They listened:Patch notes

[americanaussie]

Patch notes are pretty awesome. People can remove XP boosts. The size of the purple indicators on map are reduced. The enemy aoe will no longer be green. Lots of stuff. 😁

[Ryenke]

Patch notes are pretty awesome. People can remove XP boosts. The size of the purple indicators on map are reduced. The enemy aoe will no longer be green. Lots of stuff. 😁

 

Wow, we define awesome differently. Good for you, tho, I guess.

[PanVlk]

"Story Mode Flashpoints are no longer listed in the Group Finder."

 

I wonder if they managed to screw this up in some new way, they already tried to fix the labeling once and without success:-D.

 

My guess is this time they will keep the Veteran labels for Master flashpoints and just remove the option to queue for Veteran (current Story mode label) altogether:-D.

[americanaussie]

Wow, we define awesome differently. Good for you, tho, I guess.

 

Awesome as defined that a lot of things bothering people are being fixed. I knew they wouldn't announce no more cxp. But these are small fixes that will make the game improved.

 

As for myself I love the XP boosts but anyway I'm happy for all those who have complained about it.

[IanArgent]

It's a decent set of changes. The only odd one is the "Story Mode Flashpoints are no longer listed in the Group Finder" one; which only vaguely bothers me; assuming it means the "solo mode" Story Mode. (Not that I've been using GF for TFPs recently, since uprisings are quicker)

[jimmorrisson]

http://www.swtor.com/patchnotes

 

Free-to-Play chat restrictions have been adjusted in order to help address third-party service advertisement spam.

Interesting

 

The Dark vs. Light Armor Set no longer bolsters to higher than intended stats in Warzones.

 

[PanVlk]

It's a decent set of changes. The only odd one is the "Story Mode Flashpoints are no longer listed in the Group Finder" one; which only vaguely bothers me; assuming it means the "solo mode" Story Mode. (Not that I've been using GF for TFPs recently, since uprisings are quicker)

The wording is indeed weird.

 

At first, when they changed Solo mode to Story mode, Tactical mode to Veteran and Hard mode to Master, they forgot to fix the group finder labeling. So in GF, Veteran flashpoints were called Story mode and Master flashpoints were called Hard mode.

 

Then they tried to fix it, but since not even anyone at Bioware seems to have clear idea how the new "simplified" labeling works, they just kept GF labels for Veteran flashpoints as Story mode and renamed Hard mode to Veteran.

 

From these new patch notes it sounds like they are going to remove the Veteran flashpoints (labeled as story mode) altogether, because they didn't figure out they are incorrectly labeled Veteran flashpoints.:-D

Edited February 27, 2017 by PanVlk

[AscendingSky]

I'm glad they're fixing (or at least minimizing; seriously, those purple circles should just go away entirely, no one wants them) things that they broke themselves, but that's like saying it's awesome for someone to wipe up the drink they just spilled rather than leaving the puddle to spread on the floor and be a hazard to anyone who walks through it. That's not 'awesome', that's putting in a minimal amount of effort to not be an awful person.

 

Now, if they actually were introducing some new worthwhile content, re-instituting the 4.0 gearing system, adding a fun new seasonal event, announcing Ben Irving had been replaced with someone who knew how to develop for an MMORPG instead of a microtransaction-laden mobile game or a scratch-off lottery, or something else along those lines? THAT would be worthy of the word 'awesome'. This is just meh.

Edited February 27, 2017 by AscendingSky

[americanaussie]

I'm glad they're fixing (or at least minimizing; seriously, those purple circles should just go away entirely, no one wants them) things that they broke themselves, but that's like saying it's awesome for someone to wipe up the drink they just spilled rather than leaving the puddle to spread on the floor and be a hazard to anyone who walks through it. That's not 'awesome', that's putting in a minimal amount of effort to not be an awful person.

 

Now, if they actually were introducing some new worthwhile content, re-instituting the 4.0 gearing system, adding a fun new seasonal event, announcing Ben Irving had been replaced with someone who knew how to develop for an MMORPG instead of a microtransaction-laden mobile game or a scratch-off lottery, or something else along those lines? THAT would be worthy of the word 'awesome'. This is just meh.

 

I hope you don't mean going back to 4.0 gearing as I'm actually gearing faster than I did with 4.0 and better too. But no one here actually thinks they will fix that before the next xpac do we? I mean they're putting bandaids on it and I suppose buying stuff with command tokens would be like 4.0.

 

I like that we can do anything to get gear rather than specific activities. I like that everyone can get bis gear. Maybe a solo player would like a go at ops?

