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Swoop Rally PTS Feedback


DanielSteed

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Hello everyone!

 

The All Worlds Ultimate Swoop Rally is now on PTS. This is our new recurring in-game event and it will function like other events, such as Pirate Incursion or Rakghoul Resurgence. Like with the other events, the starting Mission can be found on the Fleet. From there, players will be directed to Dantooine and can then branch out to Tatooine and Onderon as well. With this first iteration, here is the feedback that the team is looking for:

 

 

  • Were the Missions fun?
  • Were the Missions the right length (not too long, not too short)?
  • Were the objectives for each Mission clear?
  • Which gang's Missions did you like the most? The least?
  • Did each gang's objectives make the course feel a little different?
  • Were you able to easily stay on the course?
  • Did you understand the bike abilities?
  • Did the speed of the bike feel good?
  • What did you enjoy the most? What did you dislike?

 

There are a few known issues that the team is currently working on fixing:

 

 

  • The intro conversation for the Swoop event has not been completed. There are no (working) cinematics, and it will be easy to get stuck in a loop in the conversation because scripting has not been done. There is definitely a path through the conversation, but if people are getting caught in a loop, they should try different dialogue options.
  • The rewards vendor for the event is not ready. Items on them are non-functional, and the list of rewards they will eventually offer is incomplete.
  • There are no achievements for the swoop event currently.

 

Let us know your thoughts!

 

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Lot of potential, could definitely use some tweaks.

 

-Length was pretty good, although I wouldn't complain if races were a bit shorter

 

-All bikes should be faster

 

-The sandstorm mechanic isn't fun

 

-I feel like traps should be a bit more of an issue, maybe running into them too much can destroy the bike

 

-Tatooine & Dantooine were pretty straightforwards, Onderon wasn't

 

-Horizon's Razor is definitely the most enjoyable, although this is probably because the other gangs felt a bit slow to me

 

-A little more "danger" would be great, maybe running into traps too often will destroy your bike, or maybe make the screamer's flair ability make it temporarily harder to control your bike

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So I have to say the basic idea behind the event is very nice, but it is definitely missing the finishing touches.

 

1. The sandstorm is superfluous and especially difficult for people with less reaction time to avoid

2. The mission goals were understandable to me after the second attempt, but maybe they should be described a little more

3. On Dantooine I got stuck with the bike on some jumps. Especially with the house where you can jump directly down the cliff. I lost valuable time there

4. The skills are pretty clear, but I have to say that you should change that with blowing up the barrels, because otherwise you can get lost very quickly

5. The length of the races is okay and in itself the event is a lot of fun and I am looking forward to it

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Everything seems straight forward, except for one major flaw (In my bearded opinion.) Speed! It's a swoop bike race, it's a high speed event. Right now my regular mount goes faster, not to mention the speed of the speeder bikes that take you to different locations on the planets map--much faster.

 

This event has a lot of potential, but what will kill it, is the speed the bikes currently go. Get those swoops bikes out of first gear, and I think you might have an amazing new event. If you don't, people will get bored quickly.

 

Boomy

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  • Were the Missions fun?

 

The missions were a bit repetitive but its fun, the razors' especially reminds me of swoop racing from KOTOR II. Having to avoid mines and get the power-ups was definitely nostalgic to me. The Beks were fun but I feel like I'm either playing it wrong by trying to be fast as well as blowing things up as for the pit screamers it was fun but other than the new cool animation there isn't much to say on that front.

 

  • Were the Missions the right length (not too long, not too short)?

I think they're well balanced in terms of time, I think my biggest issue right now is I believe the timer for the bonus quests is too low.

 

  • Were the objectives for each Mission clear?

Yes.

 

  • Which gang's Missions did you like the most? The least?

The razor's, it felt like KOTOR I and II. I've liked the Beks the least, trying to target the stuff to be blown up while also running at high speeds isn't very intuitive. Though the fireworks ability works well provided you're able to spot it in time.

 

  • Did each gang's objectives make the course feel a little different?

Yes and no, the course overall feels the same but the way to go about it is more similar in the Razors and in the Screams IMO, though the latter is more of showing off properly while being fast while the former is completely focused on speed. The Beks are an interesting bunch but again I don't think the targeting system is intuitive to be used while also on high speed. Unless we are supposed to slow down when we're about to blow up something.

 

  • Were you able to easily stay on the course?

For the most part yes though Dantooine could be confusing at times. Maybe it is just me but Tatooine and Onderon felt much more linear where as with Dantooine I was sometimes wondering if I was indeed heading into the right direction.

 

  • Did you understand the bike abilities?

