Why Was Oricon Never Made Solo-Friendly?

[Slowpokeking]

Also like I've said before, the Dread Masters' story could have been much better if they didn't overuse ops to tell their story. Ops is definitely not a good way to tell a story, nor is it a good way to enjoy it.

[Tsillah]

Yes it is. Why do you call it a side quest?

 

The Dread Masters are pretty much the main plot after our class story and Malgus' betrayal. Most of the new content we've got are about them. Even Makeb are part of their doing. The Hutt Cartel were manipulated by them from the beginning. Why are you saying it's not the main plot?

 

Well then why are the one time quests for the operations KP, EC, TFB, SAV not purple? They are also part of the dread master story are they not?

 

As far as Makeb is concerned you do have a bit of a point, but my opinion of Makeb is that it originally had class stories planned and we were just left with the planetary story because they ran out of money.

 

In the end it, I think the only real mistake that BW made is to make the ops DF and DP required to finish the story on Oricon. But really, much of the story is told via the operations before. Why are people upset with DF and DP as part of the story but not about the previous 4? Can you explain that to me?

 

Now I do get that it's a matter of opinion as well. If you see it as part of the main story then ok. But why not the other parts of the story before it that was told via the other ops?

 

So let me explain. To me the main story is really the original 8 class stories, SoR and KotFE/ET. Makeb to me was never more than planetary arcs and it didn't have class stories cause it was either never intended as a main story planet or it they didn't have the resources to make the class stories happen anymore. That's my opinion. As it was, Makeb just felt like filler to me.

 

With the prelude to SoR, it felt like a main story again. Didn't like it as much as the original story but it was still ok and all.

 

KotFE/ET are clearly main story, I just wish they weren't.

 

The way Iokath and Umbara go on now is something that I'm not sure about yet. Part of the story is the ops still but it's kept separate I guess.

 

Hey, let me explain something. I never felt Ilum and Malgus were part of the main story either. The class stories had ended so to me it just felt like a side arc as well. I think that's where our difference of opinion starts.

 

I dunno how long you've played this game, but I was there from the start and imagine that your class story ends and then you get a new arc offered which is generic for all classes. We didn't have purple quests back then. That didn't exist and people generally saw the class stories as the main story and planetary arcs which were also the same for each class were seen as not the main story because they were generic for all.

 

The addition much later of purple quests was a much different decision in a different time. It's a decision in a time where class stories are no longer the norm. I guess my views come from that early time where purple quests simply didn't exist and the story of the dread masters was already being told, mostly via operations.

 

But to me it's actually not so interesting whether you consider it main story or not. My view is that they simply should've let the planetary arc for Oricon end with the H2 and keep the ops quests separate. Then this discussion would've never been needed I guess.

[Slowpokeking]

Well then why are the one time quests for the operations KP, EC, TFB, SAV not purple? They are also part of the dread master story are they not?

We don't use purple or not to identify main storyline or not, we use its content size, length and influence to the galaxy to identify.

 

As far as Makeb is concerned you do have a bit of a point, but my opinion of Makeb is that it originally had class stories planned and we were just left with the planetary story because they ran out of money.

Even in current mode, Makeb is connected to the Dread Masters as well, they were using the Hutt Cartel and S&V was a direct consequence of it. Their original plan obviously was to use the Dread Masters as the expansion.

 

 

In the end it, I think the only real mistake that BW made is to make the ops DF and DP required to finish the story on Oricon. But really, much of the story is told via the operations before. Why are people upset with DF and DP as part of the story but not about the previous 4? Can you explain that to me?

 

Now I do get that it's a matter of opinion as well. If you see it as part of the main story then ok. But why not the other parts of the story before it that was told via the other ops?

Because they were the most important finale of the story, of course ppl care about it more. I do want all of those ops have a solo mode to let people experience the complete saga without having raid trouble.

 

So let me explain. To me the main story is really the original 8 class stories, SoR and KotFE/ET. Makeb to me was never more than planetary arcs and it didn't have class stories cause it was either never intended as a main story planet or it they didn't have the resources to make the class stories happen anymore. That's my opinion. As it was, Makeb just felt like filler to me.

Because Makeb was short, but the Dread Masters weren't.

 

Hey, let me explain something. I never felt Ilum and Malgus were part of the main story either. The class stories had ended so to me it just felt like a side arc as well. I think that's where our difference of opinion starts.

