Not to mention there is no guarantee that the story aspects will even get better by removing Operations. Raid Design and Story are two completely different departments and it is far more likely that Operation creation has absolutely zero creative input on Story. It's more likely (and painfully obvious) that Operations are designed AFTER the story has been written up. Hell, it's even more obvious that Operations are separate from World Design, Mission building and is most likely it's own space. So removing Operations would have no effect on Flashpoint creation or Class mission creation either.

 

As such, JMCA is literally making worthless accusations and empty promises of financial gain. Axing Operations would do nothing but put good, honest developers out of a job and annex an entire section of the playerbase. This thread was created with sole intent to cause enjoyment for the few at the expense of enjoyment and employment status for others. It is a selfish suggestion and I hope when the Mods return from their vacations, they see fit to lock this thread.

Let's say what you're saying is true and Operations are their own team. Opportunity cost argument necessarily has to come up - what could we do instead of this? Is it worth it to replace it? Basic question of economics. Class stories got this analysis and was axed without warning.

If Operations could be broken down into a couple or three flashpoints that have more of an episodic feel to them, wouldn't there be more anticipation for the story's progression not less? Wouldn't the personalities of the characters be on display more, not less?

Operations cheapen the story because there are only four class story arcs, not eight or sixteen. You become an anonymous "hero" in an operation instead of Barsenthor, Hero of Tython, Havoc Squad's Commander, and the Most Eligible Wholly Legitimate Businessman Bachelor in the Republic (honest!)

And your suggestion that people would get fired for that doesn't make any sense when considering my suggestion to make more flashpoints - there would be plenty for these people to do to accomodate a more aggressive FP release schedule. You seem to be forgetting that part, where there is actually MORE Group PvE content overall with my suggestion not less...

It is a fair question to ask what can be done instead of what is currently being done.

Your post, and pretty much all your others, have been increasingly juvenile attempts to make me look like I'm trying to get revenge, when, at this point, you're the one with a chip on your shoulder and I'm the one being constructive.

I won't ask anybody to kick you out of my thread

Let's say what you're saying is true and Operations are their own team. Opportunity cost argument necessarily has to come up - what could we do instead of this? Is it worth it to replace it? Basic question of economics. Class stories got this analysis and was axed without warning.

 

If Operations could be broken down into a couple or three flashpoints that have more of an episodic feel to them, wouldn't there be more anticipation for the story's progression not less? Wouldn't the personalities of the characters be on display more, not less?

 

Operations cheapen the story because there are only four class story arcs, not eight or sixteen. You become an anonymous "hero" in an operation instead of Barsenthor, Hero of Tython, Havoc Squad's Commander, and the Most Eligible Wholly Legitimate Businessman Bachelor in the Republic (honest!)

 

And your suggestion that people would get fired for that doesn't make any sense when considering my suggestion to make more flashpoints - there would be plenty for these people to do to accomodate a more aggressive FP release schedule. You seem to be forgetting that part, where there is actually MORE Group PvE content overall with my suggestion not less...

 

It is a fair question to ask what can be done instead of what is currently being done.

 

Your post, and pretty much all your others, have been increasingly juvenile attempts to make me look like I'm trying to get revenge, when, at this point, you're the one with a chip on your shoulder and I'm the one being constructive.

 

I won't ask anybody to kick you out of my thread

Really? Constructive? Really?

You are FAR from being constructive as you have on multiple occasions said raiders don't deserve support and they should leave and go back to WoW. You have said nothing that is constructive other than sprouting your personal bias of your dislike for operations. So your response to Moonshadow is completely disingenuous because now that you do not have the support you have you claim people are attacking you when in fact it is you who advocated the removal of content.

Every small company starts out like that - they have to create significantly better products than their competitors and grow a reputation of being better until they get big enough to consider joining up with the "big boys." Once that happens, the "lemons effect" starts happening, but that's another economics term.

Once they join the "Big Boys", their Creatibvity dwindles as well. After a certain points after joining, it just doesn't exist anymore. You can watch it with every company that is bought up by a bigger one.

Which means that th3e "creative energy" is going elsewhere. There must be ... factors, or "movements" within that company which suck up the creative energy or make it completely stop.

It's no wonder that creative people quickly leave a Big Boy. Because Creatives usually have a tendency to be free, to be unbound, to be weird - without that, they just can't be creative, because the Creative Chaos is on their side.

