What I learned from the Third Galactic Seasons

[felleto]

On 2/27/2023 at 11:01 AM, JediQuaker said:

What the heck is this BS about "not worth your time"? SWTOR is a game - it's not worth anyone's "time". That's not the point - the point is to enjoy the 'game' not the 'rewards'. 

For instance, I don't do any "Swoop Rally" stuff because I don't enjoy it. It wouldn't matter how 'shiney' the rewards are. It's not a matter of being 'worth' my time, but rather just a lack of interest.

So true.

[recalcitrantIre]

On 2/27/2023 at 4:21 PM, GeneralGyro said:

lets hope season 4 has original amount of ccs again

wont happen, I definitely remember a devpost during the first galactic season saying that 4k coins per server per season would not be the standard and it would almost certainly be reduced, just that for whatever reason that decision skipped over s2 and didn't happen until s3

On 2/27/2023 at 11:28 AM, Farlo said:

Certainly not the same pool as standard Ultimate Cartel Packs.

definitely is, you just had bad luck on whatever you pulled out of them

https://swtor.jedipedia.net/en/itm/ultimate-cartel-pack

https://swtor.jedipedia.net/en/itm/ultimate-cartel-pack-galactic-seasons

note the same reference value in the loot section at the bottom

[black_pyros]

On 2/26/2023 at 9:48 PM, Zarahemla said:

There are 20 tiers

Nope. There are 25. Your math is wrong.

On 2/26/2023 at 9:48 PM, Zarahemla said:

allow players to buy up to tier 19

19 out of 25 wouldn't be as much help as 19 out of 20. You could regonsider this, as well.

[akdonkey]

I learned you can max the affection of the companion with the companion compendium and instantly get access to the gifts on the season's vender including the first companion I missed getting to max on the first run.

[Falensawino]

On 2/28/2023 at 1:10 AM, Zarahemla said:

 

On 2/27/2023 at 7:02 PM, Samcuu said:

I got some nice gold armor sets from the packs. Got both the new Obi Wan armor set and the Anakin armor set. So im not hating the cartel packs. Plus I love the decos cuz those are expensive on the gtn and if u get duplicate it's fine for me cuz I have plenty of strongholds to use them in. Less cartel coins does suck but can't argue all that much from their reasoning as it just contributes to the inflation in the economy. Still tho if ur smart about how u play u can still gain around 6k coins with minimal effort if ur smart and plan accordingly. 

 

One way to make the GTN prices for cartel market items go down, is to increase the supply of cartel market items.  By giving players more cartel coins, the supply of cartel market items will go up, and with demand for those items staying the same, the price will go down.  Glad you got some good things from your packs.  

"price will go down"

not if every joker with an item lists everything for max cap 1 billion and everyone undercuts by just 1 credit

 

[Zarahemla]

21 hours ago, black_pyros said:

Nope. There are 25. Your math is wrong.

19 out of 25 wouldn't be as much help as 19 out of 20. You could regonsider this, as well.

Your right, with 25 tiers, buying 15 tiers is even less worth it, as by the time you can buy the 15 tiers, there isn't enough time to get the other 10 tiers, since there is a cap on 1,000 points per week.

[LittleEwina]

I'm looking at what you looted in the crates and... I got the Giant Cyan Crystal in every golden decoration pack I got and in half of my cartel crate... on all the 3 servers I play... This decorations is now the bane of my life.

[Ardrossan]

On 2/28/2023 at 6:25 AM, DawnAskham said:

What I learned...

Bioware still can't let players play the game how players want AND get rewarded, nope, players must play the Bioware way.

Bioware has done a great job conditioning some players to be good little pets that perform tricks on demand for a chance at a pat on the head and a 'good boy / good girl'.

