Hello all!

I am a new subscribing player enjoying the game with the heavily involved story, but my friends and I have a few issues as new players.

Issue 1: leveling is too fast.

We have been out leveling all of the zones and entering the following zones at level cap. We would do more side quests and dungeons, but we feel that there we are already supposed to move on. Being constantly level capped also removes the joy of progression as we are frequently at the max level in the zone, and it takes away from the leveling experience.

A side note... level boosts are in this game... I don't understand the rushed XP rates to get through the game. If I want to max level, I can use my level boost with my subscription or pay $20 on the cartel market.

Issue 2: Too easy.

Other than a few rare moments, we can mindlessly blaze through the quests with little thought of how to handle the fights, along with our companions being outrageously powerful. If there were more challenging fights where we had to plan out a way through difficult situations, the game would be much more enjoyable.

Issue 3: Travel

I know this may make a few people puzzled or upset, but the convenience of travel is a bit overboard... being able to fast travel around the map every 6 minutes and have a sprint along with having a speeder at level 10, I can travel around far too quickly and not able to fully enjoy the galaxy. Many people may say just don't use fast travel or the speeders and such, but the most fun in a video game or MMORPG is finding little shortcuts and ways to do things more efficiently. However, because this game goes so overboard, it feels that there are no little wins in finding a faster path because you are just zapping everywhere instead of exploring and learning the planet.

I am saying all this because I really enjoy the game! If the devs could slow the leveling process down a little, make things a touch more challenging and guide us to explore the world a tad more, I would really find the whole experience more enjoyable.

Here's the issue with your first issue, though.

Yes... the first time you play through (and maybe even the second time, if you're playing the opposite faction), you'll want to do all those side quests and exploration. Because it's a big and beautiful world and you want to see all of it.

But on your third or fourth playthrough, those get kind of repetetive, since they're the same no matter your class.

And after that they get downright annoying to do.

It used to be that way, and you used to have to basically do ALL the planetary quests as well as your storyline quests AND the exploration quests in order to keep up your level with the planets you're on.

But thankfully they changed that and now you can do just the story quests and some side stuff and still stay at the right level.

But trust me... it gets incredibly repetetive and boring after a while when you HAVE to do it on every single toon.

As for your other two issues?

Just don't use your companions. And just don't use fast travel.

Yes, I know you went on about that, but just because a game lets you do something on easy level, doesn't mean you have to do it on easy level.

You can choose to make it harder if you want that challenge.

What you're doing is the equivalent of asking developers to remove easier difficulty levels in a game just because you like to play it on hard and you can't make yourself play it on hard when there's an easier level available.

Here's the issue with your first issue, though.

 

Yes... the first time you play through (and maybe even the second time, if you're playing the opposite faction), you'll want to do all those side quests and exploration. Because it's a big and beautiful world and you want to see all of it.

 

But on your third or fourth playthrough, those get kind of repetetive, since they're the same no matter your class.

 

And after that they get downright annoying to do.

 

It used to be that way, and you used to have to basically do ALL the planetary quests as well as your storyline quests AND the exploration quests in order to keep up your level with the planets you're on.

 

But thankfully they changed that and now you can do just the story quests and some side stuff and still stay at the right level.

 

But trust me... it gets incredibly repetetive and boring after a while when you HAVE to do it on every single toon.

 

As for your other two issues?

 

Just don't use your companions. And just don't use fast travel.

 

Yes, I know you went on about that, but just because a game lets you do something on easy level, doesn't mean you have to do it on easy level.

 

You can choose to make it harder if you want that challenge.

 

What you're doing is the equivalent of asking developers to remove easier difficulty levels in a game just because you like to play it on hard and you can't make yourself play it on hard when there's an easier level available.

Thanks for your response!

I can understand that, and I guess for the reason of replaying a class to view that particular story, it may be annoying. But if you are leveling, you can boost whatever character you feel to max level.

As for the companions and dismissing them, I actually find them to be one of my favorite parts of the game. I have always loved having AI pets or demons or allies in whatever form to assist me in combat. However, these companions are too powerful.

A number of years ago the developers decided to sacrifice the new player experience so older players could zip past leveling and into end game with their nth toon as quickly as possible. You are far from alone in your feelings.

Thanks for your response!

I believe you have indeed hit the point about experienced players... this game has been adapted for older players and not newer players. These adaptions are a turn-off for the rest of the newer player base. And I know I'm not the only one because I have talked with many other with the same feelings.

I'd also like to reiterate that these changes also confuse me because boosts are available... so if your goal is indeed to get to the end game, players can use the boosts available.

