Update on Roadmap

[MaximilianPower]

[*]We made a variety of changes to Galactic Starfighter – primarily aimed at reducing the cost, increasing requisition rewards, and offering all players a Gunship and Bomber as standard ships (available in your hangar).

 

hallelujah. i read this, did a double-take, re-read it...i may have done a little dance. honestly, it's a bit of a blur.

 

these sound like some excellent first steps. long-suffering GSFers praise you, KeithKanneg. it's a relief merely knowing that we haven't been forgotten.

[t-darko]

Hey everyone,

 

Wanted to provide an update on my first Producer Roadmap, but getting it published is taking longer than I anticipated. Partly my own fault, as my Dad came to visit and I took a few days off over the past couple of weeks to spend time with him. This ultimately slowed my progress but I am back in full swing now and pushing to get the roadmap completed.

 

I honestly thought I would have had the roadmap done and communicated already, but, I realistically need more time to finalize it. Translated: That means end of this month, but with full intention of delivering it sooner. <sad face> This is not something I wanted to tell you, but I promised to keep you up-to-date on what’s happening.

 

While you continue to wait, here’s a few highlights of Game Update 5.2.2 scheduled for mid-June (yes, in 2017):

 

• The Nar Shaddaa Nightlife event returns with old and some awesome new rewards
  
• New Character Perks to increase your speeder piloting speed to 120% and 130%
  
• Companions will gain influence through standard crew skill missions
  
• Full Tier 1 gear available from existing Fleet vendors using Command Tokens – this means you can obtain a full bonus gear set for under 800 Command Tokens. You will be able to choose the type of gear you want to purchase (DPS, Tank, or Healer).
  
• We made a variety of changes to Galactic Starfighter – primarily aimed at reducing the cost, increasing requisition rewards, and offering all players a Gunship and Bomber as standard ships (available in your hangar).

 

I will continue to pass on roadmap updates as I have them. We do have an exciting year ahead of us and I look forward to sharing it you.

 

---Keith

 

*thumbs Up*

[kodrac]

If he hasn't already communicated the roadmap to the people in his department then things are worse that I had hoped, and to say that nobody working for him is capable of putting together a draft for his approval would be really, really sad, and I hope that is not the case.

 

You seem to have extensive experience in game studios and how they're run. Mind giving us a rundown on your background?

[Moralist]

We made a variety of changes to Galactic Starfighter – primarily aimed at reducing the cost, increasing requisition rewards, and offering all players a Gunship and Bomber as standard ships (available in your hangar).

---Keith

 

And how about fixing GSF bugs that are described in that thread?

 

Maybe new maps or new modes? All GSF players dreaming about that!

Edited May 9, 2017 by Moralist

[Kirtastropohe]

Thanks for the update, Keith. Sometimes things don't work out as planned or talk longer that intended, but it goes over much easier with communication and being upfront. So, I very much appreciate you letting us know. I love what I have seen in your post so far. All is very good.

 

Definitely looking forward to hearing about class balance, especially from a PvP perspective.

[Soljin]

The changes for 5.2.2 are on point so hopefully that trend continues in the Road Map. Taking a few days to hang with family is one thing I will not complain about... People need to be more empathetic in my opinion, the world is disconnected enough as it is...

 

If they keep moving in the direction of adjusting and refining existing systems and maybe adding some depth I will support that move with my subscription.

[Darkbloom]

 

I honestly thought I would have had the roadmap done and communicated already, but, I realistically need more time to finalize it. Translated: That means end of this month, but with full intention of delivering it sooner. <sad face> This is not something I wanted to tell you, but I promised to keep you up-to-date on what’s happening.

 

 

[*]Full Tier 1 gear available from existing Fleet vendors using Command Tokens – this means you can obtain a full bonus gear set for under 800 Command Tokens. You will be able to choose the type of gear you want to purchase (DPS, Tank, or Healer).

 

Thank God.

 

It's obvious to me (and no, I don't know anyone at Bioware or in the video game industry at all) that there must be significant internal disagreement about the big picture of where the game is heading. I sincerely hope that you take your time even with something as simple as a road map.

