I used to have that same sentiment, but my perspective has changed. I think due to lack of resources, primarily developers on the game has resulted in the present form of SWTOR.

 

Due to lack of workers, they are forced to put out little content compared to other MMOs of similar size (just compare them).

 

Also because they let go the original developers probably 6+ years ago, they don't have enough that are able to navigate through the old code and properly work in the new code on top of the old without creating bugs. Whenever they pull something out, it seems to drag out tons of bugs with it.

 

You couple this all with mandating content and deadlines and this is what we got. They have to have a certain amount of product out, and due to a total lack of resources they simply are incapable of doing it at the same quality as the original chapters.

 

If you notice long time vets tend to be the less forgiving of the game, because we compare newer content with the old, which simply will never stand up to it.

 

If you ask newer players, most of them are enthralled with the game and see none of the problems only because they have not gone over every inch of the original chapters a hundred times and are far less reliant on the new content to keep them engaged.

 

I won't say the newer devs are incompetent, I honestly don't know if it's 1-2 of them only on SWTOR, and I also don't know if they are shoehorned into doing certain changes to the game which most of us see as dumb. Like a gear grind that involves one Ops, and a rearranging of the gearing system after it had just been rearranged 2 years before. Surely most game developers would prefer to put their time into other things, but who knows except BW?

 

I understand now thanks to Jeff Nyman AKA Kryptonomic on these boards why the new stories don't really mesh well with the old chapters, they were old shelved pieces of stories that were not really meant to be tacked on to the first chapters in the manner that they were. They were incomplete.

 

Obviously to satiate the "story-mode" players, BW felt inclined to put out something for that niche so voila! You got what had been sitting on the shelves for years... Partially written stories that were not really meant to be added to the old stories the way they were.

 

I assume they simply had no writers available to do the masterful job that was done on the original chapters, and due to a lack of resources (again) they did the cheapest thing which was to use old material. Even if it was not really completed or made for what they were using it for.

 

To me this sounds like a BW issue, not an EA one. BW determines what work is done and what they spend their resources on. From how Kryptonomic made it sound EA gave BW a fairly decent leash to do their own thing, which I guess in some cases can be a bad thing, not a good thing if the studio manages it's affairs poorly which if this is all on point seems to be the case.

 

I am just trying to explain what I got from Jeff Nyman's pieces written about SWTOR on these forums and on his blog so some may not be exactly correct but this is all I got from his writings. He ought to write a book, I think it would find a small base of people who'd be interested in knowing what he knows especially about this game and how it began and eventually how it will end.

 

My perspective changed when I read Nyman's pieces. It actually made me feel a tad bit of pity for this game, and even for the devs left to try to work on it especially later on.

 

I even am starting to see that Eric has nothing to do with this stuff, and he is left with the daunting task of trying to remain positive when all of this is going on behind the scenes. Imagine how hard that would be? He has to balance between reporting things in a positive light to the players, yet at the same time try to relay the hundreds, literally hundreds of bugs and game problems from the players back to his directors who then decide what gets fixed and when. Perhaps a lot of Eric's silence is because he isn't given any information to tell? Who knows what the communication dynamic is there.

 

As we are seeing now, the more these new devs try to do, the more problems they end up having just because of the unfamiliar labyrynth of old code they seem to have to navigate through. Every little added change they do to the old stuff renders more problems and more bugs. I honestly wonder why they bother creating new gearing systems and such why not just leave the older coded stuff in instead of recreating the wheel which seems to inevitably breed a host of new bugs?

 

This makes me really doubt the new devs are doing all of this on their own accord, someone directs them and tells them what they want done and then the devs are tasked to have it done by a certain period of time. I believe these newer devs are placed in an impossible situation, and it's poor direction at the behest of BW directors making these devs do unnecessary work that then creates the plethora of problems they are encountering. Someone has coordinated the devs to do gear system change after gear system change ripping out old established non-bugged code only to shove in new gearing systems with new code that comes with tons of bugs which they don't know how to fix.

 

The game holds a special place in my heart, it always will. That being said I will always think about the potential lost more than anything. I believe they really squandered a once in a lifetime opportunity to have the best game on the planet paired with the most iconic and interesting sci-fi IP ever created. All my opinion of course. For anyone that managed to read this book, kudos. I didn't plan to write a novel today it just happened.

Well written post. Just wanted to thank you for writing it. My feelings are very similar of yours.

No apology necessary, not trying to be frustrating but I realize that my response was definitely missing some details. I apologize for the lack of communication there, let me try to add some clarity on the Companion stuff (plus set bonuses you asked about in a later post).

 

What makes a lot of the Companions and Contacts information complicated is that there are so many different circumstances a player can be in currently. Some of the issues were resolved so they wouldn't happen after 5.10a, but the people who were in those weird states weren't resolved retroactively. Other issues still need to be fixed, plus ensuring we retroactively address anyone who was in that state.

 

I know this is where some of the frustration is coming from since I have not communicated all of these details on what is being fixed, or not, and when. I still don't have that information for you today, but that is because some of these fixes are very complex and they are still actively being tested so I can't definitively speak on whether they are fixed or not yet.

 

What I can tell you is that I am quite literally working on 5.10.1 patch notes right now and this includes making sure to capture these changes (ex: just captured a note for the companion and contact list properly listing whether Acina / Malcolm is alive or dead after being mixed up in 5.10 for some players). I will do what I can to ensure that the notes capture as many of these situations as possible so I can communicate to all of you what is being fixed. This will also help after 5.10.1 is out the door so we can ensure we catch anything we miss. I will try to get this list captured and posted before the week is out.

