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So I came back because of the 7.0 changes. I get what BioWare is doing.


ZionHalcyon

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I get what they're going for.

 

In order to keep the game alive through the 6.00 era, the developers really did have to adopt a solo play model because most of the players they had left were solo players. They had run off a lot of the PVP and operations groups.

 

So you had conquest which was geared towards a bunch of solo players contributing towards a larger goal, and gearing redone for solo players.

 

What's obvious with 7.0 is that EA has renewed their commitment to SWTOR, and given them more of a budget.

 

It also looks like based on the changes, for the very first time SWTOR is going to focus on player retention - that is Major because it has been a core Business philosophy up until this point that BioWare doesn't care if people sub or not. I'm not even kidding. There's a James Ohlen interview where he explicitly states that from about a year after the game was launched.

 

Also, based on the information we are getting oh, it looks like they are trying to make it more of an MMO again and it looks like they are gearing up to reach out to that type of audience. It's also why they are trying to make as much as they can be beginner-friendly and also combat inflation, so that new people aren't hit with sticker shock.

 

That being said, I think people are overreacting here because solo play isn't going away, and there is a gear path for solo players via personal conquest, which rewards players from playing whatever content they want.

 

It's just that they are allowing group Play to gear faster, to incentivize grouping in order to do so.

 

And while solo players may complain about it, we are playing an m m o... The point of that category is to group!

 

So what BioWare is trying to do is bring back the people who are in favor of group content as well as add more people to enjoy group content.

 

That the forums are so negative is more indicative of just the fact that they've catered to solo players for a while and that's who all is really left on the forums. If they are successful in bringing in more people, the tenor of the forms will shift along with those groups returning.

 

 

As for me, I was one of the group content people they ran off. Combat styles was interesting, but incentivizing grouping is what is bringing me back. That, and the game finally getting some needed TLC...

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To clarify my retention comments - I get the solo players who are mad will argue with me on this. I get it. I was in your shoes when 6.0 launched.

 

But the systems they are tweaking are all things to try to give people something to do and incentive to stay logged in, which is a massive departure from how they used to do business.

 

And while I get you're mad - you still will have solo tracks to gear up. But now those of us who LIKE to group will finally have content too.

 

So try not to be too grouchy and anti-social, and make some room for us coming back. :rak_03:

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But the systems they are tweaking are all things to try to give people something to do and incentive to stay logged in,:

 

It results to quite the opposite though, WoW is a good example, in their latest expansion they gutted all forms of power rewards from solo and casual content, meaning there is literally nothing to do to progress your power solo or in a casual relaxing manner

 

And you are always at the mercy "are there competent people right now who are also willing to do certain high end content to progress power wise or should I just log out cuz there is NOTHING REWARDING TO DO SOLO

 

WoW is failing hard, from lawsuit to the current anti-casual elitist design, copying that doesnt sound like a smart move, shadowlands has been the worst expansion to date, especially for casuals who left in droves

Edited by ralphieceaser
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I get what they're going for.

 

In order to keep the game alive through the 6.00 era, the developers really did have to adopt a solo play model because most of the players they had left were solo players. They had run off a lot of the PVP and operations groups.

 

So decisions made BY EA caused a sub loss?

 

 

 

What's obvious with 7.0 is that EA has renewed their commitment to SWTOR, and given them more of a budget.

 

Can you point me to the massive influx of cash / developers ? I don't have access to their financials.

 

It also looks like based on the changes, for the very first time SWTOR is going to focus on player retention

 

10 years too late.

 

- that is Major because it has been a core Business philosophy up until this point that BioWare doesn't care if people sub or not. I'm not even kidding. There's a James Ohlen interview where he explicitly states that from about a year after the game was launched.

 

Surprised he's still employed. Moving on....

 

Also, based on the information we are getting oh, it looks like they are trying to make it more of an MMO again and it looks like they are gearing up to reach out to that type of audience. It's also why they are trying to make as much as they can be beginner-friendly and also combat inflation, so that new people aren't hit with sticker shock.

 

Wrong. No idea how you came to that conclusion when the amount of CQ required is doubled, and the rewards and nerfed into the ground.

