So we just accept the advertising bar now?

[DeannaVoyager]

The position bug is gone since the last update. Haven't checked it after yesterday's cq reset. I'll see whether it stays that way later. I'm good as long as it stays put and minimized.

 

The position bug is not gone. The bar randomly jumps to the default location so that I'll have to reload my saved interface before I can do anything else. I'd rather spend my time playing the game than fixing the UI everytime I log in. And I log in a lot of characters throughout the day.

[Sareeph]

one click to minimize it.

first thing I do when I log in.

 

not a big deal to me.

 

 

ditto. i understand the worry some people have, but this isn't that bad

 

Agreed. We click on something so many times every time we play. We click to mail, join a queue, accept a queue, use an elevator, GTN, quick travel, go to a stronghold, etc. Just about everything that can be done in this game requires you to click something to do it. We even click to launch and end the game. I guess this one is the click that broke the bantha's back.

[ceryxp]

The position bug is not gone. The bar randomly jumps to the default location so that I'll have to reload my saved interface before I can do anything else. I'd rather spend my time playing the game than fixing the UI everytime I log in. And I log in a lot of characters throughout the day.

 

Do you have Moveable Secondary Windows enabled in your UI settings?

[DarkTergon]

lol like I said, there's always somebody. I lack empathy for people who complain about the bar in the most melodramatic, "oh the humanity" language possible but simultaneously are totally okay with it as long as it's non-subs getting stuck with it because capitalism. If I feel anything, it's schadenfreude.

 

.

 

Again you misunderstand, wether on purpose or not, it doesn't really matter. I said

 

"You download a game in the apps store, you play it free, you get ads, you pay for the game, the ads go away.

It's that simple, we pay for the game, there should be no ads. That's the justification for it being on F2P/Preff accounts, and not on Subbed."

 

I never said it was right, or I even agreed with it, I just explained, that's the justification for it.

[DeannaVoyager]

Do you have Moveable Secondary Windows enabled in your UI settings?

 

Yep, I do. About 80% of times I load in to somewhere or relog, the bar stays where I've put it. Those 20% of logins/transfers it jumps around. And I use same custom UI on all my toons.

 

 

Agreed. We click on something so many times every time we play. We click to mail, join a queue, accept a queue, use an elevator, GTN, quick travel, go to a stronghold, etc. Just about everything that can be done in this game requires you to click something to do it. We even click to launch and end the game. I guess this one is the click that broke the bantha's back.

 

Yes, but there's also a big difference: when we want to read mail, we click to open it. When we want to use GF, we click to queue. We are opting-in for certain actions in game by clicking, we choose to click to get something done or to get somewhere. Now we have to click it to get rid of the screen blocking annoyance. You can't really do anything else as long as it's open.

[Mubrak]

I don't mind the bar per se. I can close the popup once per week per character, no big deal.

 

But I very much mind the design flaws: (It can't be minimized completely, it doesn't fit the UI style and can't be resized to match the rest of the UI wiithout changing the global scale and also minimizing inventory icons and tooltip text)

 

The bar also is still buggy (occasionally resets position, doesn't work properly with fixed secondary windows)

 

 

After the vendor icons and the conquest popup, this is the third annoying UI element that was added to the game in quite a short time, and seeing how the guild ad and stonghold name popups are still there and their fade-out mechanic is still broken, it's unlikely that they ever touch them again, unless we get them to do it in the next couple of weeks.

Edited July 9, 2020 by Mubrak

[Raansu]

Yes it can be moved but not removed, and it still start in the drop downed state e.g. BUY CARTEL STUFF PLZ-mode ever so often.

 

I guarantee if this is tolerated then more stuff is to follow. How about a Cartel Market button on the main quickbar? Or a Cartel Market flair that will make you run 10% faster? Perhaps you will now be greeted by Giradda the Cartel Market Hutt every time you load into a character. It reeks of desperation and of all the stupid things they have done over the years, this signifies the end times more than anything else.

 

I haven't accepted it and I've made my grievences about it on the forums. As far as tolerating it, we don't really have a choice. Everyones made their voice heard on the forums and BW will either change it or leave it. Unfortunately its likely to stay just like all the other horrible UI changes......like do I really need to be spammed with conquest pop ups?