Yes, the tooltip is informative and it didn't took long to figure out what was what. Though if the NPCs could explain it to you beforehand I think it would helpful for new players.

 

  • Did the speed of the bike feel good?

The speed could be higher in my opinion. I'll understand if it can't due to engine limitations but it is swoop racing after all, its not bad as it is but I do wish it was a little bit faster at times.

 

  • What did you enjoy the most? What did you dislike?

I've enjoyed there is a variety of tracks and speeders to use, what I least enjoyed was the timers on the bonus missions. Either we get faster swoop bikes or those timers should be raiser. I believe the objectives could also be lowered a bit, at least the Bek's. Due to the speed, it is kind of hard to try and hit those barrels. The fireworks are fine since you only need to press a button but with the barrels you actually have to aim and you might not have time for that while running. Oh yeah, and the sandstorm on Tatooine, I'm not sure if the effects are missing to me but all I get is slowed down without any warning, there should be a way to avoid it or prepare for it... maybe use the speed boost right before it allowing you to travel through normal speed while the storm lasts?

 

Overall though its solid fun and I'm glad SWTOR is finally adding these types of mini-games, a shame it'll only be an event and not permanent 24/7 but oh well. I guess those tracks would be troublesome during the Nova Blades invasion of Dantooine.

Edited by FlameYOL
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Echoing what others said, I find that the bikes themselves could be a bit faster. I initially also had some trouble distinguishing what I was supposed to throw grenades at and what to avoid.

 

Biggest gripe I have with this so far is, why isn't this instanced? Jury-rigging a track onto Dantooine's already small surface seems so cheap and it certainly puts a tight squeeze on what you can actually design as a track. Likewise, some people already experiences collision on the track with other players. Seems like a bad idea to allow for multiple people on the same track, "fighting" for objectives, hence why there should be an instanced track.

 

Also, one thing have I have already criticized with several other "alternate modes of transportation", like Walkers in KOTET and Iokath, the mouse droids in Dantooine etc, is there is no means of strafing. Directional inputs on Q and E don't work.

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Were the Missions fun?

Absolutely! They offered up some game-play of a different variety and I'm really glad that they were across three planets.

 

Were the Missions the right length (not too long, not too short)?

I thought they were actually a decent length!

 

Were the objectives for each Mission clear?

The objective that wasn't immediately obvious for me was the lighting the flares near the stands. I didn't notice the small stands of NPCs scattered throughout the course on the first two runs! I put that down to my own lack of observation though.

 

Which gang's Missions did you like the most? The least?

The Horizon Razors were my absolute favourite. It felt speedy and like I was really racing. The Blantent Beks (loved that name, by the way) were still fun, but I felt could benefit from a slightly quicker base speed. The Pit Screamers were good! One or two mishaps where I didn't launch off of a ramp as intended, but I enjoyed it. That bike felt particularly slow, even when I successfully avoided obstacles, but that may be because it's the first one I tried and I didn't immediately realise it was more of an obstacle course.

 

Did each gang's objectives make the course feel a little different?

Yes, a lot more than I thought they would! The different bikes were a nice touch, too! Variety is good!

 

Because I was playing alone, I wasn't sure if my destroying (Blantent Beks) targets prevented other players passing through from doing the same. I just imagined having to re-do that a silly number of times if there had been 5 other people coming through at the same time. But I enjoyed this course.

 

Were you able to easily stay on the course?

Yep!

 

Did you understand the bike abilities?

I thought they were all clear. I was just using the flare at the wrong times and it took me 2-3 laps to go "Ohhhhhh, those stands." But other than, fine!

 

Did the speed of the bike feel good?

The Horizon Razors felt good. I thought the other two could be a touch quicker.

 

What did you enjoy the most? What did you dislike?

You knocked it out of the park with the Onderon course! I loved it! Really, you did a great job. There's a lot of variety for players and that's much appreciated. It's nice to focus on something that builds on the culture of the world in the game and makes it feel more alive, rather than just fighting more NPCs all of the time.

 

What I really didn't like was the traps on the Tatooine course. I thought it was a good idea to keep each trap in the theme of the planet you were on, but the dust storms were quite subtle and it took me a moment to even work out what kept stopping me because they blended in so seamlessly with the environment in places. That's the only one I would look at.

 

After completing the first three races on Dantooine, my initial thought was "I wish that speed boost was about 2 seconds shorter!"

 

I do hope that you consider adding Manaan in there with Onderon, Tatooine and Dantooine some day. :)

 

This is a really fun idea for an event and I'm really glad that you took the time and effort to implement it for us.