 

I dunno how long you've played this game, but I was there from the start and imagine that your class story ends and then you get a new arc offered which is generic for all classes. We didn't have purple quests back then. That didn't exist and people generally saw the class stories as the main story and planetary arcs which were also the same for each class were seen as not the main story because they were generic for all.

 

The addition much later of purple quests was a much different decision in a different time. It's a decision in a time where class stories are no longer the norm. I guess my views come from that early time where purple quests simply didn't exist and the story of the dread masters was already being told, mostly via operations.

 

But to me it's actually not so interesting whether you consider it main story or not. My view is that they simply should've let the planetary arc for Oricon end with the H2 and keep the ops quests separate. Then this discussion would've never been needed I guess.

 

I started to play since the end of 1.1. The Dread Masters are obviously main plot that have extended for so long and used so much content resource, they were the galaxy's major threat. The only problem is that ops isn't a good way to tell the story, so you didn't have much dialogue and interaction with them until Oricon. That's bad story telling.

[Tsillah]

I started to play since the end of 1.1. The Dread Masters are obviously main plot that have extended for so long and used so much content resource, they were the galaxy's major threat. The only problem is that ops isn't a good way to tell the story, so you didn't have much dialogue and interaction with them until Oricon. That's bad story telling.

Well BW set the game up in a way that probably wasn't the best. I think the original idea is to have the story to bring people in and enjoy as it was and then put the main threats in operations. That made sense at the time probably. They saw story as an enrichment of what was effectively WoW in a Star Wars environment. Many comparisons have been made over the years in that respect.

 

I think therefore the Dread Master story line was really intended to support the operations and didn't have the same level of story telling as the class stories.

 

But to be honest, the Oricon story line is a short story line that isn't of the same quality either.

 

And as I said, if they hadn't linked the one time quests for DF and DP to the rest of the arc, then this discussion wouldn't have happened.

 

PS: and don't say "we". there are others who do really get stuck on the purple colour so there is no collective "we".

Edited September 11, 2017 by Tsillah

[DarthDymond]

We can argue colours all day, but what you cannot argue against is that it's only a part of a larger story that supports most of the operations. The quests for those operations are also part of that story and they are not purple.

 

So feel free to feel that this one chapter of a much longer story is part of the main story line even though the rest of it is not, but to me it was just a trick BW used to try to get people into the operations and that's why they made it purple. Clearly that didn't work for everybody but in my view that quest chain should not be purple, since the rest of the entire story arc about dread masters is not purple and is directly linked to 6 operations.

I would agree if the earlier Ops were prerequisites to starting the Oricon missions the way DF / DP are required to complete it, but they're not. In fact, the mission conversations - at least for the initial conversations with Marr and Saresh, and I believe in the Watchtower as well - are different depending on whether or not you've encountered the Dread Masters before. If you have never fought them (or at least never finished S&V) the story accounts for that.

 

That's why I don't take issue with Oricon being classed as a main storyline while those earlier Ops are not - because you still get a coherent story on its own, just not as robust (or satisfying) as the one you get if you've done the earlier Ops.

Edited September 11, 2017 by DarthDymond

[Slowpokeking]

Well BW set the game up in a way that probably wasn't the best. I think the original idea is to have the story to bring people in and enjoy as it was and then put the main threats in operations. That made sense at the time probably. The saw story as an enrichment of what was effectively WoW in a Star Wars environment. Many comparisons have been made over the years in that respect.

 

I think therefore the Dread Master story line was really intended to support the operations and didn't have the same level of story telling as the class stories.

 

But to be honest, the Oricon story line is a short story line that isn't of the same quality either.

 

And as I said, if they hadn't linked the one time quests for DF and DP to the rest of the arc, then this discussion wouldn't have happened.

 

SWTOR has many problems, but its storytelling was much better than WOW. WOW even learned from it. It was dumb to abandon the good own way and try to mimic WOW's story telling in raid.

 

Raid isn't that bad on story telling, but the Dread Master arc overused it, it blocked many ppl from experiencing it and made the story quite bland. They learned their lesson as well. SoR and KotFE/KoTET at least used a better way to tell the story and give the solo players another option to finish Revan.

 

Oricon was short, but it was the best part of the Dread Master arc since we actually got to know them a little bit.

