I don't blame Eric, but something must have gone horribly wrong during the early 4.X and 5.0 development cycle.

I don't blame Eric either.

My point was that if Eric's job is as described and we still got 5.0 then there is a serious problem with that feedback process. I can't recall even 3 positive bits of feedback about 5.0 in the run in to it being released - the very best the feedback got was "well, let's wait and see". And there is no way that is positive feedback - if your corporate strategy is to consider "let's wait and see" as positive feedback then you are in serious trouble.

Where was the "positive" feedback that led them to release 5.0 as it was?

If we look at the whole range of feedback on 5.0 and Bioware still felt confident enough to release it as it was then there is either a MASSIVE problem with which feedback sources they assign most weighting to, or there is a MASSIVE problem with Bioware's ability to analyse the feedback as a whole.

If improvements to the game - from the players' PoV - are to be made then we ALL need to understand how and why that processed failed.

And this new open and communicative era doesn't do that.

It seeks to fix a symptom, rather than to address a cause.

All The Best

I don't blame Eric either.

 

My point was that if Eric's job is as described and we still got 5.0 then there is a serious problem with that feedback process. I can't recall even 3 positive bits of feedback about 5.0 in the run in to it being released - the very best the feedback got was "well, let's wait and see". And there is no way that is positive feedback - if your corporate strategy is to consider "let's wait and see" as positive feedback then you are in serious trouble.

 

Where was the "positive" feedback that led them to release 5.0 as it was?

 

If we look at the whole range of feedback on 5.0 and Bioware still felt confident enough to release it as it was then there is either a MASSIVE problem with which feedback sources they assign most weighting to, or there is a MASSIVE problem with Bioware's ability to analyse the feedback as a whole.

 

If improvements to the game - from the players' PoV - are to be made then we ALL need to understand how and why that processed failed.

 

And this new open and communicative era doesn't do that.

It seeks to fix a symptom, rather than to address a cause.

 

All The Best

As someone mentioned earlier, they didn't take the feedback seriously enough. But they then admitted they were wrong about releasing 5.0 in the state it was and have since changed they way they do things. The feedback method and sources weren't the problem.

T

I don't blame Eric, but something must have gone horribly wrong during the early 4.X and 5.0 development cycle.

It also could be people did what Eric said, I don't like it without explaining. I saw some of the posts and while there were a few that explained it, a lot just rant and rave without giving reasons.

Thank you for making this important topic a discussion thread. Eric's post is interesting and I look forward to the other insiders' posts as well.

I'd like for Eric's role to not just be a litmus test but an advocate inside the development organization for the playerbase. If the "leadership meetings" that are mentioned are anything like what I know of from other contexts, Eric's participation is a great opportunity to bend some influential ears.

Given the nature of the relationship with the Influencers, I'm not sure how representative their feedback would be of any segment of the players (other than the segment called Influencers); the feedback these Influencers receive from their audiences is likely to have more probative value. If third-party content is going to be monitored, then it should be of people who have no relationship at all with BWA.

Messaging is a fruitful exercise when the target audience is shareholders or general public. When it comes to customers, the product or service, its quality, and the experience of using it will always trump any message. Example: "Thrill of the Hunt."

As has been pointed out, communication, transparency and feedback-gathering are important but represent only the beginning. I cannot throw a forum post at an Ops boss, "Dev Team Transparency" is not a Combat Proficiency. The real value of communication, transparency and feedback lies in the corrective actions they trigger. It has been accurately pointed out that the active forum participants are a minority of the players. However, a large amount of the feedback being provided on the forums these days is equally beneficial to all players - even the silent majority. Example: The suggestion to buff all DPS Disciplines into a narrow performance band will benefit all players. On the flip side, it is the decision to broadly lower the DPS band through nerfing many Disciplines that'll hurt the silent majority without any input from them.

As for the feedback mechanism:

• What are the various kinds of information that will be provided? We know about Roadmap, Upcoming Bug Fixes and Wednesday Discussion threads. Anything else?
   
   
  
• Will the feedback period on a topic be announced up front? (And/or) Will the end of feedback period on a topic be announced?
   
   
  
• What would an ideal feedback post be like from your point of view? In terms of structure, content, approach or tone.
   
   
  
• How far ahead of time will each of these be provided?
   