 

This game is already "beginner-friendly". With a healing companion out you literally have to TRY to die.

 

 

That being said, I think people are overreacting here because solo play isn't going away, and there is a gear path for solo players via personal conquest, which rewards players from playing whatever content they want.

 

You are misreading the tea leaves.

 

It's just that they are allowing group Play to gear faster, to incentivize grouping in order to do so.

 

Name an MMO where locking gear behind walls, or SILOING gear has the effect of causing more players to participate in that activity?

 

I'll wait.

 

And while solo players may complain about it, we are playing an m m o... The point of that category is to group!

 

So what BioWare is trying to do is bring back the people who are in favor of group content as well as add more people to enjoy group content.

 

That the forums are so negative is more indicative of just the fact that they've catered to solo players for a while and that's who all is really left on the forums. If they are successful in bringing in more people, the tenor of the forms will shift along with those groups returning.

 

 

As for me, I was one of the group content people they ran off.

 

Really? You mean you couldn't have gear exclusive to YOUR style of play? As yourself have said,, SWTOR is a MMO. However, only ONE style of "play" rewards "the best" gear. NOT PvP, NOT crafting, nope. Operations (which go on all the time) and Operations only.

 

I'll wait on those financials and new hires..

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It results to quite the opposite though, WoW is a good example, in their latest expansion they gutted all forms of power rewards from solo and casual content, meaning there is literally nothing to do to progress your power solo or in a casual relaxing manner

 

And you are always at the mercy "are there competent people right now who are also willing to do certain high end content to progress power wise or should I just log out cuz there is NOTHING REWARDING TO DO SOLO

 

WoW is failing hard, from lawsuit to the current anti-casual elitist design, copying that doesnt sound like a smart move, shadowlands has been the worst expansion to date, especially for casuals who left in droves

 

Solo players have conquest. So there IS a solo path where they can gear up and are at no one's mercy.

 

They just don't get EVERYTHING any more - the group content is being returned to the group players.

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Solo players have conquest. So there IS a solo path where they can gear up and are at no one's mercy.

They just don't get EVERYTHING any more - the group content is being returned to the group players.

 

Doesnt change the fact that for us who often do multiple types of content, by making all casual and solo content unrewarding there is no content to be done therefore logging out if the only option.

 

The moment you make one content more rewarding that the rest, its the moment people who do said content have literally nothing else to do and are completely at the mercy of "are there competent people around on this time to do something or should i log out'

 

This benefits literally nobody but elitist raidloggers, and might want check on WoW but pandering to a minority is definitely not a profitable strategy.

At least WoW has the WoW token which brings a ton of profit since casuals buy token with real life money in order to buy boost in order to access good gear, swtor does not have this so any such moves are only gonna hurt the game long term, and even short term if it launches like this.

Edited by ralphieceaser
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@Zion

 

Holy crap Z. I took a little break this summer with some RL stuff and I come back to see none other than the one... the only... ZionHalcyon. Good to see you back in the game. I am pretty excited to see how the changes in 7.0 turn out. Hoping some of my team comes back as well. Don't think I have seen any posts from you in over a year. Just wanted to say what's up!?!?

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To clarify my retention comments - I get the solo players who are mad will argue with me on this. I get it. I was in your shoes when 6.0 launched.

 

But the systems they are tweaking are all things to try to give people something to do and incentive to stay logged in, which is a massive departure from how they used to do business.

 

And while I get you're mad - you still will have solo tracks to gear up. But now those of us who LIKE to group will finally have content too.

 

So try not to be too grouchy and anti-social, and make some room for us coming back. :rak_03:

 

Grouchy, I'm grouchy because I think the gearing system is awful not because people want to have stuff to do in groups. Story content is not easy for Every. Single. Player. and if 7.0's new FP is like the Spirit of Vengeance I won't physically be able to play and BioWare will have 180$ less a yr. for their game! BTW some of us Solo players do like to group for World Bosses etc, but the Group people never want to do them.

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I get what they're going for.

 

In order to keep the game alive through the 6.00 era, the developers really did have to adopt a solo play model because most of the players they had left were solo players. They had run off a lot of the PVP and operations groups.