 

I agree, but this isn't a new problem. They go back and forth on it, 6.0 was probably one of the better eras for player choice despite the stupid gear RNG vendor. I also miss Galactic Command in 5.0. The gearing process wasn't great but command levels came much faster than Renown levels and doing weeklies was a great way of earning multiple levels at a time. The rewards weren't great but again still better than the stingy crap you got for Renown levels. 

I'm particularly frustrated by the new time lockout system for quests and weeklies, it's another change no one asked for which makes no one but BW happy.  

[Stradlin]

On 2/28/2023 at 3:25 PM, DawnAskham said:

What I learned...

Bioware still can't let players play the game how players want AND get rewarded, nope, players must play the Bioware way.

Bioware has done a great job conditioning some players to be good little pets that perform tricks on demand for a chance at a pat on the head and a 'good boy / good girl'.

 

 

We approaching fundamental basics of "games" here, digital or otherwise. Whole point, whole fun is in coping with some bit arbirtary set restrictions that  rules of the  game dictate.  Performing trics on demand if you choose to play..That's the whole point . Of all games.

 

Less generally speaking, all multiplayer content, GSF&rest of pvp in particular, stand repetition extremely well. PvP comes with   obscebe amount of longevity for those who like it, in all video games in general.  Nobody likes GSF or any other form of PvP after "trying it out for a bit" ; some things need to be learned and figured out. Then, it might click. So small wonder they do their best to encourage people to get there. More people discover ground pvp or GSF, the better it is for the game. So makes sense many of the sticks and carrots of Seasons encourage people to figure out things they otherwise wouldn't. 

It is painfully clear BW isn't  in a place where they could put out new story content at even remotely  satisfying speed. Any kind of new pve content in general, for wharever reason, comes at strangely slow speed. Meanwhile, some  seasons- based combination of everything TOR has to offer can be a recipe that lasts for decades, assuming you develop a taste for some aspects with enough  longevity.

Nevermind about the game, imagine how great it is for players who discover some new aspect of the game thanks to Seasons " forcing" them to tackle it. Realizing how great GSF, or Ops, or w/e is after finally giving it a change..that's basically like a huge brand new expansion to TOR dropping out of nowhere, for the player in question. When it comes to continued survival of TOR, this is the big deal about the Seasons, not the reward track.

It can be a tricky equation.  If identical [nice reward]  can be earned -either- by dealing with content  you haven't figured out yet -or- by tackling the same ol  11 years old familiar   straightforward planetary mission ,majority of gamers pick the latter. Path of least resistance. Once they do it enough, they get bored of the game. They lose interest and quit, rather than ever trying that other thing, one  they never figured out.  Gamers often bore themselves to coma with something easy and familiar, rather than  trying to learn something new and difficult.  So new and difficult needs its carrots.

 

 

 

Edited March 8, 2023 by Stradlin

[Ardrossan]

16 hours ago, Stradlin said:

Nobody likes GSF or any other form of PvP after "trying it out for a bit" ; some things need to be learned and figured out. Then, it might click. So small wonder they do their best to encourage people to get there. More people discover ground pvp or GSF, the better it is for the game. So makes sense many of the sticks and carrots of Seasons encourage people to figure out things they otherwise wouldn't. 

Yeah, you're right. I only started playing GSF after being required to do it, initially for conquest and later for GS. I only started pvping in warzones because I needed the xp. I only started doing OWPVP because it was unavoidable for certain chokepoints, like the rakghoul tunnels. And I came to enjoy all three of those things (OW doesn't really exist anymore so past tense). 

The problem is when the carrots/sticks are inconsistent or don't make sense, like dividing up warzones from arenas rather than letting us accomplish a pvp weekly for GS through arenas, warzones, GSF, whatever we want. I like GSF, but why is it I only need to do 2-4 matches to get the weekly, and 12-20 warzones / arenas? Why does GSF have a count for ships used in conquest, and not something similar for warzones/arenas? Why is it wins are worth 2 in GSF and 3 in pvp, and it's still not enough to even out in pvp? Why are medals so hard to get in GSF when they're tied to a GS weekly? Why are medals so dependent on winning in warzones/arenas, and for that matter, why is winning so important at all--the point is to have fun, something many GSF players understand and encourage, and many warzone/arena players don't. And don't even get me started on pvp seasons which was very poorly implemented.

