Discussion Topic: Game Update 5.4 and the Next Roadmap

[Xina_LA]

The new features sound interesting but what I really want to hear about is BUG FIXES..

Upgrades to existing things (like adding hook options to decorations) would also make me very happy.

 

If the new Stronghold is going to be as buggy and poorly designed as the last one, Bioware will get far more flames than compliments. Don't get me wrong, Manaan has some nice features, but the numerous bad design choices and bugs far outweigh the pretty architecture and underwater view port.

 

I would much rather wait on getting new things and read a long list of fixed bugs.

Edited July 24, 2017 by Xina_LA

[FerkWork]

Besides balancing DPS and classes why not grow a spine and really balance this game among Casual, PvP, OPs players in terms of gearing. Ever since the creation of the so called Galactic command gearing grinding really has split this game even further. Everyone wants it easier for their groupies. The vocal majority who have easy access to OPS are ruling this game while the PvPers and casual players are left like the red head stepchild.

 

Please make the gearing system easier to obtain. I could care less for OPS being a PvPer/casual player and the original system was not great but better than what is being done now. This is an incessant orgy feast of grinding and some more grinding to obtain anything of value. This is a BROKEN system and someone should develop a new workflow to revisit the gearing system. The loudest children get want they want but this system needs more real BALANCING and nobody actually thought of it well.

 

If Ops players were getting what we want 248 would drop on all NiM bosses like every tier has done for the relevant content instead of trash drops on non final bosses and half the loot table missing from final bosses. It's funny when you can spam faceroll content then spam regs and be BiS. I laugh when I see regstars in BiS. If you do Ops solely as gear BiS is currently unavailable and we will have to wait till January to be able to play the content we want to get gear. Be grateful you can get BiS gear at all as a casual and can get any gear you want via PvP. But believe what you want.

Edited July 24, 2017 by FerkWork

[commanderwar]

Thanks for all the feedback. I'll take up a number of the points you raised with the team, including the 242 for Master Mode on Umbara. You also asked about Legacy Currencies, additional class balancing, Strongholds, and more, so I'll update the Roadmap to include many of those items, along with any additional insight, where possible.

 

There's a lot of criticism in this thread, a lot of good ideas, some confusion, a bunch of frustration. and a ton of passion about SWTOR. I've also read that we don't play the game, have no understanding of MMOs, and most of decisions are the opposite of smart. I get it and I think most of you know realize we're not going to please everyone, and no matter how many changes we make, someone is going to be unhappy and call us out.

 

I know we'll continue to improve the game, we'll continue to refine every area, we'll add new content regularly for a wide variety of different play styles - some will get strongholds, some will get PvP, GSF, Operation Bosses, New Flashpoints, Story, and more. I also know we'll make mistakes along the way, and you'll be able to help us course correct, yet I still want the Dev Team to take chances, to push themselves and strive to be better and provide a lot of fun for all of us who play this game.

 

I've also read some of you are tossing in the towel and are leaving us. That obviously saddens me as the game is better when everyone works together. I have valued your input, have tried to understand your frustration while working with the team to get your concerns addressed. Not everything is as it seems, but I respect your decision and look to earn your business again in the near future.

 

Hope everyone is taking full advantage of the bonus CXP week. Have a great weekend.

 

Keith---

 

awesome post keith

but from what I am seeing most of the criticism 242 is towards older flashpoints not umbara since they do not require 242 gear to complete it, 230 for older flashpoints is fine. for new flashpoint i think as long as it challenging and 242 is actually needed to complete and it worthwhile to complete it, it great idea I think people are fine with that, and I hope you keep improving GF in the future for example operations and future flashpoints require this kind of gear I think that an improvement to GF and get people to queue.

[realleaftea]

I'll take up a number of the points you raised [..] the 242 for Master Mode on Umbara [...] Legacy Currencies, additional class balancing, Strongholds, and more, so I'll update the Roadmap to include many of those items, along with any additional insight, where possible.

A roadmap should always contain all the 'hot topics' before players have to ask. A good strategy is to separate the roadmap into fix categories (f.e. PvP, operations, CM, 'character style', convenience, bug fixes, etc.) and to leave at least one short comment. Or at least, make a 'top 10' list of frequently asked questions.

