How many dialogue choices matter? By that I mean lead to a different outcome from other potential choices; what was it? Two or three through the whole of KotFE/ET. Another three or four with the various returned Comps since FE/ET?

 

When was the last time we had a choice that defined the future arc of the story? Three years? Four?

 

There is almost no agency at all in the cut-scene dialogues; because "different choices" lead (with the exception of which companions to choose) to exactly the same outcomes. Would you be happy if the totality of "new content" was cut-scenes with dialogue choices that don't really matter?

 

I am going to bet that you wouldn't; and you know why? Because cut-scene dialogues that make no real difference are NOT real content; and deep down you know it.

 

Because if such were "content" for MMORPG's all the successful MMORPGs would be doing it as well, because it is a LOT cheaper doing that than developing coherent Quest-Chains, instanced FPs and OPs, and Raids that unify several story threads into a more vibrant tapestry.

 

How many successful MMORPGs are doing the "cut-scene, dialogue-choices-that-don't-matter, mono-story" thing? Oh, yeah, that's right... ...none.

 

All The Best

You don't have to understand. But you do not speak for those who do. An MMO by Nature supposed to have different things for different people. The great majority of people liked the cutscenes as part of the gameplay and the story.

The great majority of people liked the cutscenes as part of the gameplay and the story.

I thought they were fine as "part" of the gameplay and story too; what I don't think is fine is when the cutscene is the ONLY "gameplay" and story we get.

Spot the difference yet?

All The Best

I thought they were fine as "part" of the gameplay and story too; what I don't think is fine is when the cutscene is the ONLY "gameplay" and story we get.

 

Spot the difference yet?

 

All The Best

Got it, but perhaps the issue is you weren't exactly clear?

I'm not the only one who came to that conclusion based on the responses.

Can we get some clarification from the dev team.

Were these Companion returns, doing it right? Was it doing it justice because you knew how important companions are to the players? Is this as good as it gets? Is this an exciting 2018.

Even the die hard supports that want to blame Ben Irving for 2017 can't keep blaming him into 2018. This is the direction for the future till they roll out the next producer who will promise greater communication and then ignore any issues and write roadmaps that spend the first half of the map talking about what has already been done in glowing praise because its only released two thirds of the way through the period it covers.

Can we get some clarification from the dev team.

 

Were these Companion returns, doing it right? Was it doing it justice because you knew how important companions are to the players? Is this as good as it gets? Is this an exciting 2018.

 

Even the die hard supports that want to blame Ben Irving for 2017 can't keep blaming him into 2018. This is the direction for the future till they roll out the next producer who will promise greater communication and then ignore any issues and write roadmaps that spend the first half of the map talking about what has already been done in glowing praise because its only released two thirds of the way through the period it covers.

Probably from their point of view It really is exciting....i was very "excited" to have 2 minutes of alert without any actual quest/mission and a boss we took down in 20 minutes and that is because some of the guys kept dying from the red dots Scyva released when on 30%-20% HP. And that is all folks...for 2-3 months? How great...

The Devs may be a fans of Obi-Wan's quote - many truths depend on a certain point of view...

Probably from their point of view It really is exciting....i was very "excited" to have 2 minutes of alert without any actual quest/mission and a boss we took down in 20 minutes and that is because some of the guys kept dying from the red dots Scyva released when on 30%-20% HP. And that is all folks...for 2-3 months? How great...

The Devs may be a fans of Obi-Wan's quote - many truths depend on a certain point of view...

I guess the last shred of hope I have left is that the devs will come in and be honest about how bad 2017 was and how 2018 is shaping up to be worse.

In truth I suspect they just don't care enough to bother. Its easier to neglect a game and ignore problems than to deal with them. But if they ever wonder why people are leaving and they are down to 5 servers at least they are aware it is the lack of content and ignoring of issues that has brought it on. Its really amazing EA aren't asking how so little can be done with the budget they are provided.

Its really amazing EA aren't asking how so little can be done with the budget they are provided.

Maybe they don't ask, because it's peanuts, or there is no budget.

Hey folks,

 

There is a known issue with the Andronikos, Risha, and Corso return missions released in 5.7. Players who meet certain conditions are granted an additional mission that they cannot complete.

 

This issue occurs for Players who:

• Had previously romanced one of the returning characters (Andronikos, Risha, or Corso).
  
• Romanced Theron after the release of KOTFE.
  
• Chose to rekindle their original romance with one of the returning characters in 5.7.

 

Under these circumstances, the Player receives a mission called “Things Left Unsaid” which they cannot progress. This mission is a default one granted to any player who resumes a romance with a returning companion after having also romanced Theron, Koth, or Lana in KOTFE. Due to present circumstances, the mission cannot be completed with Theron for the time being. We will address this in an upcoming patch, and advise that those affected by the issue simply uncheck/hide the mission in their log for now.

 

We apologize for the inconvenience!

