The New Expansion Blows...and Here's Why

[DawnAskham]

It's really not.

 

If you leave group finder on random queue, Hammer Station will pop about 75-90% of the time. This goes for Veteran Mode and Master Mode. The only way around this is to deselect Hammer Station, but then pops go down significantly.

 

The simple truth is that the devs did a poor job (at least at launch, they may change it in future updates) of balance rewards/effort for this expansion. They added valuable items to all FPs equally, instead of saying, harder content will get increased rewards to take into account the added time for completion.

 

For example, HS, Red Reaper and flashpoints designed for Brand New Players may have a 10% chance of dropping a set bonus piece at each boss, and a 50%-70% chance at final boss.

 

Next tier of flashpoints, 20% chance at each boss and 100% at final boss.

 

The hardest/most recent, i.e. Umbara, Nathema, Chiss, 30% chance at each boss, 100% for one at final boss and additional 50% chance of a second piece at final boss.

 

The balance in flashpoints from a risk / time to reward ratio has always been poor, the current gearing system just highlights that fact.

 

However, I would not recommend sub-categorizing the FPs with different difficulties and rewards - not as long as we have a single queue. We had issues before when Kaon and LI were considered a higher tier with better rewards - players not up to the difficulty would queue anyway because of the higher rewards.

 

IMO they need to do a balance pass for all FPs and tune the difficulty to be similar across all FPs at the same difficulty level (e.g. vet vs MM), which would require toning down the over-tuned FPs and possibly even tuning up some of the lower difficulty ones.

 

They should also look at the time required - the longest ones typically are the old story heavy instances, which already have a number of bosses in each that do not drop loot - just add loot to their tables.

 

I'd be more inclined to stick around certain FPs if a) they were tuned similarly and b) longer ones had more chances for loot / better rewards.

 

Otherwise, I have enough alts to fish the queue - and while I don't want to just endlessly run HS, I will auto drop the KotFE ones, some of the very large ones (especially if the non-loot bosses are not skip-able), as well as places like Manaan and Czerka Meltdown if the group isn't all max level with decent gear.

 

EDIT TO ADD: Pet peeve of mine - any flashpoint where kicking the worst / lowest player and using a comp means the run goes from a slog with players dying to trash to a quick and painless breeze is poorly tuned- and there are quite a few that fit this description.

Edited November 15, 2019 by DawnAskham

[Chelz]

I mean we can cherry pick an example which very well could indicate they are deaf and not listening to the player base,

 

You are under a false assumption my friend. The devs are under no obligation at all to listen to the player base. It is after all, the dev's game, not ours. They can and will do what they want with it.

 

At the end of the day, it's just a game. I think we all lose sight of that. If you are not enjoying it, don't play it imo. Why waste your time?

[Darev]

I'm not a fan of using flashpoints for gearing, but it's the fastest way to do it, so while /follow was broken, that's what I did.

I'm not a fan of the changes they made to crafting the current higher end items. I've leveled a few things up to 700, but only using the components, not crafting actual items. I've only RE'd two types of new stims. That is VERY slow for me. Strictly due to the changes with how crafting new items works.

The actual story of the expansion was decent. I mentioned in another thread, however, I'm FAR more interested in the teaser at the end of the story than anything that was brought about for Ossus / Onslaught.

I love the crafting mats inventory tab. I think that's the absolute best part of the changes with 6.0

When they get the crafting crew skills windows to update correctly as you use resources, that will be nice.

 

I'm not a fan of the changes they made to conquest. My feelings for that are pretty well documented in these forums.

I'm not a fan of amplifiers. Largely because I see the potential they COULD have if they had gone a completely different route. They COULD be a great addition to the game. A new sub-system of crafting (think the power bit system from SWG) that COULD have created a whole new player driven section of the economy...stuck in RNG-ville.

 

They fixed /follow, and it actually works...for now. So I'm happier than I have been for the last couple months. Yes it's only been broken for 3 weeks, but I knew it was coming when it was broken on PTS, even though I wanted to believe they'd fix it for launch.

 

There are definitely a greater number of things I don't like about 6.0 and the changes they made with it.

But I haven't canceled my main account yet...so...swtor isn't completely dead to me.

[sharkfishman]

The balance in flashpoints from a risk / time to reward ratio has always been poor, the current gearing system just highlights that fact.

 

However, I would not recommend sub-categorizing the FPs with different difficulties and rewards - not as long as we have a single queue. We had issues before when Kaon and LI were considered a higher tier with better rewards - players not up to the difficulty would queue anyway because of the higher rewards.

 

IMO they need to do a balance pass for all FPs and tune the difficulty to be similar across all FPs at the same difficulty level (e.g. vet vs MM), which would require toning down the over-tuned FPs and possibly even tuning up some of the lower difficulty ones.

 

They should also look at the time required - the longest ones typically are the old story heavy instances, which already have a number of bosses in each that do not drop loot - just add loot to their tables.