 

There's a lot of criticism in this thread, a lot of good ideas, some confusion, a bunch of frustration. and a ton of passion about SWTOR. I've also read that we don't play the game, have no understanding of MMOs, and most of decisions are the opposite of smart.

Well, you should realize that the criticism is quite reasonable.

 

The 242 gear limitation for the flashpoint

First, you removed most of the level requirements for flashpoints. Then, you introduced command ranks - basically an alternative to normal character levels - and now you plan to reintroduce a 'minimum level' requirement for flashpoints, disguised as a gear limitation. Does this sound like a thoughtful and consequent game development?

 

And if you keep in mind that the plan is to make the requirements stricter than for hard mode operations, it shouldn't be surprising that players blame you for having not enough experience. When was the last time, you tried to find a master mode flashpoint? It's often not a question if it will be a fast run, but more so if you'll find a group at all.

 

Your plan is even more questionable because quote: [it] will prevent under-geared players from slowing down your group is the only justification that made it into the roadmap. Nothing about fun, etc. You indirectly insult players who want to try a master flashpoint before they are equipped with BIS gear. Would you trust such a statement?

 

For a paying customer, the reaction might probably be: Why does BioWare suddenly care about these things? Weren't there countless requests to lower the respawn times or to increase the drop chances in certain Heroics areas... Did BioWare ever care about 'others slowing you down'?

 

And it shouldn't be surprising if players count 2 and 2 together. They know that your team needs a restriction for the new content as well as another incentive for the command system. And the latest bugs in regard of the master mode group finder clearly indicate that this isn't merely an 'idea', but already implemented.

 

Class balance:

This shouldn't be a surprise either. Your team went silent after stating the class changes, although players had more than enough questions and asked about the remaining classes. The threads about this topic have the highest number of views and replies, so you can't have missed them. Furthermore, there was no clear statement from your side about the existing changes either. E.g. whether Madness Sorcerers achieved the DPS score you've intented or not?

 

I also know we'll make mistakes along the way, and you'll be able to help us course correct, yet I still want the Dev Team to take chances, to push themselves and strive to be better and provide a lot of fun for all of us who play this game.

If you really want to encourage players and compliment your team, be more precise. Otherwise it's just an empty phrase.

 

I've also read some of you are tossing in the towel and are leaving us. That obviously saddens me as the game is better when everyone works together. I have valued your input, have tried to understand your frustration while working with the team to get your concerns addressed. Not everything is as it seems, but I respect your decision and look to earn your business again in the near future.

Aame thing with apologies: If you really mean it, be more specific. And this leads me to your own words about being both 'concise' as well as 'specific':

 

Back to the Roadmap update for a moment as I’d like to provide some guidelines about the feedback. Be concise and specific. Think how it will affect other players, fairness, progression, impact, to help us truly understand and weigh your thoughts against the entire plan/direction.

Did you respect your own advices when you wrote the roadmap and the following response? Do you feel that you were specific enough, that you thought about how your words will affect (other) players or progression in general?

 

Because for me, this roadmap doesn't feel like a open communication between development & players. It feels more like a beta-version of a patch note. Everything already financed and near completion.

Edited July 25, 2017 by realleaftea

[Tsillah]

awesome post keith

but from what I am seeing most of the criticism 242 is towards older flashpoints not umbara since they do not require 242 gear to complete it, 230 for older flashpoints is fine. for new flashpoint i think as long as it challenging and 242 is actually needed to complete and it worthwhile to complete it, it great idea I think people are fine with that, and I hope you keep improving GF in the future for example operations and future flashpoints require this kind of gear I think that an improvement to GF and get people to queue.

 

Well that's because people can't read. He said that they were going to do a 242 requirement for the Umbara HM FP only and IF it was successful they would look at doing something SIMILAR for other HM FPs. He didn't say that other HM FPs would also automatically get a 242 requirement. It's the important difference between the words similar and same. They are not the same.

[casirabit]

You know what I have seen in this thread saddens me.

 

It seems that instead of the players being united it is this group vs. this group vs. this group. It takes everyone to make a game. You need pvp players, you need raiders and you need casuals.

