Hey everyone,

 

We are quite a few weeks away from publishing the next 90 day update for our SWTOR Roadmap. We solidified our content plan and release schedule, so I’ll include all those details in the update. But, as you know, we’re really trying to provide you with more insight than ever before, and I’d like to know what other information you’d want to see in the Roadmap. Obviously, I can’t promise to include everything, but will do my best to address a wide variety of your requests.

 

Many of you read the SWTOR roadmap (http://www.swtor.com/info/news/news-article/20170531), and realize I had left you with an elusive “and more to come…” in the Game Update 5.4 section. I thought this would be a good time to let you know what will be released on August 22nd with the next game update. Here’s a few highlights of what you can expect:

 

• Crisis on Umbara – Our story will continue in a new Flashpoint coming on the planet of Umbara. This Flashpoint will launch with all 3 difficulties, Story, Veteran and Master. For Umbara’s Master Mode we are trying something new, and depending on how well it goes, we may do something similar for all Master Mode Flashpoints. Specifically, a player will need to have an average gear rating of 242 to use Group Finder. We won’t prevent pre-made groups from going in directly, but this will prevent under-geared players from slowing down your group. We’re adding a new average rating identifier on your character window which will be based on the items you have ‘equipped’.
  
• Umbara Stronghold – This is the most unique stronghold yet, as you will be able to decorate your own moving train. You’ll need to complete the flashpoint a few times to gain access to the stronghold. Look for more details about the Stronghold in an upcoming post.
  
• Companion Customization – Senya Tirall can now have her weapons and armor customized. Also, Lana, Koth, and Senya’s hairstyles are available for purchase to customize your character.
  
• Quality of Life – Companions can now be summoned while moving.
  
• A new feature on the in-game Preference screen has been added for higher graphic settings to improve the realism of contrast and shadows.
  
• Class balance – The following Disciplines are receiving changes (details will follow in the next few weeks):
  
  • Lethality / Ruffian
    
  • Concealment / Scrapper
    
  • Medicine / Sawbones
    
  • Fury / Concentration
    
  • Carnage / Combat
    

  [*]Season 8 will be coming to an end! We will post the full breakdown of rewards with screenshots in the coming weeks but in the meantime… the top rewards include a full weapon set and a new Ember Makrin Mount.

  [*]We are making changes to daily and weekly mission rewards for PvP with the intent of substantially improving Unassembled Component gain for players who complete both Ranked and Unranked missions.

 

Back to the Roadmap update for a moment as I’d like to provide some guidelines about the feedback. Be concise and specific. Think how it will affect other players, fairness, progression, impact, to help us truly understand and weigh your thoughts against the entire plan/direction.

 

Keep in mind, our goal for this year was to put us on a track of providing new and challenging multi-player content, while addressing all the gameplay systems in SWTOR. It does mean spreading content out over the year, but I still believe having access to content sooner is more desirable than having to wait a year to get it all at once.

 

Chat with you all soon.

 

Keith

Keith,

First off, thanks for being as open as you are with communication. I know a lot of people find ways to complain but from what I can tell you and your team are doing the best you can given the circumstances and your restraints.

I'm not sure if this question has already been answered so I apologize in advance if I missed it, but when Manaan SH was updated it increased our Sh capacity by 1, will this hold true with Umbara SH or will we have to choose one to lose? As an anecdote, those conquest scores will keep going higher and higher lol.

Thanks again

The Fleet population isn't a sign of anything. Many of us avoid the Fleet like the plague, and there's no way to count the number of players in instanced areas/flashpoints/guild ships/etc. at any given time.

 

Also, when people have mentioned why they're not subscribing anymore, things like CXP, the way classes have been nerfed and grind for gear have come up far, far more than anything else.

 

Interesting thing, subscriptions seemed to decrease when the new content of substance stopped. December 2016 was when KOTET was in full swing. Nobody's flooded back in for PvP and Ops, regardless of how much people claim that is what is wanted.

People that argue that fleet population is irrelevant don't really understand this game and look ignorant. The point is there were a lot more in December than now. I'm sure just as many people avoided the fleet in December as they do now so your point is invalid, unless you can come up with a valid reason for something that has happened with the game since December that would cause people to avoid the fleet more now than they did then. Fleet population is very relevant and a good indicator of overall game population. Of course, there are other ways to notice the decline: longer pops for group finder, pvp, ranked, decline of goods on GTN, etc.

