Proposed Ranked Season Timing and Reward Changes

[AlrikFassbauer]

but again I would like to note that there are people playing this game who cant play 7 days a week and right when they come from work. For such people a long season is a good thing.

 

I agree.

 

But on the other hand, who would really want to get into such a toxic community

when the own goal is simply to relax and have fun after work ?

[merovejec]

I agree.

 

But on the other hand, who would really want to get into such a toxic community

when the own goal is simply to relax and have fun after work ?

 

Well, the wintraders first get a higher rating to have it easy, then they play and wue dodge their pals so they still need canonfodder to increase their rating legit. So they need us "others" to play

[Gray]

Sounds amazing Musco, Bravo!

[Gray]

Also, I assume the buyable old rewards would not include titles? Seems silly to have "S1 All-Star" etc titles buyable. It would completely take away their meaning.

 

Furthermore, some of the old reward items, like Furious weapons, have inscriptions saying they have been granted as a reward from performance in season n. That would also have to be changed on the buyable versions.

 

You'll probably be one of those special snowflakes in the future who frowns upon the new age furious carriers while saying: "thats not the real weaponbox the dream, look at my inscription I earned them for real back in S3 and it was HARD to reach 1300 rating".

Edited July 3, 2018 by Gray

[Gray]

ouch double post sorry. Edited July 3, 2018 by Gray

[LeglessChair]

Hey folks,

 

Starting with Season 10 we are considering some changes to the frequency of Ranked PvP Seasons and how we structure rewards. Let’s talk about what our goals are for these changes and what we intend to change.

 

Goals

We have a few specific things we want to address:

• Seasons are going longer than we would like.
  
  • Although this gives us a lot of time to put together awesome rewards, it does mean you have to go many months within one season.
    

  [*]Having a new Currency to collect every Season can be clunky and adds extra complexity to earning and spending currency.

  [*]We have heard a continual desire to bring back prior Season rewards in a fair but accessible way.

 

The Proposed Changes

• Seasons will now run 3-6 months - Our goal is to be around 3 months, but timing will be determined by Game Updates.
  
• Due to shorter Seasons we would adjust our Seasonal rewards
  
  • Seasonal bracket rewards would be reduced overall. Ex: Each Tier might receive a Stronghold Deco, Title, and Flair
    
  • All Seasons will now use the same type of currency
    
  • We would implement a permanent Ranked Rewards Vendor which we would periodically add new items to, such as mounts, armor sets, weapon sets, etc.
    
  • Starting at the end of Season 10 we would add Season 1’s rewards to the vendor for purchase. These items would be priced at a premium. This would mean they are available for purchase but they will be quite pricey to be fair to those who earned them at the time of the Season completing.
    
  • As we complete future Seasons we will continue to add prior Season rewards. Ex: We add S2 rewards as we complete S11.
    

 

These changes will keep some exclusive rewards per season tied to your rank, while allowing us to continue releasing “bigger” rewards on roughly the same cadence we did previously. This will also allow us over time to build an extensive list of goods on the vendor which keeps a greater incentive for players to continue participating throughout the Season.

 

TLDR – Shorter Seasons, less tiered rewards with greater rewards on a permanent vendor, start rolling old seasonal rewards on the vendor for purchase at a premium.

 

Let us know your thoughts!

 

-eric

The more I think about this the more it reads like a "bad news" post with some spin to me:

- Now that they will make less new rewards and just resell past rewards "veteran" players will get next to nothing (compared to before) as rewards from ranked pvp, due to having the old ones.

-Past rewards were thought to be exclusive to that season and now the value of those rewards is effectively being "stolen" from old players for what? 6 month seasons? Is this really necessary?

- seasons will still be too long. Why even call them seasons at this point? Maybe we need a new word lol.

- They can alsways reskin some other armor and make it flashy, furious gear/weapons isn't all that special on it's own, they just haven't done fancy pvp gear in ages.

-the QoL improvement with the currency wouldn't even be relevant if you didn't decide to resell rewards because it wouldn't make sense to pass over currency from season to season, given that the season rewards are meant to be "exclusive" to that season.

