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StarWars.com Tweets out Onslaught release trailer. Folks, this is a soft relaunch!


ZionHalcyon

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Oh, Lhancelot, you are going to see my optimism again. :D

 

So, for a long damn time, I have been talking about how I think there is more to Onslaught than we were led to believe.

 

We know the gearing, the PTS stuff, but the story stuff has been held under lock and key.

 

And I think I know why.

 

 

This is a product that is going to be a soft relaunch of the game.

 

Starwars.com Doesn't make a habit of tweeting about SWTOR. They are shooting for a larger audience with this one.

 

And in the tweet, it REALLY gives new light to the "branching story" that Boyd mentioned today.

 

Galactic Republic or Sith Empire. Light or Dark. Loyalist or Saboteur. Choose your loyalties and change the future of a galaxy shattered by war.

 

More gear. More variety. More power. Check out Onslaught, the 5th expansion of Star Wars: The Old Republic, launching on 10/22.

 

So, its looking like the story from here will have 6 branches, if I had to guess.

 

From the spate of hirings that happened when Keith took over (so much for "isn't being funded nonsense), to the cryptic "you'll be back" message keith gave a poster on Reddit who was leaving the game in 2017, to the focus on game engine improvements highlighted at the beginning of this year, to now these revelations, I got a strong feeling that, while the gearing still will not be optimal and need some work, the story is going to throw back to the chapters of old and deliver something really good.

 

Think about it. If they have multiple branching stories, then that is something that requires more developers to handle. That means more money coming in. I get that this might be over the heads of the non-story players but I don't care.

 

If this story delivers, then I got a feeling we will see a resurgence of SWTOR in a major way moving forward.

 

Because for all the systems and such, this game was billed and Story first, built on Story being one of the main pillars, and has suffered the most losses to subscribers when they either abandoned story (classes & companions) or messed with it way too much that it crapped on the stories that came before (KotFE & KotET) - no other sub losses compare to the people who left due to story.

 

That they finally figured it out and are recapturing that flavor back... let's see how they do.

 

But make no mistake. This is a soft relaunch. And they are playing it SMART for once.

 

Rather than overhype and underdeliver, which has been their M.O., they've gone the other way - advertised, but almost underhyped. Low expectations makes it easier to blow away the crowd and make a statement that "yeah - we're back."

 

Go on, all the jaded peeps - hate on me. :D

 

But if these things mean what I think they mean, and combined with the things I know that I CAN'T talk about (but that you can easily find on reddit if you wanted), I got a feeling that we might be in for a majorly pleasant surprise on Tuesday.

 

Yeah - I'm hyped. :rak_03:

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A 30 Second trailer from piecemeal in game footage, and stock voice overs from 4+ years ago.

 

And you see a soft relaunch?

 

Hope springs eternal... etc.

 

Meanwhile, back in reality...

 

They couldn't afford a real trailer, so we got this.

They couldn't afford real content, so we got a Koreaneaque gear-grind just to get back to where we were before Keith's two-year stint a Lead-Nerfer happened.

 

Yeah, I couldn't be less hyped if I tried.

 

All The Best

Edited by DarthSpuds
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A 30 Second trailer from piecemeal in game footage, and stock voice overs from 4+ years ago.

 

And you see a soft relaunch?

 

Hope springs eternal... etc.

 

Meanwhile, back in reality...

 

They couldn't afford a real trailer, so we got this.

They couldn't afford real content, so we got a Koreaneaque gear-grind just to get back to where we were before Keith's two-year stint a Lead-Nerfer happened.

 

Yeah, I couldn't be less hyped if I tried.

 

All The Best

 

 

Always the wet blanket. :D

 

All Kidding aside, I'm good at seeing the big picture that most people miss.

 

In 2004, after a 5-11 record and on the heels of not being relevant since 1989, I was telling people the Chicago Bears were going to play in a Superbowl within 3 years. They did so in 2006.