   
  
  • The Roadmap should have enough lead time for it to be practical to incorporate feedback. If a change coming in next month is first mentioned in a Roadmap, most feedback would be useless as the change is probably already being tested. For this reason, Roadmap should include different categories: items coming in 3 months (at great detail,) items coming in 6 months (broadly described,) items coming in 1 year or more (high-level description.)
     
     
    
  • Bug Fix details probably don't need to be posted much in advance.
     
     
    
  • Discussion threads should really be posted before any (re)design of a major gameplay element; it should be possible to fundamentally alter the proposed design through feedback.
    

   

   

  [*]What kinds of feedback will be actually considered internally for incorporation? Be as brutally honest as possible.

   

   

  • Will a redesign of long-term roadmap item be considered based on feedback?
     
     
    
  • Do only suggestions of minor tweaks stand a chance of being considered?
     
     
    
  • How about feedback on combat experience?
     
     
    
  • Any plans around feedback about story elements? (There are obvious spoiler considerations for upcoming story.)
     
     
    
  • Will PTS and feedback from its use be part of the process? (Can of worms: Open PTS or invite-only? Who gets invited?)
     
     
    
  • If something you're doing is hopelessly wrong for the game and the players, what will it take to convince you of it?
     
     
    

   

  [*]Will the feedback received on a topic that is actually being considered or discussed internally be posted as a summary? This might lead to more headaches. Just asking.

   

   

  [*]Will there be a closeout post/thread identifying what feedback, if any, has been accepted for incorporation into the game?

   

I appreciate and value the increased communication and transparency. They come with risks and headaches for you that I hope will not discourage you from continuing this good trend.

Hey folks,

 

As mentioned above, Keith, Charles, and I will make posts in this thread about how we manage/use player feedback in our roles. This is a pretty extensive topic so these posts may be a bit long! I’ll kick this party off.

 

Let’s start by talking ....... I will let Keith and Charles talk more about what impact it has on development.

 

-eric

I really don't buy it. When you announce pending/suggested changes and the player base adamantly opposes it, like when you first announced RNG command crates, and then STILL go through with it, either you are failing miserably in your job or the dev team really doesn't care and are going to do what they want regardless.

And then to top it all off, when good, viable solutions are presented, such as

There are only two times in recent years I have seen anyone publicly outside the BioWare team influence have any sort of impact....the reversal of the Companion nerf and reversal of the Heroic Mission payouts, BOTH after a huge uprising on the part of the players.

It also could be people did what Eric said, I don't like it without explaining. I saw some of the posts and while there were a few that explained it, a lot just rant and rave without giving reasons.

You are exactly right. In fact, most of those threads have posts from the Eric and various players stating that constructive feedback is needed, and said posts explaining what that means. There really is no excuse for so many to have not given details explaining why they didn't like something. The lack of detail and the posts being just rage posts made it difficult to take most of them seriously and see them as more than an angry child not getting their way.

Seems these influencers hold a good degree of sway. Not saying that as a bad thing, but it could provide some very limited feedback given how much it is weighted - my point being, those hardcore enough to put up a stream, a blog, etc likely skew mostly towards endgame if I had to guess, be that PvP or Operations. Only reason I say that is because from a personality profile standpoint, the people who are playing just to enjoy the story are less likely to be someone who is dedicated enough to start up something like that.

 

That doesn't mean those influencers hate story - nothing is black and white - but it is more likely they don't hold story in the same regard as others, as leveling for them is about spacebarring content to get to endgame as quick as possible to engage in how they choose to enjoy the game.

Much like the general playerbase we come from all walks of life and all types of interests. I've noticed that most of the podcasters actually skew towards more casual play - Chill from Ootinicast only streams story on his many many characters, Bad Feelings often makes fun of themselves for being newbs to the game, and one of the podcasts is literally called "Passionately Casual" lol. Here's all the podcasts: https://www.reddit.com/r/swtor/wiki/podcasts

I've noticed bloggers actually tend to skew even MORE towards story, though I don't believe any of them are in the influencer program. You can check out some blogs here: https://www.reddit.com/r/swtor/wiki/external_links

There isn't currently anyone who ONLY streams except for two people I believe, the rest of us make youtube videos. Of everyone they're the ones who skew most towards endgame content. I think you're wrong about spacebarring though - I think at least at one point in our "careers" each of us has made a video of us doing a story playthrough

You're correct though, there are no influencers who focus 100% on story. Because if we played entirely solo, we wouldn't be the kinds of people who make stuff and put it out into the world Bioware doesn't usually look for feedback about the story as much though, I've noticed, so I wouldn't worry about that too much. WE give feedback about the things we love specifically, we don't tend to bash the things we don't.