 

I guess I would consider myself a casual though I do operations and flashpoints at times but yet I know we need each group and I do like the way the gear is done for the casuals (though the cxp could be increased) but from what I seen and heard it doesn't drop well for the pvp players and ops players but instead of listening to them people attack them.

 

Then we have some people saying the casuals/story players have no place here. That is far from the case. Each of us have a place here no matter our style of play and we really should stop fighting with each other and work together and try to see each other's points.

 

Have a good day.

[Eshvara]

You know what I have seen in this thread saddens me.

 

It seems that instead of the players being united it is this group vs. this group vs. this group. It takes everyone to make a game. You need pvp players, you need raiders and you need casuals.

 

I guess I would consider myself a casual though I do operations and flashpoints at times but yet I know we need each group and I do like the way the gear is done for the casuals (though the cxp could be increased) but from what I seen and heard it doesn't drop well for the pvp players and ops players but instead of listening to them people attack them.

 

Then we have some people saying the casuals/story players have no place here. That is far from the case. Each of us have a place here no matter our style of play and we really should stop fighting with each other and work together and try to see each other's points.

 

Have a good day.

Well said!

[Alssaran]

Well that's because people can't read. He said that they were going to do a 242 requirement for the Umbara HM FP only and IF it was successful they would look at doing something SIMILAR for other HM FPs. He didn't say that other HM FPs would also automatically get a 242 requirement. It's the important difference between the words similar and same. They are not the same.

 

I can read very well, thank you very much.

 

My criticism is about the basic idea behind a gear requirement for any master mode flashpoint. Everything above 228/230 gear requirement is simply missing the point, and I want that to be clear before Keith or the developers make any decision on whether that feature carries over or is adapted into other MM flashpoints, whether as a full 242 or adapted to suit other gear ratings.

 

This might be genuinely surprising, but we can write posts that deal with "what if...?" scenarios, and then criticise these scenarios to give the developers a basic idea of what would go over well and what wouldn't. I'm already dealing with the similar scenario there.

[realleaftea]

Well that's because people can't read. He said that they were going to do a 242 requirement for the Umbara HM FP only and IF it was successful they would look at doing something SIMILAR for other HM FPs. He didn't say that other HM FPs would also automatically get a 242 requirement. It's the important difference between the words similar and same. They are not the same.

No, the criticism isn't only about the old flashpoints. It's about the fact that there will be a hard restriction. It will be the only flashpoint with such a restriction and it will be the most severe hard restriction of the game. As if players couldn't handle this on their own.

 

Users then only compared it with the existing content because the plan automatically leads to the question if the new flashpoint will be special. All the previous ones can be easily completed without a single command item. And gear alone isn't the best indicator for a successful & fast run either.

 

The statement: " IF it was successful they would look at doing something SIMILAR" however indicates that the new flashpoint won't be special. In order to do 'something similar', they have to be 'somewhat similar'.

 

The only expection would be,if the 'remaining flashpoints' will be Kaon and Lost Island. Because they aren't fully supported by the current group finder either.

Edited July 25, 2017 by realleaftea

[bubuljedi]

please up the commando/ merco now he is totaly useless for pve hl : 1k dps lost in all boss in opération. nightmare is impossible after your nerf . Edited July 24, 2017 by bubuljedi

[OneHit]

No, the criticism isn't about the old flashpoints only. It's about the fact that there will be a hard restriction at all. It will be the only flashpoint with such a restriction and it will be the most severe 'hard restriction' of the game. As if players couldn't handle this on their own.

 

Players then only compare it with the existing content because it leads to the question whether the new flashpoint will be special. All the previous ones can be easily completed without a single command item. And gear alone isn't the best indicator for a successful & fast run either.

 

However, the statement: " IF it was successful they would look at doing something SIMILAR" indicates that the flashpoint won't be special. In order to do 'something similar', they have to be 'somewhat similar'. The only expection would be, if the 'remaining flashpoints' would be Kaon or Lost Island, because they aren't part of the current group finder.

 

 

It indicates that they could put gear requirements on anything you can Q up for. What I'm hoping is they add HM ops to GF and thats where we will see it in the future.