The Big Boys, howwever, are against Chaos. Chaos is in fact their natural enemy. That's why bigger companies hardly ever evoke innovations - except from daughter companies which are almost completely un-bound.

Money, calculating, Maths - all that is the natural enbemy of Creative Chaos, of Creative Energy. An artist just cannot be an Mathematician at the same time, or an accountancy person. I just don't believe it.

Companies will flourish as long as both are there with the same wight. But the bigger a company becomes, the more it looses its Creative Chaos.

In one magazine about Archaeology I found the horroific tale of one of the very first Civilizations found in the Israel area.

It was found that in the course of time the administration and bureaucracy parts of that Civilization were growing bigger and bigger, as more and more people moved into it - bureaucracy being a safe job place - meanwhile the civilization grew wealthier and wealthier.

And these bureaucrats decided to build more and more representative buildings, and more and more buildings for themselves.

More and more people had to maintain that - building buildings, and the bureaucraycy members themselves. And less and less people were actually woking for gaining food etc. .

At one point, the bureaucracy overhead was so big that it brought the rest of the body to an downfall. The civilization ceased to exist soon after that.

This is what always happens with civilizations - and with firms, companies. History repeats itself.

And this is what happens with EA as well. Without its steady influx of bought-up highly creative companies - like food the mother company aquires - EA would already be dead.

And this is called Diversity : Diversity is healthy. Look into any Jungle. Big companies don't represent diversity, because they want to dominate everything. And eventually they will bring our Civilization down.

Let's say what you're saying is true and Operations are their own team. Opportunity cost argument necessarily has to come up - what could we do instead of this? Is it worth it to replace it? Basic question of economics. Class stories got this analysis and was axed without warning.

 

If Operations could be broken down into a couple or three flashpoints that have more of an episodic feel to them, wouldn't there be more anticipation for the story's progression not less? Wouldn't the personalities of the characters be on display more, not less?

 

Operations cheapen the story because there are only four class story arcs, not eight or sixteen. You become an anonymous "hero" in an operation instead of Barsenthor, Hero of Tython, Havoc Squad's Commander, and the Most Eligible Wholly Legitimate Businessman Bachelor in the Republic (honest!)

 

And your suggestion that people would get fired for that doesn't make any sense when considering my suggestion to make more flashpoints - there would be plenty for these people to do to accomodate a more aggressive FP release schedule. You seem to be forgetting that part, where there is actually MORE Group PvE content overall with my suggestion not less...

 

It is a fair question to ask what can be done instead of what is currently being done.

 

Your post, and pretty much all your others, have been increasingly juvenile attempts to make me look like I'm trying to get revenge, when, at this point, you're the one with a chip on your shoulder and I'm the one being constructive.

 

I won't ask anybody to kick you out of my thread

Wrong again. Class stories did not get axed because of cost. They were axed because the story is finished. There is no way to continue them. They all end rather nicely and any attempt to "sequel" them would require an event to nullify your character's position of power in order to create a second journey to X. If the class stories are the musical film Grease, we'd end up with Grease 2. Bad idea.

As for your notion that the teams would be reassigned to Flashpoint design, another incorrect statement. There already is a Flashpoint design team. There would be no point in employing the Operations team when they already have a Flashpoint creation team. And it's common knowledge in the MMO world that throwing more people at a project does NOT make the project finish faster nor better.

JMCA, no one in this thread besides you has a chip on their shoulder. You have misplaced your disappointment of the loss of class stories on the Operations team and the raiding community due to idiotic stereotyping and personal bias. Instead of trying to convince EA to cater to you, which they won't because EA loves money in all forms, you might want to try getting your needs fulfilled by another game. MMOs are not steady girlfriends. You do not have to only play one your entire life. If a game does not have one part of part you enjoy but has other parts you like, seek out a game that has the missing pieces and play both.

And no, you can't ask anyone kick me from the thread. This is a General internet forum. Anyone can post on any thread at any time they please. But I can ask someone to lock your thread or even delete it, as it is a clear violation of forum rules against creating topics with the intent to cause flamefests. I can, but I have not yet, as it will not teach you the lesson you need. Asking for removal of content out of spite is a bad business decision and also is the mark of a truly petty person.

I think he has a point about the story being potentially better.

It does not matter.

