Update on the Legacy of the Sith

[phalczen]

I am pleased that they made this decision, because I think there were far too many critical highlighted features that were not ready. There was not enough content planned for 7.0's actual release to overcome any shortcomings or bugs in the marquee feature highlights. This is including, but not limited to:

 

Combat Styles and the primary style controversy

Loadouts (never on PTS)

Scaling, PVP, op and flashpoint balance

Gearing

Discipline switching

 

I feel better knowing they have more time to sort this all out, and I bet the rest over the holidays will inspire them to fix the primary style issue.

 

This gives me a lot more time to work on the gearing sets that I'm missing for the achievements in a much less RNG-dependent manner

 

I know I'll be working hard to get the DvL bosses now. 1 Dark and 4 Light to go, and this is something I plan on hitting hard.

 

Lots of time to finish getting my toons through the story.

 

I may try to do some ranked even.

 

Finally, it gives folks (not me, but that's not the point) time to finish the renown achievements.

 

I know this will be a PR disaster, but I still think its better for the game long term.

[Zulufoxtrot]

Thank the Force.

 

One question though,

 

Will any work be done on existing characters being allowed to switch their initial combat style?

 

Last update we had said that this wouldn't be happening because it wasn't working as intended, and I'm hoping that some of the extra time being taken is going towards this.

[Exly]

Chill out. Everyone deserves a break to refresh each year.

 

It’s only 2 weeks holidays and then they’ll be back at work. That still gives them 8 weeks of actual work time to work on bugs and other changes based on PTS feedback.

 

In Australia we get a mandated 4 weeks a year. I know in the USA you have no such thing. Maybe that’s why everyone always seems so grouchy and wound up so tight.

 

It’s better for them to take a break for two weeks and come back refreshed.

 

I didn't say that they should never get any rest. I said they wouldn't have enough time to fix the bugs referred to in the post that I was responding to. Maybe I'm not the only one that needs to chill out.

[Priiest]

Looks like I spent my extra vacation time wisely /s

[coruscantdweller]

I support this decision. Always better to release a polished product late than a defective product on time.

 

COVID has messed up everything for everyone, and I'm impressed that the SWTOR devs have accomplished as much as they have.

 

To those complaining that the devs are time off for the holidays, I say have some decency or go sit on a lightsaber.

 

Stay healthy/safe.

[Exly]

Would you prefer they release something more broken now that drives new, returning and existing players away from the game in droves. That would be a great present for Christmas when the game would be unplayable for 4-5 weeks.

 

It’s much better that they delay the expansion to address the issues than rush out a mess that ends up killing off the game faster.

 

I would prefer to have been told the truth in the first place. I agree that they are making the right decision, but they just announced launch date a little over 2 weeks ago, and now they are delaying it by 2 months. I don't believe that they only just came to that realization. I think they knew that the delay was likely and gave us bad information anyway. That is why I'm feeling grumpy.

[Exly]

I support this decision. Always better to release a polished product late than a defective product on time.

 

COVID has messed up everything for everyone, and I'm impressed that the SWTOR devs have accomplished as much as they have.

 

To those complaining that the devs are time off for the holidays, I say have some decency or go sit on a lightsaber.

 

Stay healthy/safe.

 

I would accept Covid as a reason for this delay if it was a new thing, but it has been around for almost 2 years now, and it was around when we were given a launch date, so I do not accept it is a valid reason in this case.

[TrixxieTriss]

I didn't say that they should never get any rest. I said they wouldn't have enough time to fix the bugs referred to in the post that I was responding to. Maybe I'm not the only one that needs to chill out.

 

They will have 8 weeks.

[ralphieceaser]

Definitely disappointed since due to 7.0 characters being limited by drive to do anything on pre 7.0 characters is limited since I am awaiting to my new unique combat style/origin story combinations, i am mainly farming credits with augment crafting, not much else.

And 2 months is quite a lot of time, I hope that includes some looks on the gearing system

[TrixxieTriss]

I would prefer to have been told the truth in the first place. I agree that they are making the right decision, but they just announced launch date a little over 2 weeks ago, and now they are delaying it by 2 months. I don't believe that they only just came to that realization. I think they knew that the delay was likely and gave us bad information anyway. That is why I'm feeling grumpy.

 

I believe they ran it right up to the clock before they made the decision. They probably thought they could do it 3 weeks ago.