[Tsillah]

I would agree if the earlier Ops were prerequisites to starting the Oricon missions the way DF / DP are required to complete it, but they're not. In fact, the mission conversations - at least for the initial conversations with Marr and Saresh, and I believe in the Watchtower as well - are different depending on whether or not you've encountered the Dread Masters before. If you have never fought them (or at least never finished S&V) the story accounts for that.

 

That's why I don't take issue with Oricon being classed as a main storyline while those earlier Ops are not - because you still get a coherent story on its own, just not as robust (or satisfying) as the one you get if you've done the earlier Ops.

 

At the same time though Oricion is not a prerequisite for the main story as it continues with SoR. It is entirely skippable. It's only a prerequisite for doing the dailies and the one time quests of the two operations there. dailies and operations, is that what you see as part of the main story?

 

For me it's not, but don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to have you share my opinion, just want to explain where I'm coming from.

[Tsillah]

SWTOR has many problems, but its storytelling was much better than WOW. WOW even learned from it. It was dumb to abandon the good own way and try to mimic WOW's story telling in raid.

That's irrelevant to the discussion. What I meant with the comparison is that OUTSIDE the class stories, SWTOR was basically WoW in space. The quality of the stories was not my point in that comparison. I just wanted to explain the position of raids in SWTOR.

 

Raid isn't that bad on story telling, but the Dread Master arc overused it, it blocked many ppl from experiencing it and made the story quite bland. They learned their lesson as well. SoR and KotFE/KoTET at least used a better way to tell the story and give the solo players another option to finish Revan.

Yep, they changed their approach. Of course that wasn't the point of this thread either.

 

Oricon was short, but it was the best part of the Dread Master arc since we actually got to know them a little bit.

Perhaps but it still served as a vehicle to open a dailies area and two operations.

 

Again, all they had to do was make the one time quests for the operations an optional pick up. Then there would have been no discussion on this.

Edited September 11, 2017 by Tsillah

[Slowpokeking]

WOW(at least when I left it) has a bland characterization of the PC player, you are simply nobody, just doing whatever the npc ask you to do, the npc play the main storyline. SWTOR was different, you have the entire personal story to build up your own character. It would feel awful when you character could say little and make little choice during the ops other than kill off whatever shows up. Many ppl dislike KotFE/KotET also because the Outlander story doesn't fit with some of the classes well.

[Slowpokeking]

That's irrelevant to the discussion. What I meant with the comparison is that OUTSIDE the class stories, SWTOR was basically WoW in space. The quality of the stories was not my point in that comparison. I just wanted to explain the position of raids in SWTOR.

But all the good story still mentions your class achievement and let you make choices to build up your character, there was little throughout the Dread Master arc, just a few ones when you got the ops done.

 

Perhaps but it still served as a vehicle to open a dailies area and two operations.

 

Again, all they had to do was make the one time quests for the operations an optional pick up. Then there would have been no discussion on this.

 

Simply use the SoR apporach.

[Tsillah]

But all the good story still mentions your class achievement and let you make choices to build up your character, there was little throughout the Dread Master arc, just a few ones when you got the ops done.

That has nothing to do with the difference in quality of story between WoW and SWTOR. I do not understand why you reply with this to that comment.

 

Simply use the SoR apporach.

Not as easy as you may think. In SoR you do not actually kill Revan in ToS. You defeat him but kill him afterwards with the same quest as the solo option.

 

The final fight in DP is where you wipe out the entire dread master group, including the two you killed in SAV and DF who come back as ghosts.

 

It's not a realistic option to change how the operation ends and add another quest behind it where you would kill the whole group of dread masters, well what? Solo?

 

in SoR you get a whole group of heroes from the galaxy to help you. Then they need to do something similar to replace the group of 8 you use in an operation.

 

So no, the SoR solution is not a good one. It would require too many changes and resources to implement that in any satisfactory fashion.

[FtWorthJim]

Also like I've said before, the Dread Masters' story could have been much better if they didn't overuse ops to tell their story. Ops is definitely not a good way to tell a story, nor is it a good way to enjoy it.

 

You need to learn to qualify your statements with things like "In my opinion". I think using an Op to finish a story is a great way to do things. You progress from solo, to small group, to ops. It makes perfect sense in my opinion.

 

Don't make blanket statements as inherently doing so makes your claim wrong.

[Slowpokeking]

That has nothing to do with the difference in quality of story between WoW and SWTOR. I do not understand why you reply with this to that comment.