 

As for set bonuses not stacking, that is planned to be fixed in 5.10.1.

 

Now that we are close to 5.10.1 going out the door I will work on communicating out more about the fixes you can expect (or not expect) to see with release.

 

Thanks!

 

-eric

At the very least let me know if I will be getting Malavai Quinn back as a summonable companion on my Warrior. At the moment she has to resort to this instead of this. Warbot doesn't even have a head! The Light-Side-Republic-Siding-Quinnmancers have been forsaken. Why Devs, Why? It's not like there's anything else in patch/update 5.10.1 for solo players. All I have is companions, weeklies and achievements

At the very least let me know if I will be getting Malavai Quinn back as a summonable companion on my Warrior. At the moment she has to resort to this instead of this. Warbot doesn't even have a head! The Light-Side-Republic-Siding-Quinnmancers have been forsaken. Why Devs, Why? It's not like there's anything else in patch/update 5.10.1 for solo players. All I have is companions, weeklies and achievements

The warbot may be missing a head, but he has many other very useful appendages and parts that more than make up for this small inconvenience. *wink wink*

The warbot may be missing a head, but he has many other very useful appendages and parts that more than make up for this small inconvenience. *wink wink*

It's just not the same!

I really don't know where in the text you quoted you found any indication about 6.0, but I admire your optimism.

 

 

 

It's right there You just gotta read between the lines.

Why do we need a roadmap in the first place?

If we can't see a road map we just keep saying "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? ............................."

If we can't see a road map we just keep saying "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? ............................."

 

You're forgetting "How much longer???"

You're forgetting "How much longer???"

And, 'she's touching me. Make her stop!'

The warbot may be missing a head, but he has many other very useful appendages and parts that more than make up for this small inconvenience. *wink wink*

Can I order the female version of warbot?

And, 'she's touching me. Make her stop!'

She started it first

I'll pull this old white van over -- if you two don't settle down!

😬

Can I order the female version of warbot?

Warbots can easily accommodate whatever sex you'd like it to be. Not to be too graphic, but their "codpiece" can be flipped around to be an "inny" or an "outie." Other addons can be bought of course!

Warbots can easily accommodate whatever sex you'd like it to be. Not to be too graphic, but their "codpiece" can be flipped around to be an "inny" or an "outie." Other addons can be bought of course!

LoL, looking at the catalog now

At the very least let me know if I will be getting Malavai Quinn back as a summonable companion on my Warrior. At the moment she has to resort to this instead of this. Warbot doesn't even have a head! The Light-Side-Republic-Siding-Quinnmancers have been forsaken. Why Devs, Why? It's not like there's anything else in patch/update 5.10.1 for solo players. All I have is companions, weeklies and achievements

Now that's what I call one lucky droid.

Warbots can easily accommodate whatever sex you'd like it to be. Not to be too graphic, but their "codpiece" can be flipped around to be an "inny" or an "outie." Other addons can be bought of course!

But I want one in pink with a yellow bow on his head.

But I want one in pink with a yellow bow on his head.

Just visit the Warbot Accessories Shop located on Fleet! They got bows of all shapes and colors.

At the very least let me know if I will be getting Malavai Quinn back as a summonable companion on my Warrior. At the moment she has to resort to this instead of this. Warbot doesn't even have a head! The Light-Side-Republic-Siding-Quinnmancers have been forsaken. Why Devs, Why? It's not like there's anything else in patch/update 5.10.1 for solo players. All I have is companions, weeklies and achievements

Now that's what I call one lucky droid.

Warbots can easily accommodate whatever sex you'd like it to be. Not to be too graphic, but their "codpiece" can be flipped around to be an "inny" or an "outie." Other addons can be bought of course!

But I want one in pink with a yellow bow on his head.

What the hell have I started! I meant to accompany me on on missions. Ahem....[/dodgy eye movement]

I'll pull this old white van over -- if you two don't settle down!

 

😬

My tape now!

What I can tell you is that I am quite literally working on 5.10.1 patch notes right now and this includes making sure to capture these changes (ex: just captured a note for the companion and contact list properly listing whether Acina / Malcolm is alive or dead after being mixed up in 5.10 for some players). I will do what I can to ensure that the notes capture as many of these situations as possible so I can communicate to all of you what is being fixed. This will also help after 5.10.1 is out the door so we can ensure we catch anything we miss. I will try to get this list captured and posted before the week is out.

 

As for set bonuses not stacking, that is planned to be fixed in 5.10.1.

 

Now that we are close to 5.10.1 going out the door I will work on communicating out more about the fixes you can expect (or not expect) to see with release.

 

Thanks!

 

-eric

The week is almost over ....😒

My tape now!

Thank you for going dark with me

The week is almost over ....😒

Maybe we'll hear from him at about 4:55 PM today CST amd maybe not.

After all, Musco is probably busy not working on swtor, like everyone else at BW.

And, 'she's touching me. Make her stop!'

Don't make me separate you two!

Maybe we'll hear from him at about 4:55 PM today CST amd maybe not.

 

After all, Musco is probably busy not working on swtor, like everyone else at BW.

Maybe he's busy with the 5.10 grind. It's real from what I hear!

Maybe he's busy with the 5.10 grind. It's real from what I hear!

See him in 6 months

What the hell have I started! I meant to accompany me on on missions. Ahem....[/dodgy eye movement]

You mean like an escort? That will cost you more