[ZionHalcyon]

Thanks for all the feedback. I'll take up a number of the points you raised with the team, including the 242 for Master Mode on Umbara. You also asked about Legacy Currencies, additional class balancing, Strongholds, and more, so I'll update the Roadmap to include many of those items, along with any additional insight, where possible.

 

There's a lot of criticism in this thread, a lot of good ideas, some confusion, a bunch of frustration. and a ton of passion about SWTOR. I've also read that we don't play the game, have no understanding of MMOs, and most of decisions are the opposite of smart. I get it and I think most of you know realize we're not going to please everyone, and no matter how many changes we make, someone is going to be unhappy and call us out.

 

I know we'll continue to improve the game, we'll continue to refine every area, we'll add new content regularly for a wide variety of different play styles - some will get strongholds, some will get PvP, GSF, Operation Bosses, New Flashpoints, Story, and more. I also know we'll make mistakes along the way, and you'll be able to help us course correct, yet I still want the Dev Team to take chances, to push themselves and strive to be better and provide a lot of fun for all of us who play this game.

 

I've also read some of you are tossing in the towel and are leaving us. That obviously saddens me as the game is better when everyone works together. I have valued your input, have tried to understand your frustration while working with the team to get your concerns addressed. Not everything is as it seems, but I respect your decision and look to earn your business again in the near future.

 

Hope everyone is taking full advantage of the bonus CXP week. Have a great weekend.

 

Keith---

 

Best thing you can do is have a clear and concise Vision among your development team of where you want the game to go and share that Vision with us. We may not particularly agree with a vision but it is something that needs to be stated so we know what to expect from the game.

 

I think we need to know the short and long-term vision of the game under your direction. We've gotten it from you in bits and pieces and more of it from you than we have from other producers ever in the history of this game. That I greatly appreciate but for us to truly begin pulling in the same direction as developers and Gamers together to make this game the best it can be we really do need a general idea of what you see for this game, its professions, its story, and its scope.

 

We need to know if large changes are possible to make this game even better or if we are limited in terms of how things are going to be going forward. None of the players know the size and scope of your staff. We can only speculate based on the trickling of content that comes out.

 

What can your staff achieve in a given time period? What are realistic goals for the players to set in terms of what they want out of this game?

 

If we are ever going to repair the relationship between developer and player after years of mismanagement, the communication definitely helps but we need something concrete that we can lean on in terms of " this is what the development team sees for the short and long-term future of the game" in terms of General details.

 

Yes, things may change along the way, and while some will cry foul, so long as those changes are transparent and upfront there shouldn't be a problem overall.

 

But we really need that vision. If we are going to accept where this game is taking us and believe it is destined for something more than a soft maintenance mode with smatterings of tiny bits of content released along the way, then sell us on your vision for this game.

 

That way those of us who stay can have your back and facilitate constructive criticism and feedbacks to help with the direction and get to the goals you guys want to reach in a such a way that the players will love and appreciate.

[mhobin]

Thanks Keith, great post!

 

The frustration I have had with this game has always been the lack of a clear message and identity from the development team. Depending on who is in charge, this game swings between a traditional MMO, and a single player game with MMO systems. It has built up contention within the community, creating very separate player bases asking for different things. Your honesty and transparency since taking over is much appreciated. Just keep giving us a clear vision on where the game is going,

 

As for people leaving, the past mistakes have created such a fractured player base that it will be very difficult to keep everyone happy. As long as you present a clear direction, I doubt there will be pitchforks outside the office anytime soon.

Edited July 24, 2017 by mhobin

[ZionHalcyon]

Thanks Keith, great post!

 

The frustration I have had with this game has always been the lack of a clear message and identity from the development team. Depending on who is in charge, this game swings between a traditional MMO, and a single player game with MMO systems. It has built up contention within the community, creating very separate player bases asking for different things. Your honesty and transparency since taking over is much appreciated. Just keep giving us a clear vision on where the game is going,

 

As for people leaving, the past mistakes have created such a fractured player base that it will be very difficult to keep everyone happy. As long as you present a clear direction, I doubt there will be pitchforks outside the office anytime soon.

 

Yep. As I just told Keith, we need a vision.