And as for saying we're spacebarrers... I'm a little hurt! If you want to come join an influencer who loves story you're welcome to join me, I'm playing the entire story as a F2P player and hosting secondary videos about my roleplay/story/character history called "The Wonder of SWTOR"

I'd like for Eric's role to not just be a litmus test but an advocate inside the development organization for the playerbase. If the "leadership meetings" that are mentioned are anything like what I know of from other contexts, Eric's participation is a great opportunity to bend some influential ears.

As someone who has been the business owner for large customer facing web properties..... I get your point, but I disagree with your assessment. I've walked in Erics shoes on this, though at a higher ownership level.

There is really no difference between the term Eric used and the one you used. Being the customer litmus test in a business meeting IS very much an advocacy role... and not the only role Eric would be playing either on behalf of players.

People need to understand that Eric being there as the feedback and sanity checking point representing the broader player based does NOT automatically mean everything he says can and will just be accepted and incorporated. He will be heard, and as Community Manager he will be the go to person to get the pulse of something in the player context. But other factors are also at play in any such meetings.

Given the nature of the relationship with the Influencers, I'm not sure how representative their feedback would be of any segment of the players (other than the segment called Influencers); the feedback these Influencers receive from their audiences is likely to have more probative value. If third-party content is going to be monitored, then it should be of people who have no relationship at all with BWA.

As has been pointed out, communication, transparency and feedback-gathering are important but represent only the beginning. I cannot throw a forum post at an Ops boss, "Dev Team Transparency" is not a Combat Proficiency. The real value of communication, transparency and feedback lies in the corrective actions they trigger. It has been accurately pointed out that the active forum participants are a minority of the players. However, a large amount of the feedback being provided on the forums these days is equally beneficial to all players - even the silent majority. Example: The suggestion to buff all DPS Disciplines into a narrow performance band will benefit all players. On the flip side, it is the decision to broadly lower the DPS band through nerfing many Disciplines that'll hurt the silent majority without any input from them.

You do realize there is a little bit of hypocrisy here right? You have no idea what the influencers say (by all accounts, they seem to have universally disliked 5.0 RNG as an example, but their feedback under the previous producer was ignored), but you are claiming that forum poster feedback is beneficial to all players whereas influencers are apparently not? The segment of the population called forum posters is representative in exactly the same way as the feedback of influencers by your definition, that of forum posters. This is why they get feedback from a lot of different places, and not just rely on one spot (which in your opinion should be forum posters I guess?)

You are exactly right. In fact, most of those threads have posts from the Eric and various players stating that constructive feedback is needed, and said posts explaining what that means. There really is no excuse for so many to have not given details explaining why they didn't like something. The lack of detail and the posts being just rage posts made it difficult to take most of them seriously and see them as more than an angry child not getting their way.

Yeah.. I really do not understand why players do not grasp the mechanics of "good feedback" and make use of it. it makes for much better chances of them getting their wants/needs heard. I guess maybe many are conditioned by social media mechanics of the present day to complain early, complain often, demand satisfaction immediately, and rally a revolt over every perceived slight.

Basic success model in feedback when you have what you feel is an objective point and want it to be considered objectively ---> is to actually present it objectively and absent passion, drama, and hyperbole.

The fundamentals of good feedback are simple, and important:

1) state the problem objectively, providing facts rather then opinion.

2) explain accurately and objectively why it IS a problem. Again.. facts, not feelings or opinion.

3) offer clear and concise feedback as to suggestions to resolve the problem. And it is always best to offer multiple suggestions to a given problem as that encourages better results. This follows the important fundamental business rule in companies ----> If you present a problem, also present options to be considered to address the problem.

4) if asked for clarifications.... GIVE THEM, with the same objectivity and use of facts.

5) listen to the other side of the discussion. Why? Because one persons bright idea is another persons nightmare, and constructive and open two way discussion actually moves things, whereas resorting to tantrums and attacks just shuts people down from even listening.

6) Be OK with whatever outcome results.... because you do not know or have all the facts considered for a product or service that touches hundreds of thousands of customers. Sometimes your suggested solutions to a stated problem will not be embraced.. not out of any lack of care or concern, but because for something like an MMO the game is not designed for you personally, but for the masses.

instead.. many people wait until something pisses them off.. and then they come and slather the forum with over the top ranting (which helps nobody, including the person complaining), rather then waiting to calm down and then come and present meaningful feedback and engage in meaningful dialog and discussion.

