I can't seem to find any information about whether the level cap is increasing in KOTET, but if it is, that means 5 extra levels that BW has to fill with some power increasing "something" to make players feel like leveling isn't wasted.

 

But PLEASE, BW, no more extra abilities! Most classes already have bars upon bars of abilities that rarely get used. Even some classes have a cumbersome number of rotational abilities (Fury and Rage, I'm looking at you). Even with a 12 button mouse, I'm stretching for convenient keybinds for everything. The ability bloat is still real, even after you cut it down a while ago.

 

So, my suggestion and plea is for more meaningful utility choices AND/OR the next ability at 68 or whatever is an upgrade to a baseline ability (like say how Boltstorm replaces Full Auto). There are still some fun ways to improve baseline abilities without causing power creep: small attached debuffs to alacrity, crit, power, or accuracy (which would actually tone down burst), dots that cause extra damage when the target receives heals, cast time heals that give a stack that decreases the cast time of the next same heal up to .5 secs off, lots of interesting ways to change and improve current abilities without adding totally new ones.

 

I know people like new abilities as it changes gameplay; I do too! But not at the expense of squeezing more and more abilities on already full bars. Either do another ability bloat pass and cut/combine abilities or give us upgrades and more utility points and more utility choices.

I'd prefer horizontal progression if there is a new level cap, maybe adding another "hybrid" advanced class to each class type.

 

All The Best

The level will undoubtedly go up to level 70. So...we're getting new abilities.

But the last couple times they increased the lvl cap they actually nerfed the power of the previous lvl cap so that people's power didn't really increase much.

 

Having to lvl and regear just to get back to doing the same content you used to be able to do is such a nice way to treat your customers....

We don't need any new abilities - we just need them to balance the current ones. But I guess you don't need balance for 'story'.

But the last couple times they increased the lvl cap they actually nerfed the power of the previous lvl cap so that people's power didn't really increase much.

 

Having to lvl and regear just to get back to doing the same content you used to be able to do is such a nice way to treat your customers....

 

Yeah I'm not gonna like having to regear all my toons to the latest set pieces again, especially to play the same endgame content.

The level will undoubtedly go up to level 70. So...we're getting new abilities.

 

What would be the point? For 1 day leveling to 70 and then regearing all alts grinding the same old content? Not to mention that then they'll have to rebalance the old HM and NIM ops again( or just leave them as they are - lvl 65 making them obsolete). For FPs and SM ops level increase wouldn't be so bad. The level scaling would take care of everything i guess - just scale everyone back to 65, but HM and NIM ops would be a problem. PVP would be a big problem to balance too. So I don't think there will be level increase - too much work with no obvious reason to do it.

I suspect they'll up it to 70 - but I hope that the new ability is a 'replacement' ability that just overwrites a previous one with a stronger version that adds a new mechanical twist to it - like Lightning Bolt replacing Lightning Strike for Lightning Sorcerers. That kept ability bloat under control while still adding some point the vertical progression.

We don't need any new abilities - we just need them to balance the current ones. But I guess you don't need balance for 'story'.

 

what are you talking about??

My sorcerer needs more lightning attacks!!!!

MOAR lightning!

MOAR power!!

Edited July 17, 2016 by Gammawaves

what are you talking about??

My sorcerer needs more lightning attacks!!!!

MOAR lightning!

MOAR power!!

 

Yes, and please sorc needs another disengage - barrier and pw are just not enough.

Commandos and Mercs have way too few abilities filling every slot in the Quickbars, we totally need even more

I actually want them to consolidate some of the abilities, we have too many.

But PLEASE, BW, no more extra abilities!

 

lol did u play WoW?? After 12 years do u know how many bars and abilities there are??

The level will undoubtedly go up to level 70. So...we're getting new abilities.

 

Probably.

lol did u play WoW?? After 12 years do u know how many bars and abilities there are??

That's why wow revamped all the classes for the next expansion.