 

So you had conquest which was geared towards a bunch of solo players contributing towards a larger goal, and gearing redone for solo players.

 

What's obvious with 7.0 is that EA has renewed their commitment to SWTOR, and given them more of a budget.

 

It also looks like based on the changes, for the very first time SWTOR is going to focus on player retention - that is Major because it has been a core Business philosophy up until this point that BioWare doesn't care if people sub or not. I'm not even kidding. There's a James Ohlen interview where he explicitly states that from about a year after the game was launched.

 

Also, based on the information we are getting oh, it looks like they are trying to make it more of an MMO again and it looks like they are gearing up to reach out to that type of audience. It's also why they are trying to make as much as they can be beginner-friendly and also combat inflation, so that new people aren't hit with sticker shock.

 

That being said, I think people are overreacting here because solo play isn't going away, and there is a gear path for solo players via personal conquest, which rewards players from playing whatever content they want.

 

It's just that they are allowing group Play to gear faster, to incentivize grouping in order to do so.

 

And while solo players may complain about it, we are playing an m m o... The point of that category is to group!

 

So what BioWare is trying to do is bring back the people who are in favor of group content as well as add more people to enjoy group content.

 

That the forums are so negative is more indicative of just the fact that they've catered to solo players for a while and that's who all is really left on the forums. If they are successful in bringing in more people, the tenor of the forms will shift along with those groups returning.

 

 

As for me, I was one of the group content people they ran off. Combat styles was interesting, but incentivizing grouping is what is bringing me back. That, and the game finally getting some needed TLC...

 

Just wondering where all this new group content is that’s bringing you back? As far as I know they are releasing one 8 man raid. I don’t see why that is so compelling when they literally added more group content than that during the 6.x era.

What were your reasons for leaving in 6.x if there was more group content than being added in 7.0. Was it the gearing or conquest or pvp or something else?

I’m also interested to know what the renewed commitment and TLC is based on because this expansion seems much smaller in content than any before it.

Edited by TrixxieTriss
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Doesnt change the fact that for us who often do multiple types of content, by making all casual and solo content unrewarding there is no content to be done therefore logging out if the only option.

 

The moment you make one content more rewarding that the rest, its the moment people who do said content have literally nothing else to do and are completely at the mercy of "are there competent people around on this time to do something or should i log out'

 

This benefits literally nobody but elitist raidloggers, and might want check on WoW but pandering to a minority is definitely not a profitable strategy.

At least WoW has the WoW token which brings a ton of profit since casuals buy token with real life money in order to buy boost in order to access good gear, swtor does not have this so any such moves are only gonna hurt the game long term, and even short term if it launches like this.

 

As someone who is pretty much a solo player, and a conquest player, the changes to conquest are going to make my weeks a little different, it isn't going to be that much different. I am probably only going to 10-12 encryptions a week instead of 20-25......My one-man-guildship is fully unlocked so that piece doesn't really bother me.

 

As far as gameplay goes........I can still chose what planet size I want to hit depending on what I see my week looking like.

 

I can still solo Vet Athiss, HS, Red Reaper with my Shadow in base gear haven't tried any others yet as those are the ones i spam.

 

I can almost solo Vet Hammer Station in my base gear.

 

The only new gear I won't be able to get is going to be HM Ops gear.

 

Is it going to be a grind.... YUP. But hey.... It is still enjoyable to me. Heaven forbid I have a friend on and we Duo some of the Heroic Flashpoints.....

 

Anything that doesn't make it easier is not always a bad thing.....But I know to some it is a swift kick to the nards.

 

Edit: Changed "heroic Hammer station" to "Vet Hammer Station" Started as heroic...will always be heroic to me...haha

Edited by MacCleoud
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@Zion

 

Holy crap Z. I took a little break this summer with some RL stuff and I come back to see none other than the one... the only... ZionHalcyon. Good to see you back in the game. I am pretty excited to see how the changes in 7.0 turn out. Hoping some of my team comes back as well. Don't think I have seen any posts from you in over a year. Just wanted to say what's up!?!?

