Do you guys think we are getting a new expansion next year? or anytime soon?

[OlBuzzard]

The major story update isn't the Mandalorian flashpoint; the story update wasn't up on the PTS, I presume due to spoilers. But it's concerning Valkorion, not Mandalorians.

 

YUP !!

 

IMO ... the Mando FP is just a foreshadowing of another part of the upcoming story. It's possible that the "alliance" will be a focal point of that story ??? Maybe? (just speculation at best).

 

BUT ... I would be willing to go out on a limb and suggest that the Mandalorian life style or clan involvement with the alliance will be a point to consider in the overall scheme of things !

[jedimasterjac]

IMO ... the Mando FP is just a foreshadowing of another part of the upcoming story. It's possible that the "alliance" will be a focal point of that story ??? Maybe? (just speculation at best).

 

BUT ... I would be willing to go out on a limb and suggest that the Mandalorian life style or clan involvement with the alliance will be a point to consider in the overall scheme of things !

 

I couldn't really say -- I'm not a fan of Mandalorians -- but I know the conclusion of the Valkorion story is supposedly going to be used to shift the narrative in a new/different direction, which seems fun.

[Tsillah]

it's one of the thoughts that was originally popping around here, but then on one of the live streams, they said they were looking at DvL 2.0. But we've heard nothing about a next xpac Hopefully they are going to pull a rabbit out of a hat and do some real magic by doing both, but we'll have to wait and see

 

They discussed the DvL and put a maybe on 2022. They definitely didn't think it would a good idea for next year.

[ElZaguero]

Love Shae Vizla, hate the idea of Valkorion coming back again. I loathed that old (insert multiple pungent expletives here) with a burning passion, and I gloried in killing him. The idea that they are bringing him back again is just horrible to me. Like nobody can do any better than that? Seriously? Talk about a truly embarrassing lack of imagination.

[Tsillah]

Love Shae Vizla, hate the idea of Valkorion coming back again. I loathed that old (insert multiple pungent expletives here) with a burning passion, and I gloried in killing him. The idea that they are bringing him back again is just horrible to me. Like nobody can do any better than that? Seriously? Talk about a truly embarrassing lack of imagination.

I do think the voice actor did a very good job. The problem is that the character is a poor excuse for Vitiate. The planet killer playing house with as main story line a more elaborate and dragged out version of the Sith Inquisitor story line of Chapter 1.

 

For all intents and purposes, he could've been a really cool bad guy if he hadn't been Vitiate and had a little more creative story writing instead of a do-over.

Edited November 27, 2020 by Tsillah

[Damask_Rose]

The major story update isn't the Mandalorian flashpoint; the story update wasn't up on the PTS, I presume due to spoilers. But it's concerning Valkorion, not Mandalorians.

 

Yah, more Valkorian family is much worse. I was so very, very happy when they were all finally dead and we could move on to more interesting, less irritating things. I loved the teaser with characters from one of the Old Republic books, though I now suspect that is a teaser for next year, not this. The hunt for Satele could be gripping, though if Theran isn't front and center for that for those of us who didn't kill him, Bioware will deserve a giant bag of coal for Christmas. The snippet from the cantina made me want to cry in disappointment. Everything I absolutely loathed about FE/ET was featured and nothing else. Hopefully there will at least be a nice scene with Arcann for his lovers as a consolation.

[aeterno]

Valkorion content is prolly just some flashback and/or final nail in the coffin that was easiest to produce and trickle to players, an epilogue of sorts.

 

Going forward if you had asked me last month I'd have been sceptical of anything resembling full fledged expansions of old.

 

But the amount of stuff being brought into official canon in the last episode of The Mandalorian alone is rather surprising. Clearly the intimate details of the game setting as such are on the radar of the creative powers at be. Coupled with the rumored Old Republic era movies, there might actually be some hope.

Edited November 27, 2020 by aeterno

[RameiArashi]

I'm glad we get to hear Vitiate, I never liked that they changed voice actors with Valkorian though I now appreciate the voice actor after his appearance in the livestream, his interview was great. I still wish our character at some point in KOTFE/KOTET would have called him out saying,"Stop pretending you are Valkorian, I know you are really Vitiate, Valkorian is the corpse left on the floor of the throne room". because Valkorian was the poor man Vitiate possessed before he went into the Outlander.

[jedimasterjac]

Yah, more Valkorian family is much worse. I was so very, very happy when they were all finally dead and we could move on to more interesting, less irritating things.

