Interview by the Passionately Casual Podcast live on June 7th, 2018

Listen to the whole episode: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/270645091

This is a human-made set of notes, to hear the exact words of the developers, please watch the video. I got sick of typing and didn't proofread, sorry.

DEVELOPERS

• Eric Musco (Community Manager) describes his job as "talking to people about video games for a living"
  
• Charles Boyd describes his job as getting to decide what goes in to video games (was previously on the writing team for a long time)
  

RISHI STRONGHOLD

• Charles Boyd excited about Rishi Stronghold "Space Pirate Vibe", loved it since Rishi was added (one of his favorute planets)
  
• Rishi Stronghold will have: mix of areas, has a beach section, has a rishi pirate shanty town kinda sections, there's one other - [audio cut of] - "flying" surprise??? (hard to tell what he said, something interesting)
  
• Musco was "genuinely lost" in one area during play testing, "Can someone please come show me where I'm supposed to go? Because I can not find - there too many places for me to be that I can't find where I'm going."
  
• Certainly, by number of hooks, the biggest [of the strongholds], real estate it HAS to be [the biggest]
  
• Joking about a permanent kai zykenn deco that can not be removed
  
• No queing system for Rishi Stronghold (arrange matches yourself, player-run, possibly allow it to be listed to be played in the future), Community Driven
  
• Any special things in strongholds that are pvp centric other than line of site stuff? Yes! Custom decos specifically for use in pvp like traps in huttball - firepit that you can run through and catch fire!
  
• Will you be able to keep score of your own personal huttball match? "Yes you will!"
  
• It's a tool, it takes some set up, people running it need to get it all together, it's not a flashy UI for you - but you can run your own huttball match in there!
  

PVP

• Devs feel like there haven't been lots of updates focused on pvp in the last year or two, and they wanted to show that commmunity "some love" and they are a major part of the community, and they deserve some new things as much as everyone else does
  
• A good chance to bundle all that up in a couple of updates and dive in to it
  
• "Shine the spotlight on them" "give them their day in the sun"
  
• Can really focus quality of life [on PvP - not just new content, but also bugfixes and changes]
  
• The idea that the devs were thinking about like having rakghouls appear temporarily in the summer during the pvp update has been scrapped - they tested it, they might do it in the future, but decided to focus efforts on improvements to existing warzones, rather than adding new things
  
• Shouldn't players who exploit be kicked out of a warzone instead of just killed? The hope is that the "slap on the wrist" of character death will remind them to be a good player and to play like a good player. You also wind up with a WZ with 1 less person and shorts the team, so hopefully a simple death will make a better match for everyone. By being slightly less heavy handed, it is also better for players who somehow accidentally enter the exploit areas won't receive a harsh penalty (devs are calling this "death volumes" I believe) - they don't want to throw out non-cheating characters by accident, "Err on the side of kindness"
  
• With these new anti-hacking measures the devs can see when a player repeatedly dies and not by being killed by other players... let's flag them for investigation. (This already happens, but this is a better way to find them quickly)
  
• In the immediate future they are focusing on communication, so if you are q'd for multiple thigns you know which one will pop - I'm going into an unranked warzone, and not a GSF match - you might now know which one you're going into
  
• Not going to allow players to choose which warzones they q for, due to slowing down the q's
  
• Might allow players to pick 2 they don't want to do (ex "I don't want to do Alderaan or Yavin") or make it less likely to get those. They don't think they will ever allow players to choose one warzones they want to play and only that warzone. No warzone picker.
  
• The devs saw a lot of badly-balanced teams, ex 3 healers in a team, and they wanted to fix that
  
• The game has always tracked its approximation of your skill (it is NOT your ranked rating, it's NOT pure ELO) based on a bunch of factors they won't release so no one games it
  
• They will improve the way that tracking works and believe it will do a much better job after 5.9.2 of paring people on both teams - roles and skill levels
  
• The server merge and cross-faction will also help to create better balanced teams
  
• Will GSF be cross faction? Yes. Most changes across the board are identically mirrored or as close as they can for Starfighter, and ranked and unranked PvP
  
• MOAR HUTTBALL coming in the summer!
  

PTS

• Still working that out, just had a meeting about it, a lot of factors, not quite ready to announce it, probably in the summer
  
• More time to discuss things on the forums first, and reverse changes or go in different directions - change plans before even getting to PTS "Are we achieving what we set out to achieve"
  
• We haven't done an open pts in quite some time. There will be instructions on how to get characters on the PTS (character copies, max level geared up vendors, etc requires discussion).
  
