What, if anything, went wrong with KotFE/ET and what should come in the future?

[grania]

Great, it is easier to run with who ever you like! But, wait, in the new content you get no choice and have to run with a designated companion.

 

Yay, heroics, that's all we get to do with them now *twirls finger in the air*

 

The returned companions are actually different from the originals. etc etc

 

The absolute worst

 

I wasn't supposed to come back to this thread but the scent of misery lured me. I wish I could at least get my break-up scene with Theron when my LI came back (hm who could that be? ) but I didn't even get that. And try as I might to report it, cs CAN NOT understand the problem. It's like the Twilight Zone.

Edited November 20, 2017 by grania

[Sinhammer]

The story was TOO far-reaching. I understand everyone wants to feel their character is THE #1 person in the galaxy, but it shouldn't be that way in a game like this. In other words, the story made me TOO important, even sitting us (however badly-written and implemented) on a throne. I should be important, but not so important no one and nothing else matters. As it is, my toon is (story-wise) a walking god who has killed other planet-devouring gods. Where do you even go from there story-wise? That's kind of ridiculous to think you can, honestly. And the next xpac is what? Political intrigue? All of us who have played from level 1 - KotET have faced planet-killing weapons and gods, you name it. How do politics and armies compare to anything we've faced? It just doesn't.

[devilkat]

My biggest gripes with it are:

1) The fast-tracked version that we got, as opposed to sticking to their original plan of 3, we got 1.5, a lot of still lost companions and a bunch of plot holes.

2) The money that they wasted on the trailers. Just stop already. Stop spending millions of dollars on a 2 minute trailer and giving us crap for content.

3) The one size fits all story line.

 

That being said, I did enjoy the story in the expansions. SoR and RotHC were the best, but I didn't completely hate the Ethernal Throne. I like being able to interact with companions from different stories (though having so many is a bit overwhelming), simply because I don't like all of the ones from the vanilla stories. I also like getting away from the same old, same old of Imp vs Pub. This war has been going on for 20,000 years at this point. Someone sit the leaders in a corner until they are ready to behave like adults. This war should have killed the galaxy long ago, and, by the sounds of some of the uprisings, it's starting to have a huge impact on the availability of resources. I was hoping we'd have some sort of galaxy and faction breaking big bad that would tear the galaxy apart completely and we'd have to rebuild with each other or die alone. But there's still time. I hope this new story arc will have something like that happen.

[LordFell]

Oh... as a player I don't have much to do with Elara Dorn... but I have a Trooper, I *know* she's an Imperial Defector. I also know that her dad is still an important Imperial Officer... I distinctly remember seeing someone with the surname Dorn while wandering through either the Sith Sanctum or Imperial Enclave on DK.

 

...you didn't, you know, want to do something with that when you reintroduced her?

 

ok then. Whatever.

[Marcxsw]

Better/ varied endings. Rather have had the Eternal Throne destroyed at the end along with the Eternal fleet then your character conquers Zaakul for your respective faction. Instead we basically betray the Republic/Sith by keeping the Eternal Alliance intact and operating as a separate faction.

 

Also the dialogue with Valkorian was silly. Wanted to tell him the whole time he keeps popping in my head im not interested in any discussion, I'm just here to execute you for betraying the Sith, then to undo everything you have accomplished. There should be more spiteful dialogue at the end as he dies so you can rub it in, that he could have had it all if he wasn't a traitor, instead he causes his own death with his silly scheme to betray the empire.

 

HK-55 being killed early on with no way to prevent it sucks too. Why make a companion that is pretty much perfect; he is loyal, obedient, doesn't argue, and leave us with no way to save him or sacrifice someone else instead? Of course insolent douchebags like Koth will get to stay and be forced on us for much, much longer though. Didn't like being forced to choose between Vette or Torian either, rather someone more annoying was an option, or nobody.

Edited November 21, 2017 by Marcxsw

[grania]

Oh... as a player I don't have much to do with Elara Dorn... but I have a Trooper, I *know* she's an Imperial Defector. I also know that her dad is still an important Imperial Officer... I distinctly remember seeing someone with the surname Dorn while wandering through either the Sith Sanctum or Imperial Enclave on DK.