 

I mean, I agree with you. I'm just clarifying that the Mandalorian flashpoint was never intended to be the main story update for 6.2, as multiple people were erroneously complaining about.

 

I loved the teaser with characters from one of the Old Republic books, though I now suspect that is a teaser for next year, not this.

 

Everything in the teaser from the Livestream was for 6.2. I won't go into details, but there's been quite a bit of datamining.

 

The hunt for Satele could be gripping, though if Theran isn't front and center for that for those of us who didn't kill him, Bioware will deserve a giant bag of coal for Christmas.

 

Don't expect any character to be front and center in story content if you have the option to kill them. It's simply not a reasonable expectation, if for cost than nothing else.

 

Everything I absolutely loathed about FE/ET was featured and nothing else.

 

I largely agree, but it is what it is. If it's truly the final bit for Valkorion/Vitiate, I'll hold my complaints.

Edited November 27, 2020 by jedimasterjac

[Damask_Rose]

I mean, I agree with you. I'm just clarifying that the Mandalorian flashpoint was never intended to be the main story update for 6.2, as multiple people were erroneously complaining about.

 

That's what I understood you meant. Still, I'd rather have more Mando content even thought I'm not a Shae Visla fan than more Valkorian content.

 

Everything in the teaser from the Livestream was for 6.2. I won't go into details, but there's been quite a bit of datamining.

 

I was referring to the little teaser at the end of Onslaught with Aryn Leneer. If the follow up to that is part of December's story patch, I'll forgive Bioware for shoving Valkorian and his spawn back in our faces for a bit.

 

I love spoilers, so I'll try to find the datamining!

 

Don't expect any character to be front and center in story content if you have the option to kill them. It's simply not a reasonable expectation, if for cost than nothing else.

 

I don't expect him to be there, even though he should be. That's why so many of us were rather pissed when he was unnecessarily killed. It was a terrific waste of an important character, not to mention he was pretty much the last man standing as far as male romance options go. There is no one left and that leaves the SWtOR universe a cold and lonely place.

 

 

I largely agree, but it is what it is. If it's truly the final bit for Valkorion/Vitiate, I'll hold my complaints.

 

My complaints will depend on how much of the content is Valkorian centered and how it is handled. I really hated all of that dream sequence, "it's all in your head" stuff. And for the love of God let this be the end of it!

[Suzsi]

 

I don't expect him to be there, even though he should be. That's why so many of us were rather pissed when he was unnecessarily killed. It was a terrific waste of an important character, not to mention he was pretty much the last man standing as far as male romance options go. There is no one left

 

I'm still so annoyed at this. Chances of us straight girls adventuring with our LIs ever again is zero. It sucks. It's kinda sad that I expect to be disappointed every update going forwards with extremely limited to no LI time.

[JediQuaker]

I'm still so annoyed at this. Chances of us straight girls adventuring with our LIs ever again is zero. It sucks. It's kinda sad that I expect to be disappointed every update going forwards with extremely limited to no LI time.

I'm a straight guy and even I've noticed the lack of good male LIs (for my female alts). 🙂

A few customizations for Nico and Theron might help.

Edited November 28, 2020 by JediQuaker

[Suzsi]

I'm a straight guy and even I've noticed the lack of good male LIs (for my female alts). 🙂

A few customizations for Nico and Theron might help.

 

It's really bad. All of our LIs now are gated. Locked behind class or killable. Best we can even hope for is *maybe* one flirt with Theron and if we are really lucky one kiss. No more random flirt lines or expressions of concern during missions etc sucked the fun out of it.

 

Lets not even mention all the other forgotten LIs.

Edited November 28, 2020 by Suzsi

[OlBuzzard]

It's really bad. All of our LIs now are gated. Locked behind class or killable. Best we can even hope for is *maybe* one flirt with Theron and if we are really lucky one kiss. No more random flirt lines or expressions of concern during missions etc sucked the fun out of it.

 

Lets not even mention all the other forgotten LIs.

 

IMO there are other "elements" of design that may be at work here ! The probability is that the overall governing "force" behind it is more attached to $$$ rather than the successful (possibly ground breaking) approach to companions. I personally do not recall ANY game that has had such interactions with companions. ( ***) Once we get to KotFE / ET those interactions were limited primarily to Lana and Theron (as I understand it). Please ... DON'T tell me about all of the dramatic reunions as most of them were flatly underwhelming lasting only a few moments at best.