Actually, it does, and I'm not going to believe you've read two 97 page legal documents in the time it took you to respond. You're just arguing now.

 

What do you think "revenue primarily driven by..." means? FIFA and SWTOR were the two games named. The annual reports clearly show that not only did KOTET/KOTFE do well, they did very well, and were not responsible for EA's losses.

I think you're misunderstanding the difference between Product Revenue (does not include subscription based services such as MMO subscriptions and related content releases) and Service and Other Revenue (includes MMO subscriptions and related content releases / Origin Access etc).

You're also trying to argue a point based on this comment;

In 2016 SWTOR was one of EA's top two earners.

This statement is in fact false, Product Revenue is higher (as defined within this statement). If you had argued that FIFA Ultimate Team and Star Wars: The Old Republic were the primary drivers of Fiscal year 2016 Service and Other Revenue you would have been much more accurate. To claim they were the "top two earners" is misleading and to argue otherwise is pretty pointless based on what you posted (you can't expect people to know you may have meant just Services and Other Revenue).

You don't need to - Service and Other is not their only source of revenue. Product sales far surpass Service and Other income.

Product Revenue does indeed surpass Service and Other Revenue.

Also noteworthy is this statement, the 2017 FORM 10-K ANNUAL REPORT (part 2 item 7 page 32/33) also breaks down Supplemental Net Revenue by Composition, Subscriptions (which covers MMO revenue) is the lowest performing segment for both 2016 and 2017.

I'm not even sure why anyone is trying to argue the point about annual reports correlating to the success (or lack of) an MMO expansion released in October 2015, when it's quite clear from those very same annual reports that fail to subsequently mention anything relating to this game. Clearly if it had been successful in increasing subscriber numbers longer term then we would also be seeing it carry through to the following years (such as Product Revenue does, for example FIFA and Star Wars: Battlefront).

I mean certainly, BioWare could go down the route of just releasing story updates to drive subscriptions, but that isn't really going to be a healthy move without releasing all of the other MMO content alongside it to retain subscribers in-between those story updates? Pouring all of the budget and resources mainly into just one type of content was a monumental mistake in my opinion.

I didn't say that at all and it's clear you missed my point. My point was, we don't have the time to add things that don't aim to increase the playerbase, I don't believe another new house does that. EA has proven they have no issue closing studios down - they just closed one of the most iconic Bioware offices that produced this years Mass Effect game...I don't want Austin to be next.

Your point was poorly made is why though thanks for actually making it properly this time.

The biggest increase we've seen to the player base is story (KoTFE for example) but the issue was they could never make enough story quick enough to keep people playing long term.

Based on that then should they ignore the MMO aspects and try to work out a way to get more story out because we want to maximize player growth?

Point here is just because it doesn't cater to you or grow the player base massively (torstatus stats show these operation bosses aren't having much if any effect either) doesn't mean it's not having an effect.

As to Montreal they merged not closed. I would love for BWA to merge into another studio if it meant more quality content.

most never even made it to the end of their 1st one, they left because the game was a complete and utter disaster at launch.

.

I just love it when people make up stats, does anyone else?

In 2016 SWTOR was one of EA's top two earners. .

Oooo more made up stats, care to support this with evidence?

For fiscal year 2016, service and other revenue was $1,899 million

That's ONE revenue stream - this doesn't put it in the top 2 products. Also that was back in 2015 the revenue was made (so KoTFE launch and the new SW movie).

I just love it when people make up stats, does anyone else?

It's not made up. Some of us were RIGHT HERE at launch. You can choose to believe a testimonial, or not.

Oooo more made up stats, care to support this with evidence?

He did, actually. TuX is just arguing to argue.

It's not made up. Some of us were RIGHT HERE at launch. You can choose to believe a testimonial, or not.

He is trying to state most of the 2 million purchasers didn't finish the story ... I would like to see this substantiated.

You seem to agree so you bought the game and didn't bother finishing one story before leaving?

Actually, it does, and I'm not going to believe you've read two 97 page legal documents in the time it took you to respond. You're just arguing now.