 

...you didn't, you know, want to do something with that when you reintroduced her?

 

ok then. Whatever.

 

How about when Theron tells the trooper he's located some fighters from my "old outfit" or whatever and I'm like "isn't this something you could handle yourself?" As if I don't give the slightest F that my husband could be one of them!

 

Of all the moments I could delegate responsibilities, I pick that one. Brother.

Edited November 21, 2017 by grania

[Paulsutherland]

2) The money that they wasted on the trailers. Just stop already. Stop spending millions of dollars on a 2 minute trailer and giving us crap for content.

 

This!

[Sargrith]

I think your asking the wrong question.

 

What, if anything, went right with KotFE/ET.

 

It would be a shorter set of answers.

[DanNV]

I think your asking the wrong question.

 

What, if anything, went right with KotFE/ET.

 

It would be a shorter set of answers.

 

LOL Yes it would. Very short.

[orangenee]

Tunnel vision, un-Star Wars like feel, bland characters, skytroopers, skytroopers, lots of flash but no substance and skytroopers.

 

Kotet felt unfinished and was unfinished.

[Sinhammer]

Tunnel vision, un-Star Wars like feel, bland characters, skytroopers, skytroopers, lots of flash but no substance and skytroopers.

 

Kotet felt unfinished and was unfinished.

 

The skytroopers spawning in at the end of deadend hallways took me out of the immersion more than once. That really bothered me. I understand mobs have to spawn in, but usually it's done with some sort of animation. Mobs cable in from up high "somewhere", they climb over rails, but not the skytroopers. They just materialized out of walls. It was one of the the laziest things I've seen in game. Made me feel more like I was playing some DOOM-style fps where the mobs just spawn in just because at breakneck speed. Serious Wars: The Old Republic.

[LordArtemis]

The spawning system was disappointing. I would have rather seen many more roving patrols, which I feel would have been both more realistic AND would have allowed tactical play.

[darthjody]

I just wished there would have been a 3rd option at the end a neutral option were u could rule the EA as empress but for a peace keeping police force or something like that that has no no bones about using force . Cause I had two characters that I tried to keep neutral and now either way I'm sending them either dark or light.

[PennyAnn]

I disagree. I think the chapters are a far better way to keep story and solo players engaged. They get the story over a year, instead of getting a chunk of content that they can burn through in a day, especially with the way the chapters auto-start. As a solo/story player I'd prefer to get the content every month than to get it all at once.

 

As to the conundrum of people waiting until the end to subscribe and get all the chapters, they could always configure it so that you receive the next chapter 30 days after the last, regardless of when you subscribe.

 

Presenting it in this format would have seen me unsubscribe from this game entirely.

 

I did KotFE and waited for chapters each month and hated it. It completely and totally ruined all immersion for me and made a bad storyline worse. I wouldn't have touched KotET until it was complete if they had done it the same way. If they had forced it to be the same way, I wouldn't have played it at all.

[PennyAnn]

I'm not sure why they went to such incredible efforts to try and integrate each companion into the story plot. With 40 companions, all with totally different back stories and personalities, plus the fact that everyone has favorites, they were fighting an uphill battle. How do you make each companion's return "fair?" Do you base it by screen time? Number of conversation options? How emotional the reunion was? I think BW bit off way more than they could chew. Not only that, but it created a bloated monster. Here's the KOTFE story in a timeline:

 

Plot ( 9 chapters straight)---Filler---Filler---Filler---Plot---Filler---Filler---Filler---Filler---Plot

 

You get the point. During the companion chapters, the plot came screeching to a halt, we got to know this "new" character (to some of us) and then they were once again dropped when the "real" plot returned. It was jarring and felt like a tangent (because it was) which made the story seem less cohesive and meaningful. Even worse was the fact that once a companion was returned, the rarely appeared in any meaningful way again (with some exceptions like Scorpio) whereas in MY character's true story they would not have left her side from that point forward. Yet I had to go along, pretending that having Lana or Theron with me was a-ok, when much if the time it made no sense at all.

