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Update on the Ship Role in Game Update 2.8


EricMusco

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Could you inform the players about what you consider "a healthy state" for GSF? Just would like to know the metrics that BW bases it's perceptions on, because a lot of the community seems dismayed :/ A little bit more information may make the GSFers feel a bit better about some pretty horrendous que times.

 

Pushing back expansions is always better than rushing! Thank you for your comments!

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Great news to me. I am one of the people that thinks GSF is garbage, it could have been good were it not for the horrid controls, but some people enjoy it. I am not one of them. There will always be people who enjoy things other people don't in MMO's, and that's fine. I am glad for the people who enjoy GSF. However, people who like GSF shouldn't complain when Bioware focuses on adding new things to the game THEY might not enjoy, because they have GSF to enjoy.

 

So, more time spent on the things I actually care about it that are coming soon is always good news to me. Strongholds needs to be done right, because if they don;t alot of people are going to bail on this game, so Bioware should focus everything on that right now.

Edited by DarthVengeant
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Not happy to hear this, but on balance BW has earned more than enough good will in my book to not be too upset about it.

 

It's just that for me the fact that they were going to be releasing a new ship class was a strong indication that they were serious about supporting all the various aspects of the game that they've included. I was struck by the idea that, while they easily could have said "we gave you a new game mode, we'll throw out a new map every now and then - but mainly we're moving on to the next 'new shiny' feature" it looked like they were instead going the extra mile, and I was really impressed by that.

 

Of course I understand that nature of limited time and resources and the need to allocate where you'll get the most bang for your buck, but the sense that BW was actually to a point where they'd be able to successfully release multiple new expansions while at the same time making significant improvements to previous ones... well that had me extremely optimistic.

 

Oh well, like I said, it is an understandable choice.

Edited by DarthDymond
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this is a great sign, although too many resources are already dedicated to bringing us "rooms to just stand in and look around"

 

but im sure the 10 people that actually care at all about gsf will be upset

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As a mainly GSF player im definitely disheartened, but not raging :D. As to healthy state, I don't know about that heh. I hope this does not mean they are ignoring GSF even in the short term, there are a couple minor balance things and some more major issues (which can be read on the GSF forums)

 

The most important of these IMO are easy: extra GSF daily's (like ground pvp gets), a cadet bonus (req bonus for new players for x matches), and an enhanced tutorial for new players.

 

The last one im sure cant be done in a quick timeframe, but the first two could be added with little difficulty. The curve for new players to get into new gear can be a tad long when facing veterans, if they had more opportunities in the forms of missions and bonus req then they could close the gap faster and get into the ships / components they want without getting burned out entirely.

 

The only thing that kinda urks me about this update is that its not just been pushed back, its out entirely. Which is very sad, I hope that there comes a time when they can allocate a little love to the GSF people. We may not make up the largest portion of the community but we are very active and our subs literally depend on GSF content. A slow trickle is a still a trickle, its when you shut the tap off that we get worried.

 

(as to no one caring about GSF, on Bastion queues pop all day long, so im guessing that despite your not knowing about it, a great many people actually play GSF and like it. Don't belittle what we find fun, you wont catch me trashing PvE or other sutff im not interested in :rolleyes: )

Edited by DamascusAdontise
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Hey folks,

 

I wanted to give you all an update on the new ship role that Bruce had mentioned previously in his roadmap, slated for Game Update 2.8. Unfortunately, that ship role has been pushed out indefinitely. Not to say it is impossible to be brought in at a future date, but it has been pushed off of our current roadmap.

 

Certainly the first question to be asked is why? Our roadmap began to shift into a new direction with a high priority placed around both Galactic Strongholds and that other expansion Bruce briefly mentioned before. In looking at our current schedule, we felt that Starfighter was in a healthy state and so by cutting the new role, we could make a better experience for our upcoming expansions.

 

We definitely realize that this will be upsetting news to players who are big fans of GSF. We don't want you to feel like we are just leaving GSF in the dust in place of other features. Coming in GU 2.8 there are 2 new ship variants coming, a new Gunship and a new Bomber. I know it isn't as exciting as a whole new role but we want you to know we are still dedicated to expanding GSF, like all of our game systems.

 

Thanks everyone!

 

-eric

 

Well, That's that then. They give us two new variants of the most op ships in the game, with the least interesting gameplay.