Edited by MagSul
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  • Were the Missions fun?

The explosives one on Onderon was a bit frustrating, for the reasons already highlighted, plus one of my own:

* The two types of objective are not clearly distinguished.

* The bomb stands are sometimes *way* too close together.

* It would be nice if the bomb toss was automatically aimed to reduce the concentration workload.

 

Apart from that, good fun.

  • Were the Missions the right length (not too long, not too short)?

Definitely Goldilocksed it, just right.

  • Were the objectives for each Mission clear?

I probably should have *read* them on the starting line, but yes, apart from:

* The bomb stands and firework stands are less different than they should be.

  • Which gang's Missions did you like the most? The least?

For sheer speed, the Horizon's Razor missions are the best, and the Beks were let down by the various problems noted above.

  • Did each gang's objectives make the course feel a little different?

For sure.

  • Were you able to easily stay on the course?

No problems there, even with occasional Transatlantic sync glitches. Having the display running at 120fps helped a *lot*.

  • Did you understand the bike abilities?

No problem there.

  • Did the speed of the bike feel good?

A bit slower than they really should be. The "normal" (non-turbo) speed doesn't feel any faster than a regular speeder (which is below 40mph).

  • What did you enjoy the most? What did you dislike?

Liked:

  • The races (all of them, but especially the Horizon's Razor ones) perfectly captured the essence of Mario Kart, thankfully without any Blue Shells. Total thumbs up for that.
  • The sense of speed in Turbo mode. Pity they aren't faster in normal mode.
  • As already noted by others, the slow advance to the starting line was a nice touch.

Disliked:

  • The "jump to mission location" quick travel buttons for the different missions on the same planet are on a shared cooldown, which obstructs (partially) the idea of running a full set of Razor dailies then a full set of Bek dailies then a full set of Screamer dailies. Running them that way helps simplify the brain-strain that comes from switching styles a lot. Minor niggle, but a niggle nonetheless.
  • The Onderon course feels excessively intricate, and the tunnel section is dark enough to make the spear traps hard to see. (Also: can you aggro the red-name mobs in the canyon near the beginning? I managed to not do it, but I don't know whether that was luckskill in operation or that we are incapable of doing so.)
  • The Tatooine sandstorm traps are problematic because the hit-box is unclear and the visual is too much like "ambient chatter", the sort of thing that you'd expect to see anyway. Both the other trap types are relatively easy to see (except in the Onderon tunnel) with fairly obvious hit-boxes. I understand the need for traps on all three, but the Tatooine ones should be clearer.

 

EDIT: one other thing.

Dislikes:

  • It's too easy to dismount by accident in the Beks runs, because the key "dismount" is next to the key for "trigger fireworks". Please either move the dismount button to the other end of the quickbar, or let me move it myself and, obviously in the second case, have the game remember the changed layout.

Edited by SteveTheCynic
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Oddity: In the Beks race on Onderon, when you follow the *first* (branched) jump up out of the canyon, there's a bomb rack below and one above. Tossing a grenade at the one below blows up the rack above. Tossing a second grenade at the one below blows it up.
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Dislikes:

  • It's too easy to dismount by accident in the Beks runs, because the key "dismount" is next to the key for "trigger fireworks". Please either move the dismount button to the other end of the quickbar, or let me move it myself and, obviously in the second case, have the game remember the changed layout.

Yes, I know, get better at keeping track of where my fingers are, *and* until then turn off the keybind, but it feels ... wrong to have to do that. (Turning off the keybind does work around the problem, but ...)

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Were the Missions fun?

Each gangs mission was unique to themselves, but I felt they got pretty boring replaying it on more then one map and other characters, If there was a system like on Iokath that the missions rotate daily, I think it would keep players attention longer and wanting to go back and do more races.

 

Were the Missions the right length?

They where a perfect length, It didn't drag along feeling like a side mission, it made it feel more like a activity.

 

Were the objectives for each mission clear?

Beks: Toss Explosive - the containers felt hard too see across all maps, maybe get a arrow to point at it until you get too close to it?

Mines- fun to dodge, but the explosion threw me over a barrier and I had to circle back, outside of the race to find a re entry point, maybe lower the impact or pub invisible walls up on barriers?

Screamers: Flair - I think the cool down on it is a tad too long, adds for a bit of the Challenge, but hard to recover when another stand is right around the corner and it's on cool down.

 

Which gang's Missions did you like the most? The least?

I really liked the Razor's objectives, felt the easiest to finish, Bek's I struggled with, bomb management felt hard to aim it while trying to stay on track.

 

Did each gang's objectives make the course feel a little different?

