Here are a few things I think the devs should take into mind when deciding where to go with the game.

First, the return of new hm fp's. While I understand tactical fp's are easier to crank out and everyone in the game can complete them, no one really wants to play them more than a couple times. One way to keep people intrested is to create some sort of new higher end content more than once a year.

Second, keep progressing current high end content like world bosses, ie toborrows courtyard or the illum boss or the rackgul boss, forward with nim versions. Things like this give people things to do that are fun and grant real useful stuff while they are not raiding.

Lastly, I understand that the reason these things are not being done currently is most likely the lack of personal to do everything. However, something that the devs must grasp is if you are understaffed to do everything you want you must allocate staff to the most important aspects. If you are triaging a game like this you don't pour a quarter of the years dev time into gsf. Stuff like gsf and strongholds are cool but are secondary to real new content. It's like giving someone a nose job while someone else is bleeding out. So moving forward you must understand mini game type content is no substitute for real new content. Tactical flashpoint and rehashing the same old events aren't going to keep the game alive.

Any constructive additional thoughts are welcomed

Lastly, I understand that the reason these things are not being done currently is most likely the lack of personal to do everything. However, something that the devs must grasp is if you are understaffed to do everything you want you must allocate staff to the most important aspects. If you are triaging a game like this you don't pour a quarter of the years dev time into gsf. Stuff like gsf and strongholds are cool but are secondary to real new content. It's like giving someone a nose job while someone else is bleeding out. So moving forward you must understand mini game type content is no substitute for real new content. Tactical flashpoint and rehashing the same old events aren't going to keep the game alive.

 

Any constructive additional thoughts are welcomed

GSF and GSH are "real content." There were a LOT of players that wanted a better space combat system than the on-rails missions we got at launch. I'll grant that what we got in GSF was not what most wanted, but it is content nonetheless. There are also a LOT of players who want what is coming in GSH...some have been SCREAMING for it since launch. Whether it lives up to expectations is a big question, but again it is something the population wants.

I agree that more FPs and Ops and story would be nice but do not discount GSF and GSH as not "real content" just because you do not like/want them.

Here are a few things I think the devs should take into mind when deciding where to go with the game.

 

First, the return of new hm fp's. While I understand tactical fp's are easier to crank out and everyone in the game can complete them, no one really wants to play them more than a couple times. One way to keep people intrested is to create some sort of new higher end content more than once a year.

 

Second, keep progressing current high end content like world bosses, ie toborrows courtyard or the illum boss or the rackgul boss, forward with nim versions. Things like this give people things to do that are fun and grant real useful stuff while they are not raiding.

 

Lastly, I understand that the reason these things are not being done currently is most likely the lack of personal to do everything. However, something that the devs must grasp is if you are understaffed to do everything you want you must allocate staff to the most important aspects. If you are triaging a game like this you don't pour a quarter of the years dev time into gsf. Stuff like gsf and strongholds are cool but are secondary to real new content. It's like giving someone a nose job while someone else is bleeding out. So moving forward you must understand mini game type content is no substitute for real new content. Tactical flashpoint and rehashing the same old events aren't going to keep the game alive.

 

Any constructive additional thoughts are welcomed

1. Regarding new HM FPs: If they were to add a new HM FP to the game tomorrow, where should it fit, gearwise?

Assuming the average long-time player probably has a lot of 180 gear (Oriconian/DF) by now, how do you create a HM FP that is meaningful for a lot of people to run, but not gated by (or provide an easier alternative BiS gearing strategy) gear requirements?

The addition of the new 55 HM FPs with the last expansion and level cap increase was a perfect time to introduce more HM FPs, because there was a gear reset and as a result, the need for re-gearing, of which BM level gear was a good first step.

I just don't see how they could integrate new HM FPs without a level increase. Currently, the only way people couldn't "outgear" these new proposed FPs would be if they dropped 180/186 level gear, which is probably not a very good idea.

2. The thought of NiM WBs doesn't get me excited to deal with the hassle of trying to kill OW WBs when they're new (complete with new shiny's) and Toborro's Courtyard on NiM....meh. Being fed difficulty tier(s) in steps just makes me more cynical. Maybe they'll be a different type of Isotope cannister to break instead, or the laser will channel even faster. And again it becomes a gearing issue. If you introduced NiM TC tomorrow, what would it drop to get people interested in doing it?