 

I don't like RNG. I hate RNG. I don't like cxp meaning that I grind CH 2 to death because if I get bad RNG in wz or a bad team on PvP then my time is worth fewer cxp. If I use a boost then I want to maximise the points. That means 2-3 hrs of chapter 2. I hate that. But I don't think they'll fully get rid of it until we are out of 5.0

Edited February 27, 2017 by americanaussie

[Quraswren]

I'm glad they're fixing (or at least minimizing; seriously, those purple circles should just go away entirely, no one wants them) things that they broke themselves, but that's like saying it's awesome for someone to wipe up the drink they just spilled rather than leaving the puddle to spread on the floor and be a hazard to anyone who walks through it. That's not 'awesome', that's putting in a minimal amount of effort to not be an awful person.

 

Now, if they actually were introducing some new worthwhile content, re-instituting the 4.0 gearing system, adding a fun new seasonal event, announcing Ben Irving had been replaced with someone who knew how to develop for an MMORPG instead of a microtransaction-laden mobile game or a scratch-off lottery, or something else along those lines? THAT would be worthy of the word 'awesome'. This is just meh.

 

I'm not entirely sure I could agree with you more.

 

Well said.

[Raphael_diSanto]

I'm glad they're fixing (or at least minimizing; seriously, those purple circles should just go away entirely, no one wants them)

 

Aren't generalizations fun?

 

I like 'em and all my friends like 'em, so I guess your 'no one wants them' assertion is incorrect.

 

They make it much easier to see and find your group members on the map. I'm glad they'll be smaller, and I'm glad they won't cover other player arrows, but I'm also glad they're not going away.

Edited February 28, 2017 by Raphael_diSanto

[Clarian]

I'm glad they're fixing (or at least minimizing; seriously, those purple circles should just go away entirely, no one wants them) things that they broke themselves, but that's like saying it's awesome for someone to wipe up the drink they just spilled rather than leaving the puddle to spread on the floor and be a hazard to anyone who walks through it. That's not 'awesome', that's putting in a minimal amount of effort to not be an awful person.

Can't argue with that!

 

But while they're at it, I REALLY hope the next unforced error they correct is the DvL pop-ups...as in, giving us an option to block them.

[heythereqt]

I'm glad they're fixing (or at least minimizing; seriously, those purple circles should just go away entirely, no one wants them) things that they broke themselves, but that's like saying it's awesome for someone to wipe up the drink they just spilled rather than leaving the puddle to spread on the floor and be a hazard to anyone who walks through it. That's not 'awesome', that's putting in a minimal amount of effort to not be an awful person.

 

Now, if they actually were introducing some new worthwhile content, re-instituting the 4.0 gearing system, adding a fun new seasonal event, announcing Ben Irving had been replaced with someone who knew how to develop for an MMORPG instead of a microtransaction-laden mobile game or a scratch-off lottery, or something else along those lines? THAT would be worthy of the word 'awesome'. This is just meh.

 

Well said. ^

 

They fixed a few very minor details that they themselves broke, and as usual ignored the game-breaking bugs that players have reported and disliked the most. Preview menu still isn't fixed...AOE markers still show up as green in warzones, regardless of if it's from a friend or enemy player...certain companions are still bugging out wearing certain outfits...no fixes for the important things. I'd hardly call this patch "awesome."

 

I hope you don't mean going back to 4.0 gearing as I'm actually gearing faster than I did with 4.0 and better too...

 

I don't mean to accuse you of falsehoods, but I have a hard time believing that you played much of endgame during 4.0 if you're gearing faster now in 5.0. At this time last year during 4.0, I had 3 characters in full BIS pvp gear and 2 in full BIS pve gear. As of now I don't have even close to a full set-bonus tier 1 set, and I'm playing relatively the same amount. GC is a terrible system, and 4.0 gearing was better in literally every way imaginable.

 

And can we please put the "this system allows any player to gear themselves, even casuals" idea to bed? This system rewards players who grind Master Chapters and Fractured Veteran Uprisings over and over and over until their eyes and fingers are bleeding. For casual players (and anyone else not doing those things), it's a massive grind that is more akin to a second job.

[aerockyul]

I hope you don't mean going back to 4.0 gearing as I'm actually gearing faster than I did with 4.0 and better too. But no one here actually thinks they will fix that before the next xpac do we? I mean they're putting bandaids on it and I suppose buying stuff with command tokens would be like 4.0.

 

I like that we can do anything to get gear rather than specific activities. I like that everyone can get bis gear. Maybe a solo player would like a go at ops?

