Ok, the "intended" trade was supposedly that the got rid of all the "side drops" and increase the chance of good drops. Did I get that right? So how do all the gray "promising digs" fit into the equation?

 

It sure as hell doesnt feel like I'm getting more good digs. They did on the other hand replace the crappy green/blue finds with even worse gray ones....and got rid of all the extra hits...you know...the stuff that kept you going. I'm willing to bet that they didnt increase the chance of good hits and if they did it was only by 1-2%, to the point that it's not noticeable. It also feels like it's much harder to actually pin point the promising item, or maybe it just feels that way because every dig up until that point is a red one.

 

So in conclusion, BW, you need to read the manual on how to make a fun game. Everything els in this game is casual so going from handing out stuff to certain groups (read: PvE'ers who want to PvP) to adding a really annoying time sink is a pretty bold move. I don't even care about the speeder parts and other crap, I just want the armor.....but I refuse to do it if I have to spend 99 % of the time getting nothing.

 

Edit: Another sessions, another complete waste of time and credits. I managed to dig up 4 gray items, 5 burrowed creatures and 1 GSI boost before I called it quits. I'm starting to get seriously pissed about it.

 

To make things worse you might spend 2 hours digging up crap just to have someone els deplete the area. Something has to change.

Edited July 27, 2013 by MidichIorian

Bumping for great justice.

I sure hope tuesday's patch does something about this.

 

No, drop chances weren't wrong pre-2.2.3. No, no one whined about grey finds (5 sec and they're sold). No, it didn't make more money than dailies. And if people really where impatient for the speeder allow them to be added to the GTN.

No reason at all why THIS happened. And no explanation by BioWare still. Not unexpected, still dissapointing.

Bumping for great justice.

I sure hope tuesday's patch does something about this.

 

No, drop chances weren't wrong pre-2.2.3. No, no one whined about grey finds (5 sec and they're sold). No, it didn't make more money than dailies. And if people really where impatient for the speeder allow them to be added to the GTN.

No reason at all why THIS happened. And no explanation by BioWare still. Not unexpected, still dissapointing.

 

I agree wholeheartedly, but consider the size of and the number of participants in this thread. Seems very few people actually care about this activity; I mean, I could stand on fleet at any time of the day/night and advertise pre-2.2.3 speeder parts for sale for HOURS and not get a single response. When I did, there was a good chance someone was just bored and decided to troll me. Now, advertising speeder parts yields no responses at all.

 

For the most part, a large portion of the population are completely oblivious to the seeker droid missions - fair enough - but one would think this would prompt the devs to buff the rewards; not nerf the crap out of them.

 

In the end, it's their game to develop, but if they continue to systematically alienate small niche groups of players for no good reason it is going to come back to bite them in the keister.

I agree wholeheartedly, but consider the size of and the number of participants in this thread. Seems very few people actually care about this activity;

Looking at overall recent forum activity, people either don't care about anything in game at all, or actually do care about it. At least those people that do visit forums.

I care. I care(d) about this, I cared about space combat.

 

I absolutely hate BioWare seems intended to make already limited interest side-activities worse and worse. Instead of, you know, trying to make it more popular.

It's like if they add Pazaak, they then patch out red, red/blue and yellow cards in a patch after, totally ruining the game.

I really hope they roll back to the older way of seeker droid.

I cant even get back the credits i spend on the pink GSI Triangulation Enhancer I. All i end up with are parts which are not even dropped from mobs. Hope the next update will be better.

It really is beyond horrible now. It was tedious before, but at least you were getting some stuff to keep it interesting, and make a little money in the process. Now, you get nothing for literally hours at a time, except the occasional piece of completely worthless trash or an angry critter to fight. I completed the Seeker Droid questline in order to acquire a Dreadseed helm for my Sith Warrior, but after this new change I've given up on it. I'll wear something else. Spending hours on Tatooine doing nothing and FEELING like I'm doing nothing is a horrible waste of my play time.

No patch

Here was to hoping they would fix this...

No patch

Here was to hoping they would fix this...

 

First, we must get them to admit there is a problem, then it can go through comittee, then it might get fixed weeks/months into the future.

 

Since they are playing the head-in-the-sand game, I hold absolutely no hope that any change is imminent.

First, we must get them to admit there is a problem, then it can go through comittee, then it might get fixed weeks/months into the future.

 

Since they are playing the head-in-the-sand game, I hold absolutely no hope that any change is imminent.

 

Do game developers ever admit they make mistakes? Rarely I bet.

 

Ah well, this isn't the 1980's you know, games aren't supposed to be fun.

If the OP is still around can he change the title to "We want the old seeker droid setup back"...?

 

Maybe the neutral title doesn't make them pay attention...