 

Hey man! Yeah, so I just got burnt out on SWTOR. Ops runs were dead, everything was geared towards anti-social solo play, and honestly, there were a lot of positive changes in 6.0 that I really liked - its just that there wasn't enough to keep me invested.

 

Ended up playing a pretty bad arse Diablo clone called Path of Exile that held my interest for over a year, but then the devs decided to muck with it a little, and while they are righting the ship again, its getting to be borring, and it just aligns perfectly that I am excited for a lot of the 7.0 changes that will bring me back.

 

And crazy that they are starting to focus on player retention! That's been a major gripe against bioware since launch - and its exciting that they are finally changing their business model.

 

The other thing I am hoping for, is that they do a graphics refresh. I know that they can't replace the engine, but if you look at Elder Scrolls online, that is also hero engine and the game looks better there, so they can probably do more with lighting, shaders and higher rez textures in this game as well to make it feel fresher. Don't know if they will do that. The UIs on PTS looking slick though and coming together!

 

So yeah, happy to be back. I'll likely be light on contributing until 7.0 launches. Once its up, I'll get back into the swing of things.

 

Already planning on rolling a new toon for 7.0 - Bounty Hunter with Commando/Operative Combat Styles....

Edited by ZionHalcyon
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Just wondering where all this new group content is that’s bringing you back? As far as I know they are releasing one 8 man raid. I don’t see why that is so compelling when they literally added more group content than that during the 6.x era.

What were your reasons for leaving in 6.x if there was more group content than being added in 7.0. Was it the gearing or conquest or pvp or something else?

I’m also interested to know what the renewed commitment and TLC is based on because this expansion seems much smaller in content than any before it.

 

I suppose that's fair - how about this: What's bringing me back is the re-incentivization of group play. Clearer?

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As someone who is pretty much a solo player, and a conquest player, the changes to conquest are going to make my weeks a little different, it isn't going to be that much different. I am probably only going to 10-12 encryptions a week instead of 20-25......My one-man-guildship is fully unlocked so that piece doesn't really bother me.

 

As far as gameplay goes........I can still chose what planet size I want to hit depending on what I see my week looking like.

 

I can still solo Vet Athiss, HS, Red Reaper with my Shadow in base gear haven't tried any others yet as those are the ones i spam.

 

I can almost solo Vet Hammer Station in my base gear.

 

The only new gear I won't be able to get is going to be HM Ops gear.

 

Is it going to be a grind.... YUP. But hey.... It is still enjoyable to me. Heaven forbid I have a friend on and we Duo some of the Heroic Flashpoints.....

 

Anything that doesn't make it easier is not always a bad thing.....But I know to some it is a swift kick to the nards.

 

Edit: Changed "heroic Hammer station" to "Vet Hammer Station" Started as heroic...will always be heroic to me...haha

 

I think the concept of it is harder than the actual play will be. I saw a video of Swtorista who tested these on PTS, and she was able to fill the new conquest solo requirements pretty quickly still.

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I get what Bioware is doing too.

 

Changing swtor to cater to a playstyle I don't like.

 

I don't play to gear, I get gear to play.

 

SM Ops are incredibly boring, I don't have the energy to find a HM/NiM prog team that's willing to overlook my 'can't use voice' issue.

 

I've been in big and large guilds and tried to get flashpoint groups, but they mostly just want to spam the easy ones. Which is incredibly boring.

 

So endgame has been basically puttering around doing conquest while waiting in group-finder for the medium-to-hard flashpoints to pop. I min-max and fiddle around with my gear to make pugging easier since I can compensate even if one or two players in the group are a bit less then average in ability.

 

From what I can see 7.0 will completely kill the endgame for me. Weekly resets, only limited flashpoints in the grou-finder, gameplay changes, 4 freaking tracks for gearing complete with 4 freaking gearing currencies, it's all adding up to 'I don't want to run on that limited hamster wheel.'

 

So yes, I can see what Bioware is doing. The result will be that instead of SWTOR being the only MMO I play, it will just be one of dozens of MMOs that I DON'T play.

Edited by LD_Little_Dragon
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I suppose that's fair - how about this: What's bringing me back is the re-incentivization of group play. Clearer?