Edited July 3, 2018 by LeglessChair

[septru]

Hey folks,

 

Definitely keep the feedback coming! The team is reading through the thread to get an idea of everyone's thoughts.

 

A few points of clarification:

• The prior rewards we are talking about are cosmetic rewards (mounts, weapons, armor) not things like Top 96 titles.
  
• These older items on the vendors would be very expensive to purchase with seasonal tokens. We absolutely want to avoid "everyone" having our older top-end rewards. The intention would be for them to be accessible but still very rare.
  

-eric

 

Is there any way we can do a simple reskin of the weapons, armor, mounts? That will furthur make items gained in s10+ different from s2,s3,s4.

[Savej]

If you can't create new items every season put cartel market items on the ranked vendor or put old pvp sets up there. Don't recycle old ranked gear sets.

[zerglord]

Anything that bring more people to ranked is good, so this is welcome change.

 

Still biggest problem of ranked are win-traders!

[merovejec]

Would 4-5 months make it better? I think 6 months is too long and 3 is probably too short.

 

I liked the suggestion of 1 month of Pre-Season and then 4 months ranked season. THat way there is at least a break in between and you dont jump into the next one right away.

[teclado]

The one and only time that I seriously tried to play solo ranked was S6. I wanted a weapon set, so I played until I hit the rating that I strongly suspected was the silver minimum, then stopped. I got my flashy dual sabres (with shoto) and was happy.

 

If my S6 sabers are eventually re-released, would I be upset? Some small part of me would be. But I don't have any of the prior season rewards, so the desire to attain those probably overwhelms my desire for having exclusive S6 weapons. Side note: I'm not in love with the sound effects of the S6 sabers, but I LOVE the sound effects on the sabers from around the S3-S4 timeframe. I have some...I'm forgetting the name, but they were regular pvp sabers. I go back and forth between using the two types of sabers for aesthetics vs sound.

 

My real issue with ranked is that it's just not that fun due to the hyper competitive atmosphere. I've never been a fan of that. I've been playing the game since launch and I know I'm a decent player, but even I get chewed out by idiots at times. I'll still play it if there is some kind of shiny reward waiting for me, but barring that, my motivation to play ranked is precisely zero.

 

EDIT: Overall, I am encouraged by what I see here. Kudos to Keith and Eric for injecting some life into the pvp part of this game. I appreciate you guys.

Edited July 3, 2018 by teclado

[Going]

Is there any way we can do a simple reskin of the weapons, armor, mounts? That will furthur make items gained in s10+ different from s2,s3,s4.

 

I'm not sure how you could re skin mounts and weapons? Giraddas rancor would make no sense being reskin'd because the colors sort of make the mount.

 

I could see this with armor but that would be the only area I could see it making sense.

[Talon_strikes]

Hey folks,

 

Definitely keep the feedback coming! The team is reading through the thread to get an idea of everyone's thoughts.

 

A few points of clarification:

• The prior rewards we are talking about are cosmetic rewards (mounts, weapons, armor) not things like Top 96 titles.
  
• These older items on the vendors would be very expensive to purchase with seasonal tokens. We absolutely want to avoid "everyone" having our older top-end rewards. The intention would be for them to be accessible but still very rare.
  

-eric

Eric, please do take note of the minority that are actually against this or would rather have older rewards reskinned. Please do NOT do that. Keep reskins on the cartel market and ONLY the cartel market. I want that as far away as possible from gameplay PvP and PvE rewards.

 

Not only that, wintrading and exploiting for these rewards has been going on since the dawn of ranked. While this will help kill some wintrading, I also ask that you guys reconsider your stance on the Top 3 titles. Everything else is good, but I do hope older Top 3 titles will be available at some point in the future.

Edited July 3, 2018 by Talon_strikes

[merovejec]

Anything that bring more people to ranked is good, so this is welcome change.

 

Still biggest problem of ranked are win-traders!