Yes, having to do different objectives made it fun

 

Were you able to easily stay on the course?

They are a bit confusing the first few times playing it, trying to learn the bike, look at objectives and race, I barely noticed the signs pointing around the track, they are very open, and I liked that, there was a few times I got lost and got attacked on the swoop, maybe that will pose a issue?

 

Did you understand the bike abilities?

From the staging area to the race, gives you plenty of time to read over the abilities, so yes, I was able to know what the abilities did before getting into the race

 

Did the speed of the bike feel good?

On the track it feels a bit slow until you use a boost, U think maybe turning the speed up on it a bit would make it feel more like a race, and put a cool down on the speed boosts.

 

What did I enjoy the most? What did I dislike?

Likes: It's a fun and fresh concept for the game, the tracks are unique to each planet and are built into the surrounding area, The gangs seem neat, can't wait to see the update with cinematic and voice acting. It adds new reputation, and another activity to fill some time in ques etc. Riding up the the race on the bike was really fun (Can I race the gangs on my Kai Zykken mount? :p )

 

Disliked: The lack of mission variety for each gang, Tatooine is hard to navigate dust storms, hard to see the razor's objectives because of how bright it is on the ground, Parts of each map are very open, and easy to get lost and turned around. I was really hopping with racing coming to swtor there was going to be a multiplayer aspect to it, Maybe add some group missions? like group up with 2, 4 and 8 people and have a race with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, prizes that give extra reputation and other stuff. Or have a option for an open race where people wait on the start line until more people show up. The jumps on the maps felt clunky, ride up to it, stopped, then jumped. I also feel like the Onderon map feels right in the middle of people doing dailies and story stuff? will this be a issue in the future?

 

The event has great potential and I love it so far!

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I feel stupid because of all the people who have figured this out but,

HOW DO I FIND THE SWOOP RACES?

This seems really oddly difficult. I opened the new recommendations window (which btw has broken the chat window) and open my log for the swoop races. It takes me to the conquest screen. So still trying to find them, I see it mentions Dantooine.

I fly to Dantooine and... nothing? There's a mission board, with no swoop missions, and I see nothing on the map to indicate where I start this cool sounding content.

 

Can someone please explain to me the right and fastest way to actually access this content?:rak_02:

 

So UPDATE:

I wandered around Dantooine long enough to stumble upon the very slowly loading swoop race stuff.

But. I still can't access the content. I have spoken to every NPC here and I am not eligible for any of the conversations. The track sure looks neat though.

I asked in general, and there are about 5 other people just wandering around here trying to figure it out.

 

Can you please focus on making this content accessible?

 

SECOND UPDATE:

I noticed the very small mention in the post that "As usual these are found on the fleet"

So I go to the fleet and I've now spoken with every droid and terminal with a hexagon over their heads and still, none of these are swoop missions. There are all the uprisings, warzones, ops, weekly heroics, but I still don't see something I can interact with to access the swoop races.

When I went to Dantooine I did see [Weekly Swoop Gang Mission Termina] but I wasn't eligible for the conversation, again.

I've asked in fleet as well and so far same story, anyone who bothers to respond is also lost.

Edited by joshselvidge
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I feel stupid because of all the people who have figured this out but,

HOW DO I FIND THE SWOOP RACES?

This seems really oddly difficult. I opened the new recommendations window (which btw has broken the chat window) and open my log for the swoop races. It takes me to the conquest screen. So still trying to find them, I see it mentions Dantooine.

I fly to Dantooine and... nothing? There's a mission board, with no swoop missions, and I see nothing on the map to indicate where I start this cool sounding content.

 

Can someone please explain to me the right and fastest way to actually access this content?:rak_02:

 

So UPDATE:

I wandered around Dantooine long enough to stumble upon the very slowly loading swoop race stuff.

But. I still can't access the content. I have spoken to every NPC here and I am not eligible for any of the conversations. The track sure looks neat though.

I asked in general, and there are about 5 other people just wandering around here trying to figure it out.

 

Can you please focus on making this content accessible?

 

It's like every other event, you need to get to the Fleet and access the event terminal there.

EDIT: Like the Dantooine Event, there is a floating terminal near the elevators on Fleet.

Edited by HanArcwield
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It's like every other event, you need to get to the Fleet and access the event terminal there.

EDIT: Like the Dantooine Event, there is a floating terminal near the elevators on Fleet.

 

Thanks, Someone just finally told me this in fleet. I had to pass the info on to 4 other people who were also lost.

 

I didn't even notice that these were interactible and for me, they didn't even load on screen till I was just a few feet away from them. Apparently i was zooming by too quickly on my way to the mission icons to let these load on screen properly.