A number of years ago the developers decided to sacrifice the new player experience so older players could zip past leveling and into end game with their nth toon as quickly as possible. You are far from alone in your feelings.

This isn't really true.

KotFE/4.0 changed the leveling experience in fall 2015. It made it incredibly easy, such that the class story and its bosses no longer matched the story's narrative in difficulty. It also made leveling incredibly fast.

That was done, for the most part, for *new* players, and the design philosophy for story content has never changed since. It's almost brain-dead easy, with companions able to complete nearly all story content for you.

This is why when a FP like the more recent Spirit of Vengeance was released, one that required some knowledge of your class and how to use it in combat against multiple silver or gold enemies, players couldn't complete it, even though this used to be basic combat prior to 4.0.

I agree fast leveling benefits older players, but, as a launch-era player, I don't like it, and I'd guess a fair number of veteran players feel the same way. You can't really enjoy the best part of the game, the original 1-50 planets, properly, because your character is constantly overleveled, in addition to story bosses like Dark Council members dying to a few hits with a your level 1 basic attack. Or you can stand there and let a companion character kill a Dark Council member with a blaster.

In short, though, the ease of leveling and story content was primarily done, in my estimation, to make the game accessible to anyone, and its remained that way ever since. While BW could have tuned some things down, I think they went way overboard with how easy the story portions of the game were made in 4.0 and since.

Anyway, OP, you would have enjoyed the leveling much more from 1.0-3.x. While many QoL changes have improved SWTOR since, the basic combat and story was better back then.

A number of years ago the developers decided to sacrifice the new player experience so older players could zip past leveling and into end game with their nth toon as quickly as possible. You are far from alone in your feelings.

Uh. What? Older players aren't leveling through story quests lol, but by farming group content. The "make everything easy" thing was done to cater to the lowest skill players (and I'm fine with that tbh) because you'd have so many players complaining about not being able to progress past some random mob. They stopped doing that in KOTFE and beyond, and how many "someone help me kill Vaylin" posts we still see even now after all these years?

As for the companions and dismissing them, I actually find them to be one of my favorite parts of the game. I have always loved having AI pets or demons or allies in whatever form to assist me in combat. However, these companions are too powerful.

Then, just put them on passive, they'll still be there, they'll still take part in cutscenes when they have things to say, but they wont do anything to help you fight.

If it's still too easy for you, then "go naked", use the lowest level gear or no gear at all, don't put any mods in your weapon, just use the empty shell.

I believe you have indeed hit the point about experienced players... this game has been adapted for older players and not newer players. These adaptions are a turn-off for the rest of the newer player base. And I know I'm not the only one because I have talked with many other with the same feelings.

As someone who started before these changes, the super slow leveling and having to play every single quests (and playing all the planetary / exploration quests was both super repetitive and completely taking me out of the class story) to barely, in the best case, stay at level, was super annoying and was one of the reasons i didn't stay very long at that time.

Here's the issue with your first issue, though.

 

Yes... the first time you play through (and maybe even the second time, if you're playing the opposite faction), you'll want to do all those side quests and exploration. Because it's a big and beautiful world and you want to see all of it.

I've leveled dozens of characters so I'm at the nth playthrough and I skip all the stuff you mention but I'm still overleveled. Now I don't mind that as I want to skip the expansions as much as I can, but the fact is that with the consumable level boost and the legacy boost I manage to be overleveled just the same by just doing the story and some heroics (for gear). Again, I don't mind, but as far as your issue with their issue goes I have to disagree with you on that point. I'm currently leveling a sorc that is level 67 and is at the end of the class story. Oh and of course I get a lot of xp from conquest as well.

Uh. What? Older players aren't leveling through story quests lol, but by farming group content.

I really don't see how people get off making such sweeping generalizations, and worse, based on grand assumptions. Seriously? Older players, and by that you mean not age but people who've been playing a long time, don't do story, is your contention.

5 accounts. 190+ toons. I play the story.

I do not farm group content.

leveling is too fast.

I prefer the rate we level. Also, the only time hitting planet sync will cause you any grief is if the mobs are gray to you, which doesn't happen often, and you get no xp for killing them (but you will get kill count increases for conquest purposes and kill count quests).

This isn't really true.

 

 

KotFE/4.0 changed the leveling experience in fall 2015. It made it incredibly easy, such that the class story and its bosses no longer matched the story's narrative in difficulty. It also made leveling incredibly fast.

 

That was done, for the most part, for *new* players, and the design philosophy for story content has never changed since. It's almost brain-dead easy, with companions able to complete nearly all story content for you.