 

What they need to make sure is that the prices of the old rewards will be really so high that people will not get the bright idea of trying to get them just by afking the solo ranked wz! Like when the black crystals were introduced for like 4000 season coms the people went into ranked just to get those 4k coms and ruined the matches for ppl.

 

Wintraders will always be a problem cause the population is just too small and the good players dont want to take the risk of getting akfers, noobs, hackers etc. If bioware would set high criteria for ranked and get rid of hacks it would be better.

[DarthHammer]

Please don't bring back old rewards:

 

1) Seasons end for a reason and rewards should not be obtainable at any cost once the season is over. Else just eliminate the season concept in pvp and make one big, permanent and boring ranked ladder.

 

2) Those rewards are intended for people who had an outstanding performance during old seasons and not for comm/mat farmers. There are many players that do ranked all day with no effort at all to win matches and also to call themselves the greatest of all trolls. I'm sure they have plenty of ranked comms in stock to get these rewards

 

3) Last but not least, BW have some gratitude and respect for the player base that have continuously supported the ranked branch of your game over the last 7 years and that as of today remain active. I don't see why someone that started playing the game and/or queing for ranked in 2016 (regardless of its current skill level) can access S1 - S2 rewards like its founder peers that actually played and paid for the game during those seasons and earned them legit.

 

Cheers.

[Rion_Starkiller]

I don't know why some of you are trying to talk the devs into giving out old rewards instead of creating new ones. Edited July 3, 2018 by Rion_Starkiller

[teclado]

I don't know why some of you are trying to talk the devs into giving out old rewards instead of creating new ones.

It's because there are conflicting objectives: shorter seasons vs new rewards. If you want new rewards, you're going to have to give them a long time to create them, and therefore long seasons.

[phalczen]

Speaking for only myself, I've subscribed and played since beta, and I only participated in Seasons 3 and 4 because I liked the look of the weapons (Furious set and Swashbuckling set). I never got to Silver tier so I never earned the weapons in either season, and in fact only got enough rating to earn the season 3 furious crystals. I haven't particularly liked the rewards before or since those seasons, I mean the Furious Walker and the Gladiatorial Nexu were cool too, but I never believed I'd ever attain them. I am also a fan of the patch 2.2 animated Firebrand sets of armor and weapons, at least for most classes, since I also am a fan of the Kell Dragon sets. But, at least I thought maybe the weapon sets were attainable. I was so very wrong, not ever breaking 1100 solo ranked in rating either season. I haven't really pvp'ed much since 5.0 because of the initial implementation of Galactic Command. With those disclaimers out of the way … Naturally, I'm interested in getting old rewards that I never had the opportunity to acquire. I'd rather have a pathway of hard grinding to earn the season tokens needed to get an old season's reward, than try and try in solo ranked and never break 1100 rating and therefore never get the rewards. Furthermore, if I do not like the look of any rewards in a current season, but older rewards are available, then I might be motivated to participate in the current season.

Nevertheless, I get the feelings of other posters when they say that the addition of prior season cosmetic rewards cheapens their achievement. While I can understand their sentiment, I think this change might bring more people into ranked. I know I would give it a try again, just for the chance at the older rewards.

[Rion_Starkiller]

It's because there are conflicting objectives: shorter seasons vs new rewards. If you want new rewards, you're going to have to give them a long time to create them, and therefore long seasons.

 

4-6 months is plenty of time to create a few cosmetic items. Hold the devs to a higher standard. PvP has been shat on for too long.

Edited July 3, 2018 by Rion_Starkiller

[septru]

Please don't bring back old rewards:

 

1) Seasons end for a reason and rewards should not be obtainable at any cost once the season is over. Else just eliminate the season concept in pvp and make one big, permanent and boring ranked ladder.

 

2) Those rewards are intended for people who had an outstanding performance during old seasons and not for comm/mat farmers. There are many players that do ranked all day with no effort at all to win matches and also to call themselves the greatest of all trolls. I'm sure they have plenty of ranked comms in stock to get these rewards

 

3) Last but not least, BW have some gratitude and respect for the player base that have continuously supported the ranked branch of your game over the last 7 years and that as of today remain active. I don't see why someone that started playing the game and/or queing for ranked in 2016 (regardless of its current skill level) can access S1 - S2 rewards like its founder peers that actually played and paid for the game during those seasons and earned them legit.