Even then, they weren't glowing blue or causing my cursor to become a finger to indicate I can interact with it.

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EDIT: Like the Dantooine Event, there is a floating terminal near the elevators on Fleet.

There is, and for me it was *broken* in an unsubtle way. It loaded very, very slowly, leaving just the mission triangle floating way up high. When it did load in, the floating terminal floated below the level of my character's head.

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Hello everyone!

 

The All Worlds Ultimate Swoop Rally is now on PTS. This is our new recurring in-game event and it will function like other events, such as Pirate Incursion or Rakghoul Resurgence. Like with the other events, the starting Mission can be found on the Fleet. From there, players will be directed to Dantooine and can then branch out to Tatooine and Onderon as well. With this first iteration, here is the feedback that the team is looking for:

 

 

  • Were the Missions fun?
  • Were the Missions the right length (not too long, not too short)?
  • Were the objectives for each Mission clear?
  • Which gang's Missions did you like the most? The least?
  • Did each gang's objectives make the course feel a little different?
  • Were you able to easily stay on the course?
  • Did you understand the bike abilities?
  • Did the speed of the bike feel good?
  • What did you enjoy the most? What did you dislike?

 

There are a few known issues that the team is currently working on fixing:

 

 

  • The intro conversation for the Swoop event has not been completed. There are no (working) cinematics, and it will be easy to get stuck in a loop in the conversation because scripting has not been done. There is definitely a path through the conversation, but if people are getting caught in a loop, they should try different dialogue options.
  • The rewards vendor for the event is not ready. Items on them are non-functional, and the list of rewards they will eventually offer is incomplete.
  • There are no achievements for the swoop event currently.

 

Let us know your thoughts!

 

 

Great new event! After all the shoot-this, shoot-that stuff, this is like a breath of fresh air.

So, to answer the questions:

 

1) Yes, this event is definitely fun. Loved trying to understand how it works and trying the 3 different races.

 

2) The races were of good length, definitely didn't end abruptly, neither did it feel too long or boring.

 

3) Yes, the objectives were clear, but for the Beks alone, i feel it would be better to use different markers for the firework stands and the exploding barrels. Sometimes get hard to differentiate while you're trying to race.

 

4) Loved the Horizon's Razor races, while Beks were my least favorite due to the number of objective that you need to keep your eyes peeled for. I would say reducing the number required to complete, or making them more like bonus missions would be better, but it's still enjoyable as of now.

 

5) Definitely, the different objectives made you focus on the course in a different way, adding a new flavor to them.

 

6) Staying on course was not an issue, but Onderon would benefit from a more enclosed route that isn't misleading. Also not a fan of the random mobs that you might aggro if you go a bit off the course there. (Tatooine, meanwhile, was more enjoyable despite the mobs, because you could easily avoid them. The number of trees in Onderon make it hard to do so.)

 

7) Bike abilities were plain and easy to understand, no criticism there.

 

8) Like everyone else mentioned, the bikes could be faster! I would like swoop racing to feel faster than just normal mount speeds. Might make staying on course challenging!

 

9) Enjoyed the most: The Time limit bonus mission was good, made me really want to do it quicker, and get it right on the first go. Felt like you were multi-tasking while trying to stay on target, and that was pretty cool!

Disliked: It's not an actual race against anyone, Player or NPC. Would at least like a lap timing leaderboard for each gang!

 

Overall, GREAT new event! Thanks a lot for this content, Devs, reminds me of the little things I enjoy about Star Wars.

 

(On a not so relevant note, this is my first Forum post :D)

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Were the Missions fun? Yes, but only the first few times, doing it multiple times weekly would most probably feel just boring after a while.

 

Were the Missions the right length (not too long, not too short)? The story missions were alright, might be a bit too short, the racing quests are fine, only thing that might be a bit annoying is going back to use the flairs if you forget about them.

 

Were the objectives for each Mission clear? Some kind of intro run would be nice, it's not actually clear at first what you can/can't do and that you can do additional runs if you fail, when you just get the dailies thrown at you.

 

Which gang's Missions did you like the most? The least? For racing best to worst: horizon's razors > pit screamers > blatant beks, because higher speed just feels so much better. For story quests: blatant beks > horizon's razors > pit screamers.

 

Did each gang's objectives make the course feel a little different? Not really, and in my opinion this is the main reason why the missions feel a bit boring after a while (aside from the speed issue), would love to see some extra mechanics/possibility of failing added.

 

Were you able to easily stay on the course? Mostly yes.