 

Ever since the original team that did the individual class stories was scuttled and the new team coming in was told not to continue those class stories, the game lacked a clear and concise vision.

 

Knights of the Fallen Empire and Knights of the Eternal Throne was an attempt to bring a new vision to the game, but the problem was that the vision for those expansions contrasted and contradicted with the game up until that point so severely that it feels like you are playing two completely different games pre and post Knights of the Fallen Empire.

 

It was as if Knights of the Fallen Empire was done by the development team is a way to wish the rest of the game away and have people buying in to that new Direction. That is how it felt in terms of tone.

 

Because of that the game feels a bit schizophrenic.

 

That is why more than ever a clear and concise vision is needed. As much as surprises are fun, players need to know that at the end of the day what they are playing is still Star Wars the Old Republic. If a new expansion loses the feel of what players grew to love in the original game then it fails as an expansion.

 

And while nothing has really held up to the vanilla stories that were told 1 through 50, at least the concurrent stories held some semblance of that and enough familiarity.

 

A vision is strongly needed and it needs to be one that can be shared with the players. The players are ultimately the ones paying to play the game, therefore the vision needs to be something the players can use to help hold the developers accountable to adhering to that vision.

[slukslaksla]

I hope you or Eric would be so kind to confirm that players will be able to unlock the stronghold using story mode only and that it won't need master modes done to unlock.

 

yes, if you need master mode etc to unlock then RiP cus NOONE will be doing mm fp-s no more with 242 cap. and trust me i doubt your guildies want to farm mm fp 10 times for an achiv etc lol. HOPEFULLY either it can be unlocked with story/vet mode or just using cc and skip that entirely!

 

i pray to potato that they do NOT make you do hard mode to get it, not cus hm is hard but cus noone will be queing for it anymore with 242 cap.

 

EDIT: as a possible way to do it "right" for me at least, would be to drop the 242 cap thing and rather make solving the flashpoint up to the player. i see what you are trying to do here but i personaly do not think it would do what you hope it would, to make better ppl play together. finishing a misison is part of the proccess and if one fails then that is too.

 

not trying to sht on the game or its dev procces here i still considder swtor one of my favorite games ever! just want to let you know my thoughts

Edited July 24, 2017 by slukslaksla

[menofhorror]

Thank you Keith for your update!

 

Well, people leave and people come. Also people can come back. People act emotional when writing but they also often come back despite claiming to "never come back again".

[mhobin]

Yep. As I just told Keith, we need a vision.

 

Ever since the original team that did the individual class stories was scuttled and the new team coming in was told not to continue those class stories, the game lacked a clear and concise vision.

 

Knights of the Fallen Empire and Knights of the Eternal Throne was an attempt to bring a new vision to the game, but the problem was that the vision for those expansions contrasted and contradicted with the game up until that point so severely that it feels like you are playing two completely different games pre and post Knights of the Fallen Empire.

 

It was as if Knights of the Fallen Empire was done by the development team is a way to wish the rest of the game away and have people buying in to that new Direction. That is how it felt in terms of tone.

 

Because of that the game feels a bit schizophrenic.

 

That is why more than ever a clear and concise vision is needed. As much as surprises are fun, players need to know that at the end of the day what they are playing is still Star Wars the Old Republic. If a new expansion loses the feel of what players grew to love in the original game then it fails as an expansion.

 

And while nothing has really held up to the vanilla stories that were told 1 through 50, at least the concurrent stories held some semblance of that and enough familiarity.

 

A vision is strongly needed and it needs to be one that can be shared with the players. The players are ultimately the ones paying to play the game, therefore the vision needs to be something the players can use to help hold the developers accountable to adhering to that vision.

 

Agreed.

 

The big problem they face going back to being an MMO is that they turned off the MMO players during the KOFE and KOTET eras. Most of the raiding community left during that time, and the ones that remain are a bit salty. I am mostly a PvP player, and my community was lost long before that.

 

There have been so many inconsistencies with the decision making in the game. Like CXP after an event promoting making alts. Just give us a clear and consistent vision. If you are going to be an MMO, make choices that facilitate MMO systems. For instance low pop servers were fine when you were a story first single player game. But if your an MMO, you really need to be looking hard at mergers. Consolidate the player base you have left, and build from there.