 

-eric

I think this all is follow through from BWs dumb decision to do "story only" starting with 4.0 (before they had to scramble backwards because their story wasn't replayable so they were bleeding subs). They mentioned they were originally thinking of having 3 expansions do the "Keeping up with the Valkorians", and as part of that I think they saved what are many people's favorite companions and love interests for the 3rd expansion to make it more exciting.

So Risha, Corso, Andronikos, Jaesa, Ashara, Nadia, Felix, Kira, Doc, Mako, and a few others that seem fan favorites have all not returned (or returned just now, but with terrible stories). And I think we can expect basically all our love interests to return with terrible stories going forward. Honestly what they should have done is mostly had the love interest be the people we recruit in the chapters. I'd have been so much happier getting to recruit Mako instead of Gault, or Scourge or Kira instead of Rusk. Or any of those I mentioned instead of the random new ones with no personality at all.

But that ship has sailed I'm afraid. They tried to save the best for last, but now it's gonna be the worst returns for last.

It seems to me that many of you complaining here, and elsewhere, aren't going to be satisfied until the game is shut down. I saw less complaining in Warhammer Online, and it was far more justified there.

The reality is this: Bioware has only a fraction of the resources to manage, maintain, and develop new content for this game that they had in the first year. Their staff was reduced, their budget cut, and subsequent design decisions are now based on an efficiency model, centered around micro-transactions. If the game gets to the point where it is no longer in the black, you can bet your race car beds that EA will pull the plug. Perhaps then you won't have anything more to complain about.

It seems to me that many of you complaining here, and elsewhere, aren't going to be satisfied until the game is shut down. I saw less complaining in Warhammer Online, and it was far more justified there.

 

The reality is this: Bioware has only a fraction of the resources to manage, maintain, and develop new content for this game that they had in the first year. Their staff was reduced, their budget cut, and subsequent design decisions are now based on an efficiency model, centered around micro-transactions. If the game gets to the point where it is no longer in the black, you can bet your race car beds that EA will pull the plug. Perhaps then you won't have anything more to complain about.

Perhaps another way to look at it is the current development team aren't going to be happy until they have shut the game down and can be transferred to the Anthem team.

No one posting here is responsible for such lacking companion returns which were the highlight of 5.7. No one on the forums was responsible for the mess that was 2017 for this game. No one on these forums was responsible for the story arc what little there has been dragged out over an entire year was responsible for another traitor story arc one that for many makes no sense. No one here was responsible for the focus of 2017 being group content resulting in so few players that they are down to 5 servers two of which are language specific as their reason for existing as opposed to number of players in those areas. No one on the forums were responsible for shutting down the west coast data center and driving a lot of players off.

Sure we blame the budget but can anyone find anywhere some information stating that the budget has been cut or is so small. Cause I have never seen it, No where have I seen it stated that the budget is less than last year or the year before. If anything it seems there is a poor use of the budget, they have a writing team that is putting out next to no story, getting Actors in to record 2 and a half mins of dialogue maybe up to 5 mins if you include the choices not taken but generally the majority is the same regardless of choice. Or how it can taken a year to get out 4 op bosses when that appears to be the focus as Copero was developed during the Knights of.... production they just couldn't find a good place to use it. Turns out 2017, they decided a good place was asking too much and bolted something about a map on and called it a day.

I think its fairer to say the forums are mirroring the state of the game and nobody is happy with the lack of content.

It seems to me that many of you complaining here, and elsewhere, aren't going to be satisfied until the game is shut down. I saw less complaining in Warhammer Online, and it was far more justified there.

I think you're looking at it from the wrong perspective.

We complain because we care. We're disappointed because we care. We're still here, subbed, because we care, and we want the game to be the best it can be.

This, the 2-minute cutscenes held hostage by having to complete the content many of us don't enjoy, is far from the best it can be.

If we did NOT complain, we'd have already given up and moved along.

 

If we did NOT complain, we'd have already given up and moved along.

Sadly, this too will eventually happen. People can only take so much. But eh, thats life after all. Only people left will be those, which will be glad they are being fed scraps and microtransactions, which will fool EA to think they will always get away with this, when one good day they won't anymore.

Content is something "you do".

 

Cutscenes are something "you watch", OK there's Dialogue Choices - but by that token pressing W,A,S,D is also content, and no one really believes that.

 

All The Best

Watching a cutscene and making conversation choices is still doing something. Your insistance that it's not doesn't change that reality. It's clear you have your definition of what content is to YOU and what isn't, but that hardly makes it a general definition that could fit the player base. In fact as you have noticed there are already people that do not share your views on what content is or isn't.

And your comparison between dialogue choices and pressing w,a,s,d also is a fauly comparison.

Besides, what IS content actually to you? Content in game is either combat, story or exploration pretty much. So aside from not agreeing with your points, there isn't really much left by you that could be considered content. Perhaps crafting?