 

in 2014, when AMD's stock price was under $2, I saw the shrewd business moves they were making (and bought some stock at $1.89 a share) and told people AMD is going to bounce back big and really take it to intel in 4-5 years. Its 2019 and they are now outselling Intel in the Asian market and grabbing marketshare from them hand over fist. Current stock price is over $30

 

It takes nothing to always see the negative and bank on it. And I don't act optimistic without reason. Hell, I read the article from Lhancelot which filled in a lot of blanks and puts the culpability of the failure of this game so far squarely on BioWare(and not EA's)'s shoulders.

 

But when I see things from a larger picture, and see evidence of things changing, when I see confidence that I mentioned from a lead producer combined with a spate of hirings that most of the "this isn't funded" crowd overlooked, when I see more effort spent in marketing, in a secondary community manager hire in Daniel Steed, when I see the re-engagement with the SWTOR influencer community for the first real time since launch, when I see them openly sharing engine changes they are making back in March of this year, when I see that Starwars.com, which normally ignores SWTOR tweets about it on their social media, and on and on and on...

 

Sorry dude, that doesn't jibe with the whole "understaffed, underfunded game that is just going to piss everyone off again, and I will keep saying it so I can be right when it finally happens" vibe that some people put out.

 

There's too much "there" there - something is going on. Now, for those that dug in their heels deep in the "This is going to suck" camp, I would imagine, as per normal, they aren't going to admit it even if it doesn't suck because they've pre-emptively gone too far the other way.

 

I'll tell you what - if I am wrong, I have no issues admitting it. I have said all along this is Keith's first real impression in terms of content and a lot is riding on it. And I also was on PTS, and saw the gearing has some issues as well (although there are some good bones there).

 

But I got a sneaking suspicion, and have for a while, that this is going to be something pretty damn good. I am a story player first and foremost, so if the story is amazing but the gearing is as we saw on PTS and crafting still is a bear, don't expect we will see completely eye to eye.

 

But if this thing is a dog like KotFE, I'll be more than happy to say it.

 

I just got that feeling this is going to be better than that...

Edited by ZionHalcyon
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A 30 Second trailer from piecemeal in game footage, and stock voice overs from 4+ years ago.

 

 

All The Best

 

it's a teaser, they already said the full trailer is coming (also you expect them to not use in-game footage for a teaser/trailer?)

and stock voice overs from 4+

sorry,What are you talking about? The voice over/lines is new, and malgus was still "dead" 4 years ago, so how could voice over be from 4 years ago? or are you talking about the lightsaber sounds?

Edited by commanderwar
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It costs them nothing to construct a tweet, so its a good use of current marketing tools. Its nice to see it highlighted on StarWars.com ... that is overall a positive sign, even if you think the studio is desperate to get revenue.

 

A soft re-launch is a bit of a stretch. In form, its not much more than Shadow of Revan. You could have labeled KOTFE a soft re-launch: getting back to story roots, especially one planned out to be the KOTOR 3 in spirit if not in substance. So, what is necessary and sufficient to constitute a soft re-launch? And does final fantasy 14 or SWG New Game Enhancements constitute a "hard" re-launch, by those standards?

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i would love for the feeling that i got from chapters 1-3 to come back in some fashion... the closest we got was one mission on Rishi... makeb was two stories, oricon, rishi, yavin, kotet, kotfe were all one story with a few choices about who to befriend and who to kill (i liked kotet the first 4-5 times... then i only did enough chapters to level)

 

i never got to see my sorc on the dark council or my smuggler be the voidwolf... we all became the outlander after dealing with hutts, dread masters and revan.

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It costs them nothing to construct a tweet, so its a good use of current marketing tools. Its nice to see it highlighted on StarWars.com ... that is overall a positive sign, even if you think the studio is desperate to get revenue.

 

A soft re-launch is a bit of a stretch. In form, its not much more than Shadow of Revan. You could have labeled KOTFE a soft re-launch: getting back to story roots, especially one planned out to be the KOTOR 3 in spirit if not in substance. So, what is necessary and sufficient to constitute a soft re-launch? And does final fantasy 14 or SWG New Game Enhancements constitute a "hard" re-launch, by those standards?