• Requirements for open PTS: have a subscription and be willing to download the PTS, no NDA - they want the widest group possible
  
• Can't say there will be rewards, but can say they had a very long meeting about this, that they need to be careful of - make sure they give incentives for trying and playing the content the way they need for testing
  
• They learned they need to set dates and expectations - like scheduled playtimes when there's people on, or provide rewards, or provide incentives like having the devs play
  
• Joking about having a "Come kill the devs" night for PvP testing on the PTS
  

EXPANSION

• Are we still on track for that, it was missing from the summer roadmap? "That's cus it's not coming in the summer, man" [laughing]
  
• Team has a habit of announcing something, and once they have said it, they stop saying it, but we often need to, to remind and poke
  
• "Yes, there is still an expansion in the works. I can't get into much more detail than that because it is still a ways out and we don't want to share details now that are likely going to shift and change" (when is it coming out, what exactly is it)
  
• "It's still in the formative stage"
  
• Not comfortable about saying anything about the timing yet
  
• Return to Empire vs Republic? Mm-hm. [Yes], "You'll be seeing some of that before the expansion."
  
• What will that entail? [laughing] "Empire people fighting Republic people?"" [jokingly] [more laughing]
  
• Joking about Lana vs Theron in a steel cage match
  
• "Well Lana and Theron are both Alliance people - so that's a little different"
  
• Will it be a fully fleshed out xpac? Ops? full planets? flashpoints? Can you give us any idea? No. Not that we don't want to. Doesn't want to create false expectations.
  
• Not a part of the Knights of the xxx story, it's a new story (extra confirmation)
  
• Some sort of mechanic to resolve that players have been making different choices, and some characters are alive and others are dead is differnet for each player? Who controls a particular faction can be very important or not important depending on the story. Would like to keep it reflective of the player's choices as long as possible before picking one or the other. Goal would be not to collapse those choices to soon if they didn't have to.
  
• Companions returning? Darkside Jaesa coming later in the summer, plans in motion for several more to tie in to story at the end of the year, including Khem Val
  
• Will all comps return by 6.0? That is Charles's goal. Has plans for every companion, only Xenith doesn't have a plan on the calendar. (does not mean he won't return, don't be concerned) Whether plans come together before the expansion, it is his goal
  
• Can we expect new lcass features with the upcoming content? Meaningful companion interaction like shipboard missions? Not ready to say yet. Loves the class stuff in shadow of revan with some class specific interludes to give it some class flavor. Too early to say one way or another.
  
• Vaylin romance and bringing her back? Not anywhere in Charle's plans, very unlikely, "that story is done and told"
  
• Joking about bringing Vaylin back as hologram/force ghost
  
• Separate class story line for Force characters vs Tech characters? It could get tricky if it Republic vs Empire - there would be 4 storylines instead. They did a little of this with the chapters, like the military or underworld chapters.
  
• Removing weekly operations passes, funneling players towards subbing, have you revisited that? They discuss pretty constantly. Ongoing business concern. Nothing to announce. Keith is a fan of having a broader experience and opening things up more. Wouldn't be surprised if you saw something like that in the future. Galactic Command really complicated things. As they move away from it, it's more supplementary, and opens up new options.
  

LORE

• The Passionately Casual Podcast will have a second interview focused on lore on their next episode!
  
• It sounds like the exact date is not hammered down but probably check their twitter for announcements
  
  

[*] No queing system for Rishi Stronghold (arrange matches yourself, player-run, possibly allow it to be listed to be played in the future), Community Driven

^^ Best PvP addition to the game since launch, in my view.

It harkens back to community organized PvP for PvP sake/fun that was popular more than a decade ago.

I honestly hope this encourages players to promote their own PvP.. and stop complaining about rewards based PvP as the "only PvP worth doing". Of course the Stronghold owner/guild can promote rewards if they like, to attract players to play their Stronghold.... but I bet this is more of a boon to guilds than individual players.

Nothing about solo mode for Macrobinoculars / Seeker Droid missions. :( :( :( :(

When will this come???????????

[*] Joking about bringing Vaylin back as hologram/force ghost

I shared a similar sentiment a little while ago, glad to see the devs and I share the same humor!

Thank you M'lady. Yet another wonderful job done.

Do we have to go back to imp vs pub?

Yes...

Do we have to go back to imp vs pub?

Vaylin romance and bringing her back? Not anywhere in Charle's plans, very unlikely, "that story is done and told"

Awww, Paul!

Yes...

why?

Awww, Paul!

I would have been happy with the non story companion. Like the droids and the dog pet companion things.

Thank you to everyone saying thank you, it's very motivating, it was a pain to write up but I figured you all would appreciate it.

Nothing about solo mode for Macrobinoculars / Seeker Droid missions. :( :( :( :(

 

When will this come???????????

Lol, this interview is focused on PvP and summer updates, they have a limited time and they did a great job focusing their questions on things the devs would answer.

Thank you to everyone saying thank you, it's very motivating, it was a pain to write up but I figured you all would appreciate it.