 

I was actually staying subscribed solely for gsf, and waiting for the next starship. Indefinitely, mean indefinitely I have found with Bioware.

 

Another bad decision imo. To say this is the **** end of the stick is an understatement. All this for player housing??

 

Im absolutely flabbergasted. For the record Eric, GSF is NOT in a good place right now, and it is bleeding players. Queue times are enormous and most of the skilled pilots I used to play against no longer queue.

 

Your idea of a good place is sorely different from a players perspective.

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As the leader of a GSF-focused guild and one of the best pilots on my server, I am a bit disheartened. Not because I cared that much about the new class, but because I am concerned this represents a fundamental shift in GSF resourcing.

 

If so, I'm a bit surprised. On my server, GSF queue pops have always been fast--always faster than Ranked Arena queues, and often faster than general Warzone and Flashpoint queues. GSF matches are frequently comprised of both hardcore GSF vets like myself and a constant flow of new names. Additionally, many of the GSF players are whales, spending cartel coins on ships and requisition conversion--on top of subscription.

 

That being said, to keep us spending, we need new ships to keep on coming.

 

Also, Chris the GSF dev had hinted at one time about class ships being incorporated into GSF somehow--this was distinct from the Infiltrator class that we suspected was coming in 2.8. I now wonder where that work stands.

 

I'd be very surprised if Galactic Strongholds, which really don't offer much in the way of playable content, will result in more subs and more CC's spent than GSF does. When Galactic Strongholds launches, there will be an initial rush for people to acquire and outfit a home, but once they realize there's nothing to do in those empty rooms, they'll leave them behind. This is what happens in every MMO that introduces instanced housing. See LOTRO, whose housing system is much more impressive than Strongholds looks like it'll be.

 

As to those who say they never played GSF, that's your loss. It's a wonderfully designed game. It takes patience and a willingness to learn and practice, but once you find the groove, it's amazingly fun and addictive and rewarding--and on the Ebon Hawk, we have a great and energetic GSF community.

 

I've never done a Nightmare Mode on a raid, but I don't wish raiding guilds ill, nor do I wish for them to have a drought of content, even though they are a small niche part of our community.

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Im absolutely flabbergasted. For the record Eric, GSF is NOT in a good place right now, and it is bleeding players. Queue times are enormous and most of the skilled pilots I used to play against no longer queue.

 

Your idea of a good place is sorely different from a players perspective.

 

Agreed. Having to transfer servers just to get a GSF pop does not reflect on a healthy state for GSF. Hearing about MANNNNNNYYYY players experiencing similar issues confirms that in fact, GSF is not in a great state. Hopefully, as someone in the GSF forums posted, this doesn't reflect a lack of resource allocation for GSF. Completely ok with not having the new ship until later. Not okay with how queues are going on the servers that aren't The Ebon Hawk or Harbinger or Bastion. Everywhere else, GSF seems to be decaying.

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but because I am concerned this represents a fundamental shift in GSF resourcing.

 

 

I'm a bit concerned as well, not just for GSF, but whether Bioware is simply moving resources from hot topic feature to hot topic feature until it finds one that grabs a sufficient amount of people's attention. I don't really want to see an abundance of abandoned game types(like the old PvE space shooter).

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News that says the limited development budget allotted to the game isn't going to be spent on some space PVP mini game I don't play is welcome news to me.

 

One thing I would love to see would be some sort of participation metrics showing how players (and especially subscribers) spend their game time between different types of content.

 

My assumption is that GSF participation is limited to a very small portion of the player base, and thus any investment in GSF over other portions of the game enjoyed by a broader base would make little sense.

 

I suspect it's about the same number (at least) as do Ranked Arenas or Nightmare Mode Raids.

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GSF support has the same answer as ground PvP support. Variety. Class balance isn't perfect, but it's solid and a wider variety of maps would be most beneficial in order to keep it from becoming stale. The exact same goes for GSF.
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Hey folks,

 

I wanted to give you all an update on the new ship role that Bruce had mentioned previously in his roadmap, slated for Game Update 2.8. Unfortunately, that ship role has been pushed out indefinitely. Not to say it is impossible to be brought in at a future date, but it has been pushed off of our current roadmap.