Great question! The most important thing you can ever put in feedback is why. Saying that you do or don't like something is helpful, telling us why is invaluable. This way when I am passing feedback on to the team I can highlight not only just sentiment (positive or negative) but also give supporting context for that feeling.

 

-eric

Thank you.

But I was thinking more in terms of team specific needs. For instance, I imagine the combat and art team have things that are more useful for them to know when trying to process a request. For instance, if I asked for uncluttered armor and I say because I feel it looks better. In this example, I don't think my why gives them much to work with, but asking for them to leave off pouches and straps so the design would look less cluttered would be better.

Now in the case of art I can kinda see what might or might not be helpful since I have some experience creating 3D art; however, in a field where I have no experience, such as combat, I would be flying blind as to what might make sense to them. It would be appreciated if you could get more specific feedback needs from the different teams so we know what to aim for.

I'd even take a list of feedback that they're still scratching their heads about. Maybe some other player might understand the disconnect and be able to intuitively pick up on what is lacking then the rest of us can learn where we may need to tweak our requests.

Hello there! I am one of the SWTOR Influencers and I feel like I should repsond to your post.

 

While yes endgame is something I like to do, it's not necessarily what I will upload / stream.

I do in fact love the story in this game and have expressed this before. I think (While not too common) that KoTET and KoTFE were fantastic and a real flashback to KOTOR. Yes, KOTOR is king

 

Anyways, what I would like to say is that we Influencers do realise that our input can have some "sway" which is why (And I don't speak for all of us) that I try to keep the ENTIRE community in mind when giving feedback. In fact, more often than not I will direct Eric to feedback from viewers of my channel rather than myself. I could give you an excellent example of feedback I gave with the community in mind to the devs but as Eric pointed out earlier, we are NDA and can't talk about such things. So, please be assured that I will do my best when it comes to the future of this game in any way I can, for all aspects.

 

I hope this helps you

Well to be honest I'm sad you are an influencer because KoTET and KoTFE story where average and for the little story KOTOR II was much better written than KOTOR I, especially with the parts that have been cut in the gold master.

I don't blame SWTOR writers that much as they had to do a one fit all classes story for the last X-packs. Though the emperor, the betrayals, Revan where already getting old.

In a sense you're highlighting a very issue in SWTOR here: as long as people will keep praising the devs for average content the game won't evolve in the right direction.

Hey everyone!

 

Thanks for all the great feedback and thoughts in this thread! I believe Keith is working on his post to put up later this evening, after which I'll see how much thunder he's stolen before I make my own

 

If he and Eric have got the "how" of feedback pretty well covered, I may just dive into some of the more specific questions I'm seeing here in the thread. Sound good?

Sounds great,

and guys again truly appreciate the increase of quantity, quality and openness in the communication.

Let’s start by talking about my role as Community Manager. Understanding and using player feedback is a critical part of my job. I participate in a fair amount of business, design, and leadership meetings and my role is to act as a litmus test for the players. Will players like the changes, not like the changes, where will the challenges be, how do we message it, will it impact all players or only a subset, and more. I help ensure the decision makers (such as Keith and Charles) understand the impact their decisions will have on the playerbase.

Nice post. Wow what I wouldn't give then to know how those meetings went around Galactic Command and Ben Irving. Were you in favor of those changes? Did you represent us correctly and tell them what an utterly stupid idea it was? Did you think it was a good idea? Did they ignore you anyway?

That whole situation would really be nice to know because we can't judge if you are representing us correctly or not when it comes to passing feedback but I would assume you must have been because you would have had to spend hours finding a couple of pieces of positive feedback on those changes.

I guess though we'll never know because that sort of thing isn't going to be made public.

Hey everyone!

 

Thanks for all the great feedback and thoughts in this thread! I believe Keith is working on his post to put up later this evening, after which I'll see how much thunder he's stolen before I make my own

 

If he and Eric have got the "how" of feedback pretty well covered, I may just dive into some of the more specific questions I'm seeing here in the thread. Sound good?

As long as we have no clear picture of why "feedback" still led to 5.0 I don't think the "how" or even the "why" of feedback has been even slightly approached, much less covered.

