Bring Back NPCs for Heroics on Starter Planets.

[AceMasterSoul]

I've seen a few threads that request NPCs to be returned. I am creating this tread because I want NPCs back, but don't believe it’s realistic or valuable to return all of them. I believe the most realistic and valuable NPCs to return are those on the starting planets. Here is a few reasons why

 

1.) Instant "new" Content. Players, customers cough cough, that started on 4.0 never got to experience the cinematic awesomeness that is “Man with the Steel Voice." The sequences of dialog, music, and choices made this easily my favorite mission to play. I know people liked this mission and sure new player will too. (To whom it may concern, if you have another favorite starter planet npc, that is no longer present, please share.)

 

2.) Aesthetic Appeal. The first few pages/paragraphs of any written work are arguably the most important. Often called the hook, they greatly impact how much time and money are spent on any given work. For Swtor the starting planets are your first few pages/paragraphs. Especial since they are the only planets you can play on when Swtor is downloading. You'll want those planets to be your best or close to it. As a returning player who played on Hutta when it was downloading, I was greatly disappointed to find out that cut-scenes from "Man with the Steel Voice" were missing. The only reason I continued playing was because the BBA Event was going on.

 

3.) Role Play Appeal. A Hero/Villain’s origin story is often the most fascinating or sought after pieces of information. The Heroic Missions added choices, cinematics , and dialog that were not class specific. This added personality, freedom and depth to my bounty hunter characters as they started their journey. I'll be honest, after the first planet heroics became less important to me. I haven't completed every heroic, but I have played every starting planet’s heroics. The choices I made in those determined what type of person I wanted my alts to be, and every time I played they weren't the same ha ha ha!

 

I'm not sure why the NPCs were removed or how hard it would be to put them back. A fellow player Phazonfreak hypothesized that it had to do with changes to the Heroic System and the New Activity Finder. If this was the case I have a suggestion that I feel would be beneficial and realistic. Though some players might not be happy with it. (If they can comment on this post they shouldn't be that mad...) If you were to make the Activity Finder a sub only perk this would give you a reason to put the NPC back as well as generating another reason for people to sub. If the activity finder were a sub only perk free to play players would have to go to the NPCs to start and complete each quest, this would mean the NPCs would have to be there...

Edited June 20, 2020 by AceMasterSoul

[DarkTergon]

It's a cool idea, especially for new players, BUT, it depends on why they were removed in the first place. Was there a reason, etc.

[AceMasterSoul]

It's a cool idea, especially for new players, BUT, it depends on why they were removed in the first place. Was there a reason, etc.

 

Yeah, I don’t know what/if there was a specific reason. If I’m gonna be honest I think it was for server space.

[SteveTheCynic]

(To whom it may concern, if you have another favorite starter planet npc, that is no longer present, please share.)

Poor eight-fingered Sgt Travi Pott on Ord Mantell. She not only doesn't give the mission (blow up the towers) since 4.0 launched, but she isn't even *there* any more. (As you head out from Oradam Village toward the beach and the Savrip Island, she stood in the now-empty space to the right of the medical service vendor droid.)

I'm not sure why the NPCs were removed or how hard it would be to put them back. A fellow player Phazonfreak hypothesized that it had to do with changes to the Heroic System and the New Activity Finder.

I'd vote for it being the Heroic System with a bit of "map space reduction". The Activity Finder as we see it now is much newer than the removal of the Heroic Mission NPCs.

[Darkbloom]

I think they could be returned.

 

Once upon a time they removed the NPC's who gave the intro missions to the daily areas like Black Hole and Section X. And now those NPC's are back.

 

I would like them returned. There is no good reason to remove any of the cinematic content in this game.

[Monumenta]

All removed content should be repurposed or restored as optional.

[AceMasterSoul]

There is no good reason to remove any of the cinematic content in this game.

 

I can understand removing NPCs, but they should definitely keep a cinematic archive that players can access. Though NPC cinematic activation is still something I strongly prefer. Especial if the cinematic scenes are from playable missions.

[Tofu_Shark]

This has been observed and requested several times before. Please search the forum before posting suggestions, as there's a good chance someone has already posted what you're going to suggest. Contribute to that thread instead. If there's more than one, post in the thread with the most information. It's better to concentrate efforts into a single thread that stays on the first page than to dilute them across several that get buried and forgotten in a matter of days. Don't worry about necro'ing. If it's an old thread, that just proves how long ago the change was made and how unpopular it is still to that present day.

 

Here are some threads I found with a quick search that are pretty close to what this one is about:

Missing Hutta NPCs | Explain Yourself Developers

Restoring certain quests that were removed during the 4.0-5.0 era leveling overhaul

Heroics, Planetary Bonus Arcs, and Breadcrumbs

Please Return our Heroic Mission NPCs!

 

I've gone through the first 10 pages of results. I think that's more than enough. Most of these showed up early on. It usually doesn't take long to conduct a search, unless only one person has made or suggestion or no one truly has.

 

Restore all removed content.

Edited June 22, 2020 by Tofu_Shark

[AceMasterSoul]

Please search the forum before posting suggestions, as there's a good chance someone has already posted what you're going to suggest.