 

Certainly the first question to be asked is why? Our roadmap began to shift into a new direction with a high priority placed around both Galactic Strongholds and that other expansion Bruce briefly mentioned before. In looking at our current schedule, we felt that Starfighter was in a healthy state and so by cutting the new role, we could make a better experience for our upcoming expansions.

 

We definitely realize that this will be upsetting news to players who are big fans of GSF. We don't want you to feel like we are just leaving GSF in the dust in place of other features. Coming in GU 2.8 there are 2 new ship variants coming, a new Gunship and a new Bomber. I know it isn't as exciting as a whole new role but we want you to know we are still dedicated to expanding GSF, like all of our game systems.

 

Thanks everyone!

 

-eric

It's too bad. The Infiltrators sounded like the ideal counter to Gunships and possibly bombers. And we certainly don't need more bombers and gunships.

Hopefully the development time freed up by it will allow for some time to finally implement features like chat bubbles, however, to turn it into a positive at least.

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The only thing worrying me about GSF these days is population decline and queue times. I have confidence that bombers in domination will be fixed - it won't require a complete rework. I always expected declining participation once novelty wore off, but the trend seems to be accelerating since late 2.6, and when 2.7 first hit. Something does need to be done about that, or the queues will start to break on many servers. New rewards, new reputation, some tie-in to the ground game? I know cross-server is not coming soon, but that would fix it too.

 

Given the amount of time I have for gaming, when I'm on swtor I'm pretty much only doing GSF. If the queue times become intolerable or the population gets stale there's little holding me subbed. I love GSF and know plenty of others who do. If it doesn't get developed for, or if the populations start becoming unable to support healthy queues, then SWTOR is going to lose a lot of subscribers.

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I appreciate the communication.

 

I will say GSF is the primary thing that got me to resubscribe for early access and keep subscribing so I hope you don't put releasing new maps, bug fixes, and balancing GSF on the backburner. For me anyway those three things are more important than releasing waves of new ships as you can only play the same maps so many times before they get boring no matter what ship you fly.

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As a GSF addict I must say that this is terrible news. Queue times are getting worse and worse and the only thing that could bring more life into gsf was the new ship. At current state gsf is a bomber-gunship ball, it's getting boring. The 3 tier scouts and strikes are absolute crap. Awful news that made me a sad panda :(

 

 

2.8 there are 2 new ship variants coming, a new Gunship and a new Bomber.

 

Bad, bad, bad. Current gsf is a bomber-gunship ball. Little fun and skill...

Edited by jankiel
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Where the hell were you guys when people were ************ about how GSF was "a waste of time"? If you were having fun but think it needs work, you need to be vocal. Like those PVP and raid fanatics. Edited by Nickious
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You have a weird conception of "healthy state"... Or you're playing favorites when balancing ships.

 

*cough* GSF livestream *cough* Chris' favorite ship class *cough* Bombers

 

Edited by Altheran
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I have to chime in my disapointment. I have pretty much abandoned the ground game for GSF. I like others fear this shift signals a shift away from GSF development in general. Gsf is a big part of why I have maintained my subscription. Unless something wonderful happens to replace it my sub will probably end about the time gsf gets stale. Edited by dailus
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Hey folks,

 

I wanted to give you all an update on the new ship role that Bruce had mentioned previously in his roadmap, slated for Game Update 2.8. Unfortunately, that ship role has been pushed out indefinitely. Not to say it is impossible to be brought in at a future date, but it has been pushed off of our current roadmap.

 

Certainly the first question to be asked is why? Our roadmap began to shift into a new direction with a high priority placed around both Galactic Strongholds and that other expansion Bruce briefly mentioned before. In looking at our current schedule, we felt that Starfighter was in a healthy state and so by cutting the new role, we could make a better experience for our upcoming expansions.

 

We definitely realize that this will be upsetting news to players who are big fans of GSF. We don't want you to feel like we are just leaving GSF in the dust in place of other features. Coming in GU 2.8 there are 2 new ship variants coming, a new Gunship and a new Bomber. I know it isn't as exciting as a whole new role but we want you to know we are still dedicated to expanding GSF, like all of our game systems.

 

Thanks everyone!

 

-eric

 

Ok. You guys have made some good calls and some questionable ones in the last year or so, more good ones than bad IMO. So personally I can give you the benefit of the doubt on this one...not that you need my approval of course.

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