 

Cheers.

 

^^^this. High end tier ranked rewards should not be ground out by "how many games you play". The grind should be in learning and becoming a better player.

[phalczen]

^^^this. High end tier ranked rewards should not be ground out by "how many games you play". The grind should be in learning and becoming a better player.

 

Tom Brady earned the purchasing power to buy a fancy sports car, even though his team lost to the Eagles in this year's superbowl (LII, 52). He just can't wear the ring or have a smaller version of the trophy. In fact, I'd wager there are a fair number of NFL players who played for teams in the playoffs who can buy a fancy sports car even though they are not on the Eagles.

 

My point is that exclusivity is relative. Take away all the exclusivity, that's bad, I concur 100%. Titles for example. Certain stronghold decorations perhaps (though it would be nice to have access to some decos from older seasons simply because in my opinion there are a dearth of pvp-oriented decos.) However, make some rewards less exclusive (for example, weapons, armors, even mounts perhaps) and purchasable through hard work, and you may attract more participation.

 

Who knows, the prices on these rewards could be so high that in the end, you would grind out and improve enough to qualify for highest tiers of multiple seasons anyway.

[Grxsr]

Rewards should be based on unique weapons and armor, for each particular class, including crystals.. not just Flags, titles and portraits..

Some ideas are good, went it comes to have access to weapons and armor from previous seasons, but not all should be accessible.. However, think is a great idea to have a vendor were everything from current and past seasons can be purchase for the right price, some players only subscribe to this game for the PvP.. nothing else.

Lets not also forget the Unraked Warzone Community, some player want nothing to do with Arenas, don't think is right for them not to be rewarded.

[septru]

However, make some rewards less exclusive (for example, weapons, armors, even mounts perhaps) and purchasable through hard work, and you may attract more participation.

 

Who knows, the prices on these rewards could be so high that in the end, you would grind out and improve enough to qualify for highest tiers of multiple seasons anyway.

 

Well, what's your definition of hard work? I don't view matt farmers queing 24/7 for ranked, getting globaled over and over again, not carrying one bit.... as "hard work". And that's exactly what is happening in group ranked now and will happen in solo ranked if they implement this change. They introduced CMTs as rewards for ranked and you have matt farmers that que up and stuck it at the beginning of the match. But that's fine because CMTs are not "high end" rewards- ranked rewards are.

 

As for "improving", I highly doubt that players will improve when their only mentality is to que up for rewards. Are matt farmers improving in group ranked at all?

 

Ranked is about earning rewards through skill and not amount of games played. Implementing cumulative rewards will totally counter this, no matter how pricey the rewards are.

Edited July 3, 2018 by septru

[Going]

Well, what's your definition of hard work? I don't view matt farmers queing 24/7 for ranked, getting globaled over and over again, not carrying one bit.... as "hard work". And that's exactly what is happening in group ranked now and will happen in solo ranked if they implement this change. They introduced CMTs as rewards for ranked and you have matt farmers that que up and stuck it at the beginning of the match. But that's fine because CMTs are not "high end" rewards- ranked rewards are.

 

As for "improving", I highly doubt that players will improve when their only mentality is to que up for rewards. Are matt farmers improving in group ranked at all?

 

Ranked is about earning rewards through skill and not amount of games played. Implementing cumulative rewards will totally counter this, no matter how pricey the rewards are.

 

Exactly, that is why these mats need to be obtainable through nightmare mode pve or something in addition. Ranked is not a place for pve farmers....period.

Edited July 3, 2018 by Going

[Raansu]

I looked up a few games and 3 months seems to be the standard, even for overwatch. IDK why it's 3 months tho and the reasoning for the 3 months might not apply to swtor.

 

Overwatch seasons are 2 months and its off seasons are only a few days. They have not been 3 months for quite awhile.