The story telling is different. So in WOW you don't have much trouble of doing the story with ops because your character is bland with no characterization. But in SWTOR it is a problem because you are a powerful individual, you have your own characterization, in ops there is little way to show it.

 

Not as easy as you may think. In SoR you do not actually kill Revan in ToS. You defeat him but kill him afterwards with the same quest as the solo option.

 

The final fight in DP is where you wipe out the entire dread master group, including the two you killed in SAV and DF who come back as ghosts.

 

It's not a realistic option to change how the operation ends and add another quest behind it where you would kill the whole group of dread masters, well what? Solo?

 

in SoR you get a whole group of heroes from the galaxy to help you. Then they need to do something similar to replace the group of 8 you use in an operation.

 

So no, the SoR solution is not a good one. It would require too many changes and resources to implement that in any satisfactory fashion.

Just make a solo version of you taking on the 6 dread masters with some allies' help, simple.

[Kryptonomic]

As I said somewhere upthread, while there is a lot of good discussion here, it would probably help immensely if the community manager and/or producer simply bothered to respond to this thread. This is, in fact, exactly the kind of thread that a community manager should be responding to.

 

We are ostensibly in the era of "better communication" and given the various opinions on this, polarized and otherwise, it might be good to hear some official stance. Not everyone may like the stance taken, but at least it will be a stance.

[DarthDymond]

At the same time though Oricion is not a prerequisite for the main story as it continues with SoR. It is entirely skippable. It's only a prerequisite for doing the dailies and the one time quests of the two operations there. dailies and operations, is that what you see as part of the main story?

 

For me it's not, but don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to have you share my opinion, just want to explain where I'm coming from.

To be clear, I'm not saying that the sole fact that the earlier Ops are skippable is why I think they don't count as the main story - my criteria for main story is "purple." Not being prerequisites for Oricon, and the Oricon plot taking into account if you haven't done them (and adjusting to remain coherent accordingly), is just the reason I don't think they acquire the "main story" status of Oricon by association. Put another way, the only Ops that are required to complete the purple chain as a coherent story are DF and DP, which is why I understand people focusing on those more than the other Ops that involve the Dread Masters.

 

On it's own, being skippable seems irrelevant to whether a mission is part of a main story - after all, you can skip RotHC and go right on to SoR, too.

[FtWorthJim]

Just make a solo version of you taking on the 6 dread masters with some allies' help, simple.

 

Right, because that takes like 5 minutes and costs EA/BW $10.

[Slowpokeking]

Right, because that takes like 5 minutes and costs EA/BW $10.

 

Since everything level synced and we don't have much new content, it's their duty to improve the old ones.

[fushnchips]

Since everything level synced and we don't have much new content, it's their duty to improve the old ones.

 

come on that is false take a step back and think about what you just said.

[Ylliarus]

As I said somewhere upthread, while there is a lot of good discussion here, it would probably help immensely if the community manager and/or producer simply bothered to respond to this thread. This is, in fact, exactly the kind of thread that a community manager should be responding to.

 

We are ostensibly in the era of "better communication" and given the various opinions on this, polarized and otherwise, it might be good to hear some official stance. Not everyone may like the stance taken, but at least it will be a stance.

 

But the fact there are so many opinions in this thread as well as polarisation I think the devs are afraid to take a stance regarding this subject. Having experienced some of the opinions firsthand it doesn't surprise me that Bioware doesn't want a bucket of negativity thrown over them. Because look at it this way:

 

Bioware adopts the stance that they agree with those in favour of a solo alternative and admit they should have added that from the start. They will state to work on it in the future. What will happen? Those opposing this idea will begin their ridicule and spiteful comments once more but this time against Bioware. Having seen the hostility people use towards the Devs in some thread I am not surprised Keith has stopped replying. Those players have killed the improved communication themselves by attacking Bioware and responding to the devs' posts in a way that is all but civil.

 

But what happens when Bioware says "no this is as it is supposed to be, the operation is the only way to tell this story". I will simply accept that stance and judging from the tone of most of the posters in favour of a solo alternative we'd just sigh and move on. However, I am fearful, very fearful, that those opposing this idea will see it as a pretext to do a round of victory ridiculing and until the end of times will further spit on solo players because the devs supported them in this discussion. I know it sounds somewhat generalising and I know many won't be like that, but I can guarantuee you that some players, basing this statement on the experience I had with some posters in this thread, will be taking full advantage of the devs' support in a very negative way.