1) Not all players liked the class stories. Yes, the story arcs (class or non-class) are popular and a defining differentiator of the game when it launched, and likely attracted a lot of KOTOR fans who really could care less about MMOs in general. And the story-only player base also left early as well... and there is no practical way to keep these players happy if story arcs is all they want in and MMO. These players need to stick to disposable console games IMO.

2) The game is clearly designed for broad interest appeal to a wide audience with wide tastes. A good strategy in today's MMO genre IMO. Narrowly focused MMOs simply do not do well in today's marketplace. IF they had made this game 80% about class story and little else, then the game really would have folded in the summer of 2012 (which would mean no more story...period...class, faction, or otherwise.

3) Faction based story arcs are a good compromise in investment vs return to players (and the company) in that you can put more resources into continuing to develop 2 story arcs then you could to continue to develop 8 story arcs.

4) They have in fact NOT categorically declared no more class story ever. They has simply stated that there are none in the works at this time and that they have found the faction story arcs to be well accepted (though not unanimously accepted) by players. IF the game continues to thrive and grow over time then I am sure they will revist this in the future. One thing about Bioware developers and SWTOR, they rarely ever categorically state that they will not do something. Clearly they continue to assess and evaluate where to spend their developer resources in continuing the growth of the core game content.

I agree the story is good and unique what I don't agree is his desire to REMOVE content because he thinks WoW does it better.

/absolutely_agree.

Such a mind set is counter to what MMOs are about when they target broad audiences of players and varying player tastes and desires.

It does not matter.

 

1) Not all players liked the class stories. Yes, the story arcs (class or non-class) are popular and a defining differentiator of the game when it launched, and likely attracted a lot of KOTOR fans who really could care less about MMOs in general. And the story-only player base also left early as well... and there is no practical way to keep these players happy if story arcs is all they want in and MMO. These players need to stick to disposable console games IMO.

 

2) The game is clearly designed for broad interest appeal to a wide audience with wide tastes. A good strategy in today's MMO genre IMO. Narrowly focused MMOs simply do not do well in today's marketplace. IF they had made this game 80% about class story and little else, then the game really would have folded in the summer of 2012 (which would mean no more story...period...class, faction, or otherwise.

 

3) Faction based story arcs are a good compromise in investment vs return to players (and the company) in that you can put more resources into continuing to develop 2 story arcs then you could to continue to develop 8 story arcs.

 

4) They have in fact NOT categorically declared no more class story ever. They has simply stated that there are none in the works at this time and that they have found the faction story arcs to be well accepted (though not unanimously accepted) by players. IF the game continues to thrive and grow over time then I am sure they will revist this in the future. One thing about Bioware developers and SWTOR, they rarely ever categorically state that they will not do something. Clearly they continue to assess and evaluate where to spend their developer resources in continuing the growth of the core game content.

Thank you, Andryah. Also, good to see you're still here.

You don't work for the company so how can you say one way or the other how people's jobs would be affected?

LOL Class stories can't be continued... they're done? Then why were there datamined leaks of two entire planets that had class stories put together? Get your facts straight. There is plenty of room to expand on the stories of every single class.

The trend with your posts and the other guy's is a crusade to prove I'm just a troll with nothing to offer.

I am just offering a means to tell a better story at this point.

I did not even start this thread to suggest operations being replaced, it was more along the lines to help myself and others come to terms with the individual stories being cut off. Then it dawned on me that the basis for that decision could be applied to existing parts of the game and now I've got two very angry distractions trying to make me look like I want to behead every raider who plays this game.

If that's how you react to the potential of a game mode being removed, imagine how mad people have been when class stories were axed.

Edit: I do not agree at all that the subs dropped because "the single player people left". They wanted to see the progression of the story and played pretty much everything waiting for that. The Raiders left because they weren't getting the progression schedule they wanted.

They were the ones kicking and screaming all over the forums, unsubbing, talking **** about the game, and this was the first thing the devs were saying when they went F2P was how they wanted to make more end game content.

The single player people who loved the game have played Light Side, Dark Side versions of every class in the game... that doesn't happen quickly enough to be "just go to disposable console games."

Also, how thoroughly hypocritical for you to support someone who says Class people just go to consoles, ****, when your whole schbiel is "don't ruin people's experiences." Your trousers are at your ankles, Darth Failshadow

It does not matter.

 

1) Not all players liked the class stories. Yes, the story arcs (class or non-class) are popular and a defining differentiator of the game when it launched, and likely attracted a lot of KOTOR fans who really could care less about MMOs in general. And the story-only player base also left early as well... and there is no practical way to keep these players happy if story arcs is all they want in and MMO. These players need to stick to disposable console games IMO.