 

Not really clearer. How is it any different to now except a different gear grind that will end up with nearly exactly the same set bonuses (but now on implants). No one stops you or disincentives you from playing group content now. I’m sorry I just don’t understand the point you are trying to make.

 

Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot wrong with some of the 6.x systems, aka massive amounts of RNG and no guaranteed gear path for some BiS gear, stupid Amplifier RNG (gambling), wayyyyyyyy to many mod types (etc) and no proper gear path for pvpers who didn’t want to pve to gear or putting gear needed for pvp behind an operations gate or Kia Zykken gambling.

 

I guess I just don’t see having static gear replacing modded gear and having to wait till BioWare feel like raising the gear lvl as a real incentive to play group content.

I’ve zero issues with the highest iLevel gear going to Ops content as long as the gear cap works properly in pvp.

But I do have a real serious issue with moddable gear being gated till we reach iLevel 334 at some future release.

It means you’ll need to re-augment your gear multiple times and rip old stuff out because each item needs to be traded in if you want to upgrade.

 

And that’s before BioWare start resetting your weeklies that are going to be tied to you’re gearing. Are they also going to remove the win requirement for pvp to complete said weekly? Are they going to compensate us some how if the queue doesn’t pop enough at the time we play to finish said weeklies on any content? And what about forcing you to use group finder to achieve the flash point weeklies? What if you have a group of friends or family you prefer to play with?

 

There are just as many bad issues with this new system as there were with the old. It would have been much easier and caused less anger if they just fixed the issues with the current system instead of reinventing the wheel and introducing a whole lot of different issues for people to hate.

 

They could be catering to everyone by fixing the current system. Instead they chose to only cater to one specific group. That seems like a bad business model and unless they have data that shows they will get more players than they will lose, this is another expansion brought to you by BioGamble.

Edited by TrixxieTriss
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What's obvious with 7.0 is that EA has renewed their commitment to SWTOR, and given them more of a budget.

 

Could have fooled me....this game is in desperate need of QoL and major major code overhaul.

32 Bit game in an age of 64bit or nothing.

Numerous missing niceties that are common place in any other game around.

Numerous obvious bugs being ignored.

Did I mention customer service as well? yeah that too.

 

Not convincing me much - new I may be - but the crowd is not happy here.

And your wrong to presume its all solo players complaining - may want to recheck that.

You may have a case for PvP - but in truth - I don't see much driving force for that. If anything this makes them snarl all the more.

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To be fair I get what they appear to be doing as well. I like the gear changes they made for 7.0. I left the game pretty much straight after the Onslaught Expansion (if you can call it an expansion) so been gone quite a long time at this point. Came back to see literal bays full of inventory on every character at max level and remembering one of the reasons I left in the first place.

 

The new gearing system is simple and accessible to everyone. Seen a lot of forum posts that it favours NIM players over all the others. Hard to argue there, having used to be a NIM player i'm sure they'll appreciate some love on that front. The main gripe that I can see is that gearing to max iLVL for other game modes is going to take a bit longer than through operations at NIM. This is kind of accurate and inaccurate, as it's only quicker through operations if you actually manage to complete them. The number of "NIM Prog" teams I've seen that will sit on beginning Ops for months at a time was ridiculous through 5.0/6.0 so it's not quite as cut and dry as people are saying. It's a method where there is a chance of failure. Not to mention that the lockouts prevent a character from just re-running the operation every day to get the gear (unless something has changed in my absence).

 

With the other methods of gearing there isn't really a failure option. Veteran FP's are not challenging enough to the extent that people can't get through them. Reason being is if you have a group of 4 players then only 1 of them needs to be competent and you'll get through. They can carry it. MM FP's, the base ones can largely be soloed so again, not really an issue but perhaps more out of reach for a larger percentage of the player base.

 

Solo players can still gear through conquest in what will perhaps be the slowest method. I don't see an issue here, the game has historically awarded greater rewards for group content, the game needs to encourage group content but have those options for solo players if they really wish either through not playing well with others, wanting a single player experience or to make things more challenging to themselves. There is a gearing option, it's the same as the other options (except NIM ops) but slower.

