don't like solo content this probably isn't the MMO for you, there are far more group focused ones out there.

 

Now I consider myself a solo player, I used to raid 3 or 4 times a week though not any more as they all quit when their was no new operations announced after chapter 9 of Kotfe. Now I didn't quit cause raids weren't the be all and end all for me, likewise I haven't joined a new guild cause spending 3 hours a night, 4 nights a week doing the same old operations does not appeal to me. I like to play a bit and not feel I have to commit to 3 hours in one stretch any more or more to the point 6:30 to 9:30 on the same nights again and again.

 

I'm much more of a casual grouper these days, so in games like ESO I may group up to take down a world boss, or jump in with others to take out an anchor. The wonder here is even if your not grouped you can heal those around you and get credit for the kills.

 

So I think claiming that cause someone grouped up once they are all for group play, while ignoring that if someone plays solo but once grouped up they enjoy solo play is a fallacy. What can be said is that everyone solo play is open to everyone, while group content is gated behind elitests vs noobs and useful classes vs mdps.

[Marlefox]

The issues I see post 5.0 are twofold.

 

Because gearing is still in large measure random, particularly with command crates, there's no sense of being rewarded for playing the game. I personally went through 70 crates before getting a single set piece, but have encountered people who were just lucky and received a fully set of set piece gear in less than 20 gates. It's more like a slot machine than a system that rewards players who devote time and energy into the game. Why even bother?

 

The second problem is a direct result of the first. Harder uprising and ops are fine, but if you can't get the sort of gear needed to run in them what is the point?

 

At the very least, making gear drop probability rise with command rank would help, and reward players who put a lot of time into the game. It is incredibly disheartening when you are at command level 140 and see people at command level 25 who have better gear because they got lucky.

 

Finally, there still is not solution for the necessity to play a single toon in order to gear up in a timely fashion. You created the DvL system that required us to level 8 new characters, but now if we don't focus on a single character we are punished. At the very least, make unassembled components legacy wide rather than bound to a single toon. Anyone can shift gear from toon to toon using legacy armor anyway, and by binding components to a single character just makes the process more complex and wastes components that are the exact number required for gear.

 

PS: Legacy wide bank would be nice.

[Marlefox]

I have big doubts BW will manage to give us somewhat equal and interesting choices about Quinn/Elara and which side we choose.

 

My biggest complaint on that front is that the developers start new stories, and then never finish them. At least they are getting back to NPCs they seem to have forgotten about. But Bioware built their reputation on storytelling. It would be nice if they at least finished stories they start, and didn't tease about stories that aren't there. Why have a romance option with Empress Acena if it can't go anywhere? Theron and Lana? I understand that new dialog costs money. Why tease players with hints of content that's never going to happen?

[AlienEyeTX]

I have big doubts BW will manage to give us somewhat equal and interesting choices about Quinn/Elara and which side we choose.

There are many things involved here, which class you play, your alignment, your feelings if any about Quinn/Elara, your PoV on the Empire/Republic, what happend in KotET, what the Empire/Republic do on Iokath...

 

I'm afraid of having too few possibilities without enough fine tuning to handle properly the situation.

 

You have to know that it will be fairly generic, unless you had romance with one of them. That's just how it goes.

[Plk_Lesiak]

My biggest complaint on that front is that the developers start new stories, and then never finish them. At least they are getting back to NPCs they seem to have forgotten about. But Bioware built their reputation on storytelling. It would be nice if they at least finished stories they start, and didn't tease about stories that aren't there. Why have a romance option with Empress Acena if it can't go anywhere? Theron and Lana? I understand that new dialog costs money. Why tease players with hints of content that's never going to happen?

 

What stories exactly do you mean? They've wrapped up most of them lately. There are always side-stories that get left unresolved in every big lore, but I don't see any obvious ones apart from the missing companions. The ones people usually talk about (for example what happened to Darth Jadus?) are rather minor and many people don't even know about them, as they're class-specific. Theron and Lana? They're a part of ongoing story, not sure what kind of resolution you would want with them.

 

Also, there were always flirt dialogue options in the game that led to nothing more than some amusing dialogue. Acina clearly wasn't interested at that moment, but who knows if we don't get another shot if we side with the Empire in future? Probably not, but still, RL flirting can get you nowhere too.

[TinaLovesHan]

I was pleased with the stream.

 

I'm glad to see that they are returning to trying to make content for everyone who plays the game and not just one part of the player base.

 

Beginning of Ops (which I don't do but I'm happy to see raiders finally get!), a new daily area, more story and returning companions (best news ever for me)!

 

Hopefully we'll get explorable planets and new flashpoints along the way as well.

