How would YOU design an expansion?

[Andryah]

Been back for a few months now, but only just yesterday got around to my first playthrough of Shadow Of Revan. Not anywhere near done yet, but Rishi is a nice example of an expansion, at least so far. Big, proper place, with unique look. Some new mechanics involved as well (the salvage reclamation droid missions AKA "the Claw!" for example) and right now a decent addition to my character's story which is a departure, but not handled in a way that seems out of character or detracting from the earlier game.

 

I liked Rishi... but I actually quit early on in 3.0 because the studio simply made so many bone-headed moves around the release and early support/fixes for 3.0. So I took a 6 month break, rather then get all medieval about it.

 

I still will play through Rishi sometimes.

 

Makeb on the other hand.. I avoid that rat hole like it's the plague. And I did not particularly like the Makeb expansion as a whole either. It gave me that WoW-Burning Crusade fragmented planet feeling (without flying mounts) which I hated back then in WoW as well.

[TUXs]

Interesting view, though guess it would need a couple of tweaking to make them more interesting and well that would not be a Xpack.

 

Still in regards of quick wins I'd suggest publishing the existing OP with a 4 players mode and at some point a 2 player or even single player mode. Releasing one or two per month as appetizer.

Well of course it would need some work, but the bulk of it is already finished. It would basically be reskinning Ops...but it would still be something "new" for players to adventure through. Seal up old passages, open new, move mobs around, new textures...work...but minimal work.

 

I don't think catering to even smaller groups should be a long term goal...people have been very vocal asking for 8 man Ops...the last thing we need is more 4 player content imo.

Edited February 6, 2017 by TUXs

[x_Boots_x]

I would focus 1st on cheap easy changes, proper gear progression system, I would also design some new pvp maps, the easiest would be to take existing pvp map mechanics and simpily change the map environment that they are in to a different planet with different surroundings with the same mechanics, not always reinventing the pvp wheel, that adds tons of content with tons of replayability at little development cost, I would also include 1 new operation, flash point and heroic based off the same map with each update and allow solo players to have a mode for each operation or flashpoint that allows them to use 7 or 4 of their companions with simplified boss mechanics and reduced rewards.

[Andryah]

Interesting view, though guess it would need a couple of tweaking to make them more interesting and well that would not be a Xpack.

 

Still in regards of quick wins I'd suggest publishing the existing OP with a 4 players mode and at some point a 2 player or even single player mode. Releasing one or two per month as appetizer.

 

Yeah.... simply reskinning, and reusing code, will not satisfy most raiders... not at all. The studio gets reamed regularly over "reskinning" things... even though every studio does it. This would be pooring gasoline on an already lit fire.... though that might actually be TUXs intention with the suggestion.

Edited February 6, 2017 by Andryah

[TUXs]

This would be pooring gasoline on an already lit fire.... though that might actually be TUXs intention with the suggestion.

Insinuating that I'm trying to instigate anything is ridiculous and offensive. Unlike you, I'm suggesting things that would help grow the damn game...not continue to see it decline.

[PlasmaJohn]

- I'd reskin 4 Ops. Use bosses from EC and Uprisings for the templates, use existing maps but reskin everything and change player pathing to make it feel "new".

Social raiding exists on the long tail of raid content but isn't really the draw. Unfortunately they really do require new mechanics. Their allure is that they're a new puzzle to work on. The early adopters will have to work everything out from scratch. Once guides are published teams have the option to build on others' experience and/or strategies.

 

Shuffling the fights around really isn't a satisfactory answer.

Edited February 6, 2017 by PlasmaJohn

[Wayshuba]

Name them please, and substantiate why.

 

Keep in mind.. one persons "meet" or "exceed" =/= another persons... so this will be a uphill challenge for you.

 

If everyone played the same way, at the same pace, and with the same expectations, you would have a good point here. But as you can see.. your baseline for measuring (the people playing) is not a simple equation to meet.

 

See.. some players never run out of things to do in an MMO.. even if the pace of new content is lacking by commercial norms and standards. Others can and will binge consume and discard quickly in the absence of more piles to binge on. And of course there is a full range of players in between. MMOs are the antithesis of "one size fits all".

 

It is the bingers that cannot be satisfied, ever.. no matter the MMO. They rotate through an ongoing series of virtual infatuations of one MMO after another... always discarding and verbally trashing the last "girlfriend" in favor of the new one. I call these players the "serial MMO infatuators" and they are free to play as they like, but they are generally disruptive to some degree because they also think everyone should play their way. In my guild.. we in fact have ways to screen for this trait and we deny memberships over it, because we have found over time that they are disruptive to guild stability and growth. And I am sure they can find other suitable guilds with like minded people for a few months until they all binge on the salt block of dissatisfaction and /group_rage_quit.