 

What seems to be the biggest bug bear of the players that have issues with the new gearing method (maybe? Hard to tell sometimes) is that the NIM ops have a slightly higher item rating (I think that's what I read) and that they have it modifiable so they can min/max their stats. Whilst I don't see why you'd min/max your stats for any other game mode other than PVP, I can certainly understand the desire to have more control over the stat allocation in your gear. I'm all for the other methods of gaining gear to also have at the max iLVL the ability to swap out mods etc on their gear. I also would be fine with those being crafted. But i'm absolutely fine with all of those happening whilst still being say 4 item ratings below the NIM gear.

 

I won't be playing NIM ops, that time has come and gone. I'll do SM,VM ops, maybe some PVP if I fancy and obviously conquest which you basically earn by existing. I won't get max gear but for the content i'll be actually doing, why would I need it?

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And that’s before BioWare start resetting your weeklies that are going to be tied to you’re gearing.

 

It would have been much easier and caused less anger if they just fixed the issues with the current system instead of reinventing the wheel and introducing a whole lot of different issues for people to hate.

 

Instead they chose to only cater to one specific group.

 

- They won´t reset your weekly. They worded it poorly. What they meant is that every weekly that is completed will give you your reward so that you don´t have to go to a mission terminal.

 

- The currenty system is messy and hard to balance. The new system will be like 4.0 +. I don´t think that everyone hated the 4.0 system.

 

- You complete the story and get 320 gear - they said that most content is optimized for 318 gear. So story players can play comfortably.

- You can gear doing the content you like. Fps, Ops, PvP, GSF - only that Legacy Nim Ops (and later the newest Op) give the highest gear - just like most MMOs out there. Later all other content will give you the highstes gear.

 

So yeah - totally catering to one group.

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- They won´t reset your weekly. They worded it poorly. What they meant is that every weekly that is completed will give you your reward so that you don´t have to go to a mission terminal.

 

- The currenty system is messy and hard to balance. The new system will be like 4.0 +. I don´t think that everyone hated the 4.0 system.

 

- You complete the story and get 320 gear - they said that most content is optimized for 318 gear. So story players can play comfortably.

- You can gear doing the content you like. Fps, Ops, PvP, GSF - only that Legacy Nim Ops (and later the newest Op) give the highest gear - just like most MMOs out there. Later all other content will give you the highstes gear.

 

So yeah - totally catering to one group.

 

Sorry, but I’d like to see a yellow post outlining that before I accept what you’re saying. It’s not that I think you’re lying, just that it’s up for interpretation and that’s not how I read it.

 

In 7.0, uncompleted Daily and Weekly Missions will be removed from players once the Daily or Weekly reset time passes (currently Tuesday, 12:00am UTC).

 

From my point of view I’m not sure how I’m wrong if you read what they specifically said above that each week the weeklies will be removed on Tuesday. I don’t no how that can be interpreted any other way.

This was also asked of ChrisS on discord and I’m sure he confirmed it (but I’m on my phone and I can’t check as it doesn’t have discord on it).

 

Maybe Jackie could post another Yellow to confirm. It would be so much better if they just let her post most of this stuff because she’s usually better at wording things and gets back to you quickly if you have questions.

The other BioWare guys seem to post and then ignore us, especially the devs.

 

Also, to be fair, my gripe with the gearing is the static gear and having to wait months and months and months to get access to a mod vendor that Operations guys will have access to in January/Feb.

 

The new gearing wouldn’t bother me one bit if it was all moddable or we had access to lower iLevel mod vendors for our play style. That and linking it to weeklies that could be reset if you don’t complete them (need confirmation on that).

 

And frankly, the gearing system isn’t why I unsubbed, it was just the bitter icing on an already bad piece of cake.

Edited by TrixxieTriss
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My only real problem with the 7.0 update is the fact that Bioware is punishing people who prefer to enjoy the story & solo content and prevent them from having access to modifications or modded equipment unless they do hard group missions like Flashpoints or Operations. That's it.