 

I'd be more inclined to stick around certain FPs if a) they were tuned similarly and b) longer ones had more chances for loot / better rewards.

 

Otherwise, I have enough alts to fish the queue - and while I don't want to just endlessly run HS, I will auto drop the KotFE ones, some of the very large ones (especially if the non-loot bosses are not skip-able), as well as places like Manaan and Czerka Meltdown if the group isn't all max level with decent gear.

 

EDIT TO ADD: Pet peeve of mine - any flashpoint where kicking the worst / lowest player and using a comp means the run goes from a slog with players dying to trash to a quick and painless breeze is poorly tuned- and there are quite a few that fit this description.

 

I like my idea better. Lol.

 

But... you have some nice suggestions there that I can get behind as well. I definitely agree that one way to make HS MM more balanced would be to up the difficultly considerably where it would be similar to running Tython MM.

 

For example, first boss:

 

The AoE circles around the boss would one-shot you or near it if you stood in one. The laser would hit hard enough that it would need to be cleansed at 5 stacks AND the tank would need to use a defensive. The adds would detonate more quickly when aggroed, etc.

 

Second boss:

 

DPS droid's flame cast would kill any dps standing in it for more than an instant. The tank would also be heavily affected. The main boss would hit much harder than currently, likely one-shotting any DPS hit. It's OK if the healer doesn't have much DPS output, but her heals should be far more powerful / need to be interrupted.

 

Last Boss: Adds hit significantly harder and need to be taken to the boss ASAP. Explosive circles will one-shot (or close) any DPS caught in them. Adds spawn far more frequently. Boss's channel attack does slightly more damage than currently.

 

This would be an option if they decide not to reduce rewards from HS MM. If it's MM, at least make it really a MM, not a Veteran walk through the park.

[Ylliarus]

You are under a false assumption my friend. The devs are under no obligation at all to listen to the player base. It is after all, the dev's game, not ours. They can and will do what they want with it.

 

At the end of the day, it's just a game. I think we all lose sight of that. If you are not enjoying it, don't play it imo. Why waste your time?

 

I bet someone will come up and say "I pay for it, so I get a say in it!" but frankly, they'd be wrong. They're not a shareholder, they're a customer. Sure, a customer can make suggestions, but at the end of the day, the company is not obligated to follow the customer's directions.

 

That said... if a product wants to be successful and do well/attract new customers and keep the old ones, it would be wise to implement the suggestions the customers want to see in the product. Because if everyone just moves onto a different product that has what they want, then the other one will be taken off the market.

 

The same applies for SWTOR. Sure, it's the devs' game, but in the end they're making it for us, we have to enjoy it in order to keep it alive. If the players won't get out of this product what they want to get, they'll indeed move onto another game. And if too many players leave, then the game will be shut down and that's the last thing we should want. So, while I understand your line of thinking, listening to your playerbase as to what they want to get out of the game will increase and secure its longevity. Which is why it saddens me the devs refused to listen to the players regarding crafting before Onslaught was released.

[Brother_Wolf_NZ]

I can't play the way I want. It's that simple.

 

I resubbed last week. Already cancelled my sub. Game is total and complete garbage as far as I'm concerned.

 

The story lasted like two days and was meh beyond belief. I could write a more interesting story on toilet paper while on the commode. I did get some okay gear drops from the story, but now the story's over so...

 

All I do, all I've ever really done, is PvP and craft in between PvP pops. The gear drops in PvP are beyond terrible and are clearly bugged. Still dropping T1 green trash when I've already got some gold and purple items. In a game with gear progression, where gear matters at endgame, I'm done with that.

 

Sorry, but I have zero interest, actually less than zero, in running 100 Hammer Station FPs to get my gear. I mean, I ran Hammer Station the first time something like 7+ years ago. Why in the world would I want to run it now? Please tell me. God bless the PvEers who will grind anything and everything monotonous until there's no water left in the rock...the only ones keeping this game alive.

 

There is also no crafting alternative which did exist in the past. Like I said, I used to craft in between PvP pops. I could use crafting to give Alts a cushion of sorts. Now I have no idea what I need to craft, how to get materials, how to get schematics, or even what's available for me to craft. That segment of the game has been turned into a complete disaster, and unnecessarily so. Even the proposed changes coming in what...a month?...don't look like they will help much.

 

Wanted to come back to the game. Wanted to love this game from the start...but you guys kept, and keep, blowing it at every turn.

 

Good luck

 

We're both in agreement on your statement for the new expansion, it's a total disappointment. All it involves is just one shipyard, so you can imagine my reaction when I found that out. I wanted it to continue on until the end, like KOTFE and KOTET. Understand I'm not a fan of both, in case you think that I like it because I don't. My point is, I wanted Onslaught to have a full impacted story like chapters in a book or a novel. Take my agent sniper for example, she's a double agent working for the republic. I wanted to see how things would play out when the empire eventually discovered the deception and I went to join the republic fully. But as you can imagine, it's a total disappointment.