(Keeping some hope)

I had one yesterday in the Outlaw's Den... got the "Your seeker droid found something" message and it was a gray item. It didn't count as the rare item and deplete the location, but poking around for 5-10 minutes chasing the green indicator to just receive a gray junk item seems wrong.

While you're at it, could you fix the locational direction ring? It continually was telling me there was something in a particular direction then goes red and not finding anything.

Hello everyone,

 

Thanks for your feedback about the recent changes to the Seeker Droid! The changes that were made were done to remove the ability to endlessly acquire items, as this was not intended. Also, we wanted to be sure and allow for players to obtain the speeder parts and treasures when digging, but we are taking what you’re saying into account.

 

The system is designed to only display “Your Seeker Droid Found Something Interesting” (versus just having them find “Something”) when you find special treasure or an armor piece. There been a few comments here that indicate that when getting something interesting, that you’re obtaining other items. We’re looking for more details with regards to exactly what was obtained when the “Interesting” message pops up for you. We’ve done some investigation on our side, and this currently appears to be working correctly.

 

We agree! If you’ve had a gray item deplete a site, this is not intended and is a bug. Please be sure you file and in-game /bug to report this if it happens, and we welcome follow up posts with details for us to investigate.

 

We’ve been keeping an eye on this thread and will continue to do so. If we discover any bugs with the system, we’ll post them on the Known Issues and update you here.

 

 

Let me assure you that the gray items are, in fact, turning up when you get the message "Your seeker droid found something interesting" at the end of a search (i.e. you've zero'd in on the interesting site and find whatever it is your seeker droid detected). It gives the same message whether you get an armor or speeder piece or a level 10 gray item.

 

The thing about this is quite simple. You can spend 5 to 10 minutes of seeker droid deployment looking for a hit (the green circle that tells you there is something in the area) and another 3 minutes zeroing in on that hit only to discover a level 10 gray item that vendors for next to nothing.

 

This is "not fun". At the very least the item should vendor for a significant amount of credits considering the amount of time spent but ideally you would never see a gray item as the "something interesting" from the end of a search deployment.

 

I've not ever had a gray item deplete a site, but I have had strings of deployments that ended up with a very "non-something interesting" gray item...no matter what the droid says.

 

Are you saying that this is, indeed, intended? That we should expect these gray items at the end of a search? Because if you are, you've done the single greatest thing to de-motivate anyone from "fishing".

I had one yesterday in the Outlaw's Den... got the "Your seeker droid found something" message and it was a gray item. It didn't count as the rare item and deplete the location, but poking around for 5-10 minutes chasing the green indicator to just receive a gray junk item seems wrong.

 

I had this happen at one of the dig sites on Alderaan last night; it's not the 'something interesting' message like another posted, it's just the 'found something' message. The two items I depleted the sites with were pleasure speeder parts....the same damn part and they're bound to character which means I can't even send them to myself. I also had the post scan telling me something was nearby and all I dug up was a creature and I didn't think those could be found via the green indicator.

 

I miss the mods and other crap because if I'm going to stand around digging, I want a little something for that otherwise wasted time.

 

Also, I find it extremely annoying that the post-dig scan will say nothing is nearby but if I keep digging (because it might help dig up creatures for the achievement?), suddenly there is something nearby, which tells me that digging is completely random as in you can stand in one place, repeatedly digging and eventually deplete the site. Or how the scan tells you to dig in one direction and the next scan says to dig in a completely opposite direction. It gets frustrating for me so I rarely even bother. I know some people say they enjoy these digs and if they do, more power to them. I just think there needs to be some improvement because it should be a fun time-waster and it's not for quite a few folks from what I read. At least before, I could make a little money for my time but now I can't do that. Of course, if the drop rate has increased to where I can get speeder parts faster then i guess that works out because that means less time spent standing around not playing and yes, I consider doing these digs as not playing.

 

Okay, random thoughts done. Carry on.

In an effort to ensure that I haven't misread the message, I'll be fishing today for a bit in order to make sure that I am indeed seeing "Something interesting" returning gray items.

 

If I have read the Dev post correctly, gray items get returned when it says "Your seeker droid has found something" and I can't honestly say whether or not that is the case as I could have easily misread the message in my frenzied search for speeder parts.

 

Regardless, returning gray items after any length of time spent searching and zeroing in on a site while wasting expensive and hard to come by buffs is a pretty asinine system. Effort should produce reward, not frustration, and these "false finds" are nothing more than a discouragement to an already mind-numbing grind system.

 

Yeah, MMO's have grinds but those grinds need to be rewarding in order to encourage players to jump on the treadmill. Remove the gray items and replace them with green and blue items at the very least. A few thousand credits for a 5-10 minute search is better than a gray item that is better deleted than vendored.

 

We agree! If you’ve had a gray item deplete a site, this is not intended and is a bug. Please be sure you file and in-game /bug to report this if it happens, and we welcome follow up posts with details for us to investigate.