 

What do you think "revenue primarily driven by..." means? FIFA and SWTOR were the two games named. The annual reports clearly show that not only did KOTET/KOTFE do well, they did very well, and were not responsible for EA's losses.

Why are you including KoTeT in your comment? You accuse someone of arguing for arguing yet to take an expansion that's not even part of the same fiscal year as justification for your point ... come on keep on track.

Oh, i thought you were arguing the 2nd part of the sentence where he says the game was utter disaster at launch.

As for completing a character through the class story at launch - I totally did cuz I was here for the KOTOR3, not the MMO. I grew into the MMO after I burned through the story.

That's the eyeballs, only .0000000000001% of the people on the planet play professional sports and that is the allure of it. These exceptional people pushing themselves to the limits is exciting to watch and aspire to. When this game had content that challenged people it was thriving, when that went away the vibe of the game left with it.

 

This is the concept people that don't raid don't understand, the content you are playing is a side dish to what makes these games desirable to the masses.

So its the "elite few" who push themselves to Raid, but Raids are desired by "the masses"?

You are not very good at this "joined up thinking" are you?

All The Best

riddle me this,

 

this game has uprisings, a new flashpoint, expansion current story as fresh as any other mmo on the market YET!!!!!!!!!!!!

it's dead....

 

how do you small content folks explain that?

Because while it has those things, the quality of those things is simply not very good.

All The Best

So its the "elite few" who push themselves to Raid, but Raids are desired by "the masses"?

 

You are not very good at this "joined up thinking" are you?

 

All The Best

You just understand what makes a game popular it seems, nobody is clawing to watch people stream that are horrible at games and the less competitive elite play a game the less likely you will see it being streamed.

Ultimately, you're just bitter that you decide to play the route that is less acclaimed. I'm not being rude by saying you don't matter but what if you continue to deny that this game was more popular when it had a thriving raiding community you are just going to look foolish.

Because while it has those things, the quality of those things is simply not very good.

 

All The Best

Are you kidding me!?!?! Those uprisings are as good as any flashpoints that have ever been put out, the story content has never been better in this game. NOBODY IS SATISFIED WITH THAT!

Across the MMORPG industry only 20-25% of players Raid. and only 20-25% of players PvP regularly - and there is approx 50% crossover between those two groups.

 

A Turbine Community Moderator referenced an internal survey for LOTRO from 2013 or so; and while he couldn't link to that survey he did say the pattern was consistent across the industry, and other companies had reported similar findings. It was used at the time justify a cutting back in investment into Raids and PvP, in favour of smaller group and solo led content.

 

How do you explain an estimated 80% drop in subscribers because of the lack of content that only approximately 33% of players ever use?

 

It makes no sense.

 

All The Best

No disagreement, as these demographic breakdowns have been known in the MMO market space for years now.

That said .... there were four major demographics that hopped on SWTOR at launch:

1) Joe MMO player who plays a range of content, casually for the most part, and loves the SW IP. These have consistently been the most persistent players in this MMO for more then 5 years now.

2) KOTOR Fans who actually approached the game as if it were KOTOR3 (which is was not), and lost interest once they capped a character or two and gnashed about it not being KOTOR3.

3) Avid MMO raiders, who of course speed leveled to level cap and then went postal over no raid content at launch

4) Avid MMO PvPers, who alos speed leveled to cap and then went postal when they saw that the client was not up to their demand of massive open world PvP battles.

Note: I guess a 5th group could be --> Disaffected SW Galaxies players that got booted to the curb by Sony..... but these are pretty small numbers in the context of launch population in this game, and these diehards probably fall easily into one of the 4 main groups to be honest.

The only group that actually notably persisted in numbers through the years as the game content and direction ebbed and flowed were group 1. Some in groups 2, 3, and 4 of course also stuck around or went into sub/unsub cycles around expacs (which frankly means they only hang around for a month or two out of each year).

Three of those four were destined to be disappointed in the early months of this game, and probably made up about 75% of the launch players.

3) Avid MMO raiders, who of course speed leveled to level cap and then went postal over no raid content at launch

This happened at 4.0, so this group you want to S%^& on lasted four years, and like it or not when they left in 4.0 the game died...

But feel free EA to continue on this path of minimizing raid content, it's working beautifully. <eyeroll>

This happened at 4.0, so this group you want to S%^& on lasted four years, and like it or not when they left in 4.0 the game died...

