When I first started playing The Old Republic, I did it to play the story and story has always been important to me, even in the years when I successfully ignored most of it. So recently I decided to play all of it again - including all the bonus series and even the sidiest side quest imaginable. I decided to go with a Sith Warrior and got started. Turns out, there are a number of issues I'm not happy with.

I get the impression that all the bonus series (with exception of Balmorra (imperial) and Taris (republic)) now become available at the end of chapter 1. Which completely ruins their continuity. Personally I have played all of them before and know how to take it, but for someone who does it the first time it must be irritating.

On Tatooine the quest giver treats you like you just returned from finishing your class/planetary mission there - which used to be the case, but isn't anymore, because now you have to finish chapter 1 first - assuming you even know he exists. Similarly on Nar Shaddaa, you have to happen to return to the planet by accident to find out there is a bonus series.

There used to be a quest giver on the fleet, but, surprise, they're gone now, just like the one for Alderaan. At least on Tatooine and Nar Shaddaa the quest giver is somewhere where you might run into them, if you return at some point after chapter 1. But on Alderaan you have to purposefully look for him: You'll only find the bonus series there if somehow, after completing your story there and then completing the chapter 1 finale, you return to House Thul and happen to search the correct passage from the throne room (you won't see the quest marker from there, you have to actually go through the door). Nobody does that if they don't know already.

After chapter 1 it actually gets worse. On Hoth, Belsavis and Voss the bonus series is available before you did anything there and the quest giver is the first guy you meet. On Hoth, he's surprised to see me "return from the front lines" and talks about how "the pirates are no problem any more". On Belsavis - at the orbital station, mind you, I haven't set a foot on the planet yet - I'm congratulated on achieving the thing that I'm going to do in my class quest there!

I vividly remember all that about "returning to BioWare quality story telling" but on the side you mess up the story you already had. And for what? Why change the requirement for the bonus series?

Maybe at some point people did them for some extra experience, but nowadays you can be lvl 65 before finishing chapter 1. A little bit more story is the only reason left to play them. But story needs continuity and that's messed up now. I'm not opposed to change where I can see the reason. But there's literally no upside here.

Moving on to something related. There used to be introductory quests on the fleets to lead you to The Black Hole and Section X. They're gone too (I know the Black Hole quest is still there on pub fleet, but not on imp fleet, unless you hid it really, really well...). Now you find those destinations on the fast travel terminals, can go there, but nobody tells you why.

Maybe you don't want the fleets to be cluttered with quests or something like that, but if they're exploration missions, anyone who doesn't want to see them, has the choice. Besides, we've gone years ignoring markers for quests we didn't want to do, I'm sure we'd be fine continuing to do so.

Bring back the introduction missions and put the bonus series back in the places they belong and it can only do good. It can't be that hard and we know it can work, because it worked fine for years.

There is something else somewhat related that I don't have a solution for, though. With flashpoints not being level locked anymore I've found myself at times adressed as what I would end up becoming after finishing the class story, when I was still in chapter 1, which is sort of a spoiler. I don't think there's an easy fix for this, though. Not like the other things I talked about.

Wait, the bonus mission series' were moved to after Chapter One (other than PubTaris and ImpBalmorra)? I haven't actually ran planet arcs after Balmorra/Taris during DvL, so I don't remember them very well. I think you can start them regardless of speaking to the Fleet contact by speaking to the NPC on the planets, however.

Last I remember (and these may/are more likely be from my pre-4.0 memories)

Bonus ImpTaris/PuBalmorra Arc should start after Taris/Balmorra, Quesh is picked up at turning in the last of the planet quest (unless that's still part of the main arc or doesn't exist?), Hoth's is in Act 3, Alderaan starts at the end of Act Two, Belsavis is Level 49/After Corellia, Voss starts at the end of Voss, Corellia doesn't have one or it's Black Hole. Nar Shaddaa is at the end of Act One as well...

I'm kinda confused as to what the bonus series even are. I vaguely remember them in beta and I believe it was clear what they were then.

