Game Update 5.2: The War for Iokath Delay

[Valceanu]

It's an MMO, just in case anyone else continues this crazy debate let me repeat, it's an MMO.

/snip

 

No it is not an MMO... it is an MMORPG... and this one has a particular emphasis on the RPG part. Which many of us enjoy. Although i do enjoy PvP and Ops and whatnot... i could never see myself going back to an MMORPG that lacked proper story, fully voiced dialogues, cinematic cutscenes and so forth... it would bore the hell out of me just as WoW did back in the day. So let me repeat... it is an MMORPG. The RPG elements suffer enough as it is for the sake of player convenience without you hammering them into oblivion thank you very much...

[TUXs]

I'm sorry. But some people need to think.

 

These people are PROFESSIONAL. They should know what they are doing. Mistakes like this are costly.

Mistakes like 4.0 and 5.0 WERE costly...look at the server populations. This is a minor delay...not a 'mistake'.

[TUXs]

I think it's because while we're not at all afraid to criticize EAWare and this game, we don't do so out of a motivation of hatred and destruction. We want the game to get better! So we don't just blindly attack every single move EAWare makes no matter what like some kind of anti-white knight (would that be a black knight?). While I know I can be harsh towards the company, I also try to be fair. Sometimes things can't be helped, and I certainly don't want to blame people who aren't actually at fault.

Well said. We don't have the pent up frustration that it seems others have over this minor delay.

[casirabit]

I'm sorry. But some people need to think.

 

These people are PROFESSIONAL. They should know what they are doing. Mistakes like this are costly.

 

Delays happen even with Professionals. I can recall a case in a law firm I was working at where we were all set to go to trial the next day when the Court called and said they case would have to be delayed for a week as something came up. We cannot control delays on things like this as things will happen out of your control.

[Andryah]

I'm with you on that. And I also believe, taking in account the big picture, the SWTOR team is doing a great job. But an error in calculating the time they would need to launch a patch is still an error that has consequences to their costumers. I don't agree with some people here who apparently want dev's head for this. But a compensation for the costumers who moved time around at work or college for example is only fair. That's all. Doesn't mean they aren't doing a good job. People make mistakes and **** happens.

 

LOL... I'm pretty sure no costumers were harmed by this. It's not Halloween.

 

Nor were any actual customers harmed either.

Edited April 11, 2017 by Andryah

[IvanovKaramazov]

I still believe their biggest mistake is bringing back only 2 companions of 2 classes. There are players which the main toons are from other classes as anxious as the ones who play mainly a Sith Warrior and a Trooper to have their old companions back.

 

NOTE: My mains are a Jedi Knight, a Sith Warrior, a Sorcerer and a Trooper.

[Andryah]

Delays happen even with Professionals. I can recall a case in a law firm I was working at where we were all set to go to trial the next day when the Court called and said they case would have to be delayed for a week as something came up. We cannot control delays on things like this as things will happen out of your control.

 

Yep. S#@% happens. That's why the saying is age old and timeless... because it remains relevant in virtually everything in our reality.

[IvanovKaramazov]

LOL... I'm pretty sure no costumers were harmed by this. It's not Halloween.

 

Nor were any actual customers harmed either.

 

If you say so. You do know this game is not just for americans, right? I also believe you know people don't pay as much attention writing in a forum as they do writing a paper for college or work. If you can write better than me in my main language, then we can keep talking. Otherwise a bully doesn't deserve more than one answer - maybe not even one. Still reporting you though. People shouldn't be harassed because english is not their native language. There are players from many different countries here and they shouldn't have to accept being targets of bigots.

Edited April 11, 2017 by IvanovKaramazov

[DarthNillard]

Producing a video game and working with millions of lines of code, isn't quite as cut and dry as you seem to think it is. They had a goal. They advertised that goal. They thought they could hit that goal...but they couldn't...it's a minor delay, not a cancellation.

 

Working in an environment with no Accountability seems to be an acceptable business environment as you seem to think. It's not. I have a real job that pays very well. If I was as bad with deadlines and quality of work as bioware, I wouldn't have my job. There's accountability that comes with responsibility in 99% of jobs. Bioware is apparently in the other 1%. Must be nice....

[RudbekAlliance]

There are questions that remain after the announcement. Information on the general area of the bugs, in terms of what content is being affected, would be nice. What I think is more important is to get out in front of possible complications that might remain. Will the patch be delayed again if it isn't fixed? Is there a world in which the bugged aspect of the patch gets removed and the rest of it ships next week no matter what?