 

First, I will name two where the player bases have generally been satisfied with the output of new content (in fact, a good majority of them praise these games for it - FFXIV:ARR and ESO. Regular quarterly content updates from each.

 

In fact, ESO just released the housing update today for free (to both B2P and subscribers). Last week they announced the annual update schedule which will be content updates every quarter except Q2. Q2 will be an expansion, each year while Q3 DLC update will strictly be group (Trails - their version of raids) content. FFXIV is doing major expansions (two in two years) that rival those done by WoW AND they are putting out sizable updates about every 4 months.

 

Of course, their is still a matter of ones taste in an MMO, and they may not be for everybody, but they do receive from the player base in the amount of content they produce regularly.

Edited February 6, 2017 by Wayshuba

[HuaRya]

Looking at an MMO as a theme park I would:

 

A. Make new rides and rollercoasters in the way of PVP/GSF maps and Operations

B. I would at complexities to the Guildships like upkeep and other functionalties like planets only they can visit for quests

C. I would created side games like slot machines, pizaak, companion fighting like Pokemon, Mount Racing

D. I would create new classes to play that evolve from factions like Hutt Cartel, Gree, Rakata, etc.

E. Offer new purchasable Strongholds on planets like Manaan, Zakuul, Darvannis,

F. I would frequently update the items vendors sell for the rotating events and bring back Chevin and Casino add to rotation

G. I would make sure every class and faction have unique looking gear like it was with Champion, Battlemaster, War Hero

[craggy]

definitely need to bring back Chevin.

[craggy]

I would focus 1st on cheap easy changes,..., I would also include 1 new operation, flash point and heroic based off the same map with each update and allow solo players to have a mode for each operation or flashpoint that allows them to use 7 or 4 of their companions with simplified boss mechanics and reduced rewards.

 

I'm not sure how cheap and easy changing the entire nature of companions and Operations is...

[Rankyn]

definitely need to bring back Chevin.

They've already said that one's never coming back, but I'd like to see them re-use some of the mechanics from it in a new repeatable event.

[Lunafox]

If I were to design a new expansion, I would start with:

 

1)Adding new faces, new hairstyles and colours, tattoos and new make up choices and cyborg implants. Anything that is doubled up on, like make-up and lekku for example would be separated into separate choices, so there is a greater variety of customization. New lekku positions and lekku tip decorations. New Jewellery and nail colours.

 

2) I would add a new race or two--like Zeltrons and Sarkhai.

 

3) New classes--Sith Ritualist/Necromancer and Jedi Ritualist/Vivimancer with new voice actors and stories.

 

4) Companion romance expansion--companion stories with a romantic bent to them. Also with 'x' amount of companion gifts, a trigger to do a romantic conversation with your companion. The ability to romance other class companions, like SI could romance Torian or Malavai for example.

 

5)New Companions--Sith lords or Jedi council comps...I'm thinking Vowrawn, Ravage, Ghost Marr...and for the Jedi Camping Barbie Satele, Or Gnost Dural or Bella Kiwiiks

 

6) New strongholds--Rishi and Odessen

 

7)New mount--Sith Limousine and something scraggly for the Republic cause that's what they like.

 

8) New Dyes...Black and Irridescent blue/green So black...with irridescent qualities

 

9) 8 new mini-stories, one for each class. (Like Rishi had, but make it three or four quests long)

 

10) New ships to choose from after you achieve level 70. Something sexxxy, with enough room for your crew, a refresher...and something that doesn't resemble a durasteel flea *coughgravestonecough*

Edited February 7, 2017 by Lunafox

[TUXs]

Social raiding exists on the long tail of raid content but isn't really the draw. Unfortunately they really do require new mechanics. Their allure is that they're a new puzzle to work on. The early adopters will have to work everything out from scratch. Once guides are published teams have the option to build on others' experience and/or strategies.

 

Shuffling the fights around really isn't a satisfactory answer.

Variety is though. I'm only saying where I would suggest they start, not where they should end. They don't need to reinvent the wheel with every Op and the people who wouldn't be happy are no worse off than they are now. It's far from the ideal solution, but it's better than we've been getting and it's where "I" would start.

[AscendingSky]

1. Make it a paid expansion. I'd be willing to put in extra money if it meant EAWAre could get the funding/employees/will to get off their shebs and start making an MMO again instead of a single player RPG with a 3D chatroom interface. It's obvious EAWare is unwilling at this point to give us an actual expansion without additional cash. So fine, that's economics, I can deal with that, if it means all the content I'd want to put in an actual expansion would be doable.