 

I don't like RNG. I hate RNG. I don't like cxp meaning that I grind CH 2 to death because if I get bad RNG in wz or a bad team on PvP then my time is worth fewer cxp. If I use a boost then I want to maximise the points. That means 2-3 hrs of chapter 2. I hate that. But I don't think they'll fully get rid of it until we are out of 5.0

 

I think they would have had a good thing going in 5.0 if they had just kept 4.0's system but increased the crystal rewards all around. Increase for Ops, FPs, heroics, weeklies, dailies, etc. And then allow crystals to be earned through GSF, chapters, PvE space missions, etc. Maybe tweak the system as far as how many crystals each activity should earn. And raise the cap of course. That cap was really annoying.

 

That way everyone could earn their way towards better gear doing what they want, which seemed to be part of the goal of the current system. 4.0 stopped people just short of BiS gear and I think that was perfectly fine. You should have to do the hardest content to get the best gear, I think that should be a given in any situation. And you weren't hamstrung running your normal non-NiM Ops content if you didn't have 224 full-set.

 

The crystals eliminated RNG and helped those who might have finished an Op but didn't earn anything during the run, because they'd still get the crystals, which they could then go and purchase something they actually needed. I don't see why they couldn't have made even set bonus gear (not 224 set bonus, but maybe something lower) available for a higher amount of crystals. Set gear used to be purchasable with planetary comms, that was great. It wasn't the best but anyone could save those up and get a starter set for pve endgame right off the bat after finishing the class stories.

 

I think the only problems with that system were for those who weren't earning enough (so improve how many and where you can earn the crystals for each activity) and those who were running NiM content already and had BiS and the crystals became relatively useless to them. They started expanding the things crystals could buy (like companion gifts and DMC's and Isotopes), but they could have improved that by allowing more diverse cosmetic items to buy with crystals.

 

The system was really good for most people, all they really needed to do was tweak output and the possible things to buy with the crystals (not everyone is gear-oriented either, so again, you're expanding access to content for all players).

 

And finally, 4.0 was obviously much friendlier for gearing alts. They made it even EASIER for everyone by giving out legacy gear like candy from alliance crates. And you could, for instance, be a fully geared healer, earn crystals, and buy tank gear for your tank that is under-geared but you'd like to use soon. That isn't possible with the current system.

[Ryenke]

snip...

I'd hardly call this patch "awesome."

 

Snip...

 

And can we please put the "this system allows any player to gear themselves, even casuals" idea to bed? This system rewards players who grind Master Chapters and Fractured Veteran Uprisings over and over and over until their eyes and fingers are bleeding. For casual players (and anyone else not doing those things), it's a massive grind that is more akin to a second job.

 

Oh, so much got to agree. Specifically in relation to casuals: A few casuals in my imp guild were just sayin how they were much happier and well geared this time last year via commendation crystals.

[PoshTS]

I hope you don't mean going back to 4.0 gearing as I'm actually gearing faster than I did with 4.0 and better too. But no one here actually thinks they will fix that before the next xpac do we? I mean they're putting bandaids on it and I suppose buying stuff with command tokens would be like 4.0.

 

I like that we can do anything to get gear rather than specific activities. I like that everyone can get bis gear. Maybe a solo player would like a go at ops?

 

I don't like RNG. I hate RNG. I don't like cxp meaning that I grind CH 2 to death because if I get bad RNG in wz or a bad team on PvP then my time is worth fewer cxp. If I use a boost then I want to maximise the points. That means 2-3 hrs of chapter 2. I hate that. But I don't think they'll fully get rid of it until we are out of 5.0

 

How much is EA paying you for the constant white knighting Mr. Irving? If a solo player cant take 5 minutes out of his day to learn a 4 year old raid that has had SM mechanics nerfed to oblivion, then what business does he really need in a set bonus? Set bonus serves no purpose to run planet missions or grind chapters or whatever you guys do.

[stoopicus]

Ok kudos where due:

 

The Dark vs. Light Armor Set no longer bolsters to higher than intended stats in Warzones.

 

YAY!

[Edyn]

Patch notes are pretty awesome. People can remove XP boosts. The size of the purple indicators on map are reduced. The enemy aoe will no longer be green. Lots of stuff. 😁

In regards to the minimap and AoE telegraph tweaks, that would the same as me intentionally breaking my husb's favorite mug and then telling him how "awesome" it was that I picked up the broken pieces and glued the mug back together. BW previously "listened" to players by fixing these items that they had previously broke while they were trying to fix them the first time when they weren't even broken to begin with. If the minimap and AoE telegraphs now work well as they used to, then we're essentially just back to zero, and I really can't give BW props for that. Also, this is assuming that these are in fact fixed tomorrow... I mean, how many times has the item preview window bug been fixed, but not fixed?