[TUXs]

Working in an environment with no Accountability seems to be an acceptable business environment as you seem to think. It's not. I have a real job that pays very well. If I was as bad with deadlines and quality of work as bioware, I wouldn't have my job. There's accountability that comes with responsibility in 99% of jobs. Bioware is apparently in the other 1%. Must be nice....

Two VERY different topics. I believe some delays are acceptable...poor quality is not.

[-Hughesy-]

No it is not an MMO... it is an MMORPG... and this one has a particular emphasis on the RPG part. Which many of us enjoy. Although i do enjoy PvP and Ops and whatnot... i could never see myself going back to an MMORPG that lacked proper story, fully voiced dialogues, cinematic cutscenes and so forth... it would bore the hell out of me just as WoW did back in the day. So let me repeat... it is an MMORPG. The RPG elements suffer enough as it is for the sake of player convenience without you hammering them into oblivion thank you very much...

 

Yawn there are far more RPG elements in this game than any other MMO, I'm glad you actually accepted that is essentially an MMO. The MMO also comes before the RPG part. So what you are saying is that the negligence of the multiplayer side is acceptable as long as you have a single player quest to do?

 

No ops for 2 years.

The last 2 years was all single player RPG trash so you should be wrapped up in your blanket of joy.

(uprisings do not count towards multiplayer content they're cheap and crap, nor does a single boss fight constitute towards classification of an operation).

 

I must also point out that the multiplayer content does actually have the RPG part too, just with the MMO included not RPG on it's own. Think about it I know you will get there in the end. MMO+RPG = MMORPG! xD

 

The multiplayer aspect has been neglected for so long that I would actually recommend that this dev team, hire a separate team to create say four operations and four new PVP arenas and allow the other dev team to sell it as an expansion, I'd buy it. I know a lot of others who would too. Then this dev team can appease you single player RPG fan boys with delayed patches and new weapons skins in the cartel market. Have a great day.

Edited April 11, 2017 by -Hughesy-

[casirabit]

Eric,

 

a comment about this patch note: Added more Cyber Mercenaries to the “Abandoned Bunker” Heroic Mission on Voss so that the Bonus Mission is now possible to complete

 

 

There are enough of the cyber mercenaries to complete the bonus mission, if you kill the 2 captains. That area is bad enough and full enough with npc without adding more.

[DarthDymond]

No one is saying it's a good thing that they weren't able to get the patch up to snuff in time for their advertised release date - at best the so-called "defenders" are saying that the delay is the lesser of two evils compared to releasing a broken update.

 

But this frothing-at-the-mouth rage that seems to be coming across in a lot of the complaints about this delay... it just comes across as so radically disproportionate to the offense.

 

I wonder if the Cartel Pack is actually going to drop today as originally planned - if that happens I think some people here might actually burst a blood vessel.

[Draewind]

I must admit that I did not understand the problems with the Galactic Command system; I was busy doing other things in game. I spent half the time with during boost period doing other things as well and only then started into the grind, realizing immediately the frustration people had with the system. If it weren't for the boost, I could not have continued.

 

That said, I have seen the changes and that the company is listening. There has never been a consensus of grief that has not been addressed and eventually fixed to the satisfaction of most individuals. Changes allow varying levels of ease for playing the game. Yes, it should be slow for new players (for some their first MMO) to learn. Simply moving around is complicated. What causes a mob to attack, fighting, and so on. For them to be immersed in this story and accomplish those first steps as they learn the game and all the planets is fascinating and they are not as jaded as the folks that have done everything. Bioware is making it easier for experienced players and allowing them the ability to chose where they spend their time and not forcing things on them. When you start a new character, you decide what you want to do as you level... your choice. So someone else is able to avoid the immersion of the class stories? It is their choice (and loss if they have not done them previously), and does not affect you. I hear over and over how other people will be able to do this and that and it isn't fair. Really? How is it not fair? How does it affect you at all? Do you feel less special?

 

I am glad this patch has been delayed. There is nothing worse than changing the game with an incomplete or buggy patch. People are already going to complain about change, then you add the frustration of the bugs and server restarts. Yes it is inconvenient, and sadly this complaining and outrage being expressed here, will make them less likely to share changes far in advance but rather keep you in the dark until things are complete and then make the changes even later.

