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Do EA/Bioware Employees Play SWTOR?


MingusPho

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According to Keith Kannag the new producer for SWTOR, he plays the game a bit and Eric Musco has dabbled a little, i remember those livestreams including the epic marathon streams where he played the game out.

 

i would imagine some of them have played the product they have put out.

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I ask because they don't seem to have a strong sense of the player base trends, likes, and dislikes.

 

Give Keith some time, man, he has only just stepped into his new position. I am sure he knows what the player base trends are.

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Well Keith has his own personal, non-work-related account that where he has 4 characters at Command Rank 300 currently. For all we know he may be a raider or a PvPer or both.

 

Charles seems like he's a lot more interested in story and RP, but I'm not sure.

 

Eric, I don't particularly know how much he plays, but he does the live streams so he definitely plays casually at least.

 

I'm sure Keith and Charles themselves would both be happy to answer your question if it's asked a little bit less condescendingly than "they don't seem to have a strong sense of the game". They have answered questions relating to their playstyles in the past.

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When playing, I'm sure they know their own behaviour trends, likes and dislikes, but know they and folks they interact with in game are but a small sample with no ensured variation in types of data sources.

 

They would have to, sadly it seems, rely on whatever department they have that one overworked intern "interpreting" all the metrics.:rolleyes:

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I ask because they don't seem to have a strong sense of the player base trends, likes, and dislikes.

 

I think when the game was fresh and new, more of the staff played the game. But I seriously doubt any of them play it consistently. if they do play it, it's because they have to for some reason related to their Job, and not because they want to. You can tell by watching them play in their streams. Musco looked bored when he was showcasing the Bh in kotfe, and when showcasing their new uprisings, they were playing like a person who had picked up the game for the first time.

 

I'm not saying that the dev team aren't gamers however. This game is just old, and they have probably moved on to other video games in their personal time. This game is their Job, nothing more.

Edited by cool-dude
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Well Keith has his own personal, non-work-related account that where he has 4 characters at Command Rank 300 currently. For all we know he may be a raider or a PvPer or both.

 

Charles seems like he's a lot more interested in story and RP, but I'm not sure.

 

Eric, I don't particularly know how much he plays, but he does the live streams so he definitely plays casually at least.

 

I'm sure Keith and Charles themselves would both be happy to answer your question if it's asked a little bit less condescendingly than "they don't seem to have a strong sense of the game". They have answered questions relating to their playstyles in the past.

 

if thats true how the hell he did not know how bad state DPS sorcs are in ????

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I ask because they don't seem to have a strong sense of the player base trends, likes, and dislikes.

 

The new producer does as per his letter on 4/13

 

A Note from the Producer

 

"I’ve been with BioWare/EA and SWTOR for the past six years, where I’ve held a variety of positions, and have always been a very active player with nearly 10,000 hours of gameplay, 28 plus characters and tons of achievements. I love playing the game and participating in all different types of gameplay, with PvP being one of my favorite activities. So, when you have frustrations with the game, I’m likely having the exact same concerns."

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Well Keith has his own personal, non-work-related account that where he has 4 characters at Command Rank 300 currently. For all we know he may be a raider or a PvPer or both.

 

Charles seems like he's a lot more interested in story and RP, but I'm not sure.

 

Eric, I don't particularly know how much he plays, but he does the live streams so he definitely plays casually at least.

 

I'm sure Keith and Charles themselves would both be happy to answer your question if it's asked a little bit less condescendingly than "they don't seem to have a strong sense of the game". They have answered questions relating to their playstyles in the past.

 

I wasn't trying to condescend anyone, I was merely speaking frankly. I do appreciate the efforts they are making and this is not some inflammatory post or a targeted attack meant to offend anyone for that matter. What I should have said was "player pulse" instead of "sense of the game" if that makes more sense.