 

So, how would I have done it instead?

 

ALL of the companions should have had their returns written and ready at release. Each one would have a small quest arc, suitable to their back story, with perhaps the romance companions being given a bit extra screen time than the rest.

 

Tracking them down would be a series of optional quests, that would occur immediately after we were freed from carbonite. You would rebuild your crew, either sticking with your old crew, or adding new people. Companions who hadn't been introduced to you yet would get their quest chains kickstarted like the alliance alerts are now ("hey, we found someone who might be interested in joining us.") The quests would be a mix of running around the open world (both new planets and old!) accomplishing objectives, interspersed with cut scenes. Perhaps, if the companion hadn't met you yet, there would be a small reputation track required before they would join you.

 

THEN, you would enter the rest of KOTFE and KOTET. The plot would be concise, driven, and smooth, no tangents, no fillers, with choices and consequences. You would take the companion of your choice, along with whoever BW needed for the plot. Your companions needn't even say that much...just a few lines here or there to show they are listening. They would share in your adventure in the same meaningful ways they used to...which is a big part of the draw of companions in the first place!

 

All the work BW put into those filler chapters could have gone into the short companion arcs instead. Since they were optional, players would get to choose who they wanted and wouldn't be saddled with those they didn't. Once in the story, you'd get some "flavor" from the companion responses (and ideally even chapters that were different per Force user or non.)

 

I think I would have been happy with that. I think a lot of players would have been. Our companions should have been a part of this grand Zakuul adventure from the very BEGINNING. Making us wait, did NOT add suspense, it was soul crushing and I hated it. I would, however, have been excited to bring my favorite companions along on a new adventure.

 

Excellent post!

[PennyAnn]

I think what I love most about this thread is the thoughtful criticism without any (so far) of the typical: FIRE ALL DEVZ! garbage. So much of what people have posted here has been truly constructive and offered alternatives to what happened, or what could happen, to redeem this game and take it (at least partially) back to where it was.

 

So much insightful commentary that I'm left with almost nothing to add here. I agree with most everything posted here.

 

Great thread, and great suggestions. I hope that someone from Bioware actually reads this and makes some notes to take to a meeting when they start discussing the next expansion (assuming there is one... but I think there will be at least one more).

 

Kudos, all!

[LordArtemis]

I appreciate the comments as well.

 

I would also like to say that I like the idea of companion arcs that one could choose to skip, much like the companion recruitment missions (I think I have perhaps done less than 5 of those across all of my characters).

 

This would have allowed me to customize my story.

[LordArtemis]

I dont think I posted what I wanted to see moving forward. Usually I post specific suggestions, and may promote a few again here, but I want to paint in broader strokes this time...

 

1) Current storyline is interesting, but don't forget your golden ticket...

 

...the class stories. I still feel strongly that your class stories are the bedrock of this game, and they will continue to draw in new players...if a few changes are made.

 

- fix the cutscenes.

 

You guys should do an entire pass on the cutscenes to see if you can work out some of the bugs...this includes improving ALL of the launch and landing sequences so they are up to Stronghold and expansion planet standards.

 

- find some way to allow players to replay the entire main storyline.

 

Just the main questline. Doesn't even have to change anything, just allow folks to revisit the content. I am sure plenty of folks would love to play the storylines over with the original characters, perhaps change a few choices (though those changes would have no lasting effect on the players current status or disposition).

 

2) Level sync is great, but could use some adjustments.

 

You should adjust level sync to allow a player to set their own difficulty level, by allowing three settings...novice, normal and expert. Novice would allow a player 2 additional levels above the standard level for all capped content, expert would cap them 2 levels lower.

 

3) Give folks personal ships they can decorate like strongholds.

4) Turn hangars in Galactic Starfighter into strongholds...and the ships could tie in with suggestion 3.

5) Create much smaller strongholds (one or two rooms) on all planets.

6) Dramatically increase the CXP payout 1-100

7) Give folks the displayed armor in the character creation system as their starting armor (perhaps with a single armor mod like in the XP armor set from DvL) and open up as many customization options as possible across all characters for use during creation.