 

This is why when a FP like the more recent Spirit of Vengeance was released, one that required some knowledge of your class and how to use it in combat against multiple silver or gold enemies, players couldn't complete it, even though this used to be basic combat prior to 4.0.

 

I agree fast leveling benefits older players, but, as a launch-era player, I don't like it, and I'd guess a fair number of veteran players feel the same way. You can't really enjoy the best part of the game, the original 1-50 planets, properly, because your character is constantly overleveled, in addition to story bosses like Dark Council members dying to a few hits with a your level 1 basic attack. Or you can stand there and let a companion character kill a Dark Council member with a blaster.

 

In short, though, the ease of leveling and story content was primarily done, in my estimation, to make the game accessible to anyone, and its remained that way ever since. While BW could have tuned some things down, I think they went way overboard with how easy the story portions of the game were made in 4.0 and since.

 

Anyway, OP, you would have enjoyed the leveling much more from 1.0-3.x. While many QoL changes have improved SWTOR since, the basic combat and story was better back then.

 

 

We are talking about the same 4.0 changes, but attributing different motivations to them.

 

It was stated that level sync was implemented so high level toons could gain loot and exp at all times and high level toons could group with low level toons without killing their exp gain. At the very same time they reduced the mob health and damage. These changes benefit rushing older players and not new players. There were no hoards of new players complaining that an easy game needed to be easier. Historically if a boss fight was too challenging, a new player could gear up better, level up a little or bring a friend. Problem solved. If level sync were designed to help inexperienced players get past tougher story bosses, that was hitting a nail with a wrecking ball. The end result was story boss fights so easy, players don't know what their mezes, stuns or interrupts are for and super easy fights are boring and anti-climactic.

 

Hiding side-quests by placing their map tags off by default certainly wasn't to make the game better for new players. Bioware never gave a reason for this. I think it was to try and hide how quickly content gets over-leveled, but as a result, new players miss a lot of great side stories.

 

Removing heroic quest givers and turning most of their stories into voice-overs certainly wasn't designed with new players in mind. That was strictly so high level characters could farm heroics for gear without the inconvenience of messing with the pesky story that new players might enjoy.

 

Uh. What? Older players aren't leveling through story quests lol, but by farming group content. The "make everything easy" thing was done to cater to the lowest skill players (and I'm fine with that tbh) because you'd have so many players complaining about not being able to progress past some random mob. They stopped doing that in KOTFE and beyond, and how many "someone help me kill Vaylin" posts we still see even now after all these years?

 

The changes I was talking about affect all aspects of lower level game play, not just story content. (Well not lowby pvp. They made other changes that killed the fun of lowby pvp.) There were better options to help inexperienced players get past difficult fights than taking a wrecking ball to the game. That only made the "can't kill Vaylin" problem worse in the long run. Players should learn skills organically as they level up, which they don't do if the content is all too fast and easy.

I really don't see how people get off making such sweeping generalizations, and worse, based on grand assumptions. Seriously? Older players, and by that you mean not age but people who've been playing a long time, don't do story, is your contention.

 

5 accounts. 190+ toons. I play the story.

 

I do not farm group content.

Been playing this game on and off since launch. And despite me playing every class story line I STILL replay them on new alts. I never skip them.

The only expac I might skip is Hutta. The rest I play all of it. Again.

As a story player, I ignore the level, it doesn't matter to me, I don't think about levelling up, I just think about going through the story, yes sometimes it's ridiculously easy. But as it's aimed at newer players, getting them in comfortably, and keeping them without them complaining it's too hard, I accept it.

BUT I would like to see them introduce level picks, where you can set your level (like kotfe, etc) , and I've mentioned this a lot, it would give most, if not all of the people what they want, an easy mode to cruise through, are harder mode for a bit of a challenge, then a HM mode, for a real challenge.

I started playing right before (or shortly after? kinda forgot) Onslaught. I was pretty clueless since SWTOR is the very first MMO I played and I felt the leveling is just right, I didn't need to worry about "oh, I need to get another 5 levels before I go to another places" and ruin the story immersion, I simply did what the story was needed and grew my character with it, which made the RPG part of the game much more interesting.

Now if I want to level a new character, I just speed run/stealth through everything except the cutscenes, and run a FP or two between planets to catch up my levels, it's easy and fast, nothing to complain from me.

As for difficulty, you can always change it to Vet or MM.

I don't even want to take the lift from the main level of the fleet to the cartel bazaar. I don't have time for that, and my fingers already don't like how frequently I abuse them, less clicking/pressing the mouse/keys is great. People will explore when they feel like to explore. Or when doing something that naturally make you slow down, like datacron hunting. The view on top of that Alderaan sky menta ray nest and that accursed datacron location on Makeb are spectacular.