An operation or flash point is a mix of the three, just a different focus than story content. Now as someone already mentioned, one short convo isn't much. So it's a snippet of content. But to say that story conversations are not content is just your personal opinion and not a general definition. In fact I would go as far as to say that your definition is actually wrong but you are free to have that view of course.

you realize that I never defended the fail right? Yes, it was a fail agreed but some of you need to stay realistic or take a long break from the game because for a lot here it really comes across like an abusive relationship.

Why, what a splendid idea. Let's all take a break at the same time, and keep the forums nice and quiet instead of saying anything negative and staying, and see what happens to the game.

You are not really thinking this through, are you?

Hey folks,

 

There is a known issue with the Andronikos, Risha, and Corso return missions released in 5.7. Players who meet certain conditions are granted an additional mission that they cannot complete.

 

This issue occurs for Players who:

• Had previously romanced one of the returning characters (Andronikos, Risha, or Corso).
  
• Romanced Theron after the release of KOTFE.
  
• Chose to rekindle their original romance with one of the returning characters in 5.7.

 

Under these circumstances, the Player receives a mission called “Things Left Unsaid” which they cannot progress. This mission is a default one granted to any player who resumes a romance with a returning companion after having also romanced Theron, Koth, or Lana in KOTFE. Due to present circumstances, the mission cannot be completed with Theron for the time being. We will address this in an upcoming patch, and advise that those affected by the issue simply uncheck/hide the mission in their log for now.

 

We apologize for the inconvenience!

 

-eric

You can do it with Theron if your toon hasn't done Crisis on Umbara yet, HOWEVER, you apparently cannot do it with Koth if your toon was romanced with him at the end of KOTET.

You can do it with Theron if your toon hasn't done Crisis on Umbara yet, HOWEVER, you apparently cannot do it with Koth if your toon was romanced with him at the end of KOTET.

My smuggler was able to break up with Koth and I have done both Crisis on Umbara and Traitor among the Chiss.

 

This issue occurs for Players who:

• Had previously romanced one of the returning characters (Andronikos, Risha, or Corso).
  
• Romanced Theron after the release of KOTFE.
  
• Chose to rekindle their original romance with one of the returning characters in 5.7.

 

Under these circumstances, the Player receives a mission called “Things Left Unsaid” which they cannot progress. This mission is a default one granted to any player who resumes a romance with a returning companion after having also romanced Theron, Koth, or Lana in KOTFE. Due to present circumstances, the mission cannot be completed with Theron for the time being. We will address this in an upcoming patch, and advise that those affected by the issue simply uncheck/hide the mission in their log for now.

 

We apologize for the inconvenience!

 

-eric

I romanced Andronikos, didn't romance Theron, Lana or Koth and STILL got the 'Things left unsaid' mission that does nothing.

I romanced Andronikos, didn't romance Theron, Lana or Koth and STILL got the 'Things left unsaid' mission that does nothing.

I will be sad if this happens when Felix gets back. My consular has literally never flirted with anyone else even once.

Watched romanced Risha convo on Youtube.

Epic fail, character ruined. Even ignoring the short nothingness of the encounter itself, this was a special kind of bad.

gg BioWare. You dun goofed.

Watched romanced Risha convo on Youtube.

Same, after watching it, I'm not even sure I want to take the smuggler or anyone non force user through KOTFE/ET. If there's anything in the future for the smuggler, for me, I think I'll just YT it.

Bioware really, really, really, really, really, need to understand that most of us do not think that "cut scene dialogue" is actually content.

 

It isn't.

 

Its fluff that can be added to give actual content more feel, drama etc; but it damn well isn't content.

 

All The Best

I'm sorry but this is your opinion. You may not like cutscenes or companions or stories, but it's still CONTENT. I do stuff in the stories, I choose how I interact with the companions and NPCs. Hell, the main draw for me to this game STILL after 6 years being here and faithfully paying my sub is for the story. Everything else is extra to me. If all I wanted was to grind levels or operations or flashpoints, I could go back to WoW or even go back to Everquest/Everquest 2. I LIKE the story and cutscenes.

I'm not saying the small amount of time they gave us with Andronikos, Risha and Corso was epic, but it was good for me because I got 3 companions returned and there's more coming.

They're trying to get things out for everyone. I have a feeling 6.0 is around the corner and it'll involve Theron. As much as I enjoy flashpoints, I don't want JUST flashpoints to finish Theron's story.

Please don't tell us that story or cutscenes is not content. It's not content you enjoy, but it is still content.

Watched romanced Risha convo on Youtube.

 

Epic fail, character ruined. Even ignoring the short nothingness of the encounter itself, this was a special kind of bad.

 

gg BioWare. You dun goofed.

How did it ruin her character? Or are you talking about your smuggler? She and Corso were gone for 6 years, doing what they had to on their own to survive the Valkorian family and make enough money to survive. I know everyone's characterization pretty well (the player toons and our companions) and they seemed in character to me. It was a short scene so we didn't get an epic story about everything but Risha and Corso, and even Andronikos were all in character still. So what are you complaining about with character ruined?