 

Make no mistake though - KotFE WAS a soft relaunch. One that failed miserably because BioWare decided to say "screw the players, we're going to make the game we wanted to make from the beginning instead of this MMO".

 

This is different. Ossus is a harbinger - they are taking great care to tie players back to their class stories, even in little bits, and also tie in the larger story.

 

And also from a story standpoint, this is a good launching point - a post-emperor SWTOR world.

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i would love for the feeling that i got from chapters 1-3 to come back in some fashion... the closest we got was one mission on Rishi... makeb was two stories, oricon, rishi, yavin, kotet, kotfe were all one story with a few choices about who to befriend and who to kill (i liked kotet the first 4-5 times... then i only did enough chapters to level)

 

i never got to see my sorc on the dark council or my smuggler be the voidwolf... we all became the outlander after dealing with hutts, dread masters and revan.

 

Can confirm you'll get more of the ties to who your character was before becoming the "outlander" or "commander" to make the writing lives of bioware easier. Can't say how.

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Oh, you sweet summer child. That's really all I can say to this. They just rehashed the main themes of the game with the Sith/Republic stuff, and the 'more gear, more variety, more power' just sounds like they are trying to spin the gearing into a positive light. To get a relaunch and six branching stories from that, and 60 seconds of people drawing lightsabers and Malgus glaring is the most optimistic thing I've heard in years. I hope you're right for the game's sake, but I don't share your optimism in any way.
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And in the tweet, it REALLY gives new light to the "branching story" that Boyd mentioned today.

 

 

 

So, its looking like the story from here will have 6 branches, if I had to guess.

 

 

While I applaud your enthusiasm, I don't see there being 6 new story branches. Pub/Empire, check can already do that, vanilla. Light/Dark, check can already do that and didn't change story much. Loyalist/Saboteur, just introduced but kinda meh, in my opinion.

 

Personally, I've been trying to keep my expectations low and be pleasantly surprised. I'm just not seeing it. Granted i'm glad to see new content and will gladly play what I can, but i just don't see this as the soft relaunch that you do. Like I said, I hope i'm pleasantly surprised...

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This is a product that is going to be a soft relaunch of the game.

 

And in the tweet, it REALLY gives new light to the "branching story" that Boyd mentioned today.

 

 

 

So, its looking like the story from here will have 6 branches, if I had to guess.

 

Go on, all the jaded peeps - hate on me. :D

 

Yeah - I'm hyped. :rak_03:

 

Hey, if you want to be enthused, that's great. I'm not, because I usually read between the lines (that's what happens when you've worked in marketing for so many years, lol. I've seen spin a lot better than this, lol.

 

First, branching stories would be great. But I don't get any of that from the tweet. Unless you're talking about the same "branching stories" as Ossus. Is that what you mean?

 

Ossus:

 

Republic or Empire. Check.

Light side or dark side. Check.

Loyalist or saboteur. Check.

 

I mean, what's the difference? It's not like you actually did anything different in Ossus playing as an Imperial Saboteur for the republic. Dark side and light side didn't have any effect on the story (except for killing Malora).

 

I'm not saying it wasn't nice (it was, and I love story), I just think you're reading too much into this. Still, excitement is good, and the only thing that really matters is if YOU have fun. I hope you do have fun. I mean it.

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While I applaud your enthusiasm, I don't see there being 6 new story branches. Pub/Empire, check can already do that, vanilla. Light/Dark, check can already do that and didn't change story much. Loyalist/Saboteur, just introduced but kinda meh, in my opinion.

 

Personally, I've been trying to keep my expectations low and be pleasantly surprised. I'm just not seeing it. Granted i'm glad to see new content and will gladly play what I can, but i just don't see this as the soft relaunch that you do. Like I said, I hope i'm pleasantly surprised...

 

You seriously beat me by 5 minutes. That is amazing. I feel a strange connection to you, even though we are strangers so far apart...

 

(If you won't turn to the dark side, perhaps he will...)