 

I'm glad to see you are going to attempt to fix the "small-picture" issues that have a big impact on day-to-day enjoyment of the game along the way. An update on class balance and/or bolster can't come soon enough.

[DanNV]

Problems? Like...he took time off to be with family? That's not a "problem", nor is it an "excuse"...it's simply the reason WHY he doesn't have it finished yet.

 

I prefer honesty over secrecy any day.

 

I will take honesty and communication over silence and BS any day. I'd rather hear something we don't want to hear than hear nothing.

[Stummt]

-snip-

 

Thank you for the update!

 

And as others said, real life first, I hope you had a good time with your dad

[phalczen]

[*]The Nar Shaddaa Nightlife event returns with old and some awesome new rewards.

 

---Keith

 

Don't forget to add tuning slots to the Kingpin legacy weapons, while you are in the lines of code re-enabling the event.

 

[*]We made a variety of changes to Galactic Starfighter – primarily aimed at reducing the cost, increasing requisition rewards, and offering all players a Gunship and Bomber as standard ships (available in your hangar).

---Keith

 

THANK YOU! This is great news! Any chance you were inspired by this thread?

[Glzmo]

7. What about that long-awaited and long-promised option to enable chat bubbles/overhead chat text for your client for player /say, /yell and /emote chat?

Please tell me you have finally added it to the roadmap and are going to put an end to almost five and a half years of waiting, broken promises and stringing players along this time around. Since you haven't published the roadmap yet, there is still time to put them on it if you haven't already!

Hey everyone - I asked Lead Designer Damion Schubert if there are any new updates on this topic. We still do not have an ETA for the implementation of this feature, but we're definitely aware it's something players want. We did attempt a version of chat bubbles once, but they introduced some severe performance issues, and we'll need to address that before they can be implemented. Thanks for your patience!

Maybe it turns out they're just unfeasible with the game engine they're using

There were performance issues with chat bubbles in beta, yes, due to chat bubbles (just like nameplates before they got fixed!) taking up around 400 Megabytes of video memory. They were taken out of the game until they had the time to fix them, which at one point was high priority. But they forgot about it after launch (and with developer layoffs).

Note that these performance issues were actually relevant back then when the common videocard had 128-768 Megabytes of video memory. Today with even the low-end cards coming with 2 Gigabytes (2048MB!) of video memory, it isn't really all that big of an issue anymore (For example, I had a 3GB GeForce GTX 580 video card during closed beta and didn't have any performance issues with chat bubbles enabled at all). Plus, it's an option one can still opt to turn off to improve performance in any case, just like nameplates, shadows, etc..

The GUI developers actually knew how to fix them (basically the same fix they did for nameplates just in time for launch, they would just have to adapt that), they simply ran out of time to do so in time for launch.

And afterwards, it got repeatedly swept under the rug, as you can see by reading the timeline of official statements by Bioware in the thread Chat Bubbles: We need an option to enable them for say, yell and emote chat!. Later on, producers and community representatives were misinformed (and arguably also too ignorant or lazy to study the the first post of the aforementioned thread in it's entirety to catch up with the facts).

 

Here is the actual explanation of then GUI developer Cory Kolek, who actually worked on these things, which is the one post that people should quote as it is the only one with actual "in the know" information:

Nice. That should come in handy, especially at high resolutions.

Since you're a GUI guy, would you be the person to work on chat bubbles as well?

 

I don't have much else to say on the topic than what was already said in that thread.

 

I can get a bit more technical on the topic though. As it was said before chat bubbles were a huge performance hit on the game when we had initially implemented them in beta. We're talking upwards of 400Mbs of video memory used on chat bubbles alone. Nameplates had the same issue. We fixed nameplates but have not had time to do the same with chat bubbles. If you played in beta and saw our initial implementation of them they weren't very pretty or as fully featured as we'd like them to be. So, yes, we would like to implement them again, but when we do we want to do it right.

