Changes and New Features in 7.0

[ceryxp]

So instead of starting an Rebellion that is sure to fail and have us destroyed (banned), we should just pack up our proverbial subscription and move to another galaxy, far far away called Star Trek Online.

 

Any excitement I had about playing a Shadow Knight, or giving my light sided Sorcerer Sage abilities and finally (if only in headcanon) completing their defection from the Empire and turn from the dark side has been completely overshadowed by this gearing announcement (looks very alt unfriendly, do not like the constantly moving goal post, why are certain play styles denied top end gear?) and the Conquest change, which is going to make it harder for solo players to gear. I have not yet decided if I will be cancelling outright or dropping my 180-day subs (two accounts) and going month-to-month, which, if I did that, would only be to play GS2 for a bit.

 

I was cautiously optimistic for this update, but I kept saying that I was waiting for the rest of the information. The information we all knew BW was withholding. People kept asking me what more I was waiting for. Well, this was it.

Edited November 3, 2021 by ceryxp

[Yoichikun]

Just wondering with the new gearing system will achievements once again get broken or nerfed for 0 points?

I'm specifically talking about the (Spoils of War) gear achievements.

as a achievement hunter with 60k points in and nearly complete on this cheevo will it just disappear as was with the Dark vs Light event.

Or will this still be workable?

 

A real piss off when you have put a lot of time and $ into a game to have someone just come and trash all the work you've done.

[kezzin]

So instead of starting an Rebellion that is sure to fail and have us destroyed (banned), we should just pack up our proverbial subscription and move to another galaxy, far far away called Star Trek Online.

 

I bought my first sub December 2012. My latest six month sub was set to renew tomorrow, oddly enough. I intended on renewing it. I was excited about playing a Knight/Shadow or Assassin/Warrior or whatever. Seeing these changes changed my mind. I canceled for now. I have no interest in playing in groups or doing whatever overcrowded nonsense they decide I'm suppose to do. I'll come back if they change their mind on forcing players to do specific content. We'll see how it goes.

[DeannaVoyager]

Anyone else read the new article where they say they are directly linking gear to completing your weeklies?

https://www.swtor.com/info/news/article/20211102

 

So not only will our weeklies reset and annoy us because we didn’t get to complete them, Bioware will essentially reset our gear progression each week.

 

Is anyone else pissed off over this reset mechanic linking our gear progression or is it only my wife and me?

 

You are not the only one. Doing flashpoints weeklies was fine as long as you could continue later from where you started. With 7.0 it's not going to be worth starting them, so no gear from flashpoints. Of pvp it's even worse, don't know about gsf. Solo players can get their gear from conquest, but by changing the personal goal to 100k, it's gonna be bad for solo players too. Operations on the other hand are not that bad source of gear, because their "weeklies" are finished when the last boss dies.

 

The gear progression can not be tied into finishing weeklies. That's absurd and it's far from "play your way". It's also ridicilous to add million vendors for million sources of gear upgrades. Just add one vendor, and have one upgrade currency no matter what the game mode is.

[Yupicahey]

It's been posted already so won't go into much details but leaving my feedback here as well for the benefit of interested parties at BioWare:

Yeah, mixed feelings too, guess it's the usual "wait and see". I do very much like to be able to max gear without running OPs currently, especially as we'd need to do it rather consistently to get a full set at max level. It also means I could gear to max level casually at my own pace and then dip my toes in casual story OPs content without them being extra difficult due to my lower level gear.

The simplicity of the new system without RNG and "as many mods" is good though, taking way too much space in my legacy storage at the moment. Won't miss amplifiers either.

 

However tying the rewards and the gear to weeklies might be problematic, thinking about that weird change of resetting them week after week. Again, for players with less time to play, doing the weeklies for FPs, PVP, GSF will be crazy... usually it takes me a month to finish a couple of these weeklies, so essentially I'll never ever do them again, which means missing out on significant rewards and gearing compared to current status quo Essentially it's work going to waste effectively, especially if those weeklies will reset at 4/5 FPs, or 9/10 PVPs, etc. That would be a true hit your head against the wall thing because effectively all those rewards are going down the drain.

