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A Note From the Dev Team


EricMusco

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Hi everyone,

 

I understand that there is a lot to process right now, but I am posting this to remind everyone to be respectful. My colleagues posted here because there is a desire to communicate with the playerbase, and while we do encourage players to speak their mind, I ask that you remember we are human beings. I and the moderation team will not tolerate posts that are made to target, insult, harass or attack a dev or any player in the forums. Please be mindful of the forum guidelines.

 

Thank you.

 

Please understand that over the past year your studio has either withheld information or has fed me false or misleading information. You have also introduced systems that I and others in the community have expressly asked you not to. and have taken a "my way or the highway" approach when implementing those changes.

 

In that environment I feel your disrespect for me.

 

Maybe if you showed greater respect for me and people like me, we wouldn't hold people at your studio in such low regard.

Edited by Exly
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Your job as CM is not merely to police us, but to advocate for us and find out answers to our questions as best you can, and neither Eric nor Jackie has ever done that. There is no harassment in calling you on it, when you deign to finally post something. If y'all want respect, you got an uphill battle and that is nobody's fault but yours. We have had these kind of posts many times before, after months of silence, y'all show up and promise to communicate more, then drop out of sight for another six months.

 

I agree.

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Despite my jokes over the years (in genchat), I'm actually saddened to hear of Charles' departure. The guy oozes love for Star Wars, and while I wasn't a fan of parts of the story since RotHC, I knew it was coming from someone who at least felt comfortable enough to show that he loves this stuff. I could shrug it off as another fan or team of fans going for something different than I would. It never felt malicious (except Nathema :p), but 16 years is a long time to be so deep in a company with such a strong legacy! I'm wishing him all the best.

 

Congrats Eric and the rest of you fine folk on the team, I hope to see more from you all and that we can get to game on track because I'm sure you're all aware of where we're at right now. I wish we had the benefit of not being in a bit of a crisis but I do want you peeps to at least feel welcome. We do need to see some long term plans or something though, and response to feedback has to ramp up, both when discussing what's to come and what has. If anything, some replies/outreach onto the subreddit or more streams and replies to discussion on the forums in these uncertain times would go a long way. That said..

 

So now we know who to blame for all those terrible UI choices.

 

Bring back the GOOD looking UI! The current one is awful...and that's putting it POLITELY!

 

I am so on board with like 90% of the responses, but this one really hits home. Please, revert the UI decisions. Valor in the ranked PvP queue selection?? Accuracy hidden in 'details'?? Survivability rating that means jack? Inventory being tied to the character sheet while currency menu remains a mess with currency that is no longer acquirable (why am I still seeing ranked tokens from years ago at the top?), flashpoints being way out of order, GTN box still non-adjustable, I could go on. There were things yall could have ACTUALLY touched/fixed, feedback on what was liked and what wasn't, and we still got we we got.

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Hi everyone,

 

I understand that there is a lot to process right now, but I am posting this to remind everyone to be respectful. My colleagues posted here because there is a desire to communicate with the playerbase, and while we do encourage players to speak their mind, I ask that you remember we are human beings. I and the moderation team will not tolerate posts that are made to target, insult, harass or attack a dev or any player in the forums. Please be mindful of the forum guidelines.

 

Thank you.

 

They posted here because someone treasured is leaving. One post does not make up for months and months of backlogged updates.

 

I'm with you, everyone needs to be respectful especially to developers.

 

Negative criticism about the game however, is good criticism. It helps you identify problems and fix them. Ignoring them is bad for everyone since alot of people here do bring about actual problems that are valid.

 

Cheers to the new guys welcome

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Given the circumstances, it's kind of hard to be optimistic. Still, I do wish all the best to the current dev team, lots of creativity! But mostly, lots understanding to players' needs. Please guys, be the people this game needs. Please give us steady content updates, fixes to the 10-yrs-old issues, and - first and foremost - the story to keep people hooked. It may seem like a lot to ask for - but then, as the dev team, this is exactly what you ought to be hired for.

 

(wouldn't be myself if I wouldn't ask to remember in your storytelling and technical improvements about the companions! additional levels to keep them powerful enough for lv.80 content; conversations to keep the relationships with them alive, be it with romance interests or any others, especially origin/class story ones; letters from comps and other NPCs, for occasions such as Life Day and without occasions, just because it's doable and cheaper than cutscenes)

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Hey folks,

 

I know the recent announcement is going to take some time for everyone to process. We are right there with you! I've traveled the world with Charles, he attended my wedding, he is a dear friend, and will be sorely missed. Still, I want to take this opportunity to introduce, or even re-introduce some of the names you read about today as you will certainly hear from some, if not all of us, more regularly going forward.

 

I suspect if you are here in the forums that I am no stranger to you. I started in these very forums as a fan myself over 10 years ago, moved onto the Community Team, became CM, moved into Production, and now I am typing this message to you as Lead Producer. SWTOR continues to be a wild ride for me, one that I have been thrilled to take with all of you. In this role, leading the efforts of the Design team, you should definitely expect to see and hear more from me about what we are doing, when we are doing it, and why.

