Communication and Bioware...why this continues to be a problem

I suppose it depends on what their intention with communication is. Clearly they don't want player feedback on their choices or they would release information on level sync, alliances, companions, etc. more than a month before release. There is obviously no way those systems were going to change at that point in development.

Of the people that I know were in closed beta for KotFE, I wouldn't say any of them were representative of the player base. They all play for significant amounts of time, don't participate in multiple aspects of the game, and aren't particularly competitive in PvE or PvP to offer expert advice either. If you don't have a representative sample of players to provide feedback and you don't ask for feedback from the community, then you just hope that whatever you do is right. Which leads to releasing as few details as possible until right before launch in the hopes that anything negative doesn't impact sales.

drinks! revels! lol

Only he can play the game and post on the forums as well. Everyone else is incapable of multitasking. And he has to remind everyone of the forum rules all the times in the hopes that anyone with thoughts that differ from his aren't heard, but he can keep posting the same junk in every thread, related or not because reasons.

The majority of players HAS said its fine. Now only in threads. In polls. etc

They are the minority a vocal one but still minority

I'm not trying to dictate what is a discussion. Claiming that I am just shows you are divorced from reality. I never
said you couldn't. I asked why you needed five thousand threads about it. That's a legit question.

I'm filling with my own insight so misguided only not thinking that everyone thinks this. You are punishing players who don't want to pay 60 token. You are supporting making leveling even more slower then it needs to me these are legit concerns.

I get it you are so wrapped up and obsessed with overturning their choices. You are literally freaking out at my legit concerns that the majority agrees its fine and that with people able to buy 60 tokens. There's no need to slow down the leveling experience. This is a legit response its my concern if you refuse to accept it. I can see you are freaking out that their not acting on what you say...therefore they must not be listening..any logical person can see holes in that.

Have a good day though.

So... with all due respect LA, you weren't here, and I'm not sure you were close enough to the situation to know what was communicated.

Quite honestly, it was very clear what level sync was going to be like when they showed it off in a live stream. Eric entered a heroic facerolled a few elites and demonstrated what a non-factor this was going to be.

Frankly I don't know how much clearer that could of have been. He talked about it, posted the stream, and talked about it some more explaining how it would work.

Communication was not an issue with level-sync, what was an issue is that some people wanted it to be option irrespective of what it was like. To each his own I suppose, but now, it is clear that it was and is a non-issue.

So while I appreciate your opinion and contributions, I think that the reason you left the game is still clouding your judgment. Communication by any dev could always be better, but level sync is not the case and point.

CSM, the lead up to KotFE - simply posting blogs and doing a few live streams (at random times depending on location in the world) and then not following up on that. Not listening to the concerns of players (or acknowledging them unless it pertains to the Cartel Market) on issues such as Level Sync / Crafting changes etc etc.

Pretty much the whole communication strategy for KotFE to be fair.

Also there were the exploits we've seen from 3.0 onwards and how those have been handled (in the worst cases such as the Ravagers Exploit very leniently and in the case of the Temple Chair heavily over the top). The lack of action on any number of issues within the game and the lack of acknowledgement of the problems.

Actually, I think I'll stop there, the more I think about the comedy of errors that is BioWare, communication and SWTOR, the more pissed off I get with them. Just reinforces the many reasons behind me unsubscribing.

I wanted to touch on your last point, but didn't want to edit your post...it deserves to be quoted in entirety for context IMO.

I woudn't say MY issue...and I say mine, in this particular case, is necessarilly that I or others DESERVED more information. My issue is that level sync deserves a fair shake IMO.


Some may not agree, others may hate the feature and that is fine. But I expect most folks are probably ok with it (just an assumption of course) and outside of the game, around the net, it seems most folks ARE MOST DEFINITELY NOT. At least based on the inaccurate and biased feedback that I see around the net.

The problem is that certain fallacies with respect to the feature have taken root, and that is very hard to reverse. Bioware could have at least mitigated this by simply discussing this particular change in the open, and perhaps even PROMOTING it.

So, I take issue with their lack of ability to understand their current and potential player base, in that this feature OBVIOUSLY needed some promotion in order to mitigate any negative movement against it.

Of course, that is only if you agree that folks see it as a major change. That is certainly debatable.

i suppose i should use spoiler tags, but the majority of swtor players dont ever post here.

making any conclusion regarding what the "majority" think is completely pointless. and yet you keep doing it. are you aware of the concept of "confirmation bias"?

when you are telling people they should "go away" or "stop posting" its the very definition of being dismissive. this thread is about communication and already you're raging about companions like you do in every single thread.

*i already feel guilty for derailing things

Thats absolutely fair. I was lurking though.

Though that certainly is communication, that is hardly promotion IMO. I feel they needed to do more.

On this we agree. Though I do think aggro range could use an adjustment, I find the entire system a great change, and I expect most were pleasantly surprised. Certainly relieved.

Fair enough, you could be right. I have to concede that.

It's a lot easier to dismiss something altogether than try to refute it isn't it? It's the most common tactic in nearly every thread on this and every other gaming forum. However, while you can attempt to dismiss my arguments, I think I will prove quite a bit more difficult to dismiss.

You state my points are irrelevant to this discussion, yet the discussion is rather stringently framed. The title of the thread is Communication and Bioware...why this continues to be a problem, which rather succinctly states that their is a problem with the way Bioware communicates. My replies have all been precisely on the topic of Bioware having no obligation to communicate at all.

In the OP you quite vehemently opine, "But most of all, and I really can't stress this enough, IT IS TIME TO CONSIDER YOUR CUSTOMERS WHEN MAKING CHANGES. Talk to us. Tell us what you are planning. Solicit feedback. Let us spread the word."

Everything I have said has been in direct rebuttal to that very theme. Bioware has no obligation to inform you of their intentions nor explain to you their decisions. They make a game, the way they want to make it. It is your choice to whether or not to play what they decided to make.

Do you feel every financial transaction you make entitles you to be informed of the company's future plans? Do you feel like you should be allowed to discuss upcoming can designs with Coke? Do you feel like Chevy should hold off on releasing a new model until they've sought your opinion?

The point you are missing, that is exactly on topic, is that SWTOR might not be the game for you. They might not be making it for you and rather than insisting that they refashion the game into the game you want, perhaps you should move along and find a game closer to your expectations.