Now, having no idea what to look for, it all looks the same to me. Do they show up as purple "planet arc" story missions? Sometimes I wonder if I've done a bonus series and didn't realize it. It's confusing and I can't think of any instance of coming back to a planet and stumbling onto a series that I didn't do before. So that makes me doubly confused.

I'm kinda confused as to what the bonus series even are. I vaguely remember them in beta and I believe it was clear what they were then.

 

Now, having no idea what to look for, it all looks the same to me. Do they show up as purple "planet arc" story missions? Sometimes I wonder if I've done a bonus series and didn't realize it. It's confusing and I can't think of any instance of coming back to a planet and stumbling onto a series that I didn't do before. So that makes me doubly confused.

Their marked as exploration missions, so their not purple. Bonus series normally take you to the rest of the outposts that pertain to your faction assuming you haven't wandered off and gone to them already. Some of them are quite nice that add onto the story and lore of the planet, however, as noted in the OP, are completely out of whack anymore.

Their marked as exploration missions, so their not purple. Bonus series normally take you to the rest of the outposts that pertain to your faction assuming you haven't wandered off and gone to them already. Some of them are quite nice that add onto the story and lore of the planet, however, as noted in the OP, are completely out of whack anymore.

Ahhhh, ok. That would explain why I've not noticed them. Probably had exploration missions toggled off on the characters that would have spotted them.

I've seen quite a few posts mentioning problems with the bonus series since 4.0.

Originally, when you finished your class story on the planet, which presumed you already finished the planet ark as well, the bonus series would open up via an NPC standing at the Spaceport, which you would pass on your way back to your ship.

The exception was Nar Shaddaa, Alderaan and Hoth, as these bonus missions were of a much higher level.

With Nar though, if you pay attention, you will notice at least one of your companions will want to go back there(and if you level and talk to them at the pace they envisioned most would be) you'll see that NPC in foyer of the Spaceport while you're there, so they did try and make it so you would come across it at the relevant level.

With Hoth, they placed an NPC/Terminal on Voss, again presuming you will around the right level when landing on Voss.

Alderaan was the lazy or out of time setup, just placing an NPC on the fleet and hoping you would come across it at the appropriate time.

Now, with 4.0, oodles of XP and level sync, they seem to roughly apply some band aid changes on these, not really caring about them, and they are in all sorts of buggy states, from not being able to finish them or not being able to pick them up at the right time or anytime for that matter.

A real shame as some of the stories are great.

All of the bonus series used to be conveniently found at the right time. If I remember correctly:

ImpBalmorra/RepTaris: After planetary arc on the way back to ship

Nar Shaddaa: Fleet NPC (who doesn't exist anymore)

Tatooine: After planetary arc on the way back to ship

Alderaan: Fleet NPC (who doesn't exist anymore)

ImpTaris/RepBalmorra: After planetary arc on the way to ship

Belsavis: Fleet NPC (who doesn't exist anymore)

Hoth and Voss: After planetary arc on Voss on the way to ship

Quesh and Corellia don't have one.

Now you either get them before starting the planet or you have to consciously look for them instead of naturally happening upon them.

All of the bonus series used to be conveniently found at the right time. If I remember correctly:

 

ImpBalmorra/RepTaris: After planetary arc on the way back to ship

Nar Shaddaa: Fleet NPC (who doesn't exist anymore)

Tatooine: After planetary arc on the way back to ship

Alderaan: Fleet NPC (who doesn't exist anymore)

ImpTaris/RepBalmorra: After planetary arc on the way to ship

Belsavis: Fleet NPC (who doesn't exist anymore)

Hoth and Voss: After planetary arc on Voss on the way to ship

Quesh and Corellia don't have one.

 

Now you either get them before starting the planet or you have to consciously look for them instead of naturally happening upon them.

Your list is quite incorrect, I listed how and when they were started.

But I do agree that they should spend a little time correcting all the breadcrumbs and level requirements.

Your list is quite incorrect, I listed how and when they were started.

But I do agree that they should spend a little time correcting all the breadcrumbs and level requirements.