 

As for the intent to group players more in common weekly areas, faction tagging, etc. that's great, but still not sure on details, respawn can currently be quite inconvenient on crowded heroic/daily areas, getting more players in those could potentially make them more time-consuming and less fun.

 

I love the game, I just have a few alts I like to play with and not that much time on my hands, meaning somewhat reduced time per character and I fear that some of these changes will be detrimental to players in such conditions. if you can see fit to post something about how casual players or alt-happy players are also being considered in these new systems and how we could benefit, I would appreciate it BW.

 

Live long and may the Prosperity of the Force be with You

[TheVoyant]

Thus far Enjoy 7.0 is currently:

- Enjoy Less Mobility

- Enjoy Less Survivability

- Enjoy Less Abilities

- Enjoy Less Customization

- Enjoy Less Looting

- Enjoy Capped PvP

- Enjoy Less Stat Control

- Enjoy Throttling of & Less Gear

- Enjoy Less Options in Group Finder

 

Did I miss anything?

[Herbertllew]

Thus far Enjoy 7.0 is currently:

- Enjoy Less Mobility

- Enjoy Less Survivability

- Enjoy Less Abilities

- Enjoy Less Customization

- Enjoy Less Looting

- Enjoy Capped PvP

- Enjoy Less Stat Control

- Enjoy Throttling of & Less Gear

- Enjoy Less Options in Group Finder

 

Did I miss anything?

 

Enjoy content you don't enjoy.

[LD_Little_Dragon]

Just add one vendor, and have one upgrade currency no matter what the game mode is.

 

So much this. One currency you can earn from doing anything in the gam. Call them something like tech fragments.

 

I don't mind it being faster to gear from doing the harder content, even considerably faster, but let players mix up the type of content they do and eventually get to top tier by doing whatever content they want.

 

Doing the occasional operation or flashpoint should be a boost to your gearing track, not a setback if you're mostly doing solo content.

[TheVoyant]

Enjoy content you don't enjoy.

 

And you get a hammer station. And you get a hammer station.....

[casirabit]

An adequate response to the devs for this mess:

 

[OlBuzzard]

Thus far Enjoy 7.0 is currently:

- Enjoy Less Mobility

- Enjoy Less Survivability

- Enjoy Less Abilities

- Enjoy Less Customization

- Enjoy Less Looting

- Enjoy Capped PvP

- Enjoy Less Stat Control

- Enjoy Throttling of & Less Gear

- Enjoy Less Options in Group Finder

 

Did I miss anything?

** Enjoy less content

** Enjoy less and less ... and less

[xordevoreaux]

I would have loved to be sitting in the back of the Monday morning conference room watching product managers scribble out on a whiteboard the conceptualization of 7.0 and listen to the discussion of where and why they thought this was the route a new release should go.

[Baletraeger]

I would have loved to be sitting in the back of the Monday morning conference room watching product managers scribble out on a whiteboard the conceptualization of 7.0 and listen to the discussion of where and why they thought this was the route a new release should go.

 

You assume there are product managers involved in the development process of SWTOR.

[Pietrastor]

Thus far Enjoy 7.0 is currently:

- Enjoy Less Mobility

- Enjoy Less Survivability

- Enjoy Less Abilities

- Enjoy Less Customization

- Enjoy Less Looting

- Enjoy Capped PvP

- Enjoy Less Stat Control

- Enjoy Throttling of & Less Gear

- Enjoy Less Options in Group Finder

 

Did I miss anything?

Yeah you probably missed all the others "enjoy less" changes they haven't announced yet. The closer we get to December the more "Even less of everything!" Gets announced every single day

[Lakemine]

Anyone else read the new article where they say they are directly linking gear to completing your weeklies?

https://www.swtor.com/info/news/article/20211102

 

So not only will our weeklies reset and annoy us because we didn’t get to complete them, Bioware will essentially reset our gear progression each week.