I disagree. I play for the story, I'm a sub for a year now, and only finished 6 storylines. And I play a lot. Sure people can be faster, but if someone finished 8 class stories in less than, say, 8 months -they surely weren't for the story. These are people for the endgame, or PVP or whatever. The story players generally wouldn't finish so soon.

Don't get me wrong, I wish them all the best, and I don't support the idea to harm raiders for story improvement.

I simply state that story players play this game slower. This means that new story content would hold those kind of players for longer than you expect.

2) The game is clearly designed for broad interest appeal to a wide audience with wide tastes. A good strategy in today's MMO genre IMO. Narrowly focused MMOs simply do not do well in today's marketplace. IF they had made this game 80% about class story and little else, then the game really would have folded in the summer of 2012 (which would mean no more story...period...class, faction, or otherwise.

true

3) Faction based story arcs are a good compromise in investment vs return to players (and the company) in that you can put more resources into continuing to develop 2 story arcs then you could to continue to develop 8 story arcs.

false. So called faction base story arc are, as we call it in my language, a rotten compromise -story players feel cheated because of lots of reasons mentioned in many many posts, and other players feel it was a waste of resources. BW should avoid Makeb like story arcs and planets (density of mobs preventing exploring). If they feel the 4th pillar is important, they should do the class stories, or mix it, as someone mentioned earlier. If not, let them state it clearly

4) They have in fact NOT categorically declared no more class story ever. They has simply stated that there are none in the works at this time and that they have found the faction story arcs to be well accepted (though not unanimously accepted) by players. IF the game continues to thrive and grow over time then I am sure they will revist this in the future. One thing about Bioware developers and SWTOR, they rarely ever categorically state that they will not do something. Clearly they continue to assess and evaluate where to spend their developer resources in continuing the growth of the core game content.

I'm not a fan of this kind of vague corporate statements, I'm not happy that they play these games with customers. Do or do not. Don't waste our time (as Yoda would have said

You don't work for the company so how can you say one way or the other how people's jobs would be affected?

 

LOL Class stories can't be continued... they're done? Then why were there datamined leaks of two entire planets that had class stories put together? Get your facts straight. There is plenty of room to expand on the stories of every single class.

 

The trend with your posts and the other guy's is a crusade to prove I'm just a troll with nothing to offer.

 

I am just offering a means to tell a better story at this point.

 

I did not even start this thread to suggest operations being replaced, it was more along the lines to help myself and others come to terms with the individual stories being cut off. Then it dawned on me that the basis for that decision could be applied to existing parts of the game and now I've got two very angry distractions trying to make me look like I want to behead every raider who plays this game.

 

If that's how you react to the potential of a game mode being removed, imagine how mad people have been when class stories were axed.

 

Edit: I do not agree at all that the subs dropped because "the single player people left". They wanted to see the progression of the story and played pretty much everything waiting for that. The Raiders left because they weren't getting the progression schedule they wanted.

 

They were the ones kicking and screaming all over the forums, unsubbing, talking **** about the game, and this was the first thing the devs were saying when they went F2P was how they wanted to make more end game content.

 

The single player people who loved the game have played Light Side, Dark Side versions of every class in the game... that doesn't happen quickly enough to be "just go to disposable console games."

 

Also, how thoroughly hypocritical for you to support someone who says Class people just go to consoles, ****, when your whole schbiel is "don't ruin people's experiences." Your trousers are at your ankles, Darth Failshadow

I support her reasons as to why class stories are not being done, and I already stated if people feel they are not getting one aspect fulfilled here, they should seek other games to satisfy them, as One stop shop MMOs will never happen.

Also, I'm a Sith. We don't wear pants, we wear robes.

But on the topic of fashion choices, may I say you look positively stunning with that rear-end shaped chapeau made of tinfoil.

Bioware has abandoned the 4th pillar.

However, it isn't because they realized they messed up and abandoned ship - the story people were all let go and those put in charge now don't care about the story.

Which it seems to me if this is the case, and that they only care about endgame, then they need to make adjustments to the grind.

• Turn on Double XP permanently
  
• Redo all planet story rewards and side quest rewards to give Planetary Coms only - Heroics give more. That way people can actually buy and use the Com gear on that planet before they end up outleveling it (which is what happens now)
  

Bioware has abandoned the 4th pillar.