These are just off the top of my head. They are a series of dumb mechanics that bioware purposely implemented, which they have replaced for previous reward mechanics that were more balanced in structure. And the more dumb things like this that they do, the less interested people are in pvping, and imo people don't much wanna pvp at all, for any reward. So they should be trying to make it as easy as possible to access and they're doing the opposite. 

Edited March 7, 2023 by Ardrossan

[Stradlin]

57 minutes ago, Ardrossan said:

Yeah, you're right. I only started playing GSF after being required to do it, initially for conquest and later for GS. I only started pvping in warzones because I needed the xp. I only started doing OWPVP because it was unavoidable for certain chokepoints, like the rakghoul tunnels. And I came to enjoy all three of those things (OW doesn't really exist anymore so past tense). 

 

 

I remember when the first Galactic Season  was brand new. There were  lots of complaints..(when isn't that a thing?) but far  more importantly, there were soo many people telling their  own GSF story - one very  similar to yours. They hated GSF, never touched it. Felt "forced" to do it cause of seasons, figured it out thanks to seasons and found out it is quite awesome. Notable amount of these people are perfectly lethal pilots by now, and have prolly  seen more new ( new to them) and exciting aspects of SWTOR than anyone else  over the last 18 months. Many people have their version of this story, involving PvP, or OPS perhaps. Or the  railshooter.  THIS is the big deal about seasons, not the reward track...at least when we look at things  from pov of the continued health of SWTOR. 

 

It is crazy GSF weekly is only 4 games. This is the fanboy in my speaking, but I assume its mostly BW knowing GSF is the most perfect and finished aspect of the game in terms of polish and  balance.  At least when it comes to pvp side of it all. There's little to no need for big do overs or great nerfs to this ship or that, it is in good balance. It is borderline incredible how almost all ships have a real role and purpose atm.  Yet, GSF  can be very...difficult to discover let's say.  Makes sense they want to pitch it to people. 4 matches for weekly  vs 12/20  for weekly is still so crazy though.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 8, 2023 by Stradlin

[DWho]

2 hours ago, Ardrossan said:

Yeah, you're right. I only started playing GSF after being required to do it, initially for conquest and later for GS. I only started pvping in warzones because I needed the xp. I only started doing OWPVP because it was unavoidable for certain chokepoints, like the rakghoul tunnels. And I came to enjoy all three of those things (OW doesn't really exist anymore so past tense). 

The thing is I found it to be just the opposite. I played tons of GSF when it first came out. When conquest first came out (and you had to finish in the top 10 to even get rewards) GSF and PVP were the only way to generate enough points to reach the leaderboard and I played both a lot (burnout is a serious issue for almost all group content). I have since found GSF (and PVP in general) to be severely lacking in repeatability. It's all the same fight over and over (even the different maps all feel the same with the same goals). It's no better or worse than any other content, It's just the type of player you are that determines what is "repeatable" content.

Operations, Heroics, Uprisings and Flashpoints have their repeatability issues too. The unfortunate thing is that progressing the story (and star wars is all about the journey) has taken a back seat to making group content, and the story has been very poor quality as a result of trying to make group content into story content to save resources (making both worse than if they had just cycled through the various types - "story" flashpoints are the worst thing ever to happen to the game).

What has been surprising in the last expansion was that the sub-expansion supposedly dedicated to PVP actually had the best storyline content since KotFE/KotET (as opposed to 7.0 which was basically a solo operation - super linear and ending with a broken flashpoint). Hopefully that is a start of a new trend.

[OlBuzzard]

What I've learned ...I feel more like a hamster than an Ol' Buzzard!  
(some of you will actually get that)