 

 

Hey Amber,

 

This past weekend I visited the three sites on Alderaan and dug up items. While in the House Trader's Circle site, I dug up several items that the system "found interesting" that turned out to be grey items. I don't remember specifically the item names, however, and I've since sold them. I can tell you this - when the items were dug up, they didn't come in the treasure box; they looked like the grey items. Also, I received several green GSI rep tokens as interesting treasures, as well as, green seeker droid boosts. Out of the 4 (or 5) special treasures that depleted the sites, I never received a grey item or a green item - they were all purple items (purple GSI rep token, pleasure speeder part, artifact level 50 roll box, etc.).

Hello everyone,

 

Thanks for your feedback about the recent changes to the Seeker Droid! The changes that were made were done to remove the ability to endlessly acquire items, as this was not intended. Also, we wanted to be sure and allow for players to obtain the speeder parts and treasures when digging, but we are taking what you’re saying into account.

 

The system is designed to only display “Your Seeker Droid Found Something Interesting” (versus just having them find “Something”) when you find special treasure or an armor piece. There been a few comments here that indicate that when getting something interesting, that you’re obtaining other items. We’re looking for more details with regards to exactly what was obtained when the “Interesting” message pops up for you. We’ve done some investigation on our side, and this currently appears to be working correctly.

 

We agree! If you’ve had a gray item deplete a site, this is not intended and is a bug. Please be sure you file and in-game /bug to report this if it happens, and we welcome follow up posts with details for us to investigate.

 

We’ve been keeping an eye on this thread and will continue to do so. If we discover any bugs with the system, we’ll post them on the Known Issues and update you here.

 

 

Of course, I don't know developer intent, but if the only "treasures or interesting things" I can get are speeder parts (not interested) dread/sf armor (not much interested) a couple of basic coms (easier to get elsewhere) a chest with gems I'm told have been removed from the game as useless (immaculate orange) or a 5 credit grey item - then your intent and my having fun are not coinciding.

 

Were there too many item mod drops for 'non interesting' finds? Maybe. But nerfing it down to NO non-interesting finds completely sucked the fun out of it. And the one post change "Special Treasure" I did get was 5 basic comms? Really - that should deplete the area? A chest with an ISO 5 or something, yeah, that would be a treasure.

 

I'm afraid I can't help with any bug searching, because there is no incentive for me to bother anymore when my "seeker droid detects something". I won't get anything I cant get much more easily elsewhere, or it will be totally worthless. And, ZERO non-interesting drops makes it tedious, not fun.

 

Maybe (not in my opinion, but in the opinion that counts, the devs) a change was warranted. But the total nerf - no I don't think it was warranted at all.

 

This is not a "I'm gonna quit SWTOR post", or "BW doesn't care post" or anything like that. This is honest feedback that at least one subscriber has written off that part of the game as not fun and a waste of time.

 

I doubt I'm alone, but I could be. I loved it before, and did go out of my way to play with the seeker. I don't bother with it now even when it alerts me. I hope you fix it to be something the devs want, but something your players enjoy too.

Hello everyone,

 

Thanks for your feedback about the recent changes to the Seeker Droid! The changes that were made were done to remove the ability to endlessly acquire items, as this was not intended. Also, we wanted to be sure and allow for players to obtain the speeder parts and treasures when digging, but we are taking what you’re saying into account.

 

The system is designed to only display “Your Seeker Droid Found Something Interesting” (versus just having them find “Something”) when you find special treasure or an armor piece. There been a few comments here that indicate that when getting something interesting, that you’re obtaining other items. We’re looking for more details with regards to exactly what was obtained when the “Interesting” message pops up for you. We’ve done some investigation on our side, and this currently appears to be working correctly.

 

We agree! If you’ve had a gray item deplete a site, this is not intended and is a bug. Please be sure you file and in-game /bug to report this if it happens, and we welcome follow up posts with details for us to investigate.

 

We’ve been keeping an eye on this thread and will continue to do so. If we discover any bugs with the system, we’ll post them on the Known Issues and update you here.

 

 

 

My problem with this change is not at all that it's bugged. The new rules regarding seeker droid functionality have been very clear since the switch was made, and I've never once encountered the glitchy scenarios depicted above.

 

What bothers me about the change - beyond the typical complete lack of explanation or forewarning from the developers - is that the rewards from digging have become so poor as to be almost insulting. If, as you've stated, the developers decided to change the system so that it's no longer possible to obtain items indefinitely, then that's their prerogative and I'm totally fine with it. But why, then, did you replace those items with 10-credit trash and Secure Crates full of worthless crafting items? It's a slap in the face to spend fifteen to twenty minutes dodging (or fighting) mobs and using the droid to hone in on a dig spot, only to be 'rewarded' with something that's not worth the effort to sell to a vendor. Worse yet, it's downright infuriating to deplete an entire site by digging up a 'special treasure,' only to discover that it's a crate with a handful of commendations or three crafting items.