8) Launch invasion events around the game where folks, PVE and PVP, can join in the fight against an opposing faction.

 

9) Make a pass on KotFE/ET to make the following changes...

 

- group play. Set it up so players can easily group with other players and enjoy the content together, even if the cutscenes are played out for each player separately.

 

- stop forced companion use. Forcing a particular companion for a cutscene is fine, but allow players to summon any companion they wish in between.

 

- allow players to choose specific chapters to replay instead of the entire block.

 

- DO NOT REMOVE THE CURRENT COMPANIONS AT THE START OF KotFE. Give the player the option so they can opt out if they wish. They will keep their current companions despite the fact that the storyline may show otherwise.

 

This would VASTLY improve the experience for both expansions IMO.

Edited December 7, 2017 by LordArtemis

[CloudCastle]

9) Make a pass on KotFE/ET to make the following changes...[/color]

 

- group play. Set it up so players can easily group with other players and enjoy the content together, even if the cutscenes are played out for each player separately.

 

- stop forced companion use. Forcing a particular companion for a cutscene is fine, but allow players to summon any companion they wish in between.

 

- allow players to choose specific chapters to replay instead of the entire block.

 

- DO NOT REMOVE THE CURRENT COMPANIONS AT THE START OF KotFE. Give the player the option so they can opt out if they wish. They will keep their current companions despite the fact that the storyline may show otherwise.

 

This would VASTLY improve the experience for both expansions IMO.

 

These would be good changes. I would also like to suggest these:

 

1) Give players a way to completely skip KOTFE and KOTET without rearranging the companion roster. Let me keep my current set of companions exactly the way they are, without replacing them with the inferior updated versions. No calling my character "commander" or "oulander", no auto-completion of content which assumes I went light or dark on a storyline my character never actually did. Just let people jump into the new story content once this alliance/Zakuul stuff ends as if that previous story never happened for them.

 

2) Add the Eternal Championship and the Star Fortress content to the new activity tab for solo and group. Let solo players still choose to do the heroic versions of the Star Fortresses and fix all the deco drops. Players jumping into Star Fortresses this way should still be able to get the companion at the end, which would allow those who still only have 5 companions to fill out the remaining 3 slots that crafting requires.

[LordArtemis]

These would be good changes. I would also like to suggest these:

 

1) Give players a way to completely skip KOTFE and KOTET without rearranging the companion roster. Let me keep my current set of companions exactly the way they are, without replacing them with the inferior updated versions. No calling my character "commander" or "oulander", no auto-completion of content which assumes I went light or dark on a storyline my character never actually did. Just let people jump into the new story content once this alliance/Zakuul stuff ends as if that previous story never happened for them.

 

2) Add the Eternal Championship and the Star Fortress content to the new activity tab for solo and group. Let solo players still choose to do the heroic versions of the Star Fortresses and fix all the deco drops. Players jumping into Star Fortresses this way should still be able to get the companion at the end, which would allow those who still only have 5 companions to fill out the remaining 3 slots that crafting requires.

 

Both good suggestions IMO.

[SerraShar]

Well it's started with 'This is your destiny' and it turned out into a session of Jerry Springer

 

for me it's very simple :

 

1- Not being able to CC ennemies in Kotfe and Kotet . yes even Arcann ! Being smacked and thrown around like a rag doll get old so fast . And it's supposed to be MY STORY! So why it doesn't feel like it!?

 

2- No consequences . And I mean MAJOR consequences . Yes yes , i can kill Vette if I want . How that hurt Zaakul ?!

 

3- Lame Boss fights . Now I won't lie and say I'm a big fan of star wars . But even I saw the one with darth Vader when I was a kid . And considering the amount of fan this franchise has , shouldn't a final Battle be more 'WOW! OHMAHGOSH! ' kinda of battle ? I always though Star wars was about DUELING with Light saber and the force . So why we end up smacking Arcann with a shield and jumping around in the end ? Or better yet , dragging Vaylin in Green health stuff for her health to go down ? Where is the dueling , the 'OMG THIS IS IT! THE FINAL SHOWDOWN!' ?