As you can see, the main reason why they haven't been added yet is because they wanted to get them scheduled to be "done right", which sadly never happened (well they were actually scheduled but with rather low priority and when the time came for them to work on them, a new producer took the helm they got bumped them off the roadmap because they had other priorities).

 

With a new producer in KeithKanneg at the helm, hopefully this will change and he'll find at least some time on the roadmap to finally get optional chat bubbles for player /say, /yell and /emote chat back into the game, even if it's just in their most basic form that we had during closed beta (one could still improve on them in a later update). For many players, any implementation of chat bubbles is better than no chat bubbles at all!

Edited May 9, 2017 by Glzmo

[benmas]

please, end season 8 with 5.2.2. PvPers don't want another year long season. Edited May 9, 2017 by benmas

[DenariusJay]

Awesome Keith...we truly appreciate the update! You have no idea how much good will a simple post brings to you. Those sound like some very good highlights!!!

 

^This.

 

Some of those updates are actually quite promising, like finally being able to get entry level gear with tokens, the faster speeder boost is a nice addition and making GSF more assessable is long over due. Nice job Keith tha Sneak!

[Murder_Toys]

There were performance issues with chat bubbles in beta, yes, due to chat bubbles (just like nameplates before they got fixed!) taking up around 400 Megabytes of video memory. They were taken out of the game until they had the time to fix them, which at one point was high priority. But they forgot about it after launch (and with developer layoffs).

Note that these performance issues were actually relevant back then when the common videocard had 128-768 Megabytes of video memory. Today with even the low-end cards coming with 2 Gigabytes (2048MB!) of video memory, it isn't really all that big of an issue anymore (For example, I had a 3GB GeForce GTX 580 video card during closed beta and didn't have any performance issues with chat bubbles enabled at all). Plus, it's an option one can still opt to turn off to improve performance in any case, just like nameplates, shadows, etc..

The GUI developers actually knew how to fix them (basically the same fix they did for nameplates just in time for launch, they would just have to adapt that), they simply ran out of time to do so in time for launch.

And afterwards, it got repeatedly swept under the rug, as you can see by reading the timeline of official statements by Bioware in the thread Chat Bubbles: We need an option to enable them for say, yell and emote chat!. Later on, producers and community representatives were misinformed (and arguably also too ignorant or lazy to study the the first post of the aforementioned thread in it's entirety to catch up with the facts).

 

Here is the actual explanation of then GUI developer Cory Kolek, who actually worked on these things, which is the one post that people should quote as it is the only one with actual "in the know" information:

As you can see, the main reason why they haven't been added yet is because they wanted to get them scheduled to be "done right", which sadly never happened (well they were actually scheduled but with rather low priority and when the time came for them to work on them, a new producer took the helm they got bumped them off the roadmap because they had other priorities).

 

With a new producer in KeithKanneg at the helm, hopefully this will change and he'll find at least some time on the roadmap to finally get optional chat bubbles for player /say, /yell and /emote chat back into the game, even if it's just in their most basic form that we had during closed beta (one could still improve on them in a later update). For many players, any implementation of chat bubbles is better than no chat bubbles at all!

 

PLease chat bubbles are the least of there problem... move along

[Costello]

It IS Ben's fault. Ben sank this game by wasting 2-3 years of development on a story that completely abolished everything we had done from 1-60...we even lost our companions. Expecting Keith to fix it in a month or two is just unrealistic.

 

And we KNOW they go month to month...that's how we've had updates the past 2+ years. MONTHLY. I know it's cool to think they had things planned out a year in advance, but it's clear they didn't...they had a new story written...that's it.

 

Rome wasn't built in a day...Keith taking a few days off to spend time with family, sure as hell didn't hurt the game anywhere near what Ben did over the past few years. SWTOR's current condition is absolutely NOT representative of Keith's doing...only Ben's.

 

I don't know if it was Ben's fault, I don't know who made what decision. As the producer though I agree the buck stops with him for the last two years. You get paid the big bucks to take on the responsibility.