3. People bounce around these statements regarding cutbacks/skeleton crew/EA restrictions/engine limitations all the time, and 95% of the time it's conjecture/hearsay that gets regurgitated so many times it becomes accepted fact. I don't know how many people are working as Devs on this game currently, and no matter what the actual number is different people will spin it different ways (That many and that's all the can put out/ That few and they managed to make all of this content). Regarding GSF/Housing, there is a contingent of people on the forums really excited for housing, and that get great enjoyment from GSF, so I don't mind waiting another month or two for my turn at more content

I discount them largely because during the time that development has focused on it the game has suffered from loss of players and things like this while cool are not what keep people playing, in a perfect world we would get both but if we can't have both extras like this shouldn't be the main focus of an entire year of development

I disagree with your causality assumption. You are postulating that because development time was spent on something other than story and group content (AKA FPs and Ops) that players left this game. While it might be true that those man-hours could have been spent on story and group content, it cannot be assumed to be true that more players would stick around.

In fact I would go so far as to postulate the opposite: that more top end content - which is what HM FPs and Ops are - would alienate the casual masses and that those players would leave and never come back. As it stands the paradigm is that over the past ten months (since GSF early access release) there have been eight "events" that generated renewed interest:

1. GSF
   
2. recurrence of Gree
   
3. revamp of rakghouls
   
4. NiM DF
   
5. new story arc teaser FPs
   
6. NiM DP
   
7. Double XP week
   
8. recurrence of Gree
   

Yes, a lot of these events were short and the bump was also short. And yes not every event appealed to everyone. But lots of players come in for those events and then leave again. And GSH already has generated a massive influx of players. how long they stick around...who knows? But if the development of GSH generates revenue in the form of subs and CCs, it is time well spent.

If you want this game to go forward then you are all wrong. What they need to do is stop focusing on the Cartel Market (which they won't as I'm pretty sure that's where they are getting their money to keep the game afloat) and focus on content. They need to stop catering for bad players and make content that's actually a challenge so the top players feel this is a game worth playing. Content that actually lasts months to clear out and not days or hours as was the case of DP NiM.

They also need to get their act together when technical problems are concerned. When 2.8 was put out TRE was unplayable for three days and it took them one full day to even look into the problem and they've only acknowledged that there was a problem on the second day and the fix they've said that they "thought" they had a solution for it and that they "maybe" would put it out on the following day (which, in their defense, they did). I know this happened on other servers as well though not with the severity it affected TRE.

This is what they need to work on not on new HM FPs. No one is coming back to this game to do HM FPs.

You mean how to help regain the 1% of hardcore raiders? The casual raiders and FP players never left and are still here. With the Xpac comes new HM FPs and operations which people will come back for.

It's 1% more and it's 1% that will be paying a subscription. and 1% of 500000 players is like 5000 players. So... It's 5000 more people playing and paying. If you don't want that 1% then, I rest my case. That's also 5000 people that will be doing HM FPs from time to time and will be able to carry said casuals through content that they can't do for various reason (lack of experience due to lack of time to play, lack of gear, lack of skill, etc...).

Oh and by the way, if the casuals are all still here, if it's just that 1% the game have lost why are we even talking about getting people back?

1. Regarding new HM FPs: If they were to add a new HM FP to the game tomorrow, where should it fit, gearwise?

Assuming the average long-time player probably has a lot of 180 gear (Oriconian/DF) by now, how do you create a HM FP that is meaningful for a lot of people to run, but not gated by (or provide an easier alternative BiS gearing strategy) gear requirements?

 

The addition of the new 55 HM FPs with the last expansion and level cap increase was a perfect time to introduce more HM FPs, because there was a gear reset and as a result, the need for re-gearing, of which BM level gear was a good first step.

 

I just don't see how they could integrate new HM FPs without a level increase. Currently, the only way people couldn't "outgear" these new proposed FPs would be if they dropped 180/186 level gear, which is probably not a very good idea.

I don't know if many people remember properly (myself included, so details may be eronious...), but when Hard Mode Lost Island was released, it was amazing.