 

Did you understand the bike abilities? Not exactly at first, but it's not really a problem, at least it gives us some space for exploring.

 

Did the speed of the bike feel good? No, it feels way too slow even if I use all the speed boosts available, only time when the speed actually felt right was when i used turbo boost on the horizon's razors bike, but that should be more like the normal speed, not the boosted one. Hopefully, desync won't be an issue with higher speeds, like I can already desync through the finish line from time to time if I use speed boost.

 

What did you enjoy the most? What did you dislike? I'm going break this down into multiple points:

  • Dantooine: overall the most boring course, the mechanics just feel...uninteresting, would be nice if we could at least utilize the mines to throw us in some direction.
  • Tatooine: the borders of the smoke cloud area should be more visible, sometimes it looks like I'm outside the zone, but still get the slow.
  • Onderon: probably the best of the 3, the traps and the jumps are a nice addition.
  • Would love a (more advanced) mek-sha course with the risk of falling down and maybe mechanics that are trying to push you off.
  • I know it's PTS, but when I first arrived to the area, it felt somewhat dead, adding some racing npcs while you're just hanging around the area and not actually in a race would be something that could make the zones feel more alive.
  • Overall: I love the idea of extra mechanics, like pickups, traps, would need more of the these with much higher impact than what they currently do and what i really disliked was how slow the bike is right now.
  • Edit: almost forgot about the timed bonus missions, which are also a great feature, what could be even greater is to have a few special achievements for making some heavily tight timers (e.g. complete run X on planet Y while doing some extra stuff in Z seconds).

Edited by swmasters
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So, after the first hour of figuring out how to actually do these, I was hooked and did them all.

I wish we could redo for fun/top time/etc

 

Were the Missions fun?

- Dantooine:

- Blatant Beks was a bit confusing at very first, but it was interesting. I found it a lot easier to get dioriented when looking for barrels to explode.

- Razors: Fun, it was straight forward but it felt a lot more like racing than the Beks did. The orbs were a little buggy at first and on the last big jump you sometimes hit an invisible wall, but other than that it was a very fun race

- Pit Screamers: It was also fun, but the Flare ability was either buggy, or the target area is too small because it didn't count one time the first run, and still missed half the second try. The animation is cool, but as with the razors that last jump hits a wall and it kind of ruins the fun for a second.

- Tatooine:

- Blatant Beks: Best one for these guys. It was clear and they were properly spaced so it was easy to get the bonus too.

- Razors: Very Fun, the course was laid out nicely and i felt like i was skirting the sandstorms at a close range to feel danger, but never forced to hit them if i was paying attention. The orbs are useable on this one too, I was able to use the 3 orb boost more than twice unlike Dantooine

- Pit Screamers: Also a lot of fun here. There were way less buggy jumps on this one and I was able to hit lots of flares and rings. However, that middle ring on the broken crawler is sometimes easy to smash into instead of jump through

- Onderon:

- Blatant Beks: Not that fun. Very buggy and I was never able to hit them all because it wasn't counting the explosions. The barrels and fireworks are laid out in really inuntuitive ways and i felt more like i was just hunting for barrels, not racing.

- Pit Screamers: This was a lot of fun for the most part. The first section where you should drop down to get rings instead of the high road feels a little wonky as you have to crash to go the right way. The stands were easy to see and near jumps which was awesome.

- Razors: Least fun of the 3 planets easily. The issues here are the way the orbs are set up, and the path is not clear which way to go in a few instances (do i go left and take the big jump through loops, or go right to the orb, and hit a spike trap?). Also that first jump in the cave is murder. It's so buggy and when it does work, you just smack into a little rock pltform and bug out to the ground. It's a really weird jump.

Overall:

Lots of fun overall. There is excellent potential here if the bugs are worked out and something is done about the Beks terrible aiming and timing

 

Were the Missions the right length (not too long, not too short)?

- I think the individual missions are the right length so as not to feel like a grind, but I wish i could do practice runs.

 

Were the objectives for each Mission clear?

- Not at all. First of all if you don't have a clean tracking log, they'll get lost immediately. Also because the bikes immediately move, I feel scrambled to quickly read the missions and figure out how to use the abilities for the mission quickly, or jam my bike into a kiosk to read.

- The Flare ability is clear but where the stands are isnt, the explosive and fireworks ones are not intuitive at all.

 

Which gang's Missions did you like the most? The least?

- Overall the Razors and Pit screamers were the most fun as they generally felt like racing and running a course. The Beks missions were the least fun. They felt like hunting and it was very frustrating to search for targets while moving, especially on Dantooine where it's very easy to get turned around.