Edited by MingusPho
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The new producer does as per his letter on 4/13

 

A Note from the Producer

 

"I’ve been with BioWare/EA and SWTOR for the past six years, where I’ve held a variety of positions, and have always been a very active player with nearly 10,000 hours of gameplay, 28 plus characters and tons of achievements. I love playing the game and participating in all different types of gameplay, with PvP being one of my favorite activities. So, when you have frustrations with the game, I’m likely having the exact same concerns."

 

Edit - i read this so fast I thought it was a direct reply without realizing its from that same letter we've all read. Whoops.

Edited by MingusPho
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I ask because they don't seem to have a strong sense of the player base trends, likes, and dislikes.

Don't know if you heard, but there's a new sheriff in town . . . now if he can undo the mess that is 5.0 and beyond it yet to be seen.

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Don't know if you heard, but there's a new sheriff in town . . . now if he can undo the mess that is 5.0 and beyond it yet to be seen.

 

Yeah, I've heard and am very excited about the news! Sometimes...you just see things or experience them in game and really have to wonder. But I think if we as players can understand what Bioware's goals/intentions are there can be a greater cohesive effort in improvement.

 

For instance, I imagine one goal is more subscriptions. With all the fans of SWTOR, mmos, and star wars in general that's certainly feasible. There's also probably a quota for cm sales they'd like to meet. In my curiosity I asked the question because by playing the game, they can see exactly what would sell really well on the cartel market and possibly which features could bring in more subscribers. I also wonder if they look at gtn sales and track them? Or do they track analytics for completion rates of different content? I hope they do, but if they are...when will any knowledge/revelations gleaned be implemented? And these are just rhetorical questions to show where I'm coming from with the original post.

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The new producer does as per his letter on 4/13

 

A Note from the Producer

 

"I’ve been with BioWare/EA and SWTOR for the past six years, where I’ve held a variety of positions, and have always been a very active player with nearly 10,000 hours of gameplay, 28 plus characters and tons of achievements. I love playing the game and participating in all different types of gameplay, with PvP being one of my favorite activities. So, when you have frustrations with the game, I’m likely having the exact same concerns."

That was reassuring to read at that time. I'm not sure how much I believe that at this time. Anyone who's been playing any group content for the last 6 months knows that Telekinesis/Lightning and Sharpshooter/Marksman Disciplines are at the bottom of the DPS charts. This is true according to

 

- Theory Crafters

- parses and

- experiential information from PvE and PvP

Anyone who goes along with the idea that these Disciplines are in an "OK Place" is seriously misinformed and unwilling to remedy that. To be fair, the "OK Place" quote is from Eric Musco but I'd expect a Lead Producer with 10,000 hours of play time to step in and define what exactly "OK Place" means. I'd also expect the priorities to be set such that the most glaring imbalances are fixed first. The most glaring imbalances today are

 

- DPS of Telekinesis/Lightning and Sharpshooter/Marksman (PvE and PvP)

 

- Survivability of Telekinesis/Lightning (PvP)

 

These don't get fixed first in the July class balance, there is no reason for me to trust anything I've read so far; after all, none of the promises so far have been delivered on and the first one to be tackled is seriously disappointing in the lack of judgment it demonstrates.

Edited by mike_carton
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If I would spend X hours in work on game, im not sure I would have energy and motivation to play it in free time :D

 

That's a good observation. Maybe having a focus group play the game and provide feedback would help improve some, like external consultants. I could see employees getting burned out over time when it consumes their whole life.

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That's a good observation. Maybe having a focus group play the game and provide feedback would help improve some, like external consultants. I could see employees getting burned out over time when it consumes their whole life.

 

That's definitely understandable. The forums can stand in for a focus group.

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Yes, they do, BUT not as much as they should :)

 

Nevertheless, there was this one promo-chart claiming Bioware to have a large percentage of their employees play their games even in free time, but thats Bioware in general (not just swtor team). Also Keith himself said he plays. Eric said so too, but I have my doubts there, mainly after observing his game play from time to time, doing the chapters, the Uprising test run.....

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  • Dev Post

This is a great question, and a very common one. In short, the team absolutely plays SWTOR!