 

Is anyone else pissed off over this reset mechanic linking our gear progression or is it only my wife and me?

 

It seems every announcement Bioware releases about 7.0 makes it sound worse.

I can only assume they are purposely trying to drive the “last remnants of the republic” (long term players) out of the game for good.

 

Or as Lando quoted in Empire, “this deal is getting worse all the time”.

After watching that clip again, does anyone else see Bioware as Darth Vader and Bobba Fett as the shareholders and the player base is Lando?

 

My wife has suggested we do what Lando did (metaphorically) and evacuate the city by encouraging others to start uninstalling the game in protest till Bioware listen to our plight and renegotiate in good faith.

I sadly informed her that the Empire and Dark side doesn’t renegotiate because they think they are always right. So instead of starting a Rebellion that is sure to fail and have us destroyed (banned), we should just pack up our proverbial subscription and move to another galaxy, far far away called Star Trek Online.

 

Oh your not alone, me, my mom and sister are very saddened and man at these changes. (I actually had to leave 2 discords because they kept telling me to shut up with the "negativity" about what is incoming, because they were all hyped about 7.0 and detest i'm not 'POSITIVELY HYPED" about it either.)

 

I tried STO years ago, I just like Star Wars more. But still trying to figure out another main game to play, as SWTOR and Destiny 2 are dying with their new xpacs each game is having (SWTOR in Dec and D2 in Feb) Maybe i'll give STO another shot. Maybe link up for the rebellion later?

[Lakemine]

Just wondering with the new gearing system will achievements once again get broken or nerfed for 0 points?

I'm specifically talking about the (Spoils of War) gear achievements.

as a achievement hunter with 60k points in and nearly complete on this cheevo will it just disappear as was with the Dark vs Light event.

Or will this still be workable?

 

A real piss off when you have put a lot of time and $ into a game to have someone just come and trash all the work you've done.

 

They are. Only the tacticals remain on the vendor. (And yeah, I have 64k+ now, and POOF like 2k are just going to get deleted. )

[DataDrain]

Man... I came back to the game a little over a year ago and have been having a blast as a solo player. Love Star Wars, the era/setting, stories, game play. Felt so refreshing from the other MMOs I've had been playing up to that point. Of course subbed and regularly dropped $100 a month in the Cartel shop, not trying to "brag" or something stupid. Was just happy to support a game I love.

 

Like so many others the whole "2 combat styles" made me very happy when it was first announced, all my characters could have a stealth spec now! Then the ability to add weapons to the outfits, awesome!... then they kept releasing more information. And that happiness turned into disbelief. Wondering why they think some of the changers were needed (removing the DvL toggle, the whole gearing BS, etc.).

 

Was so happy to see the anniversary and new story/content! Now I'm depressed and trying to enjoy my time left, leveling alts knowing it's coming closer. Not trying to sound like a drama, but man, this just really hurts. I don't want to unsub. I don't want to uninstall. But I don't want these changes either. Not threatening with a useless "I'm quitting!" post we see so often in MMO forums... just feeling sad. Guess it's time for a break from MMOs for a while lol.

 

TL,DR: Please, reconsider BW. Please?...

[casirabit]

Oh your not alone, me, my mom and sister are very saddened and man at these changes. (I actually had to leave 2 discords because they kept telling me to shut up with the "negativity" about what is incoming, because they were all hyped about 7.0 and detest i'm not 'POSITIVELY HYPED" about it either.)

 

I tried STO years ago, I just like Star Wars more. But still trying to figure out another main game to play, as SWTOR and Destiny 2 are dying with their new xpacs each game is having (SWTOR in Dec and D2 in Feb) Maybe i'll give STO another shot. Maybe link up for the rebellion later?

 

You are nicer than I would have been. I would have said you don't like my comments, deal with it especially right now. I normally am the least person that complains and just deals with it in quiet but with this and everything else, I honestly think I at the end of my rope and the one thing this will do is push me away from this game and when I leave I delete it from my computer.

[JattaGin]

It seems every announcement Bioware releases about 7.0 makes it sound worse.