 

 

 

Lol, this interview is focused on PvP and summer updates, they have a limited time and they did a great job focusing their questions on things the devs would answer.

I know Just hopeful someday is all

[*] "It's still in the formative stage"

That was the most disconcerting part of the whole thing.

LadyAdmiral, thank you for the write up!

" ... Rishi Stronghold "Space Pirate Vibe ... "

"Rishi Stronghold will have: mix of areas, has a beach section, has a rishi pirate shanty town kinda sections ... "

The Star Wars meets the Pirates of the Caribbean vibe is exactly what I don't like about Rishi. And, the Rishii bird people. Something about them brings out the mean in me. Still, I'm looking forward to the new SH. A beach, large outside area, and a great hook layout will have me getting this SH.

OP, thank you for putting this together.

I'm saving up my cc to buy the rishi stronghold. I figure it'll be the standard 2500cc plus x amount for all the room unlocks.

Being that the rishi stronghold is supposedly huge, I'm wondering if EA's target cc expenditure is 5000cc, 2.5k for the sh and another 2.5k for all of the room unlocks. I hope they don't amount to that much, but it wouldn't surprise me.

The advantage of purchasing a stronghold with cartel coins rather than credits is that you can dismiss the sh and re-purchase it for zero, as a quick way to clear all the decos out rather than having to clear each room separately, and should you transfer a toon to another server, the cc-bought stronghold follows the legacy over, while a credit-purchased stronghold must be repurchased on the destination server, for the full purchase amount, after the transfer.

Unlocks are honored whether purchased with cc or credits, but hopefully my cc will accumulate to the point where I can just do it all with cc.

LadyAdmiral, thank you for the write up!

 

" ... Rishi Stronghold "Space Pirate Vibe ... "

 

"Rishi Stronghold will have: mix of areas, has a beach section, has a rishi pirate shanty town kinda sections ... "

 

The Star Wars meets the Pirates of the Caribbean vibe is exactly what I don't like about Rishi. And, the Rishii bird people. Something about them brings out the mean in me. Still, I'm looking forward to the new SH. A beach, large outside area, and a great hook layout will have me getting this SH.

...which is exactly what I love about Rishi. Bit of a refreshing change from the ordinary hum-drum expectations of an imperial or pub city, and if there was ever a 3rd faction introduced that separated smugglers and bounty-hunters from pubs and imps, Rishi would make a natural home base, far more so than under the glaring city lights of Nar Shadaa.

Interview by the Passionately Casual Podcast live on June 7th, 2018

Listen to the whole episode: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/270645091

 

This is a human-made set of notes, to hear the exact words of the developers, please watch the video. I got sick of typing and didn't proofread, sorry.

Really appreciate your work in doing this. Thank you

Yes, thanks for the transcription ... and all you do for the community!

Sounds good for you PvP'rs. But the 6.0 lack of info and vagueness are disappointing (though expected). My sub has expired. So, maybe I'll talk to ya'll again if/when it drops.

OP: Thank you very much for the transcription. I will never listen to podcasts like that, thus I much appreciate a well written summary.

Nothing about solo mode for Macrobinoculars / Seeker Droid missions. :( :( :( :(

 

When will this come???????????

This will never come. I doubt there are coders left who even know those missions exist.

 

EXPANSION

• Are we still on track for that, it was missing from the summer roadmap? "That's cus it's not coming in the summer, man" [laughing]
  
• Team has a habit of announcing something, and once they have said it, they stop saying it, but we often need to, to remind and poke
  
• "Yes, there is still an expansion in the works. I can't get into much more detail than that because it is still a ways out and we don't want to share details now that are likely going to shift and change" (when is it coming out, what exactly is it)
  
• "It's still in the formative stage"

No one should be disappointed or surprised now. I warned the too excited people again and again to lower their expectations regarding "6.0 confirmed YEAH, we love you, BW".

I repeat my optimistic point of view:

Around November 2018: First FP leading into 6.0

Around March 2019: Second FP leading into 6.0

June 2019: Third FP leading into 6.0

Summer 2019: hyping 6.0

Winter 2019: 6.0

Thank you for the summary!!

What I wonder is if the Rishi PVP Stronghold also wont make less people que for pvp and therefore affect the Que!

Thank you for the interesting nuggets.

The one thing that I would say would be nice, is allow players a CHOICE on who to work for.

We essentially got to a point in the story where it is entirely feasible for cross faction to happen.

Therefore, go for it.

...which is exactly what I love about Rishi. Bit of a refreshing change from the ordinary hum-drum expectations of an imperial or pub city, and if there was ever a 3rd faction introduced that separated smugglers and bounty-hunters from pubs and imps, Rishi would make a natural home base, far more so than under the glaring city lights of Nar Shadaa.

Rishi reminds me of the Weequay pirates from Clone Wars, which I like. So bring on the pirate theme! Yarr!