 

I have read the notes about the Galactic Command CXP being left at a high level just short of the boost and it is exactly what I would have done and exactly what I suggested/asked to have done. I dislike PvP and hate anything that requires it or is done for it; but other people do enjoy it and as long as it isn't forced into my little SWTOR world (Like the stronghold banners requiring Valor... really?), then I am very happy. They have provided routes for PvP players to advance their gear. They have provided ways for the Operations players to advance their gear (once the only way), and they have provided ways for players like myself that have quit operations for the drama free world of solo and small groups. As far as I can see, they have not only listened but addressed all the important issues. Yes, there are a million little things that need to be addressed at some point,. They are mostly cosmetic and their continued presence is not an indication that the company does not care. They seem to be using their limited resources and time improving the structure and function of the game.

 

Everyone is quick to complain when something bothers them and they jump on here and rant. People are less motivated to jump on here and say how wonderful something is, especially those ranters that take so much for granted.

 

I have played a lot of these MMOs and I find this one unique and enjoyable in way the others lack. I have walked away from it when the changes crippled my abilities and took something away (like the banners requiring valor... really?!). I have always returned and found the issue fixed to my satisfaction. Then I play until it happens again. I know they listen and I think they have improved this game a great amount from its original form.

 

Thank you.

[masterceil]

Eric,

 

a comment about this patch note: Added more Cyber Mercenaries to the “Abandoned Bunker” Heroic Mission on Voss so that the Bonus Mission is now possible to complete

 

 

There are enough of the cyber mercenaries to complete the bonus mission, if you kill the 2 captains. That area is bad enough and full enough with npc without adding more.

 

I've done that Heroic several times killing every enemy in it (I like to sweep all the NPCs before touching the science stations and opening bacta tanks or w/e). The frustration is real when, as the notes allude to, you come up one short. Dunno if you've been lucky or I've not been, but that's been bothering me for a good long while now.

[Clarian]

Hey folks,

 

We want to ensure our updates release at the highest quality possible and Game Update 5.2: The War for Iokath is no different. At this point in time, we are not satisfied with the quality of the Iokath update. For that reason, we are delaying the release of 5.2 by one week, to release on April 18th. This allows the team more time to make improvements to address some of the issues still pending.

 

-eric

I'm not sure if that means there will be some additional stuff not mentioned in the patch notes, but hopefully we'll get an option to turn off DvL pop-ups!

[JediAkemi]

Nerf calfs around the galaxy have become strangely hungry as of late…

 

Am I the only one wondering what that bit from the patch notes could possibly mean?

[AscendingSky]

Am I the only one wondering what that bit from the patch notes could possibly mean?

 

There's an achievement in the game which was supposed to be made available a while ago that's currently unobtainable, involving nerfs. You can see the decoration reward for completing this missing achievement (an artwork of a nerf) in the decoration interface. I'm guessing that note means whatever quest or something else that is linked to that achievement is going to be finally put in the game.

Edited April 11, 2017 by AscendingSky

[Thysillia]

What? People pay for this content, every single person on these boards is paying money for this service, they have every right to voice their opinion and let the developers know that should this continue, they will no longer be paying for said service. The majority of players have planned their gameplay for the last fortnight around 5.2 launching tomorrow. Many players have been hoarding Unassambled Components, planning special Tyth raid nights or weeks, saving their rank 300 command crates for disintegrations etc. These people have spent time in a service that they payed for doing certain things that they would only be doing if 5.2 would launch tomorrow.

 

They have a right, therefore, to know as soon as possible that this update won't launch on time. The fact of the matter is, Bioware will have known about these issues for a while. It is likely precisely why we didn't see in game footage of 5.2 during the last developer stream (which Musco admitted was due to technical issues). If they've known since then, the player base deserved a warning, and it received none. They were kept in the dark on the off chance that the Developer team could fix the problems in time and not have to deal with the backlash. Essentially, they did not trust the community to appreciate honesty, and a small "hey guys, this might not be going to plan but we're trying our best" warning.

 

So now they tell us 10 hours before release, when most of Europe are going to or have gone to bed. Fun fact, most Europeans won't realise the update has been delayed until the time the update was supposed to be taking place. That's how bad Bioware's communication has been on this issue. If you think that's excusable then good for you, I'm sure they're loving people like you down in their office right now, you who try to convince them that lying to your consumers to save face is a perfectly acceptable thing. Don't however think your understanding makes you a better person than the countless individuals who understand and are exercising their right to complain, or that they are children for understanding that they do indeed have a say in this and deserve to be heard.