[Thaladan]

instead of the possibility to summon companions while moving, it should be really better to fix all the bugs around companions, such as be obliged to resummon them after a warzone or in galactic fortress flashpoints.

 

and propose a better option to find/chose/summon your companion between the tone we have now...

Edited July 24, 2017 by Thaladan

[TUXs]

Thank you Keith for your update!

 

Well, people leave and people come. Also people can come back. People act emotional when writing but they also often come back despite claiming to "never come back again".

You realize we had close to 2 million players shortly after launch right? MOST of those people NEVER came back again...ever.

[Alssaran]

You realize we had close to 2 million players shortly after launch right? MOST of those people NEVER came back again...ever.

 

People should read this carefully!

 

Yes, people come back. And everyone can come back. But we had two million people at launch, and most left within the first three months. They didn't leave because the story sucked. They didn't leave because Star Wars isn't their piece of cake. I remember that many people left, including the people I loved to do sub-max level PvP and PvE with, because the game lacked end-game content. Ilum was laggy. There were few operations, and progression was limited.

[JediJoy]

Quality of Life

Everyone has a different idea of what improves QOL for them, but for me (and others based on posts) are:

1. Bugs, bugs, and bugs.

I REALLY wish fixes to known issues would be moved up the priority list. There's already talk about a new flashpoint and current flashpoints and uprisings have issues. (Jindo Cray - FE, two achievements for master mode trial and error, etc). In my opinon these fixes should be done before adding more stuff.

2. Better variety of stronghold decos and hooks. Some, especially Manaan, offer very little in the way of options for decorating. What do you do with 700 small floor hooks? One deco pack for manaan was released. Why not more. Those are money makers for the cartel market. LOST $ opportunity = bad business.

3. Shared LFG or LFO channel. It's gotten better since several of the toxic PVP players moved to a different server, but you are really cut off from LFG's when on strongholds. Why can't there be a channel across the galaxy where we can still find groups, but avoid being on fleet. That would be a nice QOL change.

 

1. THIS! Every word!

2. They need to increase deco drops from fps, star fortresses, uprisings, raids, npc's etc. Its great to see more variety on the CM but I miss the perks of seeing more unique decos drop from doing in game content.

3. Im one of the lucky few that is involved in a very active guild where I dont have this problem ever. You could always start a chat channel for people looking for groups, I know GSF'ers and some PvP'ers have one specifically for that interest.

 

Galaxy map travel - much much better than the old days.

1. Some planets with the space stations take you to the space station instead of the planet. You should bypass the

space station and go right to the planet.

2. Exiting instances (ops, gf, fp's) still takes you to odd places instead of back to the stronghold you started at. There are also spaceports you end up in that you have to exit entirely to be able to travel back to fleet or strongholds.

3. Weekly operation and flashpoint missions should have a quick travel like heroics and the uprisings have.

 

1. Agreed, this is something Ive been saying since the beginning.

2. What? You dont love ending up on Hoth when your guildship is orbiting Quesh and you were just on the guildship? lol The spaceport bug is the most annoying glitch in game.... hmmm well at least its in my top 20. lol

3. I definitely agree regarding the operations especially when its not listed in GF. Flashpoints however are easy to get to via utilizing groupfinder.

 

PVE/PVP should be completely different paths like it used to be. ...... I liked it when the pvp players had their own path to gearing and pvp specific gear and bonuses. They could do their thing and us PVE players could do our thing. I understand that staying with one type of gear probably makes it easier on the programming side, but geesh.

PVE should get unassembled components for things they do. It's shocking this has not been addressed yet and really makes me wonder who on the team actually plays the game. PVP players can que and lose their way to the top tear gear and the only way pve players can get that gear is to beat the last boss of operations on master modes? Seriously? Who thought that was even close to parity between pvp and pve? Maybe things are different on really full servers, if there are any really full servers left, but on the light servers there are slim opportunities to find players to do hm ops little alone nim operations. Your data has to show how unlikely this is for pve players. This needs fixed.