 

However, it isn't because they realized they messed up and abandoned ship - the story people were all let go and those put in charge now don't care about the story.

Except they did NOT abandon it. They simply changed how they apply it.

Let's revisit:

1) The 4th pillar is: story arcs that have tangible sequencial integration (are not meaningless throw aways) and are integrated into character game play via cut-scene methodology of Missions.

2) At launch, the 4th pillar was primarily presented via class specific story arcs.

3) Beginning with the release of RoTHC, Bioware shifted to a 4th pillar primarily presented via faction specific story arcs. Which, actually, follows pretty standard screen play mechanics and design in the entertainment industry..and I really don't understand why people are oblivious to this aspect. [Late in a screenplay, in the classic case, a hero moves from growing of self and heads into the larger and wider social struggle of his time and era.]

Some people recognize what they actually did here.... regardless if they agree/like or not. Others pretend that if it's not class specific then it =/= 4th pillar story arc methodology (still the best in any MMO, and an MMO differentiator even today).

I'm done posting on this. If people can't see the value of differentiating the product and tapping into the still unrealized potential of TV episode like story telling in MMOs, then they can go back to running around in Slave Outfits and spamming general chat on fleet with their pathetic operation groups. Can't stand talking to idiots and have learned the following from being stuck in a conversation with Darth Failshadow, The UnDork, and the rest of the morons who are so desperate for SWTOR to be like WoW when it never will

 

"Don’t argue with idiots. They’ll drag you down to their level then beat you with experience."

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

I'm done posting on this. If people can't see the value of differentiating the product and tapping into the still unrealized potential of TV episode like story telling in MMOs, then they can go back to running around in Slave Outfits and spamming general chat on fleet with their pathetic operation groups. Can't stand talking to idiots and have learned the following from being stuck in a conversation with Darth Failshadow, The UnDork, and the rest of the morons who are so desperate for SWTOR to be like WoW when it never will

 

"Don’t argue with idiots. They’ll drag you down to their level then beat you with experience."

Harsh, angry, hostile, all describe this perfectly. Anyway, I want story too and I never played WOW (after seeing that panda commercial NEVER going to) but still the decisions with story rest with the devs. Oricon was still fun at least, so was Makeb, though I do want more class specific stuff too. Still though I am happy for now and I still hold out hope for the future. Just don't be so hostile next time, forums are for argument and you can't let posts here get to you, they are just random people on computers everywhere.

Just don't be so hostile next time, forums are for argument and you can't let posts here get to you, they are just random people on computers everywhere.

/Agree.

There is NO win or lose in gaming forums... only discussion and sharing of opinion.

As soon as people insist on converting their mind set to win/lose theatrics, they have jumped the shark in the context of gaming forums, IMO.

I'm done posting on this. If people can't see the value of differentiating the product and tapping into the still unrealized potential of TV episode like story telling in MMOs, then they can go back to running around in Slave Outfits and spamming general chat on fleet with their pathetic operation groups. Can't stand talking to idiots and have learned the following from being stuck in a conversation with Darth Failshadow, The UnDork, and the rest of the morons who are so desperate for SWTOR to be like WoW when it never will

 

"Don’t argue with idiots. They’ll drag you down to their level then beat you with experience."

While I don't agree with you either, I think it's a shame that this discussion has to come to an end. Talking about the future of the game is always relevant. Calling people who don't agree with you morons is a bit much, but I can see how it has escalated to that point reading back through the thread.

One point I was trying to stress was how operations exist in that post-WoW template (your main point), but there isn't any reason why operations have to be "raids" in the conventional sense. I like to do PvE with large groups of people I enjoy playing with in this game because I like star wars, I don't necessarily care what format it's in.

To me, the 'too expensive' excuse is bulls*it, they are just too damn lazy to do anything more then a generic story arc, the recent story arc was just group content, which is haven't even bothered to see.

I just think if you sell an idea based on specific features and you change them after you made your money based on that idea, should be illegal or they should atleast admit that they were stupid and screwed up and say sorry, but i am sure they have too much pride to do that.

To me, the 'too expensive' excuse is bulls*it, they are just too damn lazy to do anything more then a generic story arc, the recent story arc was just group content, which is haven't even bothered to see.