[juliushorst]

But... you have some nice suggestions there that I can get behind as well. I definitely agree that one way to make HS MM more balanced would be to up the difficultly considerably where it would be similar to running Tython MM.

 

If most people wanted such changes they wouldn't run HS constantly at cost of two crates you get for running random MM.

The best solution is doing stuff with people you know. You avoid possibly incompetent players, you select what you want to do (which flashpoints will be ticked, if you're doing bonus etc.) and avoid ninja-looting. I've been running MMs with guildmates ever since the expansion for loot, conquest and fun and I'm having a great time.

[fhwi]

Hi,

 

The problem of the crafting is that they really believed that it would be fun,

to made nuclear physics out of a simple crafting system.

[Khaleg]

Except for tghe lack of content or a decent amount of it it does not imho.

[well]

I can't play the way I want. It's that simple.

 

I resubbed last week. Already cancelled my sub. Game is total and complete garbage as far as I'm concerned.

 

The story lasted like two days and was meh beyond belief. I could write a more interesting story on toilet paper while on the commode. I did get some okay gear drops from the story, but now the story's over so...

 

All I do, all I've ever really done, is PvP and craft in between PvP pops. The gear drops in PvP are beyond terrible and are clearly bugged. Still dropping T1 green trash when I've already got some gold and purple items. In a game with gear progression, where gear matters at endgame, I'm done with that.

 

Sorry, but I have zero interest, actually less than zero, in running 100 Hammer Station FPs to get my gear. I mean, I ran Hammer Station the first time something like 7+ years ago. Why in the world would I want to run it now? Please tell me. God bless the PvEers who will grind anything and everything monotonous until there's no water left in the rock...the only ones keeping this game alive.

 

There is also no crafting alternative which did exist in the past. Like I said, I used to craft in between PvP pops. I could use crafting to give Alts a cushion of sorts. Now I have no idea what I need to craft, how to get materials, how to get schematics, or even what's available for me to craft. That segment of the game has been turned into a complete disaster, and unnecessarily so. Even the proposed changes coming in what...a month?...don't look like they will help much.

 

Wanted to come back to the game. Wanted to love this game from the start...but you guys kept, and keep, blowing it at every turn.

 

Good luck

I know what you mean. I canceled mine also. Crafting is a big thing with me. I like crafting for my chrs as they level. That and raising Conquest. It is their game they can do what they want. They made their choice and so I made mine. I been playing since Beta with breaks here and there. What they said about play your own way reminds me of ME 3 and what was put out by them. A bunch of BS. Oh well. Just a note: I promise my gear to the the blue hair engineer.

[Ardrossan]

The amplifiers is a messy system that I don't really understand. It's baffling to me that they don't include a tutorial for it in Onslaught. Don't even get me started on set bonus for classes, it's beyond me. For awhile I was puzzled what 'legacy points' were and why I would want them, then I eventually realized it referred to the point system that most people who have been playing for awhile have maxed out literal years ago, and does nothing anyway.

 

I hate the UI changes, especially the changes to item colors and not being able to immediately tell when something is BoL. They made something that was previously pretty simple extremely complicated. I also think the thing that tells you if an item is better than the one you have is bugged.

 

The changes to item UI is much worse imo than any other UI changes, but I'll join others who have complained about the UI changes for vendors, mailboxes, and the character screen. At 75 the little man in the character screen window flashes gold, and I don't know how to get rid of it; changing the amplifier doesn't get rid of it.

 

I miss the old command crate system. I'm glad I hoarded all those CXP boosts because I haven't gotten any renown boosts so far, just gear that stupidly has its values hidden. How do I know if I should destroy it for renown points or keep it if I can't see the rating?

 

As far as difficulty, I went through the expansion on my well-geared jugg tank, with comp set to dps. It was fine, but for stuff like the FP I noticed that the comp often doesn't do anything for boss fights [except Malgus], and I think it would be pretty difficult to do that on a DPS char. I think players who are worried about difficulty increases are probably right in regards to the FP, they should add a JesusDroid for it.

 

Crafting is worthless, but we all know that. The story was all right; it wasn't any worse than Kotet anyway.

[Nemmar]

By the way, i disagree with most of what the OP says, but there is one thing that will truly kill this game as the last straw in this expansion. It isn't getting enough exposure. I made a thread about it but it was mostly ignored.

 

AMPS are the thing that will kill this game as it stands. They are by FAR too powerful. They increase your output by 20-30%. This makes them be mandatory if you want to be competitive in the game. Wich by extension means millions of credits, wich by extension means Pay to Win by buying stuff with cartel coins and selling on the GTN.

 

If this is not changed the game will gain the fame of pay to win in the next months. That imo is incredibly dangerous for the future of the game. AMPs need to be drastically nerfed asap!

Edited November 17, 2019 by Nemmar