You could start the Nar Shaddaa one directly on the planet, but there was also an NPC on the fleet that would point you there. Hoth starting after Voss is really the only thing that I mixed up, so I feel like "quite incorrect" is overstating it a little bit.

You could start the Nar Shaddaa one directly on the planet, but there was also an NPC on the fleet that would point you there. Hoth starting after Voss is really the only thing that I mixed up, so I feel like "quite incorrect" is overstating it a little bit.

Fair enough, I didn't mention the fleet breadcrumb for Nar.

Also, It's your class quest that triggered the availability of the bonus series, not the planet arks.

But as I said, I'm right there with you, I'd like to see them fix the whole mess the bonus series are in at the moment.

All of the bonus series used to be conveniently found at the right time. If I remember correctly:

 

ImpBalmorra/RepTaris: After planetary arc on the way back to ship

Nar Shaddaa: Fleet NPC (who doesn't exist anymore)

Tatooine: After planetary arc on the way back to ship

Alderaan: Fleet NPC (who doesn't exist anymore)

ImpTaris/RepBalmorra: After planetary arc on the way to ship

Belsavis: Fleet NPC (who doesn't exist anymore)

Hoth and Voss: After planetary arc on Voss on the way to ship

Quesh and Corellia don't have one.

 

Now you either get them before starting the planet or you have to consciously look for them instead of naturally happening upon them.

Alderaans initial bonus quest giver is still on the fleet.

Belsavis' one is on the orbital station right before you board the shuttle to the planet itself.

A big issue with the bonus quests is that you can accidentally break some of the quest chains by having the show exploration quests turned on in the map screen. Some of the quests that are directly part of the bonus line become available for you to take and if you complete them before the bonus quest, you break the bonus quest for that planet.

I know this occurs for sure on Taris as a Republic character and I broke the Imperial Balsavis bonus by doing the same.

Another thing I noticed (and I speak as someone who returned from launch in April of this year, so complete noob at the time) that I wasn't real happy about, nothing directs me to any of the bonus areas. Why am I going to Section X? Why am I going to the Black Hole? If I hadn't been reading various forums about the correct story progression path, I would have missed several neat bonus areas.

All of the bonus series used to be conveniently found at the right time. If I remember correctly:

 

ImpBalmorra/RepTaris: After planetary arc on the way back to ship

Nar Shaddaa: Fleet NPC (who doesn't exist anymore)

Tatooine: After planetary arc on the way back to ship

Alderaan: Fleet NPC (who doesn't exist anymore)

ImpTaris/RepBalmorra: After planetary arc on the way to ship

Belsavis: Fleet NPC (who doesn't exist anymore)

Hoth and Voss: After planetary arc on Voss on the way to ship

Quesh and Corellia don't have one.

 

Now you either get them before starting the planet or you have to consciously look for them instead of naturally happening upon them.

Nar Shadaa and Alderaan are still there. They no longer trigger by level use to. They become unlock at level 50 or 60 now.

A big issue with the bonus quests is that you can accidentally break some of the quest chains by having the show exploration quests turned on in the map screen. Some of the quests that are directly part of the bonus line become available for you to take and if you complete them before the bonus quest, you break the bonus quest for that planet.

I know this occurs for sure on Taris as a Republic character and I broke the Imperial Balsavis bonus by doing the same.

 

Another thing I noticed (and I speak as someone who returned from launch in April of this year, so complete noob at the time) that I wasn't real happy about, nothing directs me to any of the bonus areas. Why am I going to Section X? Why am I going to the Black Hole? If I hadn't been reading various forums about the correct story progression path, I would have missed several neat bonus areas.

Pubs Black Hole bread crumbs are thankfully still on the fleet.

Alderaans initial bonus quest giver is still on the fleet.

Well, not on my fleet.

Belsavis' one is on the orbital station right before you board the shuttle to the planet itself.

Yes. And there used to be a terminal on fleet that send you there (earlier I wrote NPC, but it was a terminal).

Nar Shadaa and Alderaan are still there. They no longer trigger by level use to. They become unlock at level 50 or 60 now.

