Maybe because NM KP is a joke.

I found that doing Nightmare KP was time consuming than doing SM EC pre-nerf (p-n). NiM KP took me 90 minutes whereas SM EC p-n took me 75 minutes on a bad day. I understand taking the BH comms out of SM EC, especially since I've seen 40 minute runs of the SM EC p-n (40 minutes:p) but they should have left them in NiM KP, 'cause now no one does NiM KP anymore.

I do not know about you guys, but taking the comms away from SM EC and NIM KP has certainly given me less to do during the week. I can not fathom how BW would consider that a good thing.

Its pretty simple they are a business, so their main goal is to make as much money as possible with paying customers like you. Letting you advance too fast is gonna jeopardize that goal. This system was invented by Blizzard all those years ago and every MMO has adopted it since its really brilliant:

You guys are like rats in a wheel, always trying to get better and even better gear. But when you have managed to get the best gear available you will have no time to enjoy it, because they (BW) simply install an update that introduces new gear, so the rats keep spinning the wheel.

Then they wonder why so many players have abandoned the game.

I certainly do. Apparently gear is both too easy and too difficult to acquire at the same time. Good luck BW.

Its pretty simple they are a business, so their main goal is to make as much money as possible with paying customers like you. Letting you advance too fast is gonna jeopardize that goal. This system was invented by Blizzard all those years ago and every MMO has adopted it since its really brilliant:

 

You guys are like rats in a wheel, always trying to get better and even better gear. But when you have managed to get the best gear available you will have no time to enjoy it, because they (BW) simply install an update that introduces new gear, so the rats keep spinning the wheel.

I think the system was invented by Origin Systems, not Blizzard.

This is exactly the type of smart decision making and clear communication that will keep me very happy and subbed.

Thanks!

Again, Jesse killed it with that post and those updates. Thanks sir, your willingness to listen, make changes, and communicate with the players is greatly appreciated.

In terms of gear being more coherent, does that mean on the next set we'll see a more coherent mix of stats to reflect the combat formulas and the realities of how people need to gear to maximize DPS? (lowering alactrity on sorc/sage gear, lowering excess accuracy on melee DPS gear)

My concern is that by increasing the BH comms from the weekly quest and the loot drops from the final bosses, there are a large portion of the community who will prioritise Boss #2 and Boss #4/5.

I'm already seeing groups who only run the first two bosses of Denova in order to get the weekly comms. The number of in-progress groups looking for people to join after Firebrand+Stormcaller and to a lessor extent at the moment, Ciphas, Heirad, and Kel’Sara is definitely on the increase... and I assume as a direct result of people getting the "Weekly Quest Complete" and leaving.

Personally I'd prefer to see 1x or 2x commendations per boss (not chest) and a small number for the weekly quest... totalling the same number as planned. Otherwise, those "other bosses" are just the things you have to go through in order to get to "the good stuff" for people with that mentality... and there are a high number of them in my experience.

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My concern is that by increasing the BH comms from the weekly quest and the loot drops from the final bosses, there are a large portion of the community who will prioritise Boss #2 and Boss #4/5.

 

I'm already seeing groups who only run the first two bosses of Denova in order to get the weekly comms. The number of in-progress groups looking for people to join after Firebrand+Stormcaller and to a lessor extent at the moment, Ciphas, Heirad, and Kel’Sara is definitely on the increase... and I assume as a direct result of people getting the "Weekly Quest Complete" and leaving.

 

Personally I'd prefer to see 1x or 2x commendations per boss (not chest) and a small number for the weekly quest... totalling the same number as planned. Otherwise, those "other bosses" are just the things you have to go through in order to get to "the good stuff" for people with that mentality... and there are a high number of them in my experience.

 

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An interesting idea but it won't stop people from just leaving after getting the weekly done.

Personally I'd prefer to see 1x or 2x commendations per boss (not chest) and a small number for the weekly quest... totalling the same number as planned.

An interesting idea but it won't stop people from just leaving after getting the weekly done.