 

I just think if you sell an idea based on specific features and you change them after you made your money based on that idea, should be illegal or they should atleast admit that they were stupid and screwed up and say sorry, but i am sure they have too much pride to do that.

Nice necro.

Products and services change over time. So do stories.

Luke and Leia weren't brother and sister until after A New Hope. Darth Vader's first name was "Darth"; it wasn't a title. Leonard and Penny started dating. Then stopped. Then started again. Car manufacturers started putting seat belts in cars. And airbags. And fuel injectors and computers, which makes them a lot harder to modify.

BioWare sold the game based on specific features, and story was one of those features. Guess what? Story is still a feature. They keep adding more and more story. The current story is one about Theron Shan and the Sith invading Tython while the Jedi invade Korriban. There is much to come in this story.

And, this story has as one of its authors the author of the best class story in the game. Yep, Alexander Freed is still working for BioWare (as a contractor these days) and still writing story for SWTOR. So, no, story isn't gone.

Now the particular adjective some people trick themselves into requiring may no longer be with the story... and I'll give you a hint, that adjective is not, "good", because that one is still with the story.

The problem with Oricon is that if you aren't a raider there is only about one hour of content and then it's just the same old daily grind that we already have plenty of. Having the story end mid way through for soloers was bad form and I hope they never do that again. I did it once and felt like I was given the bird and haven't bothered bringing a second character through.

I agree with this ^^^. I play alone, and I haven't seen a decent completion to a story since the end of my class story and Makeb (which I saw twice for each side). The other stories since then, have had their endings or cool parts put in ops and fps, so I've been getting about 1/2 a story, and never an ending. It's horrible, and we hates it, we do. The latest story, is completely restricted to fp/ops, with only the first conversation to do and nothing more.

Here...lick this chocolate, but that's all you're getting, unless you round up a bunch of other people. Screw that.

I agree with this ^^^. I play alone, and I haven't seen a decent completion to a story since the end of my class story and Makeb (which I saw twice for each side). The other stories since then, have had their endings or cool parts put in ops and fps, so I've been getting about 1/2 a story, and never an ending. It's horrible, and we hates it, we do. The latest story, is completely restricted to fp/ops, with only the first conversation to do and nothing more.

 

Here...lick this chocolate, but that's all you're getting, unless you round up a bunch of other people. Screw that.

Luna got an honest question for you if I may.

With all due respect in the world, why do you despise the group content of this game? I mean it is an MMO after all.

I agree with this ^^^. I play alone, and I haven't seen a decent completion to a story since the end of my class story and Makeb (which I saw twice for each side). The other stories since then, have had their endings or cool parts put in ops and fps, so I've been getting about 1/2 a story, and never an ending. It's horrible, and we hates it, we do. The latest story, is completely restricted to fp/ops, with only the first conversation to do and nothing more.

 

Here...lick this chocolate, but that's all you're getting, unless you round up a bunch of other people. Screw that.

stop, and find another game

Sure, Makeb was a good story but it isn't the kind of deep story that Bioware games have been for years. That's the quality element I was talking about.

 

Old school Bioware games weren't just great stories on their own - they were great stories that you could experience in totally different ways each time you played through them.

I've been saying since I first played this game at release that the cutscenes were poorly utilized. While I'm not cheerleading the loss of class stories, because it's one area where cutscenes are great, I'm not exactly mourning for them either.

I'd love to see them put the same level of effort into developing a single story that actually has genuine replay value with drastically different achievable outcomes alongside differences in plot.

With all due respect in the world, why do you despise the group content of this game? I mean it is an MMO after all.

The story players generally wouldn't finish so soon.

Leveling alts isn't as popular an activity as some people might think. I like story, but I'm not going to level another class just to get a little bit more of it.

They used the cutscenes to tell the story, and not the game world. The story ends up being presented in a disjointed manner, contextualized briefly and only within the confines of the cutscene itself, to the point where even the quest logs are just glorified excuses for shoving in some random off-topic lore. As a result, the environments feel generic, as if two totally independent teams designed and developed them without ever meeting at all, not even at the office Christmas party.

Oh, and the whole thing about "meaningful choices" or whatnot...besides sounding like empty marketing fluff, it actually played out as mostly empty marketing fluff, with few choices having any impact, no choices having any meaningful impact, too many response options that not only the subsequent voice response didn't match exactly but didn't even come close to conveying, and a few stock responses that were used far too often and became laughably sad when combined with the previously cited issue.