 

If BW actually cared they would give us more options to disable certain things and customize more aspects of the UI. I'd disable the LvD and conquest pop ups for starters.

[ceryxp]

Yep, I do. About 80% of times I load in to somewhere or relog, the bar stays where I've put it. Those 20% of logins/transfers it jumps around. And I use same custom UI on all my toons.

 

Hmm, I wonder if there's something about your UI profile XML file. Since moving the bar to where I wanted it and updating my UI profile it hasn't moved at all since except for when I turned off Movable Secondary Windows to remind myself of why I have that setting on. I think I'll go digging through the XML files and see what I can find.

[LeMage]

There are way bigger fish to fry in this game. I'm not saying it is not annoying nor did I think however long it took the bioware bright idea club to craft this bar was time well spent; but if they want an ad somewhere why not put a little ad in the loading screen?

[ShieldProtection]

Yes it can be moved but not removed, and it still start in the drop downed state e.g. BUY CARTEL STUFF PLZ-mode ever so often.

 

I guarantee if this is tolerated then more stuff is to follow. How about a Cartel Market button on the main quickbar? Or a Cartel Market flair that will make you run 10% faster? Perhaps you will now be greeted by Giradda the Cartel Market Hutt every time you load into a character. It reeks of desperation and of all the stupid things they have done over the years, this signifies the end times more than anything else.

 

Yes, accept it,

[KaltoVaxcter]

one click to minimize it.

first thing I do when I log in.

 

not a big deal to me.

 

Exactly... It ain't hard

[Sarova]

It is a big deal for people who play dozens of characters, and you have to minimize and possibly move it everytime you want to swap a toon. Sometimes you have to move it again when you change instance, so yes, it's a big deal.

This. If it stayed put, then it would be much less of a problem but it doesn't. On my my characters (and I currently have 58 active) it's pot luck where the "Galactic Guide" box will appear on my screen when I log in, when I travel to another location using activity finder, when I travel to the fleet etc. Since 6.1.2 I found I have logged in far less (because this issue is very annoying to me) to the point where I'm reconsidering unsubbing. The new design isn't particularly good for some of us with visual issues either. All issues were fed back in PTS and all ignored. I still don't understand why they even added it to the PTS - it's like a giant "**** you". They should have just announced "we're doing this and if you don't like it don't play" rather than pretend to want feedback. My Satellite TV supplier did just this today: they are changing the menu and we can like it or lump it. I don't like it at all but it's case of tough **** get used to it or change supplier. If BW were more honest in this way, most of us probably wouldn't complain about the stuff they "fix".

 

And like DarkTergon said: as long as I'm paying sub, there shouldn't be ANY forced ads on my game. Put it on F2P accounts, subs are already supporting the game financially. This thing doesn't want me to buy anything from Cartel Market, because I never buy anything when the advertising gets too annoying.

They will never do this. The thinking is probably that if people can afford to sub, then they are more likely to be able to afford to spend on the CM (and their data probably reflects this). They have probably done the research that tells them that compulsory adverts (such as the new ad bar) work & will therefore get subs spending even more. The new bar is designed to trigger an impulse purchase. They'd rather this than wait for a player to decide to look on the CM for themselves.

 

I recently started looking at the feedback swtor gets elsewhere just to see if it was different from the forums (particularly on Twitter) and it's nothing like the feedback here. Players are way, way more positive about the changes and seem to support everything that swtor does or wants to do. Based on that I can understand why they push changes. Those of us who post on the forums represent a tiny and therefore insignificant group of players and those of us who use the PTS even less so. I would not be surprised if they go back to the old days of not using a PTS for upcoming updates as moaners (myself included) are insignificant unless reporting a game-breaking issue or an exploit.

 

One thing I'd love them to add is an optional conquest progress bar to the interface. That's something I'd find very useful.