I can only assume they are purposely trying to drive the “last remnants of the republic” (long term players) out of the game for good.

 

This is exactly what this is all about. That's why Mr. Kanneg got hired. I truly believe that,

 

They want new players who are fine with the little that they intend to offer and who don't have baggage from the past like memories of a better time. Longtime players are often just considered dead weight. So often people wonder: Why are they doing this? I don't like it. That's exactly why they are doing it.

 

It's our own fault. It's like we're in a toxic relationship. I don't feel treated well by this game anymore. So I closed my pocket. It's hard. And it hurts, since my relationship with this game lasted for over a decade. But let's face it: Swtor has moved on. They are just too big cowards to openly tell us that they're done with us. So instead they passive-aggressively try to drive us away. So that they can say "well, they left us".

 

I disapproved of 7.0 from the very first announcement. I predicted what was going on. But honestly, even the regulars here have been way too positive and in a "good will" or "give them the chance of the doubt" mood. It's too late now. The outrage should have come months ago. I feel like I was the only one who said from the beginning that this sucks. I surely wasn't the only one, but I remember that I didn't understand the positivity about the announcements at all.

 

Bad, bad, bad. I'm seriously considering if I should just make the hard cut and uninstall right away. It will be a shock, but that's how breakups are. Plenty of other fish in the sea, as my friends always told me when I had a breakup.

[TrixxieTriss]

This is exactly what this is all about. That's why Mr. Kanneg got hired. I truly believe that,

 

They want new players who are fine with the little that they intend to offer and who don't have baggage from the past like memories of a better time. Longtime players are often just considered dead weight. So often people wonder: Why are they doing this? I don't like it. That's exactly why they are doing it.

 

It's our own fault. It's like we're in a toxic relationship. I don't feel treated well by this game anymore. So I closed my pocket. It's hard. And it hurts, since my relationship with this game lasted for over a decade. But let's face it: Swtor has moved on. They are just too big cowards to openly tell us that they're done with us. So instead they passive-aggressively try to drive us away. So that they can say "well, they left us".

 

I disapproved of 7.0 from the very first announcement. I predicted what was going on. But honestly, even the regulars here have been way too positive and in a "good will" or "give them the chance of the doubt" mood. It's too late now. The outrage should have come months ago. I feel like I was the only one who said from the beginning that this sucks. I surely wasn't the only one, but I remember that I didn't understand the positivity about the announcements at all.

 

Bad, bad, bad. I'm seriously considering if I should just make the hard cut and uninstall right away. It will be a shock, but that's how breakups are. Plenty of other fish in the sea, as my friends always told me when I had a breakup.

 

If true, it’s one of the craziest business models I’ve ever come across. Especially when ChrisS says they want to actively grow the population.

Also if true, it’s no wonder we have such a reduced player base because they can’t decide who the player base should be, so every expansion they drive a different portion away because they flip and flop between solo players, MMO centric players, Operation players and PvP players.

The games development since Rise of the Hutt Cartel has always felt disjointed as it swung from focusing on one or two groups at the expense of the others and then swings back 180 degrees next time.

But this time feels worse. It’s like they are purposely trying to piss off the whole community.

[casirabit]

If true, it’s one of the craziest business models I’ve ever come across. Especially when ChrisS says they want to actively grow the population.

Also if true, it’s no wonder we have such a reduced player base because they can’t decide who the player base should be, so every expansion they drive a different portion away because they flip and flop between solo players, MMO centric players, Operation players and PvP players.

The games development since Rise of the Hutt Cartel has always felt disjointed as it swung from focusing on one or two groups at the expense of the others and then swings back 180 degrees next time.

But this time feels worse. It’s like they are purposely trying to piss off the whole community.

 

The problem this time, they really can't afford a loss like before, we don't have that many like before. Too many leave and whether or not they want it they have actually killed the game and no they can't blame the player base, they have to take responsibility (which they will not) for their decisions.