 

All that said, I am not the one bringing the creative prowess to the table. For that, you need to look no further than the other incredibly talented folks that are leading up our Design teams...

 

-eric

 

You succesfully manged to ignore community as a community manager now i have full faith on you you can ignore the game as a lead produce with same success. I guess 7.1 will be last new content we will see in this game. Good luck on your new venture i hope you prove me wrong.

Edited by omeru
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Sad to see Charles go, he's always seemed incredibly passionate about the game and the SW universe in general so it'll be a bummer not seeing him on the team anymore. Wish him the best in whatever he does next.

 

For the devs that have posted here in this thread, I'm interested in seeing where things go from here. I've been fairly critical of the game recently, sometimes harshly so, but the first step I've wanted to see towards making it right is more regular, clear communication. I genuinely hope we'll see that in the coming months as has been implied. SWTOR is one of my favorite games, my criticism towards it comes from a place of wanting to see it thrive and a firm belief that it can if handled properly. I look forward to seeing how you guys push towards that goal.

 

And finally, congrats to Musco on the promotion. I remember seeing you on the livestreams back in the day and getting the impression you were a good dude, it's cool to see you sticking with the game and taking on a bigger role. I wish you luck with your new job.

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Hi everyone,

 

I understand that there is a lot to process right now, but I am posting this to remind everyone to be respectful. My colleagues posted here because there is a desire to communicate with the playerbase, and while we do encourage players to speak their mind, I ask that you remember we are human beings. I and the moderation team will not tolerate posts that are made to target, insult, harass or attack a dev or any player in the forums. Please be mindful of the forum guidelines.

 

Thank you.

 

We all get your posting this as part of your job duties, but we all know the content in the post is not something that should not have been made into an official statement. This should have been an inhouse mail thanking Charles for his time working at the company. Quiet frankly it's in poor taste giving the state of the game and the community. Not expecting backlash is not a reasonable stance at this point.

 

I get that you can't say what you really want to say. Cooperate America being what it is, but this post is reinforcing to the player base how little care is for the game. How the players care way more about it then anyone currently working at Biodaddy.

 

All in all this should have been handled differently. Throw him a party, buy him a rocking chair, have an inhouse appreciation meeting, Have Uncle Keith do some handstands. If your worried about player reaction all you needed was to put was one or two lines in saying that you have a new person taking on the role. Then have them give a short interview about what they want to accomplish in the game.

 

This was in poor taste giving what is currently happening. It continues to show that one of the biggest weakness of the current team is the ability to read the room.

 

If I was leading the change in the community and looking to gain back players trust. The very first thing, I would do is stop announcing things. Instead of announcing what is coming, make it happen. Lets say the new operations is added in the next patch with no fan-fare. Just patch notes. Next patch there is a new event, Next patch nothing, Next patch nothing, Next patch NIM version of the new operation. Don't even put it in the patch notes actually let players discover it organically. I bet that alone would change things. At this point in time we need doing, not showing.

Edited by TmoneyTime
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Long long time player here (abd a big spender on the game). First of all thank you for the communication! It is something that has been lacking for years. I have to say that ever till Keith took over I was afraid the game would die, but I believe he got it back on track. Yet after a while even that is fading. So you guy have quite a lot to do to keep that from happening.

 

You can what the people write. We are bored of the repetitive stuff and tired of you not listening. I mean I shouldnt be telling you what to do since you all have been here for years.

 

I love this and keep on playing and paying it, but please dont make more players leave or it will become a single player game for me!

 

Oh and Charles, good luck! I mostly didnt agree with your writing but you sure been a part of this all!

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I think the fact that this is the response to a announcement that showed the dev team attempting to pat themselves on the back for a job well done despite the promised content in the 10 year anniversary coming 8 months late shouldn't be surprising. This announcement is tactless and has only pissed off the playerbase even more after months of silence about the state of the game.

 

I played this since 2.3 with some big breaks and i had never seen BW saying they are sorry for not delivering what they promised. It is in company culture i guess but a small word from game leads would make big defference. I never played FF 14 but i heard so many times Naoki Yoshida apoligizing from community for game issues from gaming channels he has my full respect even seeing his work. By doing it he calms community since they trust him and he saves dev team. Talking about your mistakes and saying we are trying to fix it gives cmmunity message that they are gonna fix it. BUt if you stay silent it community thinks so since they say nothing about it this was the plan all along they just lied to us. This leaves a bad taste in community and having same over and over again makes people angry. Game leads have responsibility come front when things go bad they cant hide behind community managers and dev team. Being lead comes with responsibility against your community and your team.