 

At this point though it doesn't really matter, what I'm getting at is that most servers are dead most of the time. The solution to this is cheap transfers which cunningly means any loss of guild or name or whatever you lose when you transfer is your problem not theirs. But that aside the game is not as healthy as anyone would like nor is transfers increasing the number of players which has to be the goal of any business, to increase the number of paying subs rather than losing them as people decide transferring is more work and expense than the game currently warrants and just quitting instead,

 

Now a road map is about buying time, the game isn't all that healthy now but hang in there with us and you will get these wonders to experience! Only now we have announcements and delays in even getting a road map out to buy time to give the team a chance to turn things round. Now I'm as optimistic (blindly in same cases) that the game will become that Star Wars Experience of living in a galaxy far far away. But I don't see any evidence that anything is going to improve. I don't see anything here that someone that left the game and read what is coming in June will look at and say yeah I'll give ToR another go. Could play Morrowind with 30 hours of new story and tons of other things or look at this I get a basic bomber in GSF. A mouse controlled star fighter experience in which I will still be ganked by level 5 gunships but I got a basic bomber that makes it all better.

 

Or the Nightlife event, which is basically RNG is exciting. Sod me thats what Ben said about Command Crates and we ridiculed him. Now we have people saying 'Giving myself RSI in a hope of a RNG reward is exciting' and they don't see the irony. Clearly Ben was right and knew what people wanted.

 

As for real life being more important, Keith is not playing a game in his spare time. Working on this game is his job and Jobs are real life. That he was honest about it is great. But it doesn't make it right. If you hired me to do a job and I didn't do it and when you asked I said, yeah my mates were down and I went out with them. You woudln't say that is alright cause you were honest no problems. You would be asking what was wrong with me that knowing I had a deadline I decided to blow off work and go enjoy myself.

[DenariusJay]

It would be nice to have some chat bubbles though, immersion is huge for RP'rs and they shouldn't be left outta the loop.

 

I wish we had some news about class balancing, but this post is good enough to me over till then.

[heythereqt]

I honestly thought I would have had the roadmap done and communicated already, but, I realistically need more time to finalize it. Translated: That means end of this month, but with full intention of delivering it sooner. <sad face> This is not something I wanted to tell you, but I promised to keep you up-to-date on what’s happening.

 

While you continue to wait, here’s a few highlights of Game Update 5.2.2 scheduled for mid-June (yes, in 2017):

 

• The Nar Shaddaa Nightlife event returns with old and some awesome new rewards
  
• New Character Perks to increase your speeder piloting speed to 120% and 130%
  
• Companions will gain influence through standard crew skill missions
  
• Full Tier 1 gear available from existing Fleet vendors using Command Tokens – this means you can obtain a full bonus gear set for under 800 Command Tokens. You will be able to choose the type of gear you want to purchase (DPS, Tank, or Healer).
  
• We made a variety of changes to Galactic Starfighter – primarily aimed at reducing the cost, increasing requisition rewards, and offering all players a Gunship and Bomber as standard ships (available in your hangar).

 

I will continue to pass on roadmap updates as I have them. We do have an exciting year ahead of us and I look forward to sharing it you.

 

---Keith

 

Wow. All of us here on the forums (and in game, for that matter) aren't used to such open and honest communication from a developer. Thanks for that! (A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one)

 

The things you mentioned that are scheduled for the June patch are huge. Most of us have been asking for some of those things for years, and almost all of us have been asking for an easier way to get full set bonus gear since 5.0 was released 6 months ago. These are very, very welcome changes.

 

In case you happen to read this reply, I have a quick but important question. One of these changes addresses the problem of companion influence, which we've been asking for since 4.0. Are there any current or future plans to allow us to customize the new companions' armor (Lana, Theron, Senya)? Additionally, will any of these new companions ever see their own customization kits released? The community has been asking for a response on this for a year and a half now, and to my knowledge we haven't received a single one.

 

Thanks again for the honest communication, Keith. This community has desperately needed, and even deserved more communication from the dev team for a very, very long time. We're really looking forward to your roadmap, as well as the rest of the changes you have planned for the future.

[Tarbuch]

^This.

 

Some of those updates are actually quite promising, like finally being able to get entry level gear with tokens, the faster speeder boost is a nice addition and making GSF more assessable is long over due. Nice job Keith tha Sneak!