 

I love both PvE and PvP, so Im able to see it from both sides of the coin. The nerfs or "balancing" they are doing to the classes is due to all the PvP'ers complaining. The problem is the developers arent realizing how much damage this balancing is doing to PvE. I agree, PvP and PvE need to go back to their separate ways regarding gear and balancing specs.

 

Server mergers or....

I've seen multiple posts about server merges that never get a response. I'm hoping the change in direction and leadership does bring players back to the game, but right now the "m" in mmo currently stands for minimal. That makes it very challenging to find people to do anything with. At least provide a response. If no server mergers, why can't cross server ques be implemented? Other games I've played have that and seems to work fine. There's loot ninjas on our server that abuse the loot so it really doesn't add anymore abuse than is already happening. PVE ques can take forever.

 

From my understanding Developers said no go on the cross server ques. With how many people have left the game recently, they will have no choice but to merge servers yet again sometime in the future. On dead servers, pvp and pve ques never pop.

 

Galactic command. It appears this addition to the game is not going away. It really is not alt friendly. I am not leveling multiple alts to level 300. Not happening. If that means I cannot play certain alts then so be it. I think this double cxp event has helped and might be the way to go. What about a permanent 250%. Its still grindy, but not horrendously so. That would make it a tolerable level of grind to work with and feel alot more rewarding than the current method.

 

I second this.

 

Being able to turn in 248 gear drops to trade them for equivalent gear for a different class would be great too. I have several I cannot use and anymore cxp drops are now about worthless. Being able to convert them to something an alt could use would help keep galactic command relevant and more alt friendly (or change gear drops to tokens so we can turn them in for the gear we want/need.

 

Great idea! Or be able to turn the countless amount of greens and blues into purples would be just as awesome.

 

Class balance. This needs to change to separate pve and pvp. The target for changes should also show how this was determined. So far the nerfs seem to go well beyond the numbers that the dev team indicated in their rationale posts. And was the target in warzones and not inclusive of pve? Bioware should take gambles on the game, but big changes such as class balance and things like galactic command should be trialed on test servers first. Feedback gathered and open discussion before its just dumped on players. Even if nothing changes it would come across as an inclusive process.

 

They need to fix the way they handle the test servers and their listening skills first. I agree that the balancing should be separated between pve and pvp completely. Their balancing is not working.... at all. Its making it where the majority of raiders have had to switch to other characters just to be able to clear a boss in a raid at all.

 

FTP. I've subbed since way back in the beginning. Allowing ftp players to buy the access things really seemed to be a better model than sub or nothing. As a sub I didn't mind and we seemed to have more players as a result. Lets them buy what they want to do. It adds income and players to the game which unless there is some really odd business model the goal should be to make more money and bring more players to the game. Benchmark some of your competition and see they moved that direction and it works for those games.

 

This would def bring back a lot of players.

 

Cartel market gear. Since the legacy gear came out it I've never purchased cartel market gear. I like to share gear between alts. Granted most of it has been pretty ummm whats a positive term....not my taste. There have been one or two I liked visually, but not being able to share between alts is a show stopper for me. Why can't something be done to address that? Legacy versions of those or item customization item (like the mk-10 kits that would make it legacy).

 

Its cosmetic. Im just happy that I can now equip gear that I like cosmetically while still wearing my legacy gear. In other words, my toon can still show off her arse at the same time be in the best gear possible across my account.

 

Ear pieces, implants, and relics. These have always been at a disadvantage over armorings, mods, and enhancements. The later being able to pull and send to alts, but not so with earpieces, implants, and relics. Addressing this would make them more equal armorings, mods, and enhancements. A crit for those give you two. A crit for Ear pieces, implants, and relics gives you an very unrewarding augment slot. At best that's $40,000 versus a million or two credits for the extra armorings, mods, and enhancements for crits.

 

As a crafter, the augment slot is helpful when making items for my toons and not to put on the market. I wouldnt mind losing the augment slot for an extra earpiece when my crafters crit. Legacy bound earpieces, implants and relics will prob never happen. But.... it would be nice if we could give the ones from the Galactic Crates to alts... Developers should def look into this.

 

Overall, very well said! I quite agree with a lot of the points you detailed.

[menofhorror]

You realize we had close to 2 million players shortly after launch right? MOST of those people NEVER came back again...ever.

