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Companion Balance Changes


MichaelBackus

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Whatever integrity I had for EA is now gone.

You give into a bunch of whiners and cave in. WTG EA, you show you have no backbone

 

Seriously?...you post a whiny post whining about whiners? You're doing the exact thing you're criticizing...think there's a word for that.....

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Thank-you. Depending upon how it all comes out, you may have pulled the fat out of the fire here. I also appreciate the apology right off the bat and the admission that the prior nerf update went ...badly.

 

One request: PLEASE, I big you, put heroic Star Fortresses in Group Finder. It would allow those us us doing them to queue for them and go about playing the game while we wait for it to "pop" rather than standing around at the Alliance Station or on Fleet and spam the chat channel for groups. Doing that per planet for those who need to do those initial ones and then make a "random" SF queue as well for those of us just trying to get them done for weeklies, etc would certainly serve the community.

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One thing that seemed alluded to, but not specifically stated, will the requirements for the initial Star Fortress runs (to gain the alliance companions) be reduced to completing it in story/solo mode then?

 

Thank you for reconsidering the state companions have been in this past week or so. This changes seem more in line with what was expected after the initial explanation of the nerfs.

 

Also, I would suggest leaving the Star Fortresses as being labeled "heroic" but would change the planetary heroics to "weekly challenges (2+)" or something like that. It easily lets the players know that these particular quests should be more of a challenge than their normal questing experience, but not on the level of a "heroic" challenge.

 

I would also like to echo what others have stated, add the SFs to the group finder. As it is currently, more difficult content is available in that format, why not these? Not that I want to see this simply become a WOW clone, but that game (relatively) recently added in a feature that allows players to create (and list) their own groups for any type of content. So, players could create their own groups for world bosses, weekly quests, SFs, FPs, etc. and other players could search through these groups and find one that fits what they are doing and apply to join the group. It's worth considering.

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hey, if they provide the feature to be used in here, then I AM SURE GOING to USE it!!! :D

Hey just trying to help. As a community member that has worked with development teams gathering feedback, I can tell you that big letters and attention grabbing things like that they tend to ignore.

 

For instance, I didn't click on the link, I just assumed that giving the fact of trying to grab attention, you had a TLDR post about how you think the game should be better. Probably with lots of color too...

 

Clear, easy to read, bullet pointed, and concise points go over the best.

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I'll see tomorrow if the companions actually fair any better, but considering the nerf, even though the buffs 'sound' good, im not so sure that it is going to be that noticeable! And im not buying what the OP is selling either, been in sales in marketing for years, I KNOW it is just all fluff. Like others have said, you say "you didn't realize" these things, and yet you had a year+ to test the stuff and it seemed all fine well & good enough to launch with! But a month later, a HUGE nerf, and all of a sudden its not somehow going along with your vision of the game!? LOL WHAT? Which is it, you stated numerous times before release of KotFE that it was geared for a more "solo friendly, story focus direction" and then one patch and you do a complete 180! But somehow you didn't see this coming.

 

Seems to me you guys just panicked that people were doing things faster than you anticipated, so you decided to make it a hell of a lot harder, because you guys knew the next chapter wasn't coming out for a couple more months, and you were trying to bide time. And in the process you lost most of those new & re-subs you got. There is some HUGE mismanagement going on here, and I do believe you have lost a lot of faith from the playerbase(whichever side they were on) after this fiasco!

 

I have been with this game(either playing or following) since before you guys hit beta, been one of the original forum characters! Time and time again, they failed to listen to their playerbase, and it saddens me to no end, because this game could have been the greatest thing ever! But you still are going down this same path, and I think a lot of people are just tired of it!

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I think the vast majority of players of the game are pretty much accepting of the barriers above, but have raised some very important points about the content they represent:

 

1. Doctor Lokin's Rakghoul event recruitment takes place every month now, so it's not a huge deal. That said, the major concern people have raised is that Qyzen Fess must be recruited before Lokin shows up as a mission. This has then led people to wonder who might be gated behind Lokin if it's a chain that continues (and therefore makes Qyzen - and the Hoth/world boss grind - necessary for anyone wanting Lokin or any companion who hasn't yet been announced as returning... including the Imperial Agent who gets Lokin back for free, the mission doesn't show up until Qyzen is done.)

 

2. Yes, there's strong objection to Major Pierce or M1-4X being recruited through PVP except for Sith Warriors or Troopers... but only because of the same gating issue. PVP is take or leave, and I'm sure many people playing other classes can live without either character. But everyone is wondering now who might be gated behind Pierce/4X... since Lokin was gated behind Qyzen.