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Oh, Lhancelot, you are going to see my optimism again. :D

 

So, for a long damn time, I have been talking about how I think there is more to Onslaught than we were led to believe.

 

We know the gearing, the PTS stuff, but the story stuff has been held under lock and key.

 

And I think I know why.

 

 

This is a product that is going to be a soft relaunch of the game.

 

Starwars.com Doesn't make a habit of tweeting about SWTOR. They are shooting for a larger audience with this one.

 

And in the tweet, it REALLY gives new light to the "branching story" that Boyd mentioned today.

 

 

 

So, its looking like the story from here will have 6 branches, if I had to guess.

 

From the spate of hirings that happened when Keith took over (so much for "isn't being funded nonsense), to the cryptic "you'll be back" message keith gave a poster on Reddit who was leaving the game in 2017, to the focus on game engine improvements highlighted at the beginning of this year, to now these revelations, I got a strong feeling that, while the gearing still will not be optimal and need some work, the story is going to throw back to the chapters of old and deliver something really good.

 

Think about it. If they have multiple branching stories, then that is something that requires more developers to handle. That means more money coming in. I get that this might be over the heads of the non-story players but I don't care.

 

If this story delivers, then I got a feeling we will see a resurgence of SWTOR in a major way moving forward.

 

Because for all the systems and such, this game was billed and Story first, built on Story being one of the main pillars, and has suffered the most losses to subscribers when they either abandoned story (classes & companions) or messed with it way too much that it crapped on the stories that came before (KotFE & KotET) - no other sub losses compare to the people who left due to story.

 

That they finally figured it out and are recapturing that flavor back... let's see how they do.

 

But make no mistake. This is a soft relaunch. And they are playing it SMART for once.

 

Rather than overhype and underdeliver, which has been their M.O., they've gone the other way - advertised, but almost underhyped. Low expectations makes it easier to blow away the crowd and make a statement that "yeah - we're back."

 

Go on, all the jaded peeps - hate on me. :D

 

But if these things mean what I think they mean, and combined with the things I know that I CAN'T talk about (but that you can easily find on reddit if you wanted), I got a feeling that we might be in for a majorly pleasant surprise on Tuesday.

 

Yeah - I'm hyped. :rak_03:

 

Here's what I see.

 

A video that took a few hours to cut together at most.

A tweet

 

Here are a few other things going on.

 

Star Wars TROS trailer presumably going to be on TV during Monday night football.

Star Wars TROS tickets going on sale Monday 10-21 around 8 PM (presumably right after the trailer shows on TV)

Tuesday 10-22 - SWTOR 6.0 goes live (pushed back a week...I don't go FULL conspiracy and say it was 100% to line up with Monday night events....but it is a VERY convenient coincidence)

 

I'm not going to say this tweet / video is bad for the game.

I don't agree that it's a "soft relaunch" (what is that anyway?)

 

It's a quick / easy thing to put MORE Star Wars excitement out there that benefits both this game, but more so, Disney with advance ticket sales for TROS

 

(source for ticket sale info: https://www.newsweek.com/star-wars-rise-skywalker-tickets-sale-date-leaked-presales-runtime-leaks-1465789)

Edited by Darev
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Zion, not sure how you were able to gauge all of that from the at 20 sec trailer that’s not as long as some in game cut scenes.

 

 

Not sure how you thought I gauged all that from a 20 second trailer - I guess you didn't bother to actually read the post?

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I am excited for 6.0, looking forward to the story. With all the changes they made to gearing, I am excited for it as well, might actually do HM flashpoint again. Hopefully I will like the changes at launch, from I seen in phase 3, looks good, will have to wait till launch to give my final opinion. However from what I seen it's much better then GC Might be just me but CXP from bosses is boring.
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Personally, I've been trying to keep my expectations low and be pleasantly surprised. I'm just not seeing it. Granted i'm glad to see new content and will gladly play what I can, but i just don't see this as the soft relaunch that you do. Like I said, I hope i'm pleasantly surprised...

 

When it comes to this game and Bioware, that’s usually the best approach. And even in the past when my expectations have been low, Bioware have still found away to disappoint.