 

You say BW listened and I think this is true, but the questions is, "who are they listening to and to what extent?" In regards to the minimap and AoE telegraphs, BW didn't listen to players in regards to the initial prioritization of bug fixes and QoL improvements, but listened to themselves, which is why we're in this predicament to begin with. If they didn't listen then, why should I think they're listening now? Just because BW appears to be listening to players, it doesn't mean that they are truly listening. If they were truly listening and not simply giving the appearance of it, why didn't they just restore the minimap and AoE telegraphs back to the way they were, as so many players requested, rather than spending resources tweaking the new ones? Come to think of it, one could ask the same question in regards to GC.

[mike_carton]

Patch notes are pretty awesome. People can remove XP boosts. The size of the purple indicators on map are reduced. The enemy aoe will no longer be green. Lots of stuff. 😁

 

Got to say, that's the most attentive and responsive the developers have been in quite some while.

 

I'm definitely inclined to offer well-justified thanks.

[americanaussie]

Well said. ^

 

They fixed a few very minor details that they themselves broke, and as usual ignored the game-breaking bugs that players have reported and disliked the most. Preview menu still isn't fixed...AOE markers still show up as green in warzones, regardless of if it's from a friend or enemy player...certain companions are still bugging out wearing certain outfits...no fixes for the important things. I'd hardly call this patch "awesome."

 

 

 

I don't mean to accuse you of falsehoods, but I have a hard time believing that you played much of endgame during 4.0 if you're gearing faster now in 5.0. At this time last year during 4.0, I had 3 characters in full BIS pvp gear and 2 in full BIS pve gear. As of now I don't have even close to a full set-bonus tier 1 set, and I'm playing relatively the same amount. GC is a terrible system, and 4.0 gearing was better in literally every way imaginable.

 

And can we please put the "this system allows any player to gear themselves, even casuals" idea to bed? This system rewards players who grind Master Chapters and Fractured Veteran Uprisings over and over and over until their eyes and fingers are bleeding. For casual players (and anyone else not doing those things), it's a massive grind that is more akin to a second job.

 

The aoe markers will be fixed with this patch. Obviously you didn't bother to read that bit or missed it. The patch happens tonight so it's not fixed until then.

 

I ran heroics until I was sick. I did sf. After WEEKS...MONTHS? of grinding I earned my first piece of 220 gear. Hooray. Got maybe 2 pieces of 216 gear a week. I'm currently outfitted in 234-240 gear at tier 2 level 119 maybe? Pretty happy about that. Not happy about the system but helluva lot better than crystals. I PvP or run CH 2 for it and rarely do heroics now. Sometimes I run flashpoints.i may try uprisings. I didn't do any of that before as it took me til 5.0 (from say July) to get 216 gear with 2 220 one being that relic you get as a reward from CH 16

[Ottoattack]

Fixing a bug, wither it is the AOE colors or map color icons, that takes over a month is not something that should be commended.

[americanaussie]

I should add I was on the Bastion so things like operations...most of us never did. PVP didn't pop much either. By the time I transferred over to Harbinger, shortly before 5.0, it was be geared or don't bother when it came to post end content. Even 2 weeks ago, I had someone bully me in pvp because of my 230 gear saying they'd probably lose because of my gear. I think we won but they had to go through the list making fun of people. There's always clowns like that I suppose but it doesn't make me brave enough to do any ops.

[stoopicus]

Look, you can look at my post history to verify that I am pretty far from being a white knight here, but:

 

Fixing a bug, wither it is the AOE colors or map color icons, that takes over a month is not something that should be commended.

 

You're completely, 100% wrong here. They basically prioritized this bugfix (and the others) into the next scheduled patch they could, and should be recognized for fixing it. Sure, it's doing their jobs, but all the same, it's good they fixed it and got the fix out reasonably quickly. None of the bugs fixed were game-breaking, just nice things to clean up.

 

So, thanks for these changes, BW.

[americanaussie]

Look, you can look at my post history to verify that I am pretty far from being a white knight here, but:

 

 

 

You're completely, 100% wrong here. They basically prioritized this bugfix (and the others) into the next scheduled patch they could, and should be recognized for fixing it. Sure, it's doing their jobs, but all the same, it's good they fixed it and got the fix out reasonably quickly. None of the bugs fixed were game-breaking, just nice things to clean up.

 

So, thanks for these changes, BW.

 

Agreed. Although, has it really been over a month?

[stoopicus]

It went in with 5.1, right?