 

The GATING issue on these companions is a problem and needs to be rectified. I can certainly live without Lokin or Pierce/4X on characters who haven't had them before... but what if characters I still want to reunite with are gated behind them? It's a valid concern and nobody at BioWare has said one word in answer to this.

 

Yes, the gating issue is the problem. I for one would forgo Pierce/4X but if they are gated behind another companions, possibly a companion that I had then it becomes a problem. I know use the terminal, but that is not the way I like to do it. I actually like to see the story or the alerts to see what they are doing and their reactions.

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Just wondering, is that it for feedback and communication and listening to the players/customers?

 

I remember back in the old days when something went bad, loss of customers on a massive scale, there would be a post about better communication and then it all stops. The team go back to feeling the community are idiots and best ignored as they will get tired of explain how things aren't working and go somewhere else.

 

Cause while the post is appreciated it feels like a band aide to fix a fatal wound. Once the heroic 2 grind is complete everyone has rank 20 with their alliance and then finds there is no next step, just a long wait till chapter 10, which if the tease is anything to go by looks like a boring recruitment mission similar to the lady of sorrow.

 

We have a theme park game with little content, unbalanced classes and at every stage a move away from open world mmo and more into a lobby (fleet) system where you port to adventure areas (PvP, GF, Heroics) which are either unbalanced or dull after any reward has been exhausted.

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I'm really happy to see this kind of communication from the dev team and I appreciate a lot they take time explaining the whole reasoning behind the changes. Obviously I'm even more glad to see these changes and I'm eager testing them tomorrow.

 

I just wished people would read the whole thing before talking about integrity or whatnot, the fact that the game has changed (or more the players have) is the core reason why these changes are happening. In my mind it was never about making the game more easy to play, but more fun. People seeking challenges still can find them in the game and let's face it, H2 aren't a lot harder since the nerf anyway, simply longer and more importantly, less fun. That's the whole point, it says a lot that a lot more players were running them lately.

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I did Lokins quest on my main told him to take a hike after completing it

 

I don't remember if there was one for Qyzen (the idiot lizard, what I think of him) but if so that will be the option I take on the rest of my toons

 

However that being said If I have to do those for story progress the rest of alts won't have but the standard issue.

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Thank you Mr. Backus,

 

I appreciate you taking the time to address the community yourself.

 

As far as what I read in your post, and the changes coming to our Companions, it all looks great!

 

I shall now wait for the patch, so I can finally continue building up my Alliance, enjoy the game again, and start bringing the many characters I have at level 60 waiting in my Dromund Kaas and Coruscant Strongholds, through the KotFE and work on their Alliances.

 

I'm feeling pretty confident by the numbers you wrote, my Companions will seem to be as affective as they were through my 4 years of playing. Not over-powered, but not under-powered either. I've been in the habit of keeping my Companions gear at the same level as my Character on all of them, through all levels. This last week has been the first time I felt I was in 208 - 220 gear and my Companion was in 148 gear.

 

Thank you to all involved in fixing this :)

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You gotta really appreciate when someone is willing to start off with an introduction follow by:

" I wanted to take a minute to apologize for the recent Companion changes and address combat balance."

You had me right there. I don't know if the changes are good or not, but at least you admit you guys did something that upset everyone and you apologized for doing it and you are going to attempt to fix it.

 

Thank you very much!

I also agree; however I'm waiting to see if they do half and explain why they couldn't do the other half. Like i.e. we upped the dps but when we did Lana's head was on Nico's body and that why were waiting till next patch I can understand before I resub.

 

Waiting to see if they pull another SoR with training costs. With SoR early access we were told training costs are here to stay, then 3 days before it went live with everyone else they took out the training costs. You guys are a step closer for me trusting you again with that apology but you still have a ways to go.

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  • Dev Post

Hey folks!

 

A few follow-ups based on what we have been seeing in the thread. We have been seeing some concerns about Companion tanking viability, and the difficulty of some Heroic Missions. If you have specifics thoughts or feedback on those, please shoot them into the feedback thread found here. We have been getting some great feedback on those topics there.

 

We have also seen some good suggestions around renaming Heroic Star Fortress. Keep all of your thoughts and feedback coming, and we will continue passing it onto Michael and the rest of the team.

 

Thanks everyone.