 

And level 70 does not make sense if there is not endgame developped such as new ops to exploit that power increase.

Can't deny, even with nearly every easy-to-reach keybind I can think of, I'm still often leaving some useful abilities out of my keybinds because there's just so many. Especially in PvP, so much is situational.

 

I think it never occurred to me to bring this up because I've just dealt with it in other games. Dealt with it long enough that I accepted it as part of the experience.

Don't need abilities for story. Just 1 ability on your bar is all that is "required". Basic blaster shots or saber swings. The OP companion will do the rest.

 

KOTET Roadmap

Fight 50 skytroopers.

Watch cinematic.

Fight 50 more skytroopers.

Watch cinematic.

Fight even more skytroopers.

Watch end chapter cinematic.

Wait 30ish days, repeat all above.

 

There ya go. Just mapped out all of KOTET for you guys.

Going to lvl 70 and they will give you what they want... and YOU WILL LIKE IT. or not, nothing you can do.

if you rage quit can i have yer stuff?

I hope they don't add too much more bloat, but if they do, for the love of God, please give us at least two more hotbars!

This is not going to be an actual expansion in the typical MMO sense, it is more of a continuation of the single player story this game has become.

I would like to see new abilities but rather than needing a new slot on the bar make them replacements or where you have to choose from different variations of an ability. So currently you upgrade from shock to ball lightning another level or variation of an ability for each class would be cool to see as your character progresses in power. Or make shock and ball lightning two different skills with different properties. Maybe ball lightning no longer stuns weak enemies but it explodes in an AOE and you have to choose between the two of them. Or introduce light/dark variants of abilities that you can choose between that would have cosmetic only differences.

 

Lots of ways to introduce new stuff without increasing the quickbars.

This is not going to be an actual expansion in the typical MMO sense, it is more of a continuation of the single player story this game has become.

I think so too. I doubt we will see many new features and game mechanics. And the engine will certainly not be updated.

I think I saw some dev post maybe 6-12 months or so ago that more or less said that the number of abilities going forward would be somewhere between the same as current and one or two more (quite possibly as improved replacements for things that are currently unused or underused).

 

It was in a post about the gap-closer/gap opener abilities that were added for KotFE. The gist was "We want to keep the number of character abilities about where they were before KotFE, but we really though that mobility balance needed to be normalized more across classes in PvP and PvE so this one time we added new movement abilities to pretty much all classes. Don't expect it to happen again. [insert Bioware Dev communication grain of salt here]"

 

I vaguely recall something that in the future they were just going to change the levels at which you get abilities. So instead of getting something at level 45 you'd get it at lvl 46 instead.

 

TL: DR version, they know and it shouldn't be a problem going forward in new expansions**.

 

** subject to them changing their minds

 

Oh, I did forget one thing, this does probably mean that for future level cap increases the "ultimate" or "capstone" advanced class spec ability or utility point will be lost with the expansion and need to be re-earned by leveling to the level cap again. Maybe even the last two abilities in the tree.

 

That happened with KotFE though, and it wasn't really that big of a deal. As long as leveling is ridiculously easy why would it be?

 

If they tinker with early key abilities it's more problematic. Say taking a key tanking ability that unlocks at level 12 and changing it to unlock at level 55 instead. I believe they did something along those lines to Trooper/Bounty Hunter class not that long ago, and that sort of change is not so nice.

Edited July 17, 2016 by Ramalina

give everyone invisibility, heals, and taunts

Or they could just...Oh, I don't know...

 

...

 

Stop blindly ape'ing what other MMOs do clearly without even understanding what it is they're ape'ing.

 

"But guys, we have to raise the level-cap because....well, because! Don't ask us, we can't think for ourselves, we just see WoW, do WoW!"

 

60 ---> 65 was completely un-needed and superfluous, and so would 65 ---> 70 be.

 

That, and we're starting to run out of hot-bars.

Edited July 17, 2016 by midianlord