 

Did each gang's objectives make the course feel a little different?

- Yes they did. It was clear what the differences were. If the orbs and loops are moved around more to make take the faster or more exciting path as appropriate they will feel more refined and unique

 

Were you able to easily stay on the course?

- On Tattooine and Onderon it was pretty easy to stay on course. Onderon jumps in the waterfall area got a little confusing but other than that area it's straightforward. Dantooine was confusing to me. Some of the areas were clear, but when you get into the farms and have to hunt for explosive barrels it's very easy to get lost.

 

Did you understand the bike abilities?

- After a few rounds yes. If we had a practice round first it would have helped greatly. With Dantooine's navigation issues on top of being the first course to learn on, it was very tough to get used to the vehicles at first.

 

Did the speed of the bike feel good?

- For me they felt too slow for the Razors. This was really hard to judge because there were so many instances where i would stop, jitter, or just fall doing a jump, which completely destroyed momentum. It was pretty random too, because i'd hit the same jump the same way twice and end up in very different spots, or just smack into an invisible wall.

 

What did you enjoy the most? What did you dislike?

- I loved the variety and the interesting locations. I also really enjoyed the orbs on the Razors missions as i felt like I was racing.

- I really didn't like the controls or the objectives for the Beks, combined with the navigation, control learning curve, instant movement, and leack of clear objectives, these were by far the least fun.

 

Also, not instancing these seems an odd choice. I was zooming through people fighting Sand People, which felt weird, and all the track elements loaded very laggy and randomly on approach in the real world.

 

PS: The swoop bike from KOTOR was perfect and no reason we couldn't fly those instead :)

Edited by joshselvidge
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Were the Missions fun? Yes, but I did not like the bomb throwing, especially on Onderon, it's hard to control while on ramps, I also fell trying to throw one and got knocked off the swoop by an arkonak.

Were the Missions the right length (not too long, not too short)? Seems good.

Were the objectives for each Mission clear? Yes, but the firework throwing could be more clear, or redesigned to not have us use a targeting reticle while trying to drive.

Which gang's Missions did you like the most? The least? Horizon's razer, because it felt like a race. Beks because of reasons above.

Did each gang's objectives make the course feel a little different? decent enough

Were you able to easily stay on the course? Once I understood the visuals, except on Onderon trying to throw.

Did you understand the bike abilities? Yes, but it was a little annoying at first to read them while moving.

Did the speed of the bike feel good? I think it could be faster, but at the same time I was recoiling on some high jumps, mostly on Dantooine.

What did you enjoy the most? What did you dislike? I liked the look of the courses, and the feel of horizon's razer missions. The Sandstorm on Tattooine, was a bit frustrating, took me a bit to realize what was even slowing me. Didn't like the bomb throwing.

 

For the most part, I liked what I saw, but I have a few concerns. I couldn't tell if when other people blow up the fireworks, it makes you not be able to.(I was on a different mission but the guy in front me detonated a firework and I saw it destroyed.) That could be problematic with so many people likely to run it on live. Also wondering about the feel of the races with lots of people running them, lag and such.

Edited by Krazhez
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  • Dantooine: overall the most boring course, the mechanics just feel...uninteresting, would be nice if we could at least utilize the mines to throw us in some direction.

You can, although it is extremely imprecise. They throw you (roughly) away from the centre of the mine, so to get thrown (for example) forward-left, loop around and hit the rear-left of the mine.

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TWITCH VIDEO OF THE FULL EVENT TEST

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/616104855

START AT 39 MINUTES FOR RACING TEST

 

 

MAJOR FEEDBACK

 

  1. If possible, please put the '5' key that makes you discount on the 0 key and farthest side of the abilities bar. Multiples times I accidentally dismounted myself when trying mash the 4 firework key. Definitely user error, but took away form the fun!
  2. Can you put a medcenter droid at the start line area. If you switch instances to meet a friend somewhere on onderon it teleports you in the middle of nowhere.
  3. Unless you have bigger plans / achievements please make it so you are invincible on the bike. There is too much of potential for trolling if you get hit once you get knocked off by players dragging enemies in. Being kicked off in pvp instance is kinda hilarious though.
  4. I had weird results if someone else was on the track... I had trouble testing due to the low amount of players online. If someone else triggered a spike trap, I didn't get caught on it. If someone else triggered fireworks I had to wait for the short respawn, but it might be too late by the time I moved on. How is that going to work with dozens of players in one instance?
  5. I think I had some trouble with the speed boost orbs. I felt like I was picking some up and they weren't counting for my "collect 3 use the special ability". Other times I got three, was ready to use the ability, then I would.. go .. through a jump or something and it would disappear and be wasted.