 

Thanks for listening!

[Lammia]

Will we be able to replay this content (chapter?) just like KOTFE/KOTET. Pretty please! My warrior would be happy to get her husband back over and over again

[NovaSpartanX]

Do we need to be subscribed to access the incoming story arc on Iokath? Edited February 1, 2017 by NovaSpartanX

[MoyaSP]

will we ever be able to start a romance with a companion if you didn't before finishing their companion quest line? Like Vette as a warrior, will there be any flirt options in the future if you didn't romance first time around?

[DanNV]

Do we need to be subscribed to access the incoming story arc on Iokath?

 

I expect you will since you need to be a sub to access KOTET and any end game content.

[MeNaCe-NZ]

I expect you will since you need to be a sub to access KOTET and any end game content.

 

You NEEDED to be a sub to access KotET - you can redo it again if you aren't a sub.

[everclearisalive]

I am sorry 1 Operation Boss with 4 more "planned" to be released over 12 months is simply not good enough in any stretch of the imagination.

 

You had 2 month of making "uprisings" which could have been spent developing this Operation!

 

This is another now well opaque way to make us Subs stay with you for the long term, and the title of 5.1 Defender of the Throne.... You mean defender of 5.0 because again you clearly have not listened to those that are affected by these updates.

 

The rate in which you gain CXP is tragically bad for anyone doing Quest such as main quest chain, Daily Quests and Heroics (and since alts now hit cap at around Taris if you do everything) you would get 1 rank in around 9hrs of gaming! 9 sodding hours! not everyone wants to live in a Flashpoint or a Warzone!

 

Let me put it another way for you, an Uprising can be done in 20mins, you can do 3 in an hour so in the same time it as taken someone to earn your gosh darn grind level someone as completed 27 Uprisings and altered their bar more than 3 or 4 times in that time! Oh, to show how much more screwed up your system is, in that 9hrs you will have needed to complete well over 100 quests! yea good luck finding over 100 quests to do on one planet as you level and spend your working hours not even denting the bloody thing!

 

Then you come up with a system that is more complicated that the original system you removed! all to benefit what? you precious uprisings and your job? clearly you are not capable of doing it to a degree that can keep a player base let alone a subscription base believe in your content!

 

You sat their smugly tonight and again used you Exciting and Fun terminology to describe the clusterf**** that is 5.0.

 

When I returned to the game in September I was impressed with how the game had developed in my 2 yrs absence, and was excited to get back into the game and progress, even brought along friends who used to play this game back then too and we formed our guild with the aim to run the content and see the Ops again and get the gear using the tokens.

 

The game in its state worked! ok there were bugs but nothing is bug free and it was "Exiting" and "Fun" to play TOR then you lot decide in your moronic wisdom to release 5.0 were

 

- Companions lag so far behind they let you die, if they aren’t sooo far behind you can’t tell if they are under the floor or flying in the sky it is beyond the joke to try run with a companion these days!

 

- You introduce a system to get gear that literally as to be the worst thing since John Smedley dropped NGE on SWG and to make matters worse you make crafters only make one set below the entry cap to SM Ops!

 

- Unless you’re a Cybertech you can kiss getting a schematic drop for you in an Operation, again your RNG system at it finest!

 

- The command crate random drop rate is so far screwed up that after 50 levels of getting sod and all when back in the day the amount of content I had ran thus far would have rewarded a better rate.

 

- You push Jawa scrap at every turn you the Jawa vendors don't even have Grade 10 items which would be useful since you guys couldn’t be arsed to make open world planets anymore which drooped material spawns, now we have to either send 1 of 40 companions out (and only use 8, why have 40 companions when you can only use 8), run a dungeon with friends that like to wait as you clean up the place or end up using GTN and the over inflated prices.

 

Somewhere in the time between September and December you guys lost the plot and I am pretty sure now a lot of the subscriber that are left are losing their patients with you mishandling the game.

 

It is a real shame that I may have to join those ditching their subs soon because I honestly don’t believe you are working on the right steps to make this game great again.

 

You made out that tonight livestream would be about Ops and Endgame content you spent more time talking about Story content which is NOT end game content, talking about Master Uprisings which no one cares about and then telling us you half arsed made oh wait made give this thing too much credit you have a plan to release a build-a-op which will come in monthly parts Hell have you turned into one of those magazines you subscribe to, you can have this Operation in 100 episodes!

 

Seriously it is pathetic and beyond the joke now that you 3 are even still employed! It is time SW and BW had someone in charge of the development team that have a sodding clue what they are doing and are in touch with reality and what their player base want.