 

If the ambient dig sites are supposed to be about obtaining items related to the seeker droid (such as GSI rep, speeder parts, droid buffs, Legacy armor pieces, etc.), then make it so that ONLY those items can be obtained. Those items are all that I care about when I'm digging, and I'm sure that nearly all other players who use the dig sites feel the same way. If you don't want our dig time to be profitable in credits, at least make it less likely to be a complete waste. You're only driving players away from this game activity by throwing terrible returns at them.

I don't get what your problem is people.

 

A complete GSI speeder set goes for 800k -1.2mil on my server.

 

I get the gripe with legacy gear since the vendor for 25 credits but "useless speeder parts"?

 

during the 4 day grind for pleasure speeder I kept all the speeder parts and built around 10 sets. And a decent share of special cases had 400k mass manipulators.

 

Seeker droid is a bloody goldmine nowadays.

Edited July 30, 2013 by aeterno

I too have experienced the exciting "Your Seeker Droid Found Something" message (can't recall it being interesting) on Makeb in the Hutt Strongholds area, only to dig up a worthless grey item. It didn't deplete the area though.

 

If this is indeed working as intended, then the devs ought to hang their heads in shame. What a waste of everyone's time !! I'm not one for mindless seeker droid digging and so this has really put me off the whole thing.

 

Shall we predict that a Cartel Cash Gouge Item will appear soon to increase the chance of getting better loot ?

While you're at it, could you fix the locational direction ring? It continually was telling me there was something in a particular direction then goes red and not finding anything.

 

 

agreed this thing needs more fine tuning. I spent half an hour using blue buffs and my green bar was getting smaller, larger, really large, really small all while running in different directions. i finally stay put, and it turned red, no green at all. i move a few meters and all the sudden i dug up a speeder part.

 

im not sure what a solution should be, but not buff, green indication should be more random, using the green buff should zero down direction, but not distance, and the blue should zero in on distance and direction EVERY time and not have your running circles

So in a little over an hour, this is what I got:

 

Found Something: 6 Speeder parts (all Explorer) 3 prototype secure crates, 4 minor seeker droid deployment boosts, 1 repair toolkit and 4 gray items.

 

The 2 Found Something Interesting: Title-Star Forager and Artifact Secure Crate that depleted the area.

 

 

The fact that the Artifact Secure Crate gave me basic comms stinks as I don't use the 400+ I have from other stuff really sucks, as does the title that I'm pretty sure I've now given to every character I have. The repair toolkit is as useless as the gray items but it is at least more valuable.

 

The prototype secure crates returned blue crafting mats that I have a ton of anyway since I run missions for the artifact crafting mats and see a lot of prototype only returns.

 

I didn't see a something interesting return a gray though I did notice that I got a lot fewer something interesting returns than I ever have before.

 

This was on Telemur Mesa on Makeb. I'll check Alderaan since that was the one are that really seemed to be the one were I'd see Something Interesting returns of gray items.

Hello everyone, Thanks for your feedback about the recent changes to the Seeker Droid! The changes that were made were done to remove the ability to endlessly acquire items, as this was not intended. Also, we wanted to be sure and allow for players to obtain the speeder parts and treasures when digging, but we are taking what you’re saying into account.

You seem to be saying that you nerfed it because it's a credit faucet. So . . . when are you taking daily missions out of the game? Cause you can "endlessly acquire [credits]" with those too. At this point, there are so bloody many of them in the game that few if any people can actually do them all in an average gaming day, so the fact that they're "daily" isn't really much of a throttle anymore.

 

The bottom line here is that it's "ok" for people to farm credits by grinding your dailies, but it's "not ok" for people to farm credits by grinding dig sites with the seeker droid. Granted, the way seeker droid was working it was probably a little too bottable. It seems clear that is the real reason that you nerfed it, even though you're not admitting it. Your legendary metrics probably showed that there were some accounts on 24x7 running seeker droid digs in the same spots over and over and over ad infinitum, and you decided to put an end to that.

 

That's understandable, but you should come out and admit that this is the problem you were trying to stop, and you feel bad that legit players who were not botting have now had a rewarding activity nerfed because of the abuse of a few. What's more, you should fix the underlying problem, which is not credit farming per se but bottable credit farming. Just put in some sort of un-bottable interactivity hook in the dig mechanic so that players can still do it, as long as they are actively playing, but bots cannot. It's been done in other games with mechanics like "mining" and "harvesting" and "treasure hunting," which all are the same as this.

 

Players who don't want to grind dailies ought to have the option to do some other tedious and repetitive thing to get their creds on. And seeker droid could be that, without inviting abuse by botters, if you do it right.

Edited July 30, 2013 by Heezdedjim