 

But feel free EA to continue on this path of minimizing raid content, it's working beautifully. <eyeroll>

It happened in 2012 after a couple of months after the game first launched, and then it happened again in 2016 after 4.0 hit when it was made clear that there were no new operations planned for the foreseeable future.

As a matter of fact, they were so concerned about the loss of subs in 2012 that they gave people that didn't quit a free month of subscription time to get them to stick around while they rushed to get content ready for end game.

It happened in 2012 after a couple of months after the game first launched, and then it happened again in 2016 after 4.0 hit when it was made clear that there were no new operations planned for the foreseeable future.

 

As a matter of fact, they were so concerned about the loss of subs in 2012 that they gave people that didn't quit a free month of subscription time to get them to stick around while they rushed to get content ready for end game.

This corresponds exactly with what what my friends and I experienced / perceived. In our cases, only one of the core group had any interest in Star Wars lore per se (to this day, I still don't what the heck people mean when they talk about when they say "canon" and I never play the original KotOR [though heard great things about it.])

We leveled up on Jung Ma because we enjoyed PvP and group oriented content, even if just flashpoints. We were not power-levelers either, but by summer 2012, we each had 2 to 3 characters at max level, with a smattering in the 20-range.

Simply put there was NOTHING to do. There was no new solo content. WPvP on Ilum was a disaster because of lag. We had already done the flashpoints ad nauseum. Didn't know enough people to wait and form a raid team. WZs were hit or miss (it wasn't fun having a WZ pop when it was 3 v 10 and the countdown timer began).

At the end of the day, we knew Mysts of Pandaria was coming out in September, which pretty much sealed the deal.

The good news is, I've persuaded 3 of my friends to come back in August once Umbara is released. We're at a stage in life where 15 bucks a month isn't that big a deal -- not trying to brag, we were students once too!

Is this mutually exclusive with lack of a decent story? I hope not, but as much as I enjoyed KotFE / ET (minus ET Chapter 6: Food Delivery), I could do with less cut scenes.

Regards,

Dasty

It happened in 2012 after a couple of months after the game first launched .

It happened in 4.0, they had announced ops when the game launched and we got EV and KP soon after. 1.0 didn't do what 4.0 did and thus the game was healthy.

You just understand what makes a game popular it seems, nobody is clawing to watch people stream that are horrible at games and the less competitive elite play a game the less likely you will see it being streamed.

 

Ultimately, you're just bitter that you decide to play the route that is less acclaimed. I'm not being rude by saying you don't matter but what if you continue to deny that this game was more popular when it had a thriving raiding community you are just going to look foolish.

So a game is only "popular" if it has streamers and people watching them play? That must be why The Witcher 3, for example, was so successful and popular then right? No one actually wanted to play the game and story for themselves, they just wanted to watch someone else do it

This happened at 4.0, so this group you want to S%^& on lasted four years, and like it or not when they left in 4.0 the game died...

 

But feel free EA to continue on this path of minimizing raid content, it's working beautifully. <eyeroll>

Focus on MMO content this year and the lowest numbers ever seen in the game ... yup MMO content focus is working wonders.

So a game is only "popular" if it has streamers and people watching them play? That must be why The Witcher 3, for example, was so successful and popular then right? No one actually wanted to play the game and story for themselves, they just wanted to watch someone else do it

in 2017 yes

Focus on MMO content this year and the lowest numbers ever seen in the game ... yup MMO content focus is working wonders.

you talking about that raid they haven't completed yet? yes, great focus.

in 2017 yes

Ahh right I forgot that massive demographic shift that happened in the past 2 years. Nice trolling though, many seem to not be spotting it.

Ahh right I forgot that massive demographic shift that happened in the past 2 years. Nice trolling though, many seem to not be spotting it.

You see any hot new MMOs being developed? No?

I wonder if that's because the fidget spinner populace is playing hearthstone, League of Legends, CS go, and PUBG...

I love MMOs, I miss the days of a failed WoW killer coming out every 4 months, but tis genre is dead because people don't care about it. Beyond that, this new base of players that want a single player game out of a multiplayer is giving it cancer.

At this point I've concluded that most of you are that player base, and I'm tired of reading the ignorance.