 

I hear FF XIV is doing well these day and as more content in it than this as and it only relaunched 2 years ago the same time you last did anything decent for endgame

 

 

This big rant is spot on. I will add mine. I unsubscribed a few days ago. Just out of pure boredom, not rage, and a pure loss of faith in the management of the game. I've played for 4-5 years, not always as a sub, but I logged on and spent cartel coins when I was F2P to show that I enjoyed the game. I've been holding out for open-planets again as it's still my fave part of the game, yet we get none, and the GC garbage ( which I gave you credit and hope on) was hopeless. It takes questing too long to level GC up, so why bother? I admit I suck at PvP so why waste other player's time filling a PvP space for the absolute garbage that I get in the rare GC level up's I get? I should have an option to select what i would like in the box and the RNG will give me based on that. If i dont need comp gifts or pets then dont give me them. They will just be scrapped. Waste of Dev skills surely?

 

I don't care for flashpoints, done them all. Didn't love them so harder modes are pointless to me. As for op's, I don't try/ nor want to try them and would ruin it for those that 100% do. You get the same and vice-versa from different groups. RGP'ers are missing stuff. Op's guys missing stuff. PvP'ers are missing stuff. PVE open-world questers are missing stuff. I'm an amateur CG artist and I could design and create a half-decent PvP map in a month using the models database that you have. I just don't know what you spend you're time doing. Do EA bosses? I now think it;s reached a point where EA should end the game or change management. - a real V2.0 effort. I'd feel lost in some ways, but it's like a break-up. It's no longer what it once was. I'd spend 8-12 hours a day playing, now one. If that. Stardew Valley has given me more fun in the last week than TOR this year. That has ONE DEVELOPER FFS. I assume you get paid well, and are complacent. No longer hungry.

 

You almost had me with companions coming back. It's like only two of them, and Nadia Grell isn't one so that sucks for my consular.

Ignoring our rants for PvP, Op's, less junk in GC etc as you've likely read/ignored that...so why bother again?

 

My 5 cents -

Add more mission storylines on planets. Send Sith to Jedi planet's etc - they're end-game allied so mix it up. Surely some Sith planetary stuff could be ally-linked so a Jedi could do them. Let the player say if he wants to be ally flagged so he can go to the opposite base areas for missions. Or are planets only for new players?

Merge Servers. Make it feel like an MMO. I'd play black desert etc and it's full of players. Surely TOR is just spread too thin and not that empty?

Have more events like Life Day throughout the year. For all it's worth, it did bring players together, added a community feel. Have an Empire day, and a Rep' day, just do more.

Get chat active again. instead of just spam. Drop in polls or something or tie it in to the official swtor and SW twitter feeds. Keeps people involved and that helps. There is nothing worse in an mmo than feeling alone. Guildies are seeing they have no one to chat too as guilds are emptying. That's not an mmo to stick with.

I hope we get to be in an At-At. Looking out as its walking on Hoth. Innovate.

Look, drop the cartel market RNG and do what ARC games etc do with neverwinter/star trek, but cheaper. Let us buy what WE want not just random stuff we don't. Have huge selections of items listed to buy directly from you and not RNG drop potentials. The items are there but not on the GTN as that's dead,.I bet people bought Treek. I wonder why? They wanted to. The CC are worthless if we just get a random item we don't want. if you actually are listening why is it the same years on?

 

Sadly, I suppose I'm the problem. I want the start game planet-style endless content whilst being an end game player. TOR is likely fun to new players. I hear FF14, WoW and the rest are too!

[RameiArashi]

Is the choice in Iokath. permanent? If my lightside imperial agent who chose to be a real double agent for the Republic sides with the Republic does that mean he's cut off from ever getting his wife Raina Temple back since she's Imperial?

[Luinthoron]

A few questions, story/companion related;

 

- If my Jedi Knight elects to side with the Empire to obtain Quinn and because tbqfh, she's beyond frustrated with the Republic, then according to Charles' this MAY affect future companion recruitment... does that mean she won't be able to get ANY of the future Republic-sided companions, or just some? Iresso was mentioned as an example and it would make sense for him not to wish to join a 'traitor' but Lord Scourge for example, the Jedi Knight's own companion, realistically he wouldn't/shouldn't care. Hell he'd probably rejoice so what of companions like him, will he become off-limits too if my JK sides with the Empire? — Perhaps leave the option open in all cases and just have comps like Iresso express a certain disdain with like, 1-2 extra conversational steps to reel him in or convince him.

- That is a bit of a complicated question so let me work on it. We will get the answer out before 5.2 so you are informed for the choice!

So, any news on this? Most questions about 5.2 have been answered by now, but I haven't seen anything on its effect on future companions in the Dev Tracker.