 

4- Lame Story , filled with alot of 'Vagues MISLEADING Lie and Promises' . Our character never changed . You are still the same . You don't grow stronger , you don't gain new abilities . Nada . Nothing .

 

So how do you fix all of this ?

 

A good start is stop lying everytime you Poop a new 'Short Story' . Misleading is Lying to me .

 

Just look at the latest story ! ''Pursue a rogue agent, battle Operation boss Nahut, rule the skies over Iokath and more!'' .

That make you think : We chase Theron the whole time ! we only see him for 1min in the last cutscene ..

 

Let us CC ennemies in Kotfe and Kotet . Seriously , why is that a big no ?

 

I would love to say , give us more choices and reply related to each 8 story . But I don't think they are capable of it .

 

I be happy with less 'Misleading' .

[Ignobull]

Everything from the troopers dying, to ships exploding, to tunnels shaking causes the screen to shake. I get horrible headaches playing the story chapters because of this.

[WaveRun]

Everything went wrong with KOTFE

[LordArtemis]

Well it's started with 'This is your destiny' and it turned out into a session of Jerry Springer

 

for me it's very simple :

 

1- Not being able to CC ennemies in Kotfe and Kotet . yes even Arcann ! Being smacked and thrown around like a rag doll get old so fast . And it's supposed to be MY STORY! So why it doesn't feel like it!?

 

2- No consequences . And I mean MAJOR consequences . Yes yes , i can kill Vette if I want . How that hurt Zaakul ?!

 

3- Lame Boss fights . Now I won't lie and say I'm a big fan of star wars . But even I saw the one with darth Vader when I was a kid . And considering the amount of fan this franchise has , shouldn't a final Battle be more 'WOW! OHMAHGOSH! ' kinda of battle ? I always though Star wars was about DUELING with Light saber and the force . So why we end up smacking Arcann with a shield and jumping around in the end ? Or better yet , dragging Vaylin in Green health stuff for her health to go down ? Where is the dueling , the 'OMG THIS IS IT! THE FINAL SHOWDOWN!' ?

 

4- Lame Story , filled with alot of 'Vagues MISLEADING Lie and Promises' . Our character never changed . You are still the same . You don't grow stronger , you don't gain new abilities . Nada . Nothing .

 

So how do you fix all of this ?

 

A good start is stop lying everytime you Poop a new 'Short Story' . Misleading is Lying to me .

 

Just look at the latest story ! ''Pursue a rogue agent, battle Operation boss Nahut, rule the skies over Iokath and more!'' .

That make you think : We chase Theron the whole time ! we only see him for 1min in the last cutscene ..

 

Let us CC ennemies in Kotfe and Kotet . Seriously , why is that a big no ?

 

I would love to say , give us more choices and reply related to each 8 story . But I don't think they are capable of it .

 

I be happy with less 'Misleading' .

 

I did find many of the boss fights to be more annoying than challenging. I also though some of the trash "autoaggro" areas were a bit much, especially if you were a stealth character.

 

That with the lack of ability to play with friends detracted from an otherwise excellent expansion IMO.

[Lunafox]

For me, the problems with KOT/FE/ET

 

1) Taking away companions with no decent plan to return them in a timely fashion, and so that all love interests have an equal amount of screentime/one on one time. That just seems to be getting worse all the time. I'm praying they don't renegotiate that deal further.

 

2)Making it all about people we don't know or care about, rather than our own characters. Vanilla story was about our character and our adventure and our rise in power. I found the focus to be too much on Valkorion's family, and rather than getting so much screen time/trailers with Screechy and The Book Ends and their Mom, I would've preferred having that time and effort given to our companion returns.

 

3)The story should've been two, at the very minimum, one for shooters and one for force users. One size didn't fit anyone really.

 

Going forward, I hope the future expansions (if there are any, assuming Anthem doesn't bleed this game to the truth death)are more like Shadow of Revan, the story was great, and contained a hint of class flavour, enough to keep replayability high. Even Makeb was better than KOTFEET.