Edited July 8, 2020 by Sarova

[FlameYOL]

When it is working it is not big deal. I can not say if this is true for most people, or even a lot of people, if it were not I think we would hear more about it, but for myself the Galactic Guide does not open every time I log in, it does not open every time I move planet or location, it does not change position. It opens each week with Conquest reset and I close it. It does that for each character on first login after the reset, but it does not keep opening, or moving, or misbehaving. It does open behind the chat window, but I do not care because I do not care what it says and I just close it. When it works like that it is no big deal. It looks a little different from the rest of the UI, but that is hardly worth the vitriol it receives. What you are describing is annoying, it would be a pain to have to deal with that, but that also sounds like a bug and not intended behavior.

 

Does BW need to address that, are they lax in their communication, both about the problem and if they are working on a fix, should they stop releasing UI features that can not be turned off or are not part of the UI editor? Absolutely yes to all of that. But when the Galactic Guide is working it only opens once, on Conquest reset, then you close it, and forget about it for the rest of the week.

 

Yeah, my biggest issue with it is the fact its not part of the interface editor. I don't mind it looking different it feels like they're just trying to modernize the UI and it isn't the first, and likely won't be the last, time they do that. As far as getting in the way of things minimizing it isn't that hard but maybe add a "auto-minimize" option. As for the Cartel Market add, I don't really care though if they replace the add with something more functional it would be better as well. Plus something new I noticed about the new social bar is that it automatically hides whenever I go into cutscenes, the old one even if compressed still showed the UI... now even chat goes away if I have it closed so to me that is a positive change. Now I'll prepare myself to get called a white knight by the forums for actually liking the new social bar:rak_03:

[akdonkey]

You never Know.... I hope to login one day and see Hey Right now All Cartel coins are 50% off for a very limited time with possibly a count down timer running.... I buy cartel coins I wont lie. Maybe they will take that hint!

[Lhancelot]

If you want to make an impact, unsub, and get as many other players as you can to unsub. I lack empathy for people who complain about the bar in the most melodramatic, "oh the humanity" language possible but simultaneously are totally okay with it as long as it's non-subs getting stuck with it.

 

I agree with this sentiment mostly. ^

 

The bar ought to be fixed if it bothers so many people. It ought to be acknowledged, too. Maybe even before it gets fixed? w/e.

 

Like Ard says, BW only takes notice when you punish them with your wallet. Only then will they acknowledge anything. Only then have we had ***** grovel and pretend to care and try harder to communicate with us, only to be proven a liar time and time again.

 

So, you can yell into the wind, or, do what we did back with 5.0, you can say F it and stop your sub for a bit. See how that lands on the table.

 

Honestly don't pay for a bad service, that's dumb. If the bar was driving me crazy, I'd drop my sub and communicate to BW behind the scenes why I dropped my sub. usually they seem to listen more after you leave the game.

[OlBuzzard]

one click to minimize it.

first thing I do when I log in.

 

not a big deal to me.

 

This^^^^

 

The only thing I would "add" … might be to better intergrade it into the current UI. The original format seems to hold things in position better (for some odd reason). It would also permit change in size ( to some degree ) .

 

I also agree … not that big a deal.

 

 

*** I doubt seriously that very many changes will be made … IF any !

*** I really wish that it would have been released with consideration of better intergraded system up front.

*** The exact same thoughts also are reflected in the "Dark side/Light side" control bar.

[Vhaegrant]

Not a fan of the new social bar.

 

My main issues are not so much it starts in open format and has one of the three panels advertising cartel stuff. After all I already have the nice glowy gold button for cartel on the menu bar.

 

While it can be dragged across the screen, I cannot alter it with the Interface Editor.

This means:

I cannot resize it.

I cannot place it flush at the top of the screen.

I cannot alter its alpha transparency.

 

It's sits there glowing brighter blue than the rest of my GUI and with a slightly different style (curved edges rather than angles as the menu bar is).

 

It is awful.

[Rion_Starkiller]

Yes it can be moved but not removed, and it still start in the drop downed state e.g. BUY CARTEL STUFF PLZ-mode ever so often.