 

I acknowledge it's frustrating to see people post threads that cover a topic that someone has already started addressing. However I felt that my suggestion differed enough do start it's own thread. I"m not interested in returning all removed content, and I'm only asking for a small portion of content from the category removed. My thread also highlighted a possible reason the content was removed, how that could be addressed, and why i felt it was a good idea to return it.

 

It's better to concentrate efforts into a single thread that stays on the first page than to dilute them across several that get buried and forgotten in a matter of days.

 

I don't expect people to search pages of forum before posting a thread, This coming from a guy who made a thread titled What's the Laziest Thing You've Done in Swtor. I do expect them to support exsiting threads when they are brought to their attention.

 

Here are some threads I found with a quick search that are pretty close to what this one is about:

Missing Hutta NPCs | Explain Yourself Developers

Restoring certain quests that were removed during the 4.0-5.0 era leveling overhaul

Heroics, Planetary Bonus Arcs, and Breadcrumbs

Please Return our Heroic Mission NPCs!

 

Thank you for the links! I supported the ones I agreed with.

Edited June 23, 2020 by AceMasterSoul

[phalczen]

The Heroic mission giver NPCs on all planets, not just the starting ones, should be returned. Don't get me wrong, I love the streamlined system introduced in 4.0 and expanded upon when Activity Finder was revamped in 5.x. For many veterans grinding out Alliance Supply crates or renown or conquest or whatever, including me sometimes, its an ideal way to do the missions. But I would prefer an option to be able to talk to the quest giver, both to accept the mission and on turn-in. I think both routes should be available. I have always said that its a shame newer players won't get to experience what is likely hours of footage and audio, taking up space on their hard drive, but inaccessible. I've always supported these threads when they come up and support this now. Put a toggle option in the options interface so that the quick travel shuttle takes you to the NPC, instead of the mission location, and turn in isn't automatic. It's probably harder than it sounds, but I would support the effort.

[DarkTergon]

The Heroic mission giver NPCs on all planets, not just the starting ones, should be returned. Don't get me wrong, I love the streamlined system introduced in 4.0 and expanded upon when Activity Finder was revamped in 5.x. For many veterans grinding out Alliance Supply crates or renown or conquest or whatever, including me sometimes, its an ideal way to do the missions. But I would prefer an option to be able to talk to the quest giver, both to accept the mission and on turn-in. I think both routes should be available. I have always said that its a shame newer players won't get to experience what is likely hours of footage and audio, taking up space on their hard drive, but inaccessible. I've always supported these threads when they come up and support this now. Put a toggle option in the options interface so that the quick travel shuttle takes you to the NPC, instead of the mission location, and turn in isn't automatic. It's probably harder than it sounds, but I would support the effort.

 

I like the idea, I think it was a nice little touch. They could have an option where the heroic transport is, when the mission is done, that could change to a holocall thing, that you could click to hand the mission, or you could choose to bring it back yourself, and get the little cuts scene

[AceMasterSoul]

... wrong thread Edited June 27, 2020 by AceMasterSoul

[Tofu_Shark]

How is this the wrong thread? That idea would be a great compromise between they players that want the conversations for story and immersion, and the people that ***** that these elements get in the way of their precious farming.

 

Or you posted something in the wrong thread.

Edited June 28, 2020 by Tofu_Shark

[DarkTergon]

 

Or you posted something in the wrong thread.

 

I'd say so lol...at least, that's how I read it...lol

[AceMasterSoul]

How is this the wrong thread? That idea would be a great compromise between they players that want the conversations for story and immersion, and the people that ***** that these elements get in the way of their precious farming.

 

Or you posted something in the wrong thread.

 

I'd say so lol...at least, that's how I read it...lol

Yeah, I was trying to post in Bring Back Heroic Quest NPCs + More but I posted in here by accident. Since I couldn't remove the post I changed the content in the post.

Edited June 29, 2020 by AceMasterSoul

[BlackSilverRoar]

I think they could be returned.

 

Once upon a time they removed the NPC's who gave the intro missions to the daily areas like Black Hole and Section X. And now those NPC's are back.

 

I would like them returned. There is no good reason to remove any of the cinematic content in this game.

 

^and Ilum: BW really needs to return it there, too

[Alexisshade]

I was a new player to the game when a lot of the content was cut and I would have like to do all mission and see all cut scenes. If I had to guess why content was cut it would be 1 Some people would prefer to have the scenes cut out of daily heroic missions to make them faster or 2 to save server space on EA's end But to quote the thread MVP

 

All r

emoved content should be repurposed or restored as optional.

 

Optional download for cut-scene preferences wouldn't be a problem I would take the hit and store on my system.

Edited June 30, 2020 by Alexisshade

[Tofu_Shark]

^and Ilum: BW really needs to return it there, too

Are you referring to open world PvP on Ilum?

Edited June 30, 2020 by Tofu_Shark

[AceMasterSoul]

I was a new player to the game when a lot of the content was cut and I would have like to do all mission and see all cut scenes. If I had to guess why content was cut it would be 1 Some people would prefer to have the scenes cut out of daily heroic missions to make them faster or 2 to save server space on EA's end But to quote the thread MVP

 

 

 

Optional download for cut-scene preferences wouldn't be a problem I would take the hit and store on my system.

 

I wouldn't mind cut-scene download, though I still want my npcs!

Edited July 10, 2020 by AceMasterSoul