 

Were the Missions fun?

 

Yes! I liked.

 

Were the Missions the right length (not too long, not too short)?

 

Yes! I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of story cutscenes and the tracks feel a good length.

 

Were the objectives for each Mission clear?

 

Yes and not.

The text in the missions tells you what to do, the text that pops shows you what to do, the text in your mission log tells you what you need to do, but I still felt I struggled a lot to figure out what I needed to do on a track. But once I got it it was easy to understand - ex blow up the things that look like fireworks with the 4 key, blow up th red canisters with the 3 key, don't crash!

 

Which gang's Missions did you like the most? The least?

 

I honestly like them all equally.

Speed - blow things up - tricks, ALL GOOD

 

Did each gang's objectives make the course feel a little different?

 

Yes. Especially once I fully understood everything I think it will be more fun to start meta-gaming the different races on the same track.

 

Were you able to easily stay on the course?

 

A few times I fell off but it was not too bad and motivated me to not "fail" at that point again.

Though sometimes like on Dantooine it felt difficult to figure out where the track was once I fell off.

Its fine though.

 

I had some trouble with the starts of the course

1- I accidentally entered from the back of the start of the dantooine course LOL so I was swooping my way in to the encampment

2 - Later I accidentally entered the "end" of the swoop race because the two large structures for the start and end looked very similar to me. Then I figured out there was a blue line across the end. Then I STILL did it again because they looked so similar at a quick glance lol. Not a major issue worth fixing tho unless you can make some flags or something near the beginning idk?

 

Did you understand the bike abilities?

 

Yes hovering over them made sense.

Except braking, couldn't really see a use for it.

 

Did the speed of the bike feel good?

 

Saw people saying it was slow, I was happy with the speed. It felt faster than it was because you need to focus on the objectives and not pure racing.

 

What did you enjoy the most? What did you dislike?

 

I REALLY LIKE HOW IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO FAIL AND EVEN CASUAL GAMERS CAN PLAY. You can go backwards. There's no time limit. You can go back and get objectives you missed. I like that the objectives have a "wide radius" to hit them. I LOVE THIS. And if you are someone who wants to "do better" you have the timed trial - but nothing bad happens if you miss it.

 

Dislike... things that felt buggy. Desync rubber banding obviously. Little issues like the speed orbs above. Being confused about the course traps/objectives when another player was on it.

 

This seems like it is going to be a fun event for players to play and talk about, I'm looking forward to trying to reach the speed timer when it comes out next month now that I know how to play!

Edited by LadyAdmiral
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• Were the Missions fun?

It was fun to do, nice change

 

• Were the Missions the right length (not too long, not too short)?

Length was fine, maybe a bit longer would be nice, and focus a bit more on racing (against time)

 

• Were the objectives for each Mission clear?

At first not, but of course you need to get used to it as well

 

• Which gang's Missions did you like the most? The least?

I liked the "Horizon's Razor", and "Pit Screamers" the best as that comes much closer to actual racing. Please stop doing "Blatent Bek" it has nothing to do with racing, and the event is called Swoop RACE-ing

 

• Did each gang's objectives make the course feel a little different?

The changes between the three are nicely done, but please stay closer to actual racing

 

• Were you able to easily stay on the course?

Yes

 

• Did you understand the bike abilities?

Yes, but currently the break is not really needed, and in "Blatent Bek" you have to do too much, it doesn’t feel that you are racing anymore.

 

• Did the speed of the bike feel good?

Would be nicer to have slow, medium and fast bikes be more away from each other (in speed), and as mentioned by others before me change the speeds to a bit faster.

 

• What did you enjoy the most? What did you dislike?

Nice to have boost pads, but it would be more fun if they would stay on a bit longer and a bit faster

My main dislike as mentioned before is the "Blatent Bek" runs as it doesn’t feel that you are racing

 

What I am missing is that you are racing against time ( I know it is a bonus, but it would be more "real racing", if that was the main mission) or when you are done with the weekly, be able to activate a time based race and then randomly on one (or all three) of the 3 planets (or let it open up after the weekly)

Edited by Wybren
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I REALLY LIKE HOW IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO FAIL AND EVEN CASUAL GAMERS CAN PLAY. You can go backwards. There's no time limit.

There is a time limit in the Horizon's Razor races. Well, in reality, there are *two* different time limits. One cuts off one of the bonuses, and the other fails the whole race.

 

And if you dismount yourself (ref. your point - and mine - about the Dismount key being too close to the others), the race is automatically failed.

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