 

I guarantee if this is tolerated then more stuff is to follow. How about a Cartel Market button on the main quickbar? Or a Cartel Market flair that will make you run 10% faster? Perhaps you will now be greeted by Giradda the Cartel Market Hutt every time you load into a character. It reeks of desperation and of all the stupid things they have done over the years, this signifies the end times more than anything else.

 

I don't mind the Flash Sale advert because I buy items that I've always wanted when I see a good flash sale. That said, I dislike that the social bar becomes un-minimized at every opportunity. And I hope that we won't see more cartel market advertisements in the future....... unless it's for free-to-play players, in which case, GO GET 'EM.

Edited July 8, 2020 by Rion_Starkiller

[OlBuzzard]

Not a fan of the new social bar.

 

My main issues are not so much it starts in open format and has one of the three panels advertising cartel stuff. After all I already have the nice glowy gold button for cartel on the menu bar.

 

While it can be dragged across the screen, I cannot alter it with the Interface Editor.

This means:

I cannot resize it.

I cannot place it flush at the top of the screen.

I cannot alter its alpha transparency.

 

It's sits there glowing brighter blue than the rest of my GUI and with a slightly different style (curved edges rather than angles as the menu bar is).

 

It is awful.

 

Yeah .. exactly my point .. As long a players can customize it at least we can move it around easier and change the size a little. That helps everyone !!

[jedimasterjac]

I'm organizing a rally in Senate Plaza. Be there, or be square. Edited July 8, 2020 by jedimasterjac

[EllieAnne]

I don't like the new bar and especially that you can't turn it of in UI but truth be told it's about 90th on my list of things I want BW to work on. Let's start with the long-term bugs that have never been addressed.

[Mevan]

I don't like the new bar and especially that you can't turn it of in UI but truth be told it's about 90th on my list of things I want BW to work on. Let's start with the long-term bugs that have never been addressed.

No, if this is ignored we'll never be rid of it, and it might not bother you but plenty of people think it's a major issue. The changes they made have actually ****ed up my UI placement. The chat box can't be dragged into the corner properly anymore after the change so my left hand toolbar can't be clicked without minimising the chat box. It's *********** irritating and it needs to go.

 

Bioware, get rid of this ****.

[DarkTergon]

No, if this is ignored we'll never be rid of it, and it might not bother you but plenty of people think it's a major issue. The changes they made have actually ****ed up my UI placement. The chat box can't be dragged into the corner properly anymore after the change so my left hand toolbar can't be clicked without minimising the chat box. It's *********** irritating and it needs to go.

 

Bioware, get rid of this ****.

 

we're never going to get rid of it, there wasn't enough push back at the start, now we've only a small group of people saying no, most have accepted it. Like someone already said, I just hope it's not the first step in having more M stuff shoved in our faces :/

[RikuvonDrake]

i get that swtor is a product of a company that wants to make a profit and if this is the extent of what we have to accept to improve cartel market sales, i don't mind too much

 

the game is far too generous for f2p/pref which makes a lot of players sub only once and then never renew it, more limitations on f2p would ensure more players subscribe and perhaps we don't have to deal with this kind of stuff

[Ardrossan]

i get that swtor is a product of a company that wants to make a profit and if this is the extent of what we have to accept to improve cartel market sales, i don't mind too much

 

the game is far too generous for f2p/pref which makes a lot of players sub only once and then never renew it, more limitations on f2p would ensure more players subscribe and perhaps we don't have to deal with this kind of stuff

 

I have a better idea. How about subs continue to shoulder the costs, and when BW does something you don't like you moan about it on the forum instead of taking action. That is the major reason these forums exist after all - to give the misleading impression that your voices are being heard and give you an outlet that neutralizes your grievances.

 

BW obv could have restricted it to non-subs if they wanted to from the outset. They chose not to. Probably because prefs and F2P aren't, in general, willing to buy CC and subs are. BW has been steadily moving to freeing up restrictions for prefs and F2P over the last few years. Again, *probably* because they realized that the argument in quotes is dumb and didn't work when F2P was first launched.

 

Instead of turning on other players who are probably just as upset about the bar as you, your most effective tool is to organize a mass unsub. But for all the angst, I very much doubt anyone in this thread will unsub over this.