Could they have come to the conclusion earlier? Probably. But you and I dont know what sort of pressure they may or may not be under from EA to get it out by Xmas.

I’m glad cooler heads prevailed and someone made a hard call to postpone. I don’t think it was planned or dodgy in anyway.

[Morthion]

So those of us who subscribed in anticipation of the stated release date are SOL?

[TrixxieTriss]

Definitely disappointed since due to 7.0 characters being limited by drive to do anything on pre 7.0 characters is limited since I am awaiting to my new unique combat style/origin story combinations, i am mainly farming credits with augment crafting, not much else.

And 2 months is quite a lot of time, I hope that includes some looks on the gearing system

 

Maybe they are going to try and address that limit for existing characters. I know ChrisS said on Friday they couldn’t see a way around it. But who knows what happened over the weekend.

 

You can still play lots of other parts of the game that doesn’t focus only on story if you want to save new Alts till 7.0.

[OlBuzzard]

Hey everyone,

 

I just made an announcement concerning the launch of our Legacy of the Sith expansion, and I encourage you to read the blog post.

 

We know you will have some questions in response to the blog, so feel free to ask them here and we'll be addressing them in an FAQ later today which we will continue update as you have more questions.

 

Be mindful of our forum guidelines as we want to ensure we can quickly answer your concerns and keep more information flowing your way.

 

---Keith---

 

Keith

I sincerely hope that the changes or adjustments being addressed with reflect a more positive game. I'm quite certain that there has been a great deal of effort put into 7.0 (even if the overall direction seems to be somewhat disappointing at this time.)

 

I personally will continue to watch and wait to see firsthand what develops in the coming months ( no pun intended).

 

I'm also quite certain that even if the game included numerous items from several extensive Christmas wish lists ... there would still be several complaints within a matter of hours of the release. (Even if the content were bug free) :eek:

 

In any event ... order an extra -large pizza of your choice ( or a nice, thick, juicy steak) ... or just relax and chill for a few days !! Then just simply DO IT !!

 

Tough call ? Without question.

 

Regroup? Probably !!

 

Fresh perspective? Perhaps ... perhaps not!

 

Just simply DO IT !!

 

Oh and ummm yeah !! we're still watching ...

 

no pressure

[forcedpolitics]

Can you please post the proper path to receiving a refund ? Is there a process to acknowledge our current subscriptions purchase of LOTS on your end? How about a title called "Whoopsie" for having been subbed at the proper date? Will you be releasing the expansion for ALL(f2p, pref) players now because this is such a massive mistake?

 

You can't just take people's money when they are clearly under the impression they have subbed and pre-purchased a copy of LOTS, unless you're literally RP'ing darkside.

 

On a side note, does anyone in the office know what else is coming out in February? This little game called Guild Wars 2 End of Dragons

[ralphieceaser]

Maybe they are going to try and address that limit for existing characters. I know ChrisS said on Friday they couldn’t see a way around it. But who knows what happened over the weekend.

 

You can still play lots of other parts of the game that doesn’t focus only on story if you want to save new Alts till 7.0.

 

Highly doubtful, the technical problem they seem to have is implied to be something they cant deal with, maybe in the far future when a way if found to work around it but it doesnt sound like something that could reasonably by fixed through sheer work for 2 months, sounds like something rly basic that cant be changed without breaking everything.

Though it is clear there is something decently sized they want to improve since 2 months is quite a lot of time.

 

There's always things to do, I ve been farming rep and playing the GTN in preparation for 7.0 but that is preparation, preparation lacks the excitement of a new character, especially with a unique combat style/origin story combo.

Edited December 8, 2021 by ralphieceaser

[danksama]

You all can take this time to add Veteran ops queue and fix these doll like passive character model animations. Also the cringe ambient footstep noises what's the deal with that?

[eabevella]

Would you prefer they release something more broken now that drives new, returning and existing players away from the game in droves. That would be a great present for Christmas when the game would be unplayable for 4-5 weeks.

 

It’s much better that they delay the expansion to address the issues than rush out a mess that ends up killing off the game faster.

 

 

I'm not judging whether the delaying itself is a good or bad thing. Everyone gave concerns about how incomplete things are in the PTS. And no one in Bioware addressed those concerns. They kept pushing the grand 10th Anniversary as if everything is fine. They KNOW they can't finish it. They KEPT IT A SECRET until it's a week before the release. It's pure incompetence and dishonesty on Bioware's side and that's BAD whether we'll get a less broken 7.0 release or not.