 

IMO ... companions are every bit as broken as PvP and crafting ! To be more to the point: While some attempts have been made to "improve" these areas each of them need serious attention. The artists and designers are quite capable. Perhaps more is needed for the writers and other "artists" that are involved !!

 

This is not an indictment against anyone! It is a plea for this area of the game to receive the attention needed to address such concerns as we see posted from time to time. They (WE) are simply asking for the game to grow and move forward in a more positive fashion !

 

(***) Please note: this personal interactions with other games on my behalf is extremely limited. There may have been other games in the past (or possible currently running) that include such interactions that were available PRE KotFE / ET.

[RameiArashi]

My experience is limited to all of the original Guild Wars (no romancing) enough of Guild Wars 2 to drive me to try WOW and then to come to SWTOR where I have stayed.

[Suzsi]

IMO there are other "elements" of design that may be at work here ! The probability is that the overall governing "force" behind it is more attached to $$$ rather than the successful (possibly ground breaking) approach to companions. I personally do not recall ANY game that has had such interactions with companions. ( ***) Once we get to KotFE / ET those interactions were limited primarily to Lana and Theron (as I understand it). Please ... DON'T tell me about all of the dramatic reunions as most of them were flatly underwhelming lasting only a few moments at best.

 

IMO ... companions are every bit as broken as PvP and crafting ! To be more to the point: While some attempts have been made to "improve" these areas each of them need serious attention. The artists and designers are quite capable. Perhaps more is needed for the writers and other "artists" that are involved !!

 

This is not an indictment against anyone! It is a plea for this area of the game to receive the attention needed to address such concerns as we see posted from time to time. They (WE) are simply asking for the game to grow and move forward in a more positive fashion !

 

(***) Please note: this personal interactions with other games on my behalf is extremely limited. There may have been other games in the past (or possible currently running) that include such interactions that were available PRE KotFE / ET.

 

Some of the original companions did get a great reunion and decent attention in KoTFE. Aric, Kaylio, Torian etc.

The others didn't because they decided to cut what was supposed to be 3 seasons of monthly

Chapters down to one and a half then rush return the rest, so instead of getting a chapter or 2 dedicated to them, they got a 2 to 3 min snap return before being shelved. One of the worst mistakes imo, should have at least included a mission and more dialogue with each but it is what it is now.

 

Since being killed the Theron dialgues also been quite limited. He gets a line here or there but most of the talking and adventuring is done with characters that everyone still has alive. I do find this frustrating when I'd prefer each of my characters to be with their LIs, not have them occasionally be able to pull them out as deaf mutes from time to time. Ssdly don't see this changing because they just keep adding more romances making it even more impossible for them to keep up with them all.

[OlBuzzard]

Some of the original companions did get a great reunion and decent attention in KoTFE. Aric, Kaylio, Torian etc.

The others didn't because they decided to cut what was supposed to be 3 seasons of monthly

Chapters down to one and a half then rush return the rest, so instead of getting a chapter or 2 dedicated to them, they got a 2 to 3 min snap return before being shelved. One of the worst mistakes imo, should have at least included a mission and more dialogue with each but it is what it is now.

 

Since being killed the Theron dialgues also been quite limited. He gets a line here or there but most of the talking and adventuring is done with characters that everyone still has alive. I do find this frustrating when I'd prefer each of my characters to be with their LIs, not have them occasionally be able to pull them out as deaf mutes from time to time. Ssdly don't see this changing because they just keep adding more romances making it even more impossible for them to keep up with them all.

 

The original concept of companion interactions was a good one. Now ... regardless of what the "concept" is (if there is one even being followed) ... those interactions are too infrequent ... way to short ... with even less "substance" to any character development.

 

Kind of sad really. Let's face it ... here we are 9 years later and still enjoy that original format considerably better than the current direction (again ... that assumes that there is any sort of "plan" for development). The only "consistent" part of companions now is that they tag along for the ride to be utilized as what has been affectionately know as playing "Space Barbie" (if I recall the term correctly).

 

So ... effectively one part of the game has been dismantled! Well at least it seems that way to some folks!

[Suzsi]

I actually prefer the more natural feel of the interactions now, then the arrows over head standing in the same spot on the ship etc that they used to be.