 

I don't mind having access to "green" mods/equipments only, I just want to not feel like grinding locked crates or paying for Cartel Market equipments was a waste of time... Once the 7.0 update is out, all of what solo players will have accumulated over the years would be basically costly & pointless armors/weapons skins (since mods won't exist for them anymore).

 

Also, I wouldn't mind doing Flashpoints or Operations if most players I've met until I stopped doing such missions weren't such toxic people (hell, the ONE guild I joined was trying to harass me into doing Flashpoint/Operations in Master mode when I definitively had not the level or the equipment for it and mocked me for how I played my characters and my choice of Cartel armor/weapon), if you have an idea when normal, decent and polite people are playing the game on ANY server, please tell me.

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- They won´t reset your weekly. They worded it poorly. What they meant is that every weekly that is completed will give you your reward so that you don´t have to go to a mission terminal.

 

- The currenty system is messy and hard to balance. The new system will be like 4.0 +. I don´t think that everyone hated the 4.0 system.

 

- You complete the story and get 320 gear - they said that most content is optimized for 318 gear. So story players can play comfortably.

- You can gear doing the content you like. Fps, Ops, PvP, GSF - only that Legacy Nim Ops (and later the newest Op) give the highest gear - just like most MMOs out there. Later all other content will give you the highstes gear.

 

So yeah - totally catering to one group.

 

 

You're probably wasting your breath. I'm an old vet of the forums here, and I know outraged people want to stay outraged, even if the things they are outraged about are just phantoms and they are jousting at windmills. It won't really settle down until the expansion launches and people actually get to play the changes and realize its not so bad, or may even be fun. Its just how the forums here work. I think I can count on one hand the number of times people had a valid reason to be outraged and it wasn't made better when the changes went live. Not to say they loved what happened, but they usually would settle down because it wasn't the doomsday scenario they were predicting.

 

Also, I'm coming back to the game a bit early, at least for subbing, so the forum will definitely slant towards a heavy solo-play bias, because group people like me likely are waiting until after launch to come back. I subbed early to check the changes on PTS here and there.

 

That's why I am not going to engage with the people getting mad and questioning what I am saying - they have their opinions, I have mine, and even if I showed them proof, like Bioware increasing hiring for SWTOR over the past 24 months as proof EA is re-investing in the game, I know they won't believe it, and I am not into wasting my time.

 

They have their opinions and are entitled to them. I have mine, and am also likewise entitled to them.

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My only real problem with the 7.0 update is the fact that Bioware is punishing people who prefer to enjoy the story & solo content and prevent them from having access to modifications or modded equipment unless they do hard group missions like Flashpoints or Operations. That's it.

 

I don't mind having access to "green" mods/equipments only, I just want to not feel like grinding locked crates or paying for Cartel Market equipments was a waste of time... Once the 7.0 update is out, all of what solo players will have accumulated over the years would be basically costly & pointless armors/weapons skins (since mods won't exist for them anymore).

 

Also, I wouldn't mind doing Flashpoints or Operations if most players I've met until I stopped doing such missions weren't such toxic people (hell, the ONE guild I joined was trying to harass me into doing Flashpoint/Operations in Master mode when I definitively had not the level or the equipment for it and mocked me for how I played my characters and my choice of Cartel armor/weapon), if you have an idea when normal, decent and polite people are playing the game on ANY server, please tell me.

 

So, 2 things.

 

I get why you feel solo play is being punished. With 6.0, the developers practically converted all the game systems to solo play. At least a significant portion of them. It was needed at the time to keep the game going, as EA wasn't investing heavily into SWTOR at that time. But EA losing the exclusivity on the SW license combined with their failure to do anything with said license changed things, and based on hiring practices over the past 24 months, they reinvested in their one real money-making SW property. It also matters that Anthem fell hard. Basically it left EA and BioWare with nowhere to turn but to reinvest in SWTOR.

 

So 7.0 is the culmination of that reinvestment. The move away from solo play stings for you, and I get that, but they are putting the game back to how it was originally meant to be, but this time with a renewed focus on player retention, which is brand new to BioWare's core game philosophy (before, James Ohlen stated it was preferred that players unsub and go away until there was new content, which seemed like business suicide to me).