 

As to the subject of dev communication, with how toxic some players have been towards Keith, Charles or Eric or how hostile they responded to their posts are you surprised they stopped replying to threads and discussions? I really understand them, I even support them that they stopped replying because why do you think I myself have stopped replying to this thread up until this point? I simply stopped caring because if all people can and will do is being hostile and toxic why should I care about the discussion?

The exact same I bet is the case with the devs. Naturally I could be wrong as to this assumption but I think it is a very reasonable explanation as to the dev silence. But truly, the players have themselves to thank for that because in the face of a lack of civility no one is going to stick around and indulge them. I understand frustrations but what do people expect? The more rude I am the quicker the developers will listen to me?

[Kryptonomic]

But the fact there are so many opinions in this thread as well as polarisation I think the devs are afraid to take a stance regarding this subject.

 

When the "devs" fear the community, in terms of taking a stance on things, then people should simply stop posting about things that would only be answerable from an official standpoint. I say this without discounting your other points, which I do believe are entirely valid. But the fact of the matter is dealing with "toxic" aspects of a community are what community managers are trained to do. That is, in fact, part of the job description.

 

Being fair to the community, I put "toxic" in quotes because often any sort of polarized views which become heated can be treated as "toxic" and thus as a way (and excuse) to avoid communication rather than attempt to engage.

 

As to the subject of dev communication, with how toxic some players have been towards Keith, Charles or Eric or how hostile they responded to their posts are you surprised they stopped replying to threads and discussions?

 

Which simply reinforces the problem. Having been a long time player here, and some time poster, I've seen from the early days the chicken-and-egg problem. And it's certainly not limited to Bioware. It generally starts from the community managers (not the "devs") not responding enough. This is often what starts the train of negativity on the part of the player base. Then when the community managers do finally start communicating, it's sporadic at best and only in relatively "safe" topics. Thus furthering the negative sentiment. Thus you end up with a vicious cycle.

 

Making sure I don't derail your thread here (more than I already have anyway), the reason I bring all this up in my few posts is that, really, only the community manager -- acting as an interface for the product team and the development team -- could possibly answer the question that is the title of the thread.

 

The only insight, positive or negative depending on one's point of view, can come from someone who has an official capacity to not only answer the question itself but to perhaps address the implied question: is there a chance that these Oricon aspects will be made solo-friendly? This is particularly the case given that many aspects of the game that were initially group-focused became solo-friendly or had story modes added to them.

 

Finally, an answer, or at least a set of official thoughts, to this question regarding Oricon may give an understanding of possible future content, in terms of story-related aspects that are gated, bracketed, or otherwise associated with group-only content. In short, this is something that some members of the community may be concerned about now but also later, pending how the game and story evolve.

 

Again, that is exactly what a community manager (or community team, to be fair) should be looking for and addressing.

[Mubrak]

Right, because that takes like 5 minutes and costs EA/BW $10.

 

Well, the $10 solution would be ending the quest after the H2 and putting the ops on the mission terminal together with the dailies. This way completionists wouldn't have an open quest that they can't (don't want to) finish.

 

The $100 solution would be a Ziost-style followup quest with the conclusion-cutscene you can start instead of the ops (i.e. debriefing after someone else finished the Dread Masters)

 

BW actually did the $1 solution: I did Oricon with a new char, and the quest is no longer purple and can be abandoned.

Edited September 12, 2017 by Mubrak

[Ylliarus]

When the "devs" fear the community, in terms of taking a stance on things, then people should simply stop posting about things that would only be answerable from an official standpoint. I say this without discounting your other points, which I do believe are entirely valid. But the fact of the matter is dealing with "toxic" aspects of a community are what community managers are trained to do. That is, in fact, part of the job description.

 

Being fair to the community, I put "toxic" in quotes because often any sort of polarized views which become heated can be treated as "toxic" and thus as a way (and excuse) to avoid communication rather than attempt to engage.

 

 

 

Which simply reinforces the problem. Having been a long time player here, and some time poster, I've seen from the early days the chicken-and-egg problem. And it's certainly not limited to Bioware. It generally starts from the community managers (not the "devs") not responding enough. This is often what starts the train of negativity on the part of the player base. Then when the community managers do finally start communicating, it's sporadic at best and only in relatively "safe" topics. Thus furthering the negative sentiment. Thus you end up with a vicious cycle.