 

2. At least one new fully explorable planet area with both dailies and a story questline. RotHC had Makeb (which I'm not fond of, but it was a big map with plenty of quests nonetheless). SoR had Rishi and Yavin (which again both had a storyline as well as repeatable quests). All the last two expansions have given us are Odessen (which is just a hub to do the expansion content with some vendors and GTN/mailbox), Zakuul (an area just for some of the expansion chapters, with zero repeatable content and quests beyond the dull as dirt cage match thing which doesn't even give you gear worth a damn anymore), and Darvannis (a small explorable area only good at this point for farming mats, without any actual content outside the one chapter that occurs there). That's not enough.

 

3. At least one new stronghold. We haven't received one since SoR, two years ago. I'd also add an additional deck or two to guild flagships (especially ones with more centerpiece hooks, the current ships only have one on the whole thing). Strongholds are good credit sinks for people, which this game could use with the inflation a lot of servers are experiencing.

 

4. At least one new GSF map with a new game mechanic of some kind. Deathmatch and Domination are all GSF has now.

 

5. At least one new PvP map--again with a new mechanic, not just a new arena that's just wallpaper, and for God's sakes not another Huttball map, we already have two.

 

6. Return to 4.0 style gearing, but without a highlighted HM ops every week. Make the unassembled components the new warzone comms/crystals and have them drop from all the content at similar rates as those things used to.

 

7. Keep Galactic Command as a supplement to the gearing system, not the core. That way solo players who just want to do story and quests could still get some gear.

 

8. At least 2 new flashpoints, with solo modes as well as group ones, with actual story and cutscenes.

 

9. At least 1 new operation, released all at once.

 

10. No more glorified Heroic 2+ missions you can queue for, aka Uprisings. We have 10, that's enough for now for some boring cut and paste content without story.

 

11. The return of ALL missing class companions, with one VOICED mission to get each of them back.

 

12. Some actual storyline content for the various romances, both from original class companions as well as the ones from the last two expansions. EAWare has dropped this particular ball for far too long.

 

13. No more HK anything.

 

14. Return the ability for people to buy weekly passes for warzones, operations, etc. This is a revenue stream EAWare has foolishly cut off in favor of trying to force people to play gearing roulette because Ben Irving thinks it's EXCITING!!!!!

 

15. Return to the 3.X drop rate for decorations from flashpoints and operations.

 

16. Add some new decos to the prefab vendors (some of them already exist in the decoration database but have never been added.

 

17. Make cartel certificates start dropping from cartel packs again.

 

18. Add more cosmetic options for character creation. This could include a new race, but it definitely should include new hairstyles, adding tattoo options for both factions, more cybernetic appearances, etc.

 

19. Some new class specific as well as faction specific content. We've all been forced into one single storyline for far too long, which gives us no reason to play through it on different classes.

Edited February 7, 2017 by AscendingSky

[Deewe]

I see where you guys are going with this thread but, no pun intended, right now this game doesn't need a new XPack but a direction and a great one.

[Balameb]

Id make an expansion that focuses on the original companions and relationships. More importantly Lineage. We have a way in game to assign people as friends rivals or offspring but it makes zero difference. I would have an expansion expand upon that ;p Also it would enrich the current vanilla areas of the game by adding content there.

 

I agree with you. I do wonder why the Legacy is not exploited as story. And even with the toons not directly related, having 8 classes and doing 25 chapters (kotfe/kotet) of "the same for all" feels like a missed oportunity. Why not 3/4 chapters each? That way each class has a role and the legacy (besides the perks) has a meaning besides the Legendary status.

The problem is: How can Kotfe/kotet be corrected? Because now, every toon will be the Outlander/Eternal Alliance Comander/Emperor, etc.

 

Other aspects of expansions

I think Every expansion should provide new content to all aspects of the game:

* More PvP maps: And not just new Arenas. I mean: a new Hutball map, a new cap the node; and why not, a new mode? How come there is no "Capture the Flag"???? Based on huttball, should not be that difficult to implement.

* New GSF content

* New Flashpoints

* New Ops

* New Heroics and not just daylies.

* Companion Story. Expanded original companion and story for the new ones. How come that Lana and Theron don't have mini quest for their story development?. An example of what i find missing: I played SoR two times as male Imp side, none romanced Theron. None explained that he is the son of Satele. I know he openly uses his other surname even in front of the enemy (why a spy does that, beats me) but the game kind of asume you know he is her son. I saw videos that if you romance him he tells you something, but only in that particular case and little specifics. In any case, Companions deserve stories, and your relation with the companions also.

* New clasess while nice may be too out of budget. But new races, new faces, hair, etc should be simple (some with subscription, some with CC).

[Galahard]

Continue class stories with individual class specific missions and add on the continuation of companion stories (they could be kidnapped, disappear, have an important life event etc., you are the writers).

As an overarching theme, next to the class stories, have flashpoints, operations and dailies that give the arc of the main story, where class stories give interesting angles of the main story.

Blah, blah, blah resources, just make them and people will come, you must stop assuming zero investment = maximum results.