 

Let's go into a little more detail though. Keep in mind we not only play on the live servers, it is very common that we play internally as well. Coincidentally, we have a studio-wide playtest of the Umbara Flashpoint later today. These playtests serve as early tests of upcoming content so we can give feedback as players, and give our perspective from our job roles.

 

Now, playing on live is something different. One thing I think is often forgotten is we are all just regular players. We come from all walks of life and have vastly different play styles. Contrary to popular belief, we are not all progression Nightmare Operation top 96 PvPers :) (although a few of us just might be...).

 

Here are two examples from players that you know, Keith and I. Keith currently has 4 characters at Command Rank 300, and another 12+ characters at max level or close. He plays almost every type of content in the game and really enjoys running Operations and other group content.

 

I on the other hand have 2 characters at max level and none of them at Command Rank 300. I play quite a bit but spend most of my time just playing the GTN as I am an avid collector of Mounts, titles, and rare items. When I am not on the GTN I am usually grinding up reps, running Heroics, or leveling alts. My days of progression Ops are behind me.

 

As you can see, Keith and I both play SWTOR, but play in vastly different ways – just like all of you. I think that raises a great final point: we’re building a game for all player types. We not only monitor player feedback (including our own experiences), but we monitor trends and data as well. All of this combined is what shapes what we do every day. Our goal has and will always be to make the best Star Wars experience we can for all of our players – including ourselves ;).

 

-eric

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Yes, they play the game.

 

And no, you will never find out who the are either.

 

Not unless they want you to know, and them you will most likely be sworn to secrecy. Under penalty of vivisection by light saber.

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Coincidentally, we have a studio-wide playtest of the Umbara Flashpoint later today. These playtests serve as early tests of upcoming content so we can give feedback as players,

 

So thats why new stuff is so easy :cool:

Edited by merovejec
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This is a great question, and a very common one. In short, the team absolutely plays SWTOR!

 

Let's go into a little more detail though. Keep in mind we not only play on the live servers, it is very common that we play internally as well. Coincidentally, we have a studio-wide playtest of the Umbara Flashpoint later today. These playtests serve as early tests of upcoming content so we can give feedback as players, and give our perspective from our job roles.

 

Now, playing on live is something different. One thing I think is often forgotten is we are all just regular players. We come from all walks of life and have vastly different play styles. Contrary to popular belief, we are not all progression Nightmare Operation top 96 PvPers :) (although a few of us just might be...).

 

Here are two examples from players that you know, Keith and I. Keith currently has 4 characters at Command Rank 300, and another 12+ characters at max level or close. He plays almost every type of content in the game and really enjoys running Operations and other group content.

 

I on the other hand have 2 characters at max level and none of them at Command Rank 300. I play quite a bit but spend most of my time just playing the GTN as I am an avid collector of Mounts, titles, and rare items. When I am not on the GTN I am usually grinding up reps, running Heroics, or leveling alts. My days of progression Ops are behind me.

 

As you can see, Keith and I both play SWTOR, but play in vastly different ways – just like all of you. I think that raises a great final point: we’re building a game for all player types. We not only monitor player feedback (including our own experiences), but we monitor trends and data as well. All of this combined is what shapes what we do every day. Our goal has and will always be to make the best Star Wars experience we can for all of our players – including ourselves ;).

 

-eric

 

Out of curiosity Eric, is there any Dev who regularly engages in PvP (regulars, Ranked, or open world)? Sometimes it feels like there's a big disconnect in what PvPers feel and what's implemented in-game, and I was curious to see if the disconnect may be caused by lack of devs in that playstyke.

 

Likewise, what about other game modes that aren't raiding and/or collection? GSF, RP, solo story, etc? (I'd wager Charles would be the most likely to be into RP and/or story content, given some of his prior participation in the forums).

 

I understand that you said Keith engages in "almost every" type of content and quite frankly it is refreshing to hear that, but I'd be curious to see if it's possible to get a breakdown of dev play time in the live game.

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