 

Tier 1 set for Command tokens, 6 months too late.

GSF update 3 years too late.

[kodrac]

PLease chat bubbles are the least of there problem... move along

 

He makes a big blue post annually, or whenever there's a road map. He's literally the only person that cares about chat bubbles. He's kind of like Alec and Jedi robes.

[Exly]

Problems? Like...he took time off to be with family? That's not a "problem", nor is it an "excuse"...it's simply the reason WHY he doesn't have it finished yet.

 

I prefer honesty over secrecy any day.

 

I agree. Keith's dad was visiting, and he wanted to spend time with him. I don't understand why anybody would have a problem with that.

 

What I don't understand is why his staff couldn't get the work done in his absence. I understand that he would not publish anything without his stamp of approval, but why the long delay? There is more to the story than a couple of days away from work to spend time with family. In other words, I like being told the truth, but I prefer the whole truth, not just the part that makes him look like a good guy.

[kodrac]

I agree. Keith's dad was visiting, and he wanted to spend time with him. I don't understand why anybody would have a problem with that.

 

What I don't understand is why his staff couldn't get the work done in his absence. I understand that he would not publish anything without his stamp of approval, but why the long delay? There is more to the story than a couple of days away from work to spend time with family. In other words, I like being told the truth, but I prefer the whole truth, not just the part that makes him look like a good guy.

 

I'll ask again. What are your credentials in the developer industry?

[Tarbuch]

I agree. Keith's dad was visiting, and he wanted to spend time with him. I don't understand why anybody would have a problem with that.

 

What I don't understand is why his staff couldn't get the work done in his absence. I understand that he would not publish anything without his stamp of approval, but why the long delay? There is more to the story than a couple of days away from work to spend time with family. In other words, I like being told the truth, but I prefer the whole truth, not just the part that makes him look like a good guy.

 

Because he has no staff, BW is now single person operation.

[IanArgent]

I disagree.

 

Getting a socially inert simulacrum of a companion back via the terminal is not the same as having the old companion back. Not even close.

 

All The Best

 

You mean, the state companions have been in since the end of the class stories? I dont' get the fake nostalgia for the "amazing companion interactions" of Makeb through SoR. It really hasn't been there; you get a line or two once or twice, and you get their combat chatter. Wheee.

 

At any rate, you specifically mentioned "high influence." That's a mechanical function of a companion, not a story one. If you want the influence back, use the terminal. Influence isn't a story thing; it doesn't change how they act in-story. And never really did, even back when it was affection and gated conversations. You didn't get different conversations based on affection, you only changed the timing (to the detriment of story flow sometimes). Even today, your decisions shape your interactions, but not the numeric influence number. Influence is pure mechanics, and has no story relevance.

[AscendingSky]

He makes a big blue post annually, or whenever there's a road map. He's literally the only person that cares about chat bubbles. He's kind of like Alec and Jedi robes.

 

Or that one guy and his obsession with the Tracer Missile animation...

 

To be fair, I know other people care about chat bubbles beyond that one person with the bright blue text, mostly fellow RPers. I don't want them myself but I have friends who do.

Edited May 9, 2017 by AscendingSky

[Rabin_Lorac]

All welcome changes! Thank you Keith!

 

I have one really, really important question though. And I hope you are honest.

 

Which ones are you personally responsible for or were these already set for 5.2.2?

 

Why I ask is that we have been asking for reduction on cost for GSF since it inception 3.5 years ago. Mainly we want legacy fleet/ship rep, but a reduced in cost maybe at least in half would be acceptable.

 

We were originally told by a dev that hero engine had problems above 120% speed increase.

 

We have been scream all at once and all together about RNG set bonus for 6 months and now we will can get a full basic set.

 

Us event players were pissed off that Nightlife was missed last year. It was a waste not to have it again. And only having it once a year to begin with was dumb

 

I really, really want to know because this could set a great precedent for you as a our new producer and shows that you really do listen about players concerns and wants. Well that is what I am hoping for.