 

I was here before 6.0, so the grouping stuff doesn't bother me as much as it would for the people who were used to the solo play of 6.0.

 

But I will give a piece of advice - you will always find that toxic element in ANY MMO when it comes to pick up groups. Its not just a SWTOR thing. And the best way to counter that is to find a Guild. Not all Guilds are good, and I have seen some toxic ones in my day (one of the worst was named after a bed and bath furnishing store), but if you just keep at it, you will find there are some really good guilds out there that are new player and/or solo player - friendly. A guild might be counter-intuitive to a solo player, but trust me, finding a good guild can make all the difference in terms of positive group play.

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I get what they're going for.

 

In order to keep the game alive through the 6.00 era, the developers really did have to adopt a solo play model because most of the players they had left were solo players. They had run off a lot of the PVP and operations groups.

 

So you had conquest which was geared towards a bunch of solo players contributing towards a larger goal, and gearing redone for solo players.

 

What's obvious with 7.0 is that EA has renewed their commitment to SWTOR, and given them more of a budget.

 

It also looks like based on the changes, for the very first time SWTOR is going to focus on player retention - that is Major because it has been a core Business philosophy up until this point that BioWare doesn't care if people sub or not. I'm not even kidding. There's a James Ohlen interview where he explicitly states that from about a year after the game was launched.

 

Also, based on the information we are getting oh, it looks like they are trying to make it more of an MMO again and it looks like they are gearing up to reach out to that type of audience. It's also why they are trying to make as much as they can be beginner-friendly and also combat inflation, so that new people aren't hit with sticker shock.

 

That being said, I think people are overreacting here because solo play isn't going away, and there is a gear path for solo players via personal conquest, which rewards players from playing whatever content they want.

 

It's just that they are allowing group Play to gear faster, to incentivize grouping in order to do so.

 

And while solo players may complain about it, we are playing an m m o... The point of that category is to group!

 

So what BioWare is trying to do is bring back the people who are in favor of group content as well as add more people to enjoy group content.

 

That the forums are so negative is more indicative of just the fact that they've catered to solo players for a while and that's who all is really left on the forums. If they are successful in bringing in more people, the tenor of the forms will shift along with those groups returning.

 

 

As for me, I was one of the group content people they ran off. Combat styles was interesting, but incentivizing grouping is what is bringing me back. That, and the game finally getting some needed TLC...

 

** First of all ... good to see you around again !

 

** I'm glad to see PvP / group players get some needed attention.

 

PLEASE consider what many of us are trying to get across and may not have presented it properly. ( I know I probably haven't ... so that's on me. THAT said ... let me see if can clarify without alienating the perspective / facts into something less that what we are driving at.

 

** Group play as an option or forced issue ?? People can debate the validity of hiding valued parts of the game into areas where many choose NOT to go all that they want to. IMO this should not be an issue. Dumbing down the game so that basic gear works is a REALLY BAD move too !!

 

** The other game mechanics : Some of the changes might be welcomed ... BUT at what cost to the rest of the game. From what I've seen the upcoming changes are still up for debate. I'll make my own decision as to how "GOOD" they are.

 

** At what cost to the rest of the game ? IMO this 10th anniversary could and SHOULD have been a super celebration. Someone could have released enough extra cash to make it one heck of a good time. It COULD have been a real blast seeing a number of things return. So many possibilities and yet almost NONE of that will happen. Instead ... we get what 7.0 seem to be presenting at this time a reboot that is controversial and contentious at best.

 

All in all I will state at this time for the record:

** PvP and group play needed help. No question about it. I agree with the idea that players who enjoy that part of ANY game should not be pushed aside. Neither should the rest of the players be predisposed with such an intolerant fashion as though they were somehow second rate.

 

** Destroying everything else in the process while simultaneously ignoring / pushing aside soooo many possibilities for the 10 anniversary is a HUGE mistake.

 

The game (what's left of it) .. will survive. The CM will keep it on life support at least another year or so.

 

IMO the the story will no doubt be awesome (as well as the art work ... etc. ) . Beyond that ... arguable at best.

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