[Clonelimit]

Hi everyone,

 

Here is the FAQ regarding the announcement made earlier today. Please note that I will be updating this post accordingly over time, so treat this as a living document. I will update this thread to indicate when this post is edited, so you know when updates are made.

 

Why make this change so close to the original launch date?

 

As a team, we take our date commitments very seriously, and everyone who works on SWTOR has been working extremely hard to deliver as we’d originally planned. This being our anniversary, we really wanted to share the awesome updates in LotS with all of you to celebrate, so we kept moving forward toward that goal as long as possible; but in the end the most important thing is quality, not the calendar.

 

Why delay for two months?

 

There isn’t any significant bug or single issue that brought this decision about. Ultimately, we want to give the team more time to add polish and to find and fix bugs to ensure we release 7.0 at maximum quality. We also want to do more to include all of you in that process – we’re very excited to have this chance to share more on the PTS, so that we can get your feedback and show you some of the changes that have already been implemented based on your past feedback.

 

As mentioned, the team has been working really hard to create Legacy of the Sith, and they deserve a chance to rest and recharge. Our chosen timeframe will allow the team to take a meaningful holiday break, and still have significant polish time before release.

 

How does this affect Conquest?

 

Total Galactic War will be included in the rotation and will run:

• December 21, 2021
  
• January 4, 2022
  
• January 18, 2022.
  
• Note: The biggest relevant change is Personal Conquest requiring 100k points instead of 50k. Keep that in mind for the Conquest starting February 8th.
  

 

What’s happening with Ranked PvP Season 14?

 

As season 14 rewards are tied to 7.0, the current season will continue as-is, ending with the release of 7.0 on February 15, and rewards will be distributed normally when 7.0 launches in February.

 

Are the R-4 Anomaly Operation and the daily area for Manaan still launching after Legacy of the Sith?

 

Yes. We will want to give players time to be able to gear accordingly so these will be launching post Legacy of the Sith as originally intended. These are intended to be available for testing in a 7.1 PTS cycle. Exact date TBD.

 

What’s happening with events and their rewards? Any chance for double XP or something extra?

 

All of the planned new rewards will not be released as they are tied into 7.0. With that in mind here is the plan for each event:

• Life Day will run from December 14, 2021 to January 11, 2022 with current rewards.
  
• The 10-Year Anniversary event will be running for a full year! From December 14, 2021 to January, 2023.
  
• All existing anniversary rewards will be available on the vendor.
  
• The new planned rewards will be added to the vendor in February with 7.0, including the contest winning decos!
  
• We will inform players when new rewards will be added.
  

Additional events?!

 

• Our Double XP event (which also includes Renown, Requisition, and Valor) will return from December 20, 2021 - January 4, 2022.
  
• All 3 weeks of Feast of Prosperity will return at the following cadence:
  
• Week 1: January 11, 2022 – January 18, 2022
  
• Week 2: January 18, 2022 - January 25, 2022
  
• Week 3: January 25, 2022 - February 1, 2022
  

What’s happening with PTS?

 

We’re opening PTS back up this week! 7.0’s features will be present to test during this PTS cycle, with the exception of any that would spoil the story content, of course. This upcoming phase will include Loadouts and Character Creation and also all recent updates we have made since the close of the previous phase.

 

What’s the PTS schedule?

 

We will be updating our Public Test Server forum with updates as they happen. PTS will remain open until approximately mid-January as needed.

 

What does this mean for Galactic Seasons 2?

As Galactic Season 2 is tied to 7.0, it will not be available until Legacy of the Sith launches. However, it will be available on the PTS in the coming weeks.

 

 

Stop being Cowards. Stop sugar coating it.

 

You promoted an expansion that was free to subscribers with an launch date of X, you withdrew that launch date at the eleventh hour. the logical inference of the expansion equated to an increase in revenue.

 

is there no push back from the developers towards management? no integrity... Astounding. not one of you could be transparent.

 

Cowards.

[Luckjim]

Joke: I cancelled my subscription yesterday and put down my concerns about 7.0. Obviously the Devs listen to me.

 

Not a joke: These forums have become toxic. A lot of you need to take a breath and relax.