All The Best

Nice post. Wow what I wouldn't give then to know how those meetings went around Galactic Command and Ben Irving. Were you in favor of those changes? Did you represent us correctly and tell them what an utterly stupid idea it was? Did you think it was a good idea? Did they ignore you anyway?

 

That whole situation would really be nice to know because we can't judge if you are representing us correctly or not when it comes to passing feedback but I would assume you must have been because you would have had to spend hours finding a couple of pieces of positive feedback on those changes.

 

I guess though we'll never know because that sort of thing isn't going to be made public.

Galactic command was never of the issue. Most players got the idea behind it and it made sense.

What was disagreed with is the how it was implemented, especially the RNG and the grind topped by the unfriendliness for playing alts. Rest assured Ben and Jame were aware of it.

Seems these influencers hold a good degree of sway. Not saying that as a bad thing, but it could provide some very limited feedback given how much it is weighted - my point being, those hardcore enough to put up a stream, a blog, etc likely skew mostly towards endgame if I had to guess, be that PvP or Operations. Only reason I say that is because from a personality profile standpoint, the people who are playing just to enjoy the story are less likely to be someone who is dedicated enough to start up something like that.

 

That doesn't mean those influencers hate story - nothing is black and white - but it is more likely they don't hold story in the same regard as others, as leveling for them is about spacebarring content to get to endgame as quick as possible to engage in how they choose to enjoy the game.

 

The forums used to be a bastion for the pro-story people, although with the reduced numbers, I do wonder if many have moved on - I remember people leaving in waves after the initial announcement of no more class story, and then another wave after KotFE ended up going off in a very strange and different direction than what came before to the point where some said it didn't fee like Star Wars.

 

I guess what I am wondering is, while I do think all this feedback is important, where is BioWare getting their story feedback from? Because I feel like if they were getting quality feedback on story, the KotFE/KotET debacle could have been avoided in the first place, and even with it there now, there are story options to get the game back on track to what the people who left originally fell in love with, so long as the team is willing to listen to that feedback and willing to change some things, both going forward, and also some restructuring of what's already been released (so as to re-use assets)...

Hey ZionHalcyon,

Firstly, I really appreciate your post and the way you laid out your concerns. I bet you're not the only one who worries that the Influencer group is out of touch with everyday players. I am an Influencer myself. My name is Jessie, AKA Stardust Legacy, and I have been an influencer since December (playing since Feb 2012).

My passion for this game is deeply rooted in the story. I am well-known in my guild and among my friends for never spacebarring content and always taking time to explore the gorgeous landscapes that we play in. I have many GBs of screenshots of the art of this game slowing my hard drive down as we speak! I love flashpoints (so much story in there!) and I have done all the operations, but they are not my focus. I am very invested in the origin game (class and planet arcs) and the story-based expansions. I love that SWTOR endgame isn't all about raiding, though I enjoy trying the raids with my friends, too!

The Influencers talk to each other a lot and I feel confident in saying that most of us are not elite gamers, though some are into the higher-tier raiding and PvP. I think it's good to have the spectrum represented in the group so that we can help bring the concerns of our communities to the developers for the benefit of all types of players, l33t, causal, social, solo, PvE, PvP, RP and all the hybrid ways to play.

By the way, and this is for eveyone: your Influencers are there to speak for you, the community. Reach out to us, let us know what your concerns are and how you want to see the game developed. I don't claim to have a Batphone and unlimited powa! but I am here to speak for players so let me know how to help you get the most from your SWTOR!

Best to you and happy gaming!

Stardust Legacy

Well to be honest I'm sad you are an influencer because KoTET and KoTFE story where average and for the little story KOTOR II was much better written than KOTOR I, especially with the parts that have been cut in the gold master.

 

I don't blame SWTOR writers that much as they had to do a one fit all classes story for the last X-packs. Though the emperor, the betrayals, Revan where already getting old.

 

In a sense you're highlighting a very issue in SWTOR here: as long as people will keep praising the devs for average content the game won't evolve in the right direction.

I'm sad you see it that way. If we're talking on a much wider range of story then, Sith Warrior and Inquisitor are my favourite and I always recomend them to new players who prefer dark side choices (With meaning).