 

Making sure I don't derail your thread here (more than I already have anyway), the reason I bring all this up in my few posts is that, really, only the community manager -- acting as an interface for the product team and the development team -- could possibly answer the question that is the title of the thread.

 

The only insight, positive or negative depending on one's point of view, can come from someone who has an official capacity to not only answer the question itself but to perhaps address the implied question: is there a chance that these Oricon aspects will be made solo-friendly? This is particularly the case given that many aspects of the game that were initially group-focused became solo-friendly or had story modes added to them.

 

Finally, an answer, or at least a set of official thoughts, to this question regarding Oricon may give an understanding of possible future content, in terms of story-related aspects that are gated, bracketed, or otherwise associated with group-only content. In short, this is something that some members of the community may be concerned about now but also later, pending how the game and story evolve.

 

Again, that is exactly what a community manager (or community team, to be fair) should be looking for and addressing.

 

Don't get me wrong, I do very much agree with you and am still hoping for an official answer from the developers or at least community manager regarding this topic. I have even sent Keith a private message whether he or someone from his team could find that time to post an answer in this thread but I had sent that message on 09.04.2017 and until today I haven't received any reply. Which is a great pity as I remember at the start when Keith took over I had sent him more than one PM and I frequently got a reply back. Sadly, lately the PM's have been met with silence But I agree, an answer or just Bioware's general thoughts as to this subject would be greatly appreciated. I do understand why they might be reluctant to post in this thread, but I definitely think it is necessary, even if to pour some water onto the fire between "solo-players" and the "raiders and co" as things got heated at multiple occassions and I fear will get again if Bioware will continue their silence on the subject.

 

A thought I just had; maybe the devs keep their silence in this thread because this exact issue might be adressed in the upcoming roadmap? Instead of already replying in here and subsequently repeating himself in his roadmap, Keith may have been waiting to be able to release the roadmap and devote a few lines to solo-friendlier content in there.

 

But you rose very valid points. I know it derails the thread somewhat and I am doing it myself, but it has to be stated somewhere so it might as well be in this thread. I think Bioware should try to take a stance or share their thoughts on "unsafe" subjects, or better said in discussions that are not about relatively safe subjects but have evoked some controversy or polarisation. I understand their reluctance, I definitely do as it's not fun getting that sort of comment (which was why I kept defending myself so stubbornly in this thread) but in some cases it might be necessary to resolve a heated discussion or to cut to the chase, you know? So I definitely agree, the community manager(s) as well as the developers at times should keep engaging in discussions that are not about safe subjects. Because if they keep silent about those subjects I could definitely see them alienating players again like was the case in the past before Keith took over.

[Tsillah]

To be clear, I'm not saying that the sole fact that the earlier Ops are skippable is why I think they don't count as the main story - my criteria for main story is "purple."

 

Well I just checked after someone else commented on it and indeed the Oricon quests are yellow again and not purple anymore.

 

So I guess it's not main story for you anymore.

[Ylliarus]

Well I just checked after someone else commented on it and indeed the Oricon quests are yellow again and not purple anymore.

 

So I guess it's not main story for you anymore.

 

Indeed I redid the Oricon story on another toon a few days ago and I had also noticed the purple icon was now yellow/golden. Which wasn't the case in the past so hence why I kept believing it was purple icon thus main story. Nonetheless, this doesn't take away my belief that a solo alternative should be added some point in the future. Not now, but sometime.

[Tsillah]

Indeed I redid the Oricon story on another toon a few days ago and I had also noticed the purple icon was now yellow/golden. Which wasn't the case in the past so hence why I kept believing it was purple icon thus main story. Nonetheless, this doesn't take away my belief that a solo alternative should be added some point in the future. Not now, but sometime.

You are free to believe that.

 

However, the Oricon quests existed before this game ever knew purple quests.

 

At the end of the day, for me it's still an MMO and this is a part of it. I don't mind if they "fix" it, but for me they don't need to. My solution is to make the story end with the H2 and keep the ops quests optional.

 

When I play through the vanilla story and finish the class story, I can happily skip straight into SoR skipping Makeb and Oricon. Doesn't feel like there's something missing between the two as far as I'm concerned. That's how I feel about it.

 

All in all though, I don't think there's much of a reason for BW to do anything with this, but maybe my solution is just simple enough for them to sneak it in at some point. Who knows?