 

You're definitely not wrong, but it matters how you voice your opinion. There's a difference between saying "You really dropped the ball on this one, we should have been told much earlier because people had planned events around this patch drop and your customers deserve honesty. I am massively disappointed by this and I might not support this game anymore if this continues." and to call the devs retarded ****-monkeys. In most places, paying for a service doesn't give you a free pass to spew abuse at employees.

 

It is also a fact with games, especially online ones that gets patched and updated, that things can go wrong. So voicing your disappointment about being kept in the dark is fine, voicing your disappointment in the delay is fine. It's certainly possible to do both of those things in a mature manner. However, my opinion is (feel free to disagree) that spewing abuse is childish behaviour.

 

That's my take on it anyway, but I dunno about the original poster whom you quoted. Customers should definitely hold services they pay for to a respectable standard, and voice their displeasure if needed, but how you go about it matters.

[Valceanu]

Yawn there are far more RPG elements in this game than any other MMO, I'm glad you actually accepted that is essentially an MMO. The MMO also comes before the RPG part. So what you are saying is that the negligence of the multiplayer side is acceptable as long as you have a single player quest to do?

 

No ops for 2 years.

The last 2 years was all single player RPG trash so you should be wrapped up in your blanket of joy.

(uprisings do not count towards multiplayer content they're cheap and crap, nor does a single boss fight constitute towards classification of an operation).

 

I must also point out that the multiplayer content does actually have the RPG part too, just with the MMO included not RPG on it's own. Think about it I know you will get there in the end. MMO+RPG = MMORPG! xD

 

The multiplayer aspect has been neglected for so long that I would actually recommend that this dev team, hire a separate team to create say four operations and four new PVP arenas and allow the other dev team to sell it as an expansion, I'd buy it. I know a lot of others who would too. Then this dev team can appease you single player RPG fan boys with delayed patches and new weapons skins in the cartel market. Have a great day.

 

You must really lack reading comprehension mate... Didn't I say before that I do actually enjoy group content?! I made it very clear that it's an MMORPG... it's you that left an important part out of the description. And no, one part does not come before the other in importance, only in the syntax of the English language. In my language "game" would actually be the first word... But that's not really an argument. Anyway, I never said that the multiplayer elements weren't lacking... In fact I wish they'd work on more... But they should be accompanied by the RPG elements (note that I didn't specify single player the first time either) not be implemented at the expense of the RPG elements...

Edited April 11, 2017 by Valceanu

[OFAWFletch]

Hmmmmm....it figures. Not surprised though.

[Rion_Starkiller]

Hey folks,

 

Here are the 5.2 patch notes. Note that they are subject to change between now and next week.

 

-eric

 

This is the update I have been waiting for. Hurry up 5.2!

[casirabit]

I've done that Heroic several times killing every enemy in it (I like to sweep all the NPCs before touching the science stations and opening bacta tanks or w/e). The frustration is real when, as the notes allude to, you come up one short. Dunno if you've been lucky or I've not been, but that's been bothering me for a good long while now.

 

Everytime I do this (which is at least a week) there are enough NPC to complete the bonus. You could be missing two that seem to hide between two of the tanks in the bank. One is a gold captain with one next to him, close to the other medical table. They are easy to miss if you are not looking for it, but I had done this way before the tanks were reduced and we had to do all the tanks and there are two standing by a kolto tank.

[royren]

Hey folks,

 

We want to ensure our updates release at the highest quality possible and Game Update 5.2: The War for Iokath is no different. At this point in time, we are not satisfied with the quality of the Iokath update. For that reason, we are delaying the release of 5.2 by one week, to release on April 18th. This allows the team more time to make improvements to address some of the issues still pending. We did not make this decision lightly as we are very eager for all of you to get your hands on the new storyline, reunite with old Companions, or try your hand at taking down the God of Rage himself.

 

As soon as we know timing for the next maintenance I will post that information. Thank you all for your patience and understanding. We do apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. We will post the patch notes either today or first thing tomorrow so that you know what is planned for 5.2!

 

Thanks everyone.

 

-eric

 

 

http://www.swtor.com/patchnotes/04182017/game-update-5.2

As a player increases their Tier 2 and 3 Command Rank (90-299) they will gain higher drop rates of Artifact and Legendary quality gear, while their Premium and Prototype drop rates will go down. This is to encourage the player getting more consistent set-bonus gear as they level.

 

Hi Eric, the patch note didn not mention the case that one is at command rank 300 and has a bunch of T3 crates to open, in that case what would be the drop rate? (it only mentioned 90-299, not including 300?)

Edited April 11, 2017 by royren