[TrixxieTriss]

The problem this time, they really can't afford a loss like before, we don't have that many like before. Too many leave and whether or not they want it they have actually killed the game and no they can't blame the player base, they have to take responsibility (which they will not) for their decisions.

 

Agreed Casi.

 

Each expansion they release in Nov/Dec we lose more players than we gain and by February it always feels like we have less players than we had before the expansions.

 

Bioware refuse to engage the wider player base early enough to be able to make changes if they aren’t warmly accepted by the majority.

 

Their mistake has always been that they only listen to small groups who parrot back what they want to hear so they never really find out what the majority of average players want.

 

And if they don’t get the feed back they want from the closed ecosystem groups, they go into a cone of silence and release it anyway because they still don’t engage early enough in the development cycle and it’s too late to do anything.

 

The sort of things they are telling us now should have been at the beginning of the year. Then we all could have given proper feedback to stop this slow motion train crash we can all see happening and Bioware would have time to change it or tweak it till it’s better.

 

I can only assume after so many years of the same thing happening that it’s an inbuilt cultural and management issue at Bioware. I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again, if this was any other IP it would have failed by now. The only reason the game still makes money is because it’s Star Wars.

Edited November 4, 2021 by TrixxieTriss

[OlBuzzard]

Agreed Casi.

 

Each expansion they release in Nov/Dec we lose more players than we gain and by February it always feels like we have less players than we had before the expansions.

 

Bioware refuse to engage the wider player base early enough to be able to make changes if they aren’t warmly accepted by the majority.

 

Their mistake has always been that they only listen to small groups who parrot back what they want to hear so they never really find out what the majority of average players want.

 

And if they don’t get the feed back they want from the closed ecosystem groups, they go into a cone of silence and release it anyway because they still don’t engage early enough in the development cycle and it’s too late to do anything.

 

The sort of things they are telling us now should have been at the beginning of the year. Then we all could have given proper feedback to stop this slow motion train crash we can all see happening and Bioware would have time to change it or tweak it till it’s better.

 

I can only assume after so many years of the same thing happening that it’s an inbuilt cultural and management issue at Bioware. I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again, if this was any other IP it would have failed by now. The only reason the game still makes money is because it’s Star Wars.

 

Considering some of the POSITIVE changes we've seen in the Star Wars universe ( I wont mention any names in specific ) ... but I can't help but to wonder what would happen if ...

 

[/ stops short ]

 

IMO the possibilities are still there if ONLY ....

 

[/ stops short again]

 

ALSO .... IMO MOST of those who are working on this game are doing their jobs the way that they SHOULD !!

 

Then WHY all of this ... [ / stops again ]

 

[/ old man takes a deep breath ... reflects ... remembers ]

 

It has been good to have met so many of you. Wish it could have been in person !

[JaeOnasi]

Hi all!

 

I wanted to take a moment to pop in and help clarify some of the conversation we are seeing regarding 7.0 and perceived Conquest changes.

(snipped)

 

So point totals will be the same, but the new required conquest point total will go up to 100k, and rewards will go down. This means that small guilds will have twice as hard a time earning the encryptions needed to unlock a guild ship. This is a horrible idea unless you drop the number of required encryptions to unlock each room by half to keep the time needed to unlock the same.

 

Now I understand why encyption costs have skyrocketed on the GTN--whales buying them up in anticipation of this change so that they can sell them for an even greater amount after 7.0 hits.

[casirabit]

So point totals will be the same, but the new required conquest point total will go up to 100k, and rewards will go down. This means that small guilds will have twice as hard a time earning the encryptions needed to unlock a guild ship. This is a horrible idea unless you drop the number of required encryptions to unlock each room by half to keep the time needed to unlock the same.

 

Now I understand why encyption costs have skyrocketed on the GTN--whales buying them up in anticipation of this change so that they can sell them for an even greater amount after 7.0 hits.

 

That might be true, but our guild is not going to do that. We have the credits to do so, even being a small guild, but we already talked about the prices and have refused to purchase those at those extreme prices. I think it is another way they are trying to kill small guilds and players who do not do operations. They mistakenly think this will push players into that.