They become unlocked by completing act/chapter 1 of the class story now. And the questgivers are not on fleet anymore. At least not where they used to be. Are they somewhere else now?

Another thing I noticed (and I speak as someone who returned from launch in April of this year, so complete noob at the time) that I wasn't real happy about, nothing directs me to any of the bonus areas. Why am I going to Section X? Why am I going to the Black Hole? If I hadn't been reading various forums about the correct story progression path, I would have missed several neat bonus areas.

Exactly.

I believe they are all still in game, though the NPCs may have been moved around on some.

Thing is.. these are planetary bonus mission arcs, which use to have both a level requirement and a main planetary mission chain prerequisite (not class story). since 4.0, for anyone running the planets in sequence, there really is no level requirement with level sync in play. They also classify them as exploration missions I believe, and so they do not show up on your mini map by default.

The bonus series on the planets was originally intended to fill the gaps in leveling in case you leveled too fast and were not ready for the next planet. With the enhanced XP since 4.0 on story missions, this is no longer applicable, so basically they are now an artifact, left to mission collectors and completionists. I don't see them reworking them since they offer limited actual value to the broader player base now days. (Notice they do not exist on any planet added post-launch).

In the old days, we all pretty much used to run every mission we could find, in order to get to level cap without having to run FPs, and other content besides missions. But with the changes in recent years, that is really not necessary... so these bonus missions are sort of a side dish for completionists now and any completionist should have no real trouble ferreting out the bonus series. For most players, they are simply an artifact that gets bypassed in the interest of moving on. Personally, I rarely ever ran any bonus series on a planet... as I got plenty of bonus XP just from bonus (kill X, collect X) missions within the main misson arcs. Stealthers though.. tended to stealth past the mobs and items in the kill-X/collect-Y bonus that showed up on route to a mission.

Completely agree OP

Yes, the story needs continuity. And it should be there for anyone who wants it, as there was no reason to remove parts of it. More Story elements is a good thing.

Please Bioware,

1. Make the bonus series' unlock after the planetary chain.

2. Bring back the quest starter's for Black Hole and Section X, and any planetary bonus series' that need it. Make them exploration missions so people don't see them if they don't want to.

Agree wholeheartedly with this. Story continuity is all over the place with the bonus series and section X and black hole existing but with the context missing.

Seems that because bonus series now reward those KOTFE rewards that requires you to be the level 50/60. Exception being the first main planet for races where you can still find the bonus series quest givers after finishing the planet. I don't see why they can't be activated where originally intended and still provide those KOTFE packs. Its silly because apart from those the rest of the rewards in those quests are all still low level items

I have been in a habit of levelling up to 60 to go back to do the bonus series without progressing too far in the chapters. Basically force limiting myself from going to far in the story just so I can have continuity :S

For a single player the story continuity is a pain with the operations. Just wished there was a way to get the story even if it is not the full operation. Like solo versions that just focus on story and mini version of the boss.

Just bumping this old thread in case Bioware read it, as i have just come across the same annoyances....please put bonus series back into the correct order for story continuity and so they arent missed. They could still reward alliance crates if picked up on odessan. (while you're at it, please put back the quest givers that were removed in 4.0 and make returning heroics to npc's optional).

Even with the 'focus on story' for some reason a fair few cutscenes were removed from the original game (heroics and quest givers) in 4.0, and story content in the original game harder to do or make no sense in terms of story (bonus series). Madness.

The new story stuff was fantastic, however.

Completely agree OP

 

Yes, the story needs continuity. And it should be there for anyone who wants it, as there was no reason to remove parts of it. More Story elements is a good thing.

 

Please Bioware,

1. Make the bonus series' unlock after the planetary chain.

2. Bring back the quest starter's for Black Hole and Section X, and any planetary bonus series' that need it. Make them exploration missions so people don't see them if they don't want to.

The quest starter for "Black Hole" was on the fleet for me on the Pub side. I don't recall there being one on the Imp side.

The first time I went there I had no idea what the overall theme was.