 

Take Tau for example, we learned a fair bit about her whilst working with her on ossus, that felt like a natural way to learn about someone we were working with BUT they need to stop bringing in new characters all the time and use the ones we already have. Instead of Tau an Arn we could have had any number of Jedi doing that work with us - Jaesa, Nadia, Kira etc.

 

So many great characters in the game already, companions, even characters we've met along the way but they insist on bringing in new ones instead of expanding interactions with characters already in the game. It makes each interaction less meaningful and too short trying to jam too many into each update and the more they add - the worse it gets. The more with kill options the worse it gets again because essentially we never interact with those chars again especially LIs, or if we do its a super short one liner.

 

Working with characters you get more indepth reactions to how they feel about whats going on, it becomes more meaningful then the one line Hi, bye, be careful etc we get now.

 

Iokath, the first time we were there is the perfect example of how things could be but aren't anymore. We got time with Torian, interactions with Theron over the coms and meeting up with him and the rest of the group, then time with Vette. Lines from many other companions during the walker battles. Those two chapters are some of my favs from KotFE/KoTeT. It was significant time LI care and friendships in a natural setting.

Edited November 30, 2020 by Suzsi

[jedimasterjac]

I've found interactions with Tau and the like very interesting, but I also don't like the traditional companion interactions personally.

 

They're at a point where they can't really narrow down the cast, but there's no way to give meaningful interactions with this many companions. It's a crappy conundrum that BW have written themselves into -- which has happened a couple of times now.

Edited November 30, 2020 by jedimasterjac

[Damask_Rose]

It's really bad. All of our LIs now are gated. Locked behind class or killable. Best we can even hope for is *maybe* one flirt with Theron and if we are really lucky one kiss. No more random flirt lines or expressions of concern during missions etc sucked the fun out of it.

 

Lets not even mention all the other forgotten LIs.

 

To add insult to injury, they keep putting in attractive female NPCs that can be flirted with, but they seem terrified to do the same with male NPCs. As much as I enjoy talking tea with General Daeruun, having those be flirts is just outright silly.

[Suzsi]

To add insult to injury, they keep putting in attractive female NPCs that can be flirted with, but they seem terrified to do the same with male NPCs. As much as I enjoy talking tea with General Daeruun, having those be flirts is just outright silly.

 

And Jace.. cringe.

I do like Jonas though but yeah mostly we get crap like Arcann with half a face missing and Arn with a metal body these days as new choices. Then again in original we had some less then standard choices too - as much as I love them now Aric and Vector took some getting used to.

Still I'd rather time with my old favs then new. Aric, Theron, Vector, Torian. Koths pretty sweet too and mostly forgotten.

Edited November 30, 2020 by Suzsi

[OlBuzzard]

I actually prefer the more natural feel of the interactions now, then the arrows over head standing in the same spot on the ship etc that they used to be.

 

Take Tau for example, we learned a fair bit about her whilst working with her on ossus, that felt like a natural way to learn about someone we were working with BUT they need to stop bringing in new characters all the time and use the ones we already have. Instead of Tau an Arn we could have had any number of Jedi doing that work with us - Jaesa, Nadia, Kira etc.

 

So many great characters in the game already, companions, even characters we've met along the way but they insist on bringing in new ones instead of expanding interactions with characters already in the game. It makes each interaction less meaningful and too short trying to jam too many into each update and the more they add - the worse it gets. The more with kill options the worse it gets again because essentially we never interact with those chars again especially LIs, or if we do its a super short one liner.

 

Working with characters you get more indepth reactions to how they feel about whats going on, it becomes more meaningful then the one line Hi, bye, be careful etc we get now.

 

Iokath, the first time we were there is the perfect example of how things could be but aren't anymore. We got time with Torian, interactions with Theron over the coms and meeting up with him and the rest of the group, then time with Vette. Lines from many other companions during the walker battles. Those two chapters are some of my favs from KotFE/KoTeT. It was significant time LI care and friendships in a natural setting.

 

 

Respectfully ...

I wasn't referring to the "mechanics" of the situation. Only that the depth of the interactions are entirely too brief and infrequent.

Like it or not new characters are a must. However... not everyone we meet needs to be "someone new" (if you catch my drift).

 

That said: many player are looking for new interests. We shouldn't take that out of the game.

 

The hard part: Trying to determine who we keep and who we don't. There is a down side and that is cost.

 

On the other hand ... cutting off the entire concept of interactions with companions (some look at them as LI's) is not the answer either !

 

Hmmmm ... Perhaps the answer is still out there. Discussion is good !