 

As for difficulty, you can always change it to Vet or MM.

 

Not in the class stories It has been asked for, a lot, especially since kotet/kotfe , I'm not sure if they've ever actually commented on if or why it can/can't be done though.

in addition to story bosses like Dark Council members dying to a few hits with a your level 1 basic attack. Or you can stand there and let a companion character kill a Dark Council member with a blaster.

The good ol' days of fighting Vitiate and making it alive!

Not in the class stories It has been asked for, a lot, especially since kotet/kotfe , I'm not sure if they've ever actually commented on if or why it can/can't be done though.

Not even in the phase? I thought that's what the difficulty options are for all this time lol

Hello all!

 

I am a new subscribing player enjoying the game with the heavily involved story, but my friends and I have a few issues as new players.

 

Issue 1: leveling is too fast.

 

Issue 2: Too easy.

 

Issue 3: Travel

 

experience more enjoyable.

1) The new leveling speed is the number 1 reason I've been subbed for more then 3 months. The slow pace we used to have just hurted the completion of main story. Since this game end game can be completely negated by credit (you can literally buy your full rated 306 gear with credit). Their is few reason to spend a lot fo time at lvl cap other then for helping friend or to complete ops.

Also the fact they just under elvel you if you level too fast make your point moot. I sometimes creat a toon and complete every class and planetary mission for the sake of folowing the story. Their is no need to slow the EXP gain for everyone in order to anjoy the game missions.

2) I agree with that one, the difficulty choice you can get once you reach the eternal empire missions should be implented in every other part of the game.

3) If your a new player chances are that you couldn't afford the decrease of transportation time. Traveling time sink are good for new players, not for those who were playing beta.

I really don't see how people get off making such sweeping generalizations, and worse, based on grand assumptions. Seriously? Older players, and by that you mean not age but people who've been playing a long time, don't do story, is your contention.

 

5 accounts. 190+ toons. I play the story.

 

I do not farm group content.

24 characters, been around since January 2012, play the story, do not farm group content.

Hello all!

Issue 1: leveling is too fast.

Issue 2: Too easy.

Issue 3: Travel .

Hello:)

1. I feel that levelling is fast only on low levels, then at ca. lvl50-60 it's getting slower, and closer to lvl70 it's very slow.

Everyone gets used to it sooner or later. The speed of levelling is okay and like any other aspect of the game must suit the majority of players. I've got several lvl50+ characters from few years ago and can't find now enough incentives to finish them to lvl75 - it feels to me that levelling these characters to 75 would take too much time because of slow lvling indeed. The more characters you create to lvl them by doing story quests, the higher chance you will find the levelling too slow .

2. It's not too easy, it's made in a way to suit the expectations of the majority of players. For many it's still too hard, for others it's too easy. But I feel that for majority it's okay. Some players do not fully understand their class abilities and skills' connections to do more damage/healing. I was one of them for a long time, only recently found those connections under K button and exploit them now . Some players still cannot solo heroics with companions, and they search for group; though not as often as few years ago, when people could not play with companions -then it was a true mmo. Companions can be put on tank or dps stance, meaning an easy mode will be now a bit harder if not very hard, especially when you set companion to dps in heroics.

3. Most planets are vast and some are huuge, scouting them on mount to explore all parts of the map takes really a lot of time. Without fast travel it would be quickly boring. We play different stories but on the same planets. First time you visit a planet you think it's so beautiful, next time yes it's still nice, third time it's just meeh and fourth time you think where is this fast travel? Go there a hundred times for various reasons and you will beg for fast travel .

Still if you are that type of player, you can always forget fast travelling, the game allows you to do that and more.

Been playing this game on and off since launch. And despite me playing every class story line I STILL replay them on new alts. I never skip them.

 

The only expac I might skip is Hutta. The rest I play all of it. Again.

I have well over 100 characters between the various servers, and I also play through the story, while sprinkling in GSF when it pops as well.

Not even in the phase? I thought that's what the difficulty options are for all this time lol

unfortunately not, the options are there, but they don't change it. Not sure if they had planned on it, then decided not to, but never removed the option Hopefully with threads like this popping up all the time, they might consider adding the option

Not even in the phase? I thought that's what the difficulty options are for all this time lol

You can do it in KotFE/ET chapters but neither before nor after.

24 characters, been around since January 2012, play the story, do not farm group content.

26 characters, been here since before launch. I was part of group that was doing forum roleplays while waiting for the game to launch . Play the story, do not farm group content.