 

I’m going into this one with my eyes fully opened (after pts testing). Most of the new systems tested on the pts are appalling and if the Story is “meh” or not enough, I think those new gearing systems and other change are going to kill the game really fast.

 

I think they’re taking a massive gamble with the game using an extremely heavy RNG system through out the whole eco system of the game. And let’s not forget the amount of credit sinks that they’ve added, which I think will back fire in their face when people start buying credits from 3rd party sites to compensate with the huge credit costs and grind.

 

The only thing I didn’t test on the pts was the new daily areas and op. And of course the story part wasn’t on the pts to test.

For me, everything is hanging on the story now because everything else is set to drive me away. Which is really disappointing because I’ve loved this game and been subbed for 8 years (except for 3 weeks).

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Not sure how you thought I gauged all that from a 20 second trailer - I guess you didn't bother to actually read the post?

 

Actually I did and I also read Charles post. I still dont know where you are getting 6 story lines from or why it’s a soft reboot. I read nothing about 6 stories and I think you’re reading into what he said a little too much.

I mean I guess you can call the radical gearing a reboot or taking the game back to its roots a reboot. But I personally don’t see it that way and nothing you posted leads me to think it is.

Edited by TrixxieTriss
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I'm actually pretty negative about this 6.0 update based on my time on the PTS.

 

Any new players starting the game on Tuesday will experience a much different experience than we did. An experience that adds unnecessary complication to gear. A confusing mess if you ask me. If they do stick around until max level they will feel the full brunt of massive and unnecessary gear variants, gambling system to get any desired gear, hundreds of levels of renown to work on that looks to be a repeat of the worthless disintecrates from GC. Based on the issues seen about a week ago 6.0 will be a buggy mess the first month or more. Probably a year or more for them to rebalance classes based on all these gear and perk variants.

 

One only needs to inspect my account to see how invested I am in the game. I am definitely not a hater.

 

Sadly, Bioware is starting to look like that alcoholic friend who continually reassures you they want to improve and will listen to you and then hop back into your favorite car and drive it right into a tree.

 

Apparently. I've been using a different dictionary for the definition of listen. For this update, like updates in the past, all they have taken are suggestions to tweak their intended plan. That is NOT listening.

 

FFS, this is a game that people WANT to log into to have fun, meet some friends, encounter challenges or whatever activity they want to do in their free time. You hook customers when they have fun and want to log in, not by turning it into a confusing job.

 

For years the requests have been pretty simple from players. Add more to do (over and over), more story, more group/solo content, more strongholds, to have all the bugs fixed, more pvp options. What do we get? We get told they are listening and then do something that no one asked for. What kind of business model does bioware use? Over and over again. It really is tragic. Loving a game in spite of all the efforts of the developer is frustrating. Seriously, the game business must be way different than the real world. I would have switched suppliers if anyone did this to my business.

 

If I have any hope left it will be that reason returns to the galaxy and the developers for 7.0.

 

 

A 30 Second trailer from piecemeal in game footage, and stock voice overs from 4+ years ago.

 

And you see a soft relaunch?

 

Hope springs eternal... etc.

 

Meanwhile, back in reality...

 

They couldn't afford a real trailer, so we got this.

They couldn't afford real content, so we got a Koreaneaque gear-grind just to get back to where we were before Keith's two-year stint a Lead-Nerfer happened.

 

Yeah, I couldn't be less hyped if I tried.

 

All The Best

Edited by Drew_Braxton
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Not sure how you thought I gauged all that from a 20 second trailer - I guess you didn't bother to actually read the post?

 

 

I read the post -- watched the "trailer" ..

but I can't get as optimistic as some -- perhaps I am too much of a pessimist ?

I will have to wait and see -- I just do not see it as a "soft relaunch" -- but I can be wrong ... I wish the game only the best ... and I would love to love it again since I am the only one of my original SWtOR friends still logging on and playing ( all have gone back to EQ2 to raid or quit playing MMOs altogether )

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