No. But it would incentivise people to stay.. Or at least make the decision to leave a little harder and the decision to stay a little more rewarding.

Alternatively, give 1x commendation from the first boss.. 2x from bosses #2 and #3, 3x for #4 (and #5). Make it worth while doing the whole instance. Plus make it worth while for someone to join an in-progress run where the weekly boss has already been killed. Because right now, I see people who won't join a run at the minefield - because they've already missed their chance at the weekly reward. That can't be right.

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We’ll also be working harder to keep a dialogue open with you guys. Good hunting!

As I highlighted in my earlier thread, this has been noticed and much appreciated. Once again, I can't thank the devs enough for stepping up to the plate and providing us with beefy explanations as to the changes and encouraging discussion with them.

Players who bail on 7 or 15 people because their "weekly is completed" aren't players you want to group with in the first place. Add them to ignore and move on.

The only possible solution I could see to deter players is to attach the weekly completion to the final boss; but I think with the added BH drops to the final bosses in SM this will be largely unnecessary.

I really do like the changes, more or less.

This is all fine and good with this exception.

You are taking the 1 step foward, 2 steps back approch with this because the costs for all BH items on the market are going up (about 20-30% higher) with patch 1.5.

Thank you for responding so clearly and completely.

When Explosive Conflict was released, it was stuffed full of Black Hole Commendations in all difficulty modes, which was not actually intentional.

I find this somewhere between strange to unbelievable....EC was on the PTS for what, 5 weeks? During that time, guilds were live streaming it, writing strategy guides, and posting what rewards dropped. It doesn't seem likely that you were not aware of what was dropping from which bosses/chests in story mode. If it wasn't intended, it would have been changed then?

Now if you meant to say you weren't sure at the time what story mode EC should reward, so erred on the side of being generous, especially combined with the 1.4 nerfs, I can see that.

Unfortunately, we erred on the low side with those incentives and failed to communicate the changes for 1.4. We apologize for the oversight.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for acknowledging this AND the apology! I forgive you. :-)

So here are the changes you'll be seeing in 1.4.3:

- Increased Black Hole Commendations granted by [WEEKLY] Galactic Operations from 8 to 15.

- Increased Black Hole Commendations granted by [WEEKLY] Galactic Crisis Points from 8 to 20.

- The final boss of Terror From Beyond now drops additional Black Hole pieces in story mode. (+2 in 8-man, +4 in 16-man)

- The final boss of Explosive Conflict now drops additional Black Hole pieces in story mode. (+2 in 8-man, +4 in 16-man)

Nice, but with the improvement in rewards, I strongly suggest changing the boss that completes the weekly to at least the 3rd, or maybe even the final boss, and give the 2nd boss half the BH drops. Those rewards are worth running at least 3 bosses.

- [WEEKLY] Deadly Operations now grants 10 Black Hole Commendations.

- In nightmare mode, the Dessler Turbo is now guaranteed to drop directly from Karagga the Unyielding.

- In nightmare mode, most bosses in Karagga’s Palace now have a chance to drop the M0-GUL Thrall Droid or Karagga’s Unyielding Helm.

I don't see any problems with that, although we could use a clarification on what "most" means. I would guess the final 3 or 4 bosses. Any chance of getting two helms in one run (from different bosses, obviously)?

This is all fine and good with this exception.

 

You are taking the 1 step foward, 2 steps back approch with this because the costs for all BH items on the market are going up (about 20-30% higher) with patch 1.5.

Is this true? I'd trade extra coms from SM EC/TFB but this is dissappointing....

This is all fine and good with this exception.

 

You are taking the 1 step foward, 2 steps back approch with this because the costs for all BH items on the market are going up (about 20-30% higher) with patch 1.5.

If I had to venture a guess they've estimated gearing into BH via LFG dailies is a bit too fast and they're pushing people into the actual ops (not just the lfg EV/KP speed runs) more to get them. I don't like it but I could see the logic behind it.

They are going up only for FTP players, not subscribers.

:D :D

well I'm happy

and no, that's not a banana in my pocket