[ImmortalLowlife]

Lot of venom in this thread... Understandably. And while I'd never tell y'all how to do your jobs, I humbly suggest that in this situation maybe more detail is required.

 

What feedback have you actually listened to? Is it about armor upgrade paths, Ability pruning, Storyline plans, pvp/endgame progression, or something else? What exact features changes are gonna take 2 more months, and more testing?

 

Without giving exact dates, what are some of these "plans" we can expect to see for this 10yrs of SWTOR anniversary all year long event?

 

We've been asked to take a lot on faith right now. "It's gonna be an epic 10yr celebration!..... Eventually"

 

Throw us some bones with actual meat on em. Change the narrative.

[TrixxieTriss]

I'm not judging whether the delaying itself is a good or bad thing. Everyone gave concerns about how incomplete things are in the PTS. And no one in Bioware addressed those concerns. They kept pushing the grand 10th Anniversary as if everything is fine. They KNOW they can't finish it. They KEPT IT A SECRET until it's a week before the release. It's pure incompetence and dishonesty on Bioware's side and that's BAD whether we'll get a less broken 7.0 release or not.

 

It may have been bad planning or other reasons that lead to this late decision. I myself said 3-4 months ago that I didn’t think they had enough time to complete what we saw on the PTS and have it balanced and bug free.

If it had been me, I would have postponed back then.

Sadly, I think BioWares instead bit off more than they could chew under covid conditions. That and making many unnecessary changes to things that didn’t need to be reinvented.

But that doesn’t mean I think this late postponement was planned or that they are being dishonest. I honestly believe they thought they could do it and then got caught out.

[Ceannladair]

holy cow, i don’t even know what to say, except “thank you”. Thank you for not dumping an unfinished patch on us over the holidays, and releasing the same, tired “we’re listening to your feedback” thread in late jan. It shows that perhaps y’all actually did learn something over the years. Please, please take your time and ensure its working as y’all intended when you do bring it live.

 

(agreed)

[mike_carton]

Thank the Force.

 

One question though,

 

Will any work be done on existing characters being allowed to switch their initial combat style?

 

Last update we had said that this wouldn't be happening because it wasn't working as intended, and I'm hoping that some of the extra time being taken is going towards this.

 

I do hope so as well. To be on the safe side, I'm going to spend part of this extra time switching up the alignment on some of my force-user characters:

 

- change their alignment choice (bottom-right, next to minimap)

- raise the influence level of some companions (max 8) on the character (Commander's Compendium, for example)

- run crew skill missions on 8 companions till the character goes "from Light V to Dark I" or "from Dark V to Light I" as I desire

 

It's a good thing I already have Light V and Dark V at Legacy level though I'm not sure if it matters when it comes to changing the primary combat style. Tech-user characters are, of course, SOL.

[mike_carton]

Thank the Force.

 

One question though,

 

Will any work be done on existing characters being allowed to switch their initial combat style?

 

Last update we had said that this wouldn't be happening because it wasn't working as intended, and I'm hoping that some of the extra time being taken is going towards this.

 

I do hope so as well. To be on the safe side, I'm going to spend part of this extra time switching up the alignment on some of my force-user characters:

 

- change their alignment choice (bottom-right, next to minimap)

- raise the influence level of some companions (max 8) on the character (Commander's Compendium, for example)

- run crew skill missions on 8 companions till the character goes "from Light V to Dark I" or "from Dark V to Light I" as I desire

 

It's a good thing I already have Light V and Dark V at Legacy level though I'm not sure if it matters when it comes to changing the primary combat style. Tech-user characters are, of course, out of luck.

Edited December 8, 2021 by mike_carton

[ddttor]

Are the R-4 Anomaly Operation and the daily area for Manaan still launching after Legacy of the Sith?

 

Yes. We will want to give players time to be able to gear accordingly so these will be launching post Legacy of the Sith as originally intended. These are intended to be available for testing in a 7.1 PTS cycle. Exact date TBD.

 

Now its both R-4 and daily area coming in 7.1, so, in may at best, in summer at worst.

This deal's getting worse every time

 

Essentially, on our 7.0 release, which is now delayed for two months, we're getting ONE new flashpoint and a couple of hours of story. And this's our Grand 10 Year-And-Two-Months Anniversary.

 

What a joke.

Edited December 8, 2021 by ddttor