People had already been doing HM/NiM EV+KP for a while I think, but Rakata was still the top gear tier, and HM LI's final boss dropped a Rakata chest piece. It was hard, very hard to pug when it was first released, way harder than any HM flashpoint before... but was fine to run in a co-ordinated group. In a co-ordinated group you could get away with running it in tionese plus a few bits of columni, but in a PuG probably full Columni at least was required - equivalent of todays Arkanian and Underworld I guess?

So it was a HM FP that required you to be at least SM raid geared, but rewarded you with the equivalent of a HM raid piece, was hard enough that everyone and their aunt couldn't just breeze through it for the gear, but gave you just enough that it was worth the effort.

...and then everyone complained that it was too hard... but that's pretty classic of MMO forums I guess...

Maybe the situation at the moment is different, so its not relevant, but worth remembering how new HM FPs were implemented in the past to good effect?

I don't know if many people remember properly (myself included, so details may be eronious...), but when Hard Mode Lost Island was released, it was amazing.

 

People had already been doing HM/NiM EV+KP for a while I think, but Rakata was still the top gear tier, and HM LI's final boss dropped a Rakata chest piece. It was hard, very hard to pug when it was first released, way harder than any HM flashpoint before... but was fine to run in a co-ordinated group. In a co-ordinated group you could get away with running it in tionese plus a few bits of columni, but in a PuG probably full Columni at least was required - equivalent of todays Arkanian and Underworld I guess?

 

So it was a HM FP that required you to be at least SM raid geared, but rewarded you with the equivalent of a HM raid piece, was hard enough that everyone and their aunt couldn't just breeze through it for the gear, but gave you just enough that it was worth the effort.

 

...and then everyone complained that it was too hard... but that's pretty classic of MMO forums I guess...

 

Maybe the situation at the moment is different, so its not relevant, but worth remembering how new HM FPs were implemented in the past to good effect?

I agree with you but if you make a FP as hard as Lost Island at this point in the game, the only thing you'll get is people asking for a nerf because they can't do it.

I don't know if many people remember properly (myself included, so details may be eronious...), but when Hard Mode Lost Island was released, it was amazing.

 

People had already been doing HM/NiM EV+KP for a while I think, but Rakata was still the top gear tier, and HM LI's final boss dropped a Rakata chest piece. It was hard, very hard to pug when it was first released, way harder than any HM flashpoint before... but was fine to run in a co-ordinated group. In a co-ordinated group you could get away with running it in tionese plus a few bits of columni, but in a PuG probably full Columni at least was required - equivalent of todays Arkanian and Underworld I guess?

 

So it was a HM FP that required you to be at least SM raid geared, but rewarded you with the equivalent of a HM raid piece, was hard enough that everyone and their aunt couldn't just breeze through it for the gear, but gave you just enough that it was worth the effort.

 

...and then everyone complained that it was too hard... but that's pretty classic of MMO forums I guess...

 

Maybe the situation at the moment is different, so its not relevant, but worth remembering how new HM FPs were implemented in the past to good effect?

I don't disagree with 95% of what you said. Technically LI came out with Explosive Conflict, so on the date it was released, rakata was no longer top-tier, but what you needed to get into EC HM, as it was the drop from some EC SM.So LI was more of a way to get BiS -1 gear, well the chest at least, which is always one of the more difficult drops to get.

My concern is if LI v.2.0 were to be released tomorrow, it would drop the DF(180 chest), which drops from Brontes, if we were keeping the BiS -1 "rule" intact. Which means it would drop a piece of gear that would make you ready for NiM DF, not HM DF, like was the case for HM EC. If you made it follow the old method, (drop the equivalent of the SM version of the current end-game OP) it would drop the Underworld chest, which would mean it would be tuned for Arkanian, which would force it to be less difficult than it could be.

I don't really see how that could "work". I'd love another really hard FP, but the Rakata chest piece was a pretty good carrot to try and get a lot of people to try it, because it was the only way to get a Raid equivalent piece back then. There were no comm vendors selling Rakata level, non-set bonused pieces of gear. People now either have the 180 set-bonus chest, have a 180 armoring, or are not interested in trying to get geared up for NiM DF.