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All in all this should have been handled differently. Throw him a party, buy him a rocking chair, have an inhouse appreciation meeting, Have Uncle Keith do some handstands. If your worried about player reaction all you needed was to put was one or two lines in saying that you have a new person taking on the role. Then have them give a short interview about what they want to accomplish in the game.

I disagree. I'm glad this was posted. Charles has been such a huge part of this game's development for so long - and has had such a presence in livestreams - that this feels like a community milestone worth noting.

 

That said - to repeat myself a bit - more communication would be better. At the moment, it feels like there's an unhealthy cycle of not communicating much -> when communication does happen, a significant number of people react negatively (perhaps because it wasn't the type of communication they wanted) -> communication goes dark again (perhaps because the last communication wasn't seen as getting a positive response). Rinse, repeat. There has to be a better way of doing this, both from us as a community and from the developers.

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Hi everyone,

 

I understand that there is a lot to process right now, but I am posting this to remind everyone to be respectful. My colleagues posted here because there is a desire to communicate with the playerbase, and while we do encourage players to speak their mind, I ask that you remember we are human beings. I and the moderation team will not tolerate posts that are made to target, insult, harass or attack a dev or any player in the forums. Please be mindful of the forum guidelines.

 

Thank you.

 

A desire to communicate with the playerbase... Then... do it?!

Edited by farren_whyde
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Hi everyone,

 

I understand that there is a lot to process right now, but I am posting this to remind everyone to be respectful. My colleagues posted here because there is a desire to communicate with the playerbase, and while we do encourage players to speak their mind, I ask that you remember we are human beings. I and the moderation team will not tolerate posts that are made to target, insult, harass or attack a dev or any player in the forums. Please be mindful of the forum guidelines.

 

Thank you.

 

Communication requires reciprocity. These were simple pronouncements by people we won't hear from again until they get moved off SWTOR and we get another series of vacant promises of progress and responsiveness.

 

I really don't think the dev team has any idea just how little trust there is in the player base for their process.

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Thank you to all the devs who have/still worked/work on this game. This game is legit my fave game of all time. With the departure, there are some questions I have and maybe others have too.

 

I'll start with the biggest question:

-What will happen to SWTOR? Is anything changing? If so, what?

 

-What is going to happen with the story or content in general? Is anything changing there?

 

-Will we get an update on the future of SWTOR soon? Please don't kill this game. That's another big concern of mine, as I noticed the phrase, "most" of the team is staying which tells me he's not the only one who is leaving. Is anyone else leaving? Will that effect the game at all?

 

SWTOR is an amazing and beautiful game, as I stated, my fave game of all time.I've met lots of friends over the years from this game and met a few IRL! I've poured a ton of time and money and energy into this game so I am hopeful this is not the end of SWTOR and I hope you guys will provide an update in a timely manner. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication to the game, please keep it up!

 

May the force serve you well,

-With love and concern, a fan since late 2015.

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I personally look forward with anticipation of progress in game. Without question there are many challenges ahead for the team.

 

Here's wishing to each of those team members who shoulder that responsibility and take it to heart ... "SUCCESS!"

 

Or perhaps from this genre: "may the force be with you!"

 

Best Regards

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fEELS like this is the end for swtor, he was one of the more passionate devs and big fans of star wars, seeing him leave kinda tells me things arent great behind the scenes and EA has lost interest in swtor. I know they ll give some typical corporate reason but that is never the truth as to why they leave.

 

I do love swtor and consider it one of the best mmorpgs out there but I feel EA has just given up because it isnt as profitable as some mobile game.

Building up all that hype for the 10 year anniversary then delivering barely anything just feels like a last attempt at cash grab before the lights turn off completely and I am definitely not blaming the devs for this.

Edited by ralphieceaser
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@ralphieceaser yes please blame the devs. They had one job which was to keep pumping out content for SWTOR. Were their hands really tied? Fed up with coding a beta HERO game engine?

"That reminds me - Ben Irving - whatever happened to him?" - Coruscant security guard in Black Sun Territory :p

Edited by JepFareborn
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I’m surprised at my emotional reaction to this news. As Shintar said in her blog, Charles is one of the faces strongly associated with SWTOR. I’ve always tried to be optimistic about the game’s future but it’s a huge blow to my (decaying) optimism.

 

Best of luck to Charles and to all newly appointed people.

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Charles, many thanks for all your work on SWTOR. I'm glad I had a chance to thank you in person at SW Celebration in Chicago. I'll miss your good humor and passion for SWTOR stories and Star Wars lore. Best wishes to you in your future endeavors, and may the Force be with you always.

 

Eric, Ashley, George, Alan, and Caitlin, best of luck to you and the rest of the team. I'm looking forward to 7.1 and whatever comes after that.

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I appreciate the update and the positivity that it conveys. I hope to see and experience the excitement and enthusiasm you all have for this game and its future in this game and in the future.

 

By the way, the Flashfire starfighter is no mere shuttle.

Edited by ForfiniteStories
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