 

Well yea obviously.

My point is simply that still people can always come back.

People are getting emotional and deciding to leave this game forever as if playing the same is a commitment and as if you can't just come back a year later. swtor flopped at launch because of lack of endgame content and it gave the game a bad reputation. Add to that typical Bioware overhype at that time and it's clear to see the dissapointment because the brand Bioware is for many still this "magical company which produces amazing games" as if Bioware was an entity and not actual people who work there.

[MeNaCe-NZ]

This is one of my major problems with how this game is managed. We are about what 8 months deep into season 8. So far that's all they can tell us about season 8. Which I understand in BIOLAND that's a HUGE *********** achievement for you guys. You actually figured out when the season is gonna end. You guys are prolly walking around the office high fiving your *********** self's. Treating your *********** customers like chumps for paying 15 a month so you guys can basically keep the lights on. Cause that's all you did. Made one minor balance change in 7 months and announce season 8 will end.

 

Ignore the fact the balancing is ****ed and you guys should farm it out. That's why people say those things Keith. Not because they want to be mean. When you guys balance **** we all look at ourselves and ask "do these guys even play the *********** game?" That is how bad you guys are at it. That's supposed to be on us? Okay. Ill apologize. Ill apologize for every penny i paid to this game for the past 5+ years.

 

Let me get back on track. So you guys give us how many weeks to peek at the rewards. 3-4 weeks. I'm just gonna throw this out there. I don't know how well it will go over in BIOLAND. Any chance you guys could figure out when the season ends, and the rewards before the season *********** starts! IS THAT SO *********** HARD? THE *********** CARTEL MARKET HAS NEW **** EVERY MONTH. WE PAY OUR SUB FEES FOR 8 MONTHS AND GET TREATED LIKE AN AFTERTHOUGHT. Chumps. That's what you guys treat us like.

 

Lets make something clear. You guys rob us for 8 months. Some one points out the fact they they are upset they paid for something they aren't receiving. You guys play the victim.

 

For reals stop crying and put out the season 8 reward info already. Maybe figure out season 9 and tell us from the start and maybe you guys will hear less complaints.

 

And while I'm here I would also recommend doing that for every system in the game. That's how it usually works.

 

To be honest I doubt anything to do with ranked is really priority with what is probably the smallest portion of the player base actually actively participating and when those that do participate demonstrate their communication ability with posts like yours ... well I'd ignore them too.

[Jamtas]

You realize we had close to 2 million players shortly after launch right? MOST of those people NEVER came back again...ever.

 

So much this. This game peaked at launch from a subscription standpoint. That is a scary realization.

[MeNaCe-NZ]

People should read this carefully!

 

Yes, people come back. And everyone can come back. But we had two million people at launch, and most left within the first three months. They didn't leave because the story sucked. They didn't leave because Star Wars isn't their piece of cake. I remember that many people left, including the people I loved to do sub-max level PvP and PvE with, because the game lacked end-game content. Ilum was laggy. There were few operations, and progression was limited.

 

The other point MANY look over as to why people left is they had done 1+ class stories, they had finished the great solo story game from their perspective. They had no interest in running a Trooper, bounty Hunter or what have you (or maybe force classes, not picking on classes themselves here) - they'd invested many hours into their story, maybe done another and that was enough for them.

 

You are right there was no end game content for them to take them further but the game attracted casual solo story players and banked on them wanting to do all 8 classes, many did not (I've still managed barely half of class stories) as after a couple it felt tedious to do it again. It's like it's forgotten how many other games exist for a casual solo player in the world, that are then bought second hand or discounted and offer up an easy 40+ more hours of story fun.

 

My view is they just went too "all in" with class stories and should have done half that amount and put the resources used on the other 4 to make more MMO content and focus on releasing a class story expansion a year down the track. Who knows had they done that then maybe we'd still be getting class stories now and it would only be a really niche portion of the community who would miss the other 4 class stories (niche because as you say, 2 million and many never returned - at least never at one time).

It was a good concept but an ill thought out one to go for 8 class stories, if they were to redo it I'm sure they would focus on 2-4 and if 2 then possibly consider a model of releasing new classes in the future.