 

-eric

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1. Doctor Lokin's Rakghoul event recruitment takes place every month now, so it's not a huge deal. That said, the major concern people have raised is that Qyzen Fess must be recruited before Lokin shows up as a mission. This has then led people to wonder who might be gated behind Lokin if it's a chain that continues (and therefore makes Qyzen - and the Hoth/world boss grind - necessary for anyone wanting Lokin or any companion who hasn't yet been announced as returning... including the Imperial Agent who gets Lokin back for free, the mission doesn't show up until Qyzen is done.)

 

While I understand and can certainly appreciate your concerns about gating, I wanted to correct this statement. IA do NOT simply get this companion for free. Yes, being an IA does allow you to skip getting him to influence level 10 (although, I'm not certain of that as my IA had him over level 10 already), you still have to do the quest with the various probes, which requires the rakghoul event.

 

Currently, I've seen no other companions locked behind these, but that does not mean there won't be for new characters leveling through this content as the story progresses. So, these are definitely valid concerns. Especially if they implement some sort of max number of companions, forcing you to pick/choose which ones you want.

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Thanks for the post. I have to say this is probably the only post I can remember in a long time where I wasn't saying "ya right" every other sentence. It was rather refreshing.

 

The heal companions seem to be on the right track

 

I have some concerns. In order to reduce tedium

Tank companions need to be able to tank better. Take more of a beating.

DPS companions need to a bit more survivable too.

 

thank you

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Hey folks!

 

A few follow-ups based on what we have been seeing in the thread. We have been seeing some concerns about Companion tanking viability, and the difficulty of some Heroic Missions. If you have specifics thoughts or feedback on those, please shoot them into the feedback thread found here. We have been getting some great feedback on those topics there.

 

We have also seen some good suggestions around renaming Heroic Star Fortress. Keep all of your thoughts and feedback coming, and we will continue passing it onto Michael and the rest of the team.

 

Thanks everyone.

 

-eric

Hey I posted a bunch of videos in there, but ended up having to go to the dentist, so I could not finish every heroic. Is it still worth it to do the heroics (and SF) and post the videos now, or would it be better to wait for the patch tomorrow and re run the heroics for a better idea?

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While I understand and can certainly appreciate your concerns about gating, I wanted to correct this statement. IA do NOT simply get this companion for free. Yes, being an IA does allow you to skip getting him to influence level 10 (although, I'm not certain of that as my IA had him over level 10 already), you still have to do the quest with the various probes, which requires the rakghoul event.

 

Currently, I've seen no other companions locked behind these, but that does not mean there won't be for new characters leveling through this content as the story progresses. So, these are definitely valid concerns. Especially if they implement some sort of max number of companions, forcing you to pick/choose which ones you want.

 

I can concur on the Agent. My Agent was not even level 10 influence with Dr. Lokin prior to KotFE, but I only had to do the Rakghoul Caves/Probes and Tattoine Sarlaac Pit to get him, I did not have to give 8.5 stacks of Materials.

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Thanks for the apology, but you never said what you were sorry for.

 

Why did this happen? You say you had very specific design goals for this release but missed by an ENORMOUS amount. I play very casually and do not consider myself to be very knowledgeable or very good at SWTOR, but I knew within 5 minutes of play the state of companions. It was not a mystery, it was not subtle, companions were now super-powered. This is not an isolated fringe-case, this is everywhere in the game.

 

Either the designers did a poor job of communicating their ideas to the developers and/or the testers, or the dev/testers did a poor job of accomplishing the design. But this was released with knowledge of the condition of companions and I assume everyone's approval. How did the design get so poorly implemented? Did the designers try the expansion before release? How are you going to prevent this level of mistake from happening in the future?

 

Tell me what went wrong, what you are doing to prevent it, and apologize for that. Then I'll accept the apology.

 

Don't be picky this is the first time I can remember them apologizing for an error they did:).

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So if you're now intending the Heroics to be easy, where does that leave the actual story content?

 

I mean, if companion + player is supposed to be able to take on Gold + Silver + Silver without any particular skill or gear, how can combats where the toughest fights are Silver + Silver or a Gold on their own be anything but utter strolls in the park?

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So if you're now intending the Heroics to be easy, where does that leave the actual story content?

 

I mean, if companion + player is supposed to be able to take on Gold + Silver + Silver without any particular skill or gear, how can combats where the toughest fights are Silver + Silver or a Gold on their own be anything but utter strolls in the park?

 

 

working as intended. look let's face it, people don't typically play bioware RPGs for the challange.

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