Try not to take things the wrong way, it was in fact me who moved for change with Galactic Command, Cartel Packs and much more. I've been playing this game for a long time and I know what i'm talking about especially from a community stand point. That being said, what is important is that you folks, the player base express your concerns not just to the devs but to us as well wherever you feel it appropriate. Why? Because we can shine a light on it, expose it, gather thoughts and send that feedback right back to the devs. So, don't worry you're in good hands. I care deeply for this game and it's community. Also, just because I like KoTFE and KoTET that shouldn't make you resent my status It just means I enjoyed those particular *Story* lines. As for writing with the KOTOR games, I gotta agree, but KOTOR 1 is still king

Please, feel free to chat with any of us at any time. All the best!

Galactic command was never of the issue. Most players got the idea behind it and it made sense.

 

What was disagreed with is the how it was implemented, especially the RNG and the grind topped by the unfriendliness for playing alts. Rest assured Ben and Jame were aware of it.

That and their slow progress since 5.0 release to sand off the warts and scars.

It is pretty clear the studio wanted to go the general route they did with 5.0 (setting aside everyones pet rants about particular specifics). But Erics role was certainly not some "God Mode" to control the release plan.

It is also now clear from Eric that he had a seat at the table and was representing the sentiment of the broader player base (not the corner case players, but the broader player base). Eric has great personality traits for doing the Community Manager role in my view... but I do not think those same traits serve as well in the role of "forceful" advocacy for players.. and it is this "forceful" style that some here seem to want/need/demand. I just can't see Eric going junk-yard-dog for the players in a design meeting, which in no way implies that he did not advocate.

What they failed to do in my view was to A) delay the release to address real issues that would not play well with many players B) very slow to implement important improvements, based on feedback, to mitigate the shock and disappointment from players.. even before 5.0 went live. C) clearly communicate the known shortfalls at release they harvested from player feedback and keeping us informed on plans to address and correct quickly. Instead they stonewalled on it for months.

I've been through similar issues when I was business owner for Customer facing web properties. Sometimes we were fully committed to an implementation (based on feedback from the customer base) and once we entered testing..... real issues were discovered that needed to be addressed. At which point it generally boils down to delay the release and fix the issues, and/or release and put an expedite plan in place to fix the shortfalls. I can tell you that it was almost always the latter NOT the former.

Hey everyone!

 

Thanks for all the great feedback and thoughts in this thread! I believe Keith is working on his post to put up later this evening, after which I'll see how much thunder he's stolen before I make my own

 

If he and Eric have got the "how" of feedback pretty well covered, I may just dive into some of the more specific questions I'm seeing here in the thread. Sound good?

You know, I and clearly many others, genuinely appreciate this manner of communication.

However.. after all this, how is it possible that with so many people crying out loud to what's supposed to be coming on class balance related things, you guys will just not change a damn thing about the plan for class changes?

Sometimes the only way to do something right is to postpone it, and I'm sorry.. but you guys are not going to make the right sort of class balance changes if they are due to be next month. There is just by far and away not enough time to make the proper adjustments.

You guys are trying, and we can see that. But trying isn't enough. Things need to happen.

The playerbase doesn't want another 3-6 months of PvP Mercenary overpopulation.

The playerbase doesn't want half assed class changes.

Why? Because there is only one way you can do balance right. And that is by taking everything into account.

Both DPS/HPS/DTPS as well as the cooldowns and abilities that they are intertwined with.

• As an Assassin I get to ignore certain game mechanics with Shroud, increasing my dps.
  
• As a Sorcerer I can enjoy complete and absolute immunity as well as a Teleport, allowing me to ignore game mechanics as well as being more aggresive around the battlefield as long as a I have those tools available. Increasing my ability to heal my allies under extreme pressure.
  
• As a Marauder I can speed up the entire group so they can connect easier with their targets, increasing DPS/Raid Survival
  
• As a Juggernaut I get to instantly jump to both allies and foes on a very short cooldown.
  Increasing mobility and ability to connect with targets. Increasing DPS.
  
• As an Operative I can get out of extremely nasty situations very often and very quickly, allowing me to be much more aggresive than most classes. Increasing DPS.
  
• As a Sniper I can sit down and eat all the CC in the game without being affected for an extended period of time. Allowing me to completely ignore everything and everyone around me and focus purely on whatever the H I want to do. Increasing DPS since I'm not CC'd where others would be.
  
• As a Mercenary I can heal myself for obscene amounts, allowing me to stay in the fight at full force where other classes would be forced to reset or get bailed out by multiple team cooldowns.
  Not only increasing my own DPS. But completely negating all previous efforts of the enemy team directed at me.
  
• As a Powertech I can ignore knockback and movement impairing effects for an extended period of time. Increasing mobility and ability to connect with foes. Increasing DPS.
  

And this is far from all of it. Every class has multiple of these tools.

But they don't all have the same effect, or the same strength and impact.

But you just can't deny that there is more to DPS/HPS/DTPS than just stand-still target dummy numbers.

My point is that if you nerf a certain class Offensive capacity, that also has a direct effect on their survivability.

If you buff a certain class Defensive capacity, that also has a direct effect on their ability to put out damage.

Not on a dummy.. but against bosses and other players it does.

Just.. if you're going to do something, please take your time and do it right the first time so it doesn't turn into a mess again? Please? Sorry for hijacking this thread, I got rolling and couldn't stop.

I don't blame Eric either. But this does shed light on how very little we matter when it comes the direction of the game.

-why-

The last 3 years. Starting with the introduction of story chapters and finished off by RNG. I can remember these forums, Reddit, facebook, Twitter, dulfy, and many more filled with post after post of dissapointmet and anger. Like all of them. Every once and a while there would be a story matters post. Untill after the first season of story chapters. Then that support kinda dispersed too once they figured out the story only made sense for sorcs. (I still have my force imbued blaster pistol. Can't wait to use it!) Yet all this continued. Then RNG was announced along with no new endgame. And that's when my friends left the game. Also like all of them. I've made new friends since then. They too have moved on. After all that we still continue on this dismal course.

-why-

Why do we have such a little seat at the table? The answer is we are the vocal minority. Well I assure BIOWARE that I am a subscriber. Just not one of the Vocal Minority type. I don't subscribe to that. It must be nice to always have that silent majority in your back pocket. When all else fails just pull that card out. When everything you're reading and hearing tells you you're on the wrong track just say these magic little words "silent majority." They're out there. You can't see them or hear them. Ever. But they love the lack of ops/pvp/gsf and people to play them with. Like Bigfoot.

You guys are trying, and we can see that. But trying isn't enough. Things need to happen.

The playerbase doesn't want another 3-6 months of PvP Mercenary overpopulation.

The playerbase doesn't want half assed class changes.

 

Why? Because there is only one way you can do balance right. And that is by taking everything into account.

Both DPS/HPS/DTPS as well as the cooldowns and abilities that they are intertwined with.

 

Just.. if you're going to do something, please take your time and do it right the first time so it doesn't turn into a mess again? Please? Sorry for hijacking this thread, I got rolling and couldn't stop.

Not sure your background, so don't take this badly, but incremental change is always a better solution dealing with complex systems. So really I agree with both of you. take their time and follow a process. we will all be more thankful in the long run.

I'm sad you see it that way. If we're talking on a much wider range of story then, Sith Warrior and Inquisitor are my favourite and I always recomend them to new players who prefer dark side choices (With meaning).

 

Try not to take things the wrong way, it was in fact me who moved for change with Galactic Command, Cartel Packs and much more. I've been playing this game for a long time and I know what i'm talking about especially from a community stand point. That being said, what is important is that you folks, the player base express your concerns not just to the devs but to us as well wherever you feel it appropriate. Why? Because we can shine a light on it, expose it, gather thoughts and send that feedback right back to the devs. So, don't worry you're in good hands. I care deeply for this game and it's community. Also, just because I like KoTFE and KoTET that shouldn't make you resent my status It just means I enjoyed those particular *Story* lines. As for writing with the KOTOR games, I gotta agree, but KOTOR 1 is still king

 

Please, feel free to chat with any of us at any time. All the best!

I certainly don't think the game is in good hands with you. I don't mean to personally attack you but the statement that KoTFE and KoTET are good. They aren't.

I won't waste your time explaining why as some others did lengthy posts on the subject.

Sorry to be blunt but this game needs it now. We are past politically correct dialog.

Look at the market, look at what EA is doing with their other SW games, look at the thin budget invested back in SWTOR and you''ll realize how deep in the hole is this game right now. Keith is working in a damage control mode with a budget barely enough to maintain the game.

Speaking of longevity your forum name does not rings any bell from Beta even less before it.

Your SWTOR account number reads #4,556,867 whereas mine is #126. Guess I also pretty well know the community. Top of that I've been aware of SWTOR development before it was even announced and have quite some knowledge of behind the scene decisions and issues.

Finally I do